[DM-MUG] Reinstall or copy from clone.

[Matt W]

Well, the first thing I would check would be the serial number. Compare 
it and the symptoms to the iBook repair extension program linked below 
ESPECIALLY if you're seeing video and response on boot problems. You 
didn't mention, but I'm surprised that the Apple Store didn't check 
that first! My understanding was that the back up (at Apple repair 
centers) is so great (as of 2 weeks ago) that Apple was requesting that 
local dealers take a look at symptomatic units and was even authorizing 
them to repair iBooks, something that Apple has traditionally wanted 
complete control of.

http://www.apple.com/support/ibook/faq/

Beyond that, it could be memory. Since you've only got one chip to 
check, pull it out and test for awhile. I find very few memory testers 
actually catch bad memory.

Of course, you've already mentioned another option--restore from clone 
or backup. There are, of course, many variations on these themes too, 
such as clone the current state to separate disk (not your latest 
backup) and reformat/reinstall and test.

Matthew


On Nov 15, 2004, at 5:48 PM, Ray Bowler wrote:

> 15" iBook 640  MG memory, 20 MG HD running OS 10.2.8
>
> Any help and advice for the following would be appreciated.
>
> I have been having a problem with my wife's iBook the last couple of 
> days. Saturday the screen did not wake up and I needed to restart. It 
> restarted with a blinking question mark. Attempting to restart from an 
> external firewire worked. I have had several restarts with the 
> blinking question mark. Then it was OK. The next day it froze and I 
> had trouble restarting.  I have used Disk Warrior and it repaired a 
> system problem, I have had fsck -y report a problem and had to run it 
> a second time to get the ok. More of a problem is that it will 
> sometimes not restart, not even give me a good bong but it sounds like 
> either the CD or the HD is running.
>
> I took it to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store and the first time he 
> tried it there was no response. The second time a white screen with 
> some text appeared.
> Then it rebooted. They ran all of the diagnostics available and all 
> hardware seemed fine.In the store it began to restart fine and it has 
> done so several times since. He suggested that we could send it in for 
> repair and they could test it more than he could but they might not be 
> able to reproduce it. He felt that there was a possibility that it 
> might be system software on the HD causing the problem. It could also 
> be caused by the intermittent failure of a hardware part but it could 
> be a problem to find the part.
>
> Two other options to try if it is a system problem:
>
> 1. An alternative would be to erase the HD and reinstall from the 
> original disks then do all of the upgrades and reinstall all third 
> party apps. and copy the personal files  from a clone made Saturday 
> when it all started.
>
> 2. Boot from the clone made Saturday, erase the HD and clone the 
> backup to the HD.  like this one but if some of the system files are 
> the problem then nothing would be solved.
>
> The second would be my preference but I am also tempted to just assume 
> that the problem is fixed, backup the couple of files which she 
> updates daily and see what happens.
>
>
>
> -- 
> Ray
>
> Des Moines, IA Mac Users Group
> Fourth Tues of the month.
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>
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