iBook G3 HELP!!!!

It sounds like you have a flaky hard disk, or maybe a flaky IDE bus. I'd try replacing the HD with a known good one, if you have one.
If you can get it working, you got a great deal.
HD replacement on the G3 iBooks is no walk in the park, but it may be your only option.
Alternatively you could try booting from a bus-powered external drive, firewire will be faster as this model iBook only supports USB 1.1 speeds.

Clanking HDs are a sure sign of failure. I've never seen an HD that clanked that wasn't either dead or did die fairly soon.

Well, the hard drive is absolutely beyond dead. It doesn't show up anywhere and it no longer clicks and clanks like it did. I've had the iBook just sitting around for a couple hours with the AC Adapter attached with the hope that the battery would hold a charge, but no such luck. I found some hard drives on eBay for this thing for like $65.00 + $12.00 s/h for a 120gb HDD. I figure if I have to take the entire thing apart, I might as well swap out the crappy CD-ROM with a combo drive, bump up the memory with a 512mb stick, and add an airport card. Will OS X Tiger 10.4 work with this machine? Or would Jaguar be better suited for it? I have no OS for it yet.

Jag won't run, it needs an 866 or faster G4. Tiger should be great with the upgraded RAM. You also don't need iBook specific HDs, just make sure they are the same height or slimmer than the original and that they are PATA, *not* SATA. The optical is more important, depending on how much you value having a matching faceplate. I absolutely would not buy a used HD to put in the iBook, but I would consider a used combo drive.

or may not, i don't think it exists yet
edit: sorry, got it screwed up. Jaguar is 10.2 *smacks forehead* I spaced out on that one

Leopard is the one that requires 867Mhz or faster. That's 10.5

10.1/10.2/10.3 and 10.4 should run. 10.1 should only run if it's the original system discs.
TBH, your best bet right now would be to get 10.3 on it, or figure out how to turn off dashboard on 10.4 so it gives you more resources. That will get it humming right along.

10.5 is out because it requires a G4 (which the iBook has a G3) and a 867Mhz at that. Tiger was the last for the G3's

that 512MB stick would make things hum along nicely. Btw, when you go to disassemble it, go here:

http://www.ifixit.com/
Just go to the appropriate section (12" or 14") for the iBook you want to take apart.

blah....

http://www.ifixit.com/
Just go to the appropriate section (12" or 14") for the iBook you want to take apart.[/quote]

Right on Man, Thanks. I'm one step ahead of you. I saved their .pdf guides on my PC for reference. I've even made a labeled screw template, labeled for each step. So when I complete a step I'll place the corresponding screws in the holes. A piece of cardboard works wonders. Can't wait to get this started. Also can't wait to see what all the Apple Hype has been about.

D'oh! I read too fast. Distractions while providing tech help isn't a good thing...

Well, it's been a minute since I decided to get in here and update you guys on my progress. I had started up the machine and heard the usual click, clank click, the hard drive would make, so I just let it run...you know just to see. I went outside to have a cigarette, yes I still smoke, and when I was done I went back inside and instead of seeing the usual flashing question mark over a folder, I actually got a log on screen. Unfortunately, I had no way of getting into the account so I wiped it and a "Friend" had a version of OS X he wasn't using and gave it to me. I thought I hit pay dirt but it turns out that 10.0.4 really sucks and you can't do squat with it....completely worthless. I have since purchased OS X 10.3 Panther on eBay, a retail 3 CD version for $50. So far I left the iBook running overnight and the hard drive hasn't clanked since, did it work itself out or am I wasting time and it's going to explode any day now?

It's likely that the platers were stuck and took some time to get loose and spinning. Do you hear the spin up when it powers on or only the clanking? If you shut it down for a day or two, does it clank again at power on? It's not likely to keep clanking once it's already spinning unless it's a lot of head seeking on damaged platters.

I'm not sure what the issue is or was. It now works as it should. When I start it back up after a day or so there is no clanking, however, It did clank one other time after the laptop was already booted, everything froze up and I got that rainbow circle type of thing? So I shut it down, pressed on the lower left hand side of the case, and it hasn't doen it since. I'm sure I'm working with borrowed time with this hard drive. I'm just happy that it even boots up and that I don't have to take it apart, yet. I'd like to be able to do a surface scan of the drive to check for bad clusters and what not. I know that disc utility instantly says that the drive can't index, but it seems to be working fine. I'm looking forward to getting my 10.3 version of OS X so I can actually put the machine through its paces. You can't do anything with 10.0.4, other than listen to CD's and reading e-mail, PDF's, the OS is worthless. So hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday it'll be here and I can actually have some fun and really see what's up with the Hard drive

Well, my 10.3 Panther CD's arrived Wednesday afternoon and I installed and updated everything. It's ok, but I need more memory, badly. Skype 2.7 doesn't work but 2.5 does. However if I'm using Skype than I can't do anything else with the iBook. I loved the fact that when I plugged in my USB bluetooth Adapter, a Plantronics 910 bluetooth headset and adapter, I didn't need drivers it just found it and I was good to go! I'm enjoying fiddle farting around with my first apple!!! I think it's funny that I can get my 2nd gen Ipod Nano to work on this old iBook but my new 16gb iTouch, when I plug it in, I get this message this message that I need OS X 10.4.10 for it to work....oh well. I'd like to know if I can swap in a 900mhz G3 Logic Board? Is that possible?

I'm actually enjoying my time spent on this old iBook! I have just recently got my old USB webcam, a Creative Webcam Instant, to work with the iBook. I found a place on the internet, webcam-osx.sourceforge.net and found that their latest driver, version 0.9.1, supports my webcam. So I downloaded the driver, read the read me file and did what it said and now I have a web cam that I can use with Skype. The true issue is, is that this thing doesn't pump out enough to talk and display video at the sametime so all the other person gets is a frozen image or a black screen. My broadband connection is more then sufficient and when I just use the Macam utility it displays the video and records QuckTime movies just fine. I suspect I need more memory, but truly I believe I really need a more powerful cpu, hence a better laptop. But, in reality, I'm enjoying seeing what I'm able to get away with. The simple fact that a webcam meant purely for a windows pc, works on a Mac is cool. Everyday since I've gotten this thing up and running, I've learned a little bit more! I can't wait to get the Economic Stimulous check, then I'll get something better...should've done direct deposit, I'd have had it by now...oh well....

That iBook was caled the “snow” ibook. I gave one to my teen 18 monhs ago and it's a champ. You can upgrade the RAM with a 512 pc133/100 chip. It runs Tiger 10.411 just fine and tiger has some nifty improvements over panther. Also you should install the X11 pkg from the panther disks. This allows you to run some nifty freeware and shareware goodies. If you want to crack it open and replace the HD or optical drive go to www.ifixit.com for excellent guides. I have replaced parts and repaired several ibooks and powerbooks using there free guides. If you can find office 2004/mac or Appleworks 6.2 both of those run great on that little notebook. I just found a great deal on a used MacBook and it is awesome!