HELP! After IBOOK G3 500MHZ overclock it won't recognize hdd!

[kaarelcool]

Hi to everyone!

I have a problem,that my home-country local MAC forum cannot resolve.

The thing is,that I did a bit of overclocking on my G3 DUAL USB 500MHZ IBOOK.I overclocked FSB bus to 100MHZ and CPU speed to 600MHZ.But after
that,my IBOOK wouldn't recognize internal HDD.Laptop itself works just fine,
it boots from OSX Panther CD and so on,but OSX install JUST WON'T SHOW ME ANY HARD DRIVE WHERE TO INSTALL ITSELF ON TO.As you know... CD and HDD are connected via the same cable to the motherboard and CD works fine.I thought that maybe the part of the cable which was connected to the hdd was broken,so I changed the hole cable.Nothing happened,everything
was still the same.I have tested HDD in other computer and it works fine.Also I have tried 2 different HDD-s in Ibook- still the same.I have also tried to reset everything I can> power managment reset (through that button) and reset via functsion+option+p+r (on keyboard...or smth. like that) My smartness has run out.What shall I do?? Any suggestions...

I should mention that if I don't but any OS cd into the CD-DRIVE,then I get
flashing folder with question-mark on my screen.

Anyway,I think that the problem might be related to hdd partitions.I deleted my original OSX partition right after I got overclocked laptop back (because OSX install didn't recognized it) and then changed HDD-s partition to FAT32.(I thought that maybe OSX partition had been damaged during the overclocking process) But maybe the problem was still the cable (right in the beginning) and now OSX install wouldn't recognize my hdd, because it's in FAT32 format? Other thing what makes me think about that: as I told,if there is no CD in CD-DRIVE IBook shows blinking question mark with a folder on its
screen.But yesterday I managed to delete hdd's FAT32 partition and replace it with HSF+. (in other laptop and in Windows XP) And when I but that hdd with HSF+ back to my IBOOK one change occured.Now, if it is turned on without OSX CD in it's CD-DRIVE, it shows on screen at first big globe and after a while blinking question mark with a folder.Therefore I assume,that
the problem cannot be in hardware,because if I changed HDD partion type,
then something else also changed?? Anyway OSX install still didn't show any HDD. What I have to do?? Could FSB upgrade be the key to that problem? (I don't want to believe it,because I read,that if overclocked,IBOOK would work fine, or it would crash- nothing related to the hdd.) HELP!!!

Kaarel from Estonia.

[Zammy-Sam]

Hi Kaarel and welcome to the forum.
I do believe your controler doesn't like the higher fsb. ppl overclocking their hardware mostly make sure the higher fsb won't increase the clock speed for i/o devices. They use different multipliers. Apple doesn't allow such kind of options. I don't know how you increased the fsb, but I believe you did it software based, right? My suggestion: revert the fsb back to 66. You might be asking how to do this - considering it was done via software? How about a firewire disc? Since you seem to have a lot of hardware at your place, maybe you can manage to get a disc with OSX preinstalled and plug it via your firewire port to your ibook. Boot from it and set the fsb back to 66. Hopefully this should fix your problem with the controler.
Good luck!

[kaarelcool]

Hi!

Thanks for quick answer.(and warm welcome)

The thing is... my overclocking was not done by software, but by soldering-iron.Therefore I wouldn't prefer undoing it,until it is the last choice.After all
I even paid some money to PRO for changing resistors with a soldering-iron.

Isn't there anything else to do and are most of you certain that my Ibook IDE Controller just won't take 100MHZ FSB??

[Zammy-Sam]

Since you changed the discs and the cables and still the problem remains, there must be something wrong with the controler. The only thing you changed was the fsb. So, the conclusion that your controler doesn't like the higher fsb is quite likely. If I am not mistaking it, the controler runs at 33mhz (as all pci-slots). That means there is a multiplier of 1/2 for 66mhz fsb. Now you increased it to 100 which means 50mhz for the controler. That's an increase of more than 50%. A very high rate even for hardcore overclockers.. A wonder your optical disc still runs fine, but maybe they are a bit more robust due to their lower speed compared to harddiscs?!?
Beside that, I remember someone else who successfully overclocked his ibook but the benchmarks were quite disappoiting. Sorry, but I think reverting it back would be the best idea.

[kaarelcool]

Okey...

I am still open for other suggestion for some time,because I simply don't have any time to replace the resistors at the moment.

So if anybody has a good idea until I move the resistors back to the old stage,then let me know...

Thanks.

PS! Zammy-Sam > How your IBOOK handles DIVX5 with AC3 or XVID with AC3 video?

[Zammy-Sam]

Originally Posted by kaarelcool

How your IBOOK handles DIVX5 with AC3 or XVID with AC3 video?

Using vlc.. works fine on my ibook. Make sure you max out your ram.

[kaarelcool]

Ram really makes difference?

I have 320MB at the moment and DIVX runs fine for a little time,but then it
starts to chop and while doing so,I can see,that IBOOK writes something to the HDD.

So is there really lack of memory? Upgrading to 578MB would help?

Originally Posted by Zammy-Sam

Using vlc.. works fine on my ibook. Make sure you max out your ram.

[Zammy-Sam]

Ram definitely matters. Am surprised you got 320mb. 384mb would make more sense. However, your ibook will support up to 640mb. Simply buy another 512mb stick and you will be surprised how much better your ibook will perform..