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TommyJames
1.1k
Asked
PowerBook Won't Read Hard Drives!
Howdy everyone! I just purchased a little 12" PowerBook, and I was told that the Logic Board was broken, though the specifics were not mentioned. Well, it seems that the logic board works with the exception that the poor machine won't recognize internal hard drives. I think it could be the port on the logic board that's broken, but does anyone have any other suggestions? Is this a common problem with the 867MHz PowerBooks?
I know someone who's a computer engineer and he can work on broken logic boards, but what d'you all think? Is there anything I can do before I resort to that?
Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
Tommy
osvaldo, mayer, rj713, and oldturkey03
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lemerise
16.2k
Answered
Accepted Answer
If the seller who sold you the machine did not try to replace the hard drive cable you could buy a used one just to try but if the IDE channel is faulty then you'll need another logic board.
When I boot up in OS X Tiger from the DVD, the System Profiler will identify an ATA connection to the hard drive. Everything seems all funky though. Could that indicate that the IDE channel is bad? Here's what it says: ↓ATA Bus FUBIDSE EHC2 4 AD D That name is considered the model number, and the serial number is given as: FL"3D3!1$KBV . . . . That's not a normal serial number. lol I don't know if that will identify anything without me spending $20 on a new hard drive cable. What do you think? The System Profiler does say the capacity of the hard drive, which surprises me. (37.26 GB) Just the name and the serial number are all weird.
Are you sure what you're reading in the System Profiler are the HD specs but the optical drive specs. Do you also see the optical drive entry ? Well if it's really the HD description then the cable should be OK. BTW, did you try the HD in another device to be sure it's working OK ?
Yes. The optical drive is also in the system profiler. And as I commented below, the drive is fully functional as I did test it. (Likewise, I put another hard drive in the PowerBook to see if it would work). However, I've discovered that the machine is only reading what it can understand well. If you match it up to an identical drive, "FUBIDSE" is supposed to read "FUJITSU" and the rest of text is like one letter off as well. I'm getting a new cable in the mail, so we'll see what time says. It seems like the logic board wants to read hard drives, but it's possible that the cable or the connector on the board is stopping it from accepting 100% correct data. I'll let you all know what's happening when the cable comes in the mail. :) Thank you so much!
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mayer
121.8k
Answered
I've never seen the connection from the logic board bad on the board. Your best bet is that it's a simple bad hard drive. The computer sees the drive, ergo the cable and connection are probably good.
Here's how to replace the drive: PowerBook G4 Aluminum 12" 867 MHz Hard Drive Replacement
Here's a couple of ATA drives that will work for you: http://www.ifixit.com/Mac-Parts/PowerBoo...
The hard drive is not bad, though. I can remove it and externally attach it to another computer with USB, and it's recognized perfectly. Likewise, I've put multiple hard drives in the PowerBook, and it doesn't read any of them. I would bet that it's a bad connector on the logic board itself . . . . Thanks so much, though! I really appreciate it!
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TommyJames
1.1k
Answered
In response to Markus' post, after extensive testing of my logic board and instense examination, there was nothing found that could explain the board's malfunction. I ended up purchasing a very lucky find; a broken logic board that I hoped I could fix. (It had a dismounted IC) and luckily, it DID work after the repair of the IC. Anyway, my only solution was merely getting a new logic board. I bought the other broken one because it was much less expensive than a working one. I wish you the best of luck with your PowerBook! Sorry I couldn't have been of more assistance. :(
So, I received the hard drive cable in the mail, and the logic board definitely seems to be the broken component. I'll have a friend of mine look at the connector on the board, and maybe I can replace it! Thanks for all your help!
TommyJames337,
anything new about this topic?? i have a 12" with a similar issue - mine doesn'tshow anything from the harddrive, but it tries to boot from it. you can hear is spinning and accessing - but it doesn't recognize the drive. in my case - the hdd is definately ok, the cable looks fine. i've used google and found many others had this issue too - but none posted a fix for that.
markus weiher,