Just dug an old PowerBook G4 out of the attic. It booted up fine, though I had to hold Option down in order to manually select the boot volume--which I attributed to years of being without power and the PRAM losing settings.
After a few minutes it made a buzzing sound, and I vaguely recalled it doing so before I'd retired it; I'd attributed this to the fan at the time. It was annoying so I shut it down. But when I rebooted the next day it started making a loud and HORRIBLE sound. This: https://youtu.be/qXl_EyPpGHo
Again, be forewarned: loud and horrible. It's not as if I have experience in all computer failure sounds, but I think the hard drive is riding its platter, and it suddenly won’t boot anymore.
I’m debating replacing the drive. I know it’s involved but I have the tools, have messed around in PowerBook innards before, and it’s not as if it’s valuable anymore.
Two questions:
— it uses an ATA drive; any compatibility reasons I can’t install a more readily available SATA?
— is it possible there’s *also* a fan issue, or could the noise have all along been a failing drive? Unfortunately I don’t have a recording of the old sound, but is the above sound, starting at 0:13, a fan noise? If so, would the fan need compressed air or replacement? The only fan I could find that was clearly marked as a direct replacement would be as much as a new HD.
FWIW, back in 2008 I was traveling with the PowerBook, and a flight attendant said I had to put it in the overhead rack (I didn’t have a seat in front of me and she said it couldn’t be on the floor during takeoff). She put it in, and when I went to retrieve the bag it hadn’t been put in properly and fall 6+ feet to the floor. The case warped a bit; I wonder if this problem stemmed from that.