bobby fabulous Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 This is a private sale in my local area through a local classified. Ad goes like this: # Apple Macbook 1.83 ghz # 2 gb RAM # 60 gb HD # CD Writer/DVD Combo # Targus laptop case # PC to TV video connector # Screen is in good condition. No dead pixels # $500 OBO *** There is something wrong w/ either the optical drive or hard drive. I tried to reinstall OS and the installer says write error and its either optical or hard drive. I'm not technical enough to diagnose problem or swap out hard drive/optical drive on my own. I contacted him via email and got him down to $350. He doesn't seem to have much technical knowledge but claims that it will boot into linux w/ a live cd(which kind of implies he has some technical know how). If its just the hard drive or optical drive I think $350 is worth it, but I fear that maybe it could be something else. I am pretty much a Mac noob although I am pretty savvy with PC's. Any advice on this? ~thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embio Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 get it and try a different OS X DVD :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacUser2525 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I contacted him via email and got him down to $350. He doesn't seem to have much technical knowledge but claims that it will boot into linux w/ a live cd(which kind of implies he has some technical know how). If its just the hard drive or optical drive I think $350 is worth it, but I fear that maybe it could be something else. I am pretty much a Mac noob although I am pretty savvy with PC's. Any advice on this? ~thanks Well since Intel Mac's are essentially PCs in different cases now you would do the same as if buying a laptop with problems. He is thinking it is HD or CD related since it looks like it will boot with a live CD then you can IMHO rule out the controller being bad if it will run the CD for any amount of time without crashing then the CPU and ram are not the problem so that leaves you with bad HD or faulty install DVD that has been hinted at in the previous post. If you can get it for $350 I would think worse case that you get that back just parting it out on Ebay, the best case of faulty DVD installer disk you make out like a bandit and if just putting a new hard drive it then you still got a hell of deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobby fabulous Posted October 13, 2008 Author Share Posted October 13, 2008 Thanks for the fast responses guys. I have my own Ubuntu live Cd that i will bring with me and make sure it runs the desktop for a good length of time. And if it does (which cancels out optical drive not working)thats what I am thinking that it is one of two things, the hard drive or a bad disc. Both cases I would make out ok. I can get a new SATA 2.5" for $50 down the street. Is there anything else I should be worried about though? Like logic board or...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacUser2525 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Is there anything else I should be worried about though? Like logic board or...? Do not think so if the mother/logic board was going it would be showing up running for any length of time as well, if you have an external hard drive you may want to take it along with maybe something like Prime95 for Linux (mprime) on it for testing I would say if it will pass 15-20 minutes to an hour of it your good to go. http://www.mersenne.org/gimps/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Descalzo Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Take it! I would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobby fabulous Posted October 13, 2008 Author Share Posted October 13, 2008 Well I picked it up. I popped in a Linux Live CD but it will not install or boot into the live desktop. I get the Linux start up screen when you choose language then when I try to install or load up ht live desktop it just spits out out a bunch of errors. Also the optical drive seems finnicky, it is somewhat loud and sometimes will not spit out the CD. I am thinking that its a bum optical drive. Which still if I can replace it I will have a good deal. I managed to talk him down to $340 and he included a mini dvi dongle, and tv out dongle and nice low pro Targus bag. He formatted the drive so it has no operating system at all on it. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacUser2525 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Well I picked it up. I popped in a Linux Live CD but it will not install or boot into the live desktop. I get the Linux start up screen when you choose language then when I try to install or load up ht live desktop it just spits out out a bunch of errors. Also the optical drive seems finnicky, it is somewhat loud and sometimes will not spit out the CD. I am thinking that its a bum optical drive. Which still if I can replace it I will have a good deal. I managed to talk him down to $340 and he included a mini dvi dongle, and tv out dongle and nice low pro Targus bag. He formatted the drive so it has no operating system at all on it. Thoughts? Well if you have external usb/fire wire drive enclosure like I do then install OS X on it then you could boot using the fire wire on the laptop if it has it then clone the OS onto internal HD, you could try a Knoppix live CD/DVD to check that its not your install disk, external laptop drive enclosure/put it into a machine to install OS X on then put the drive back in the laptop. Putting your OS X install DVD in it would be an idea as well just to make sure it was not his disk that was bad basically you need some method of getting the OS X onto the laptop drive somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobby fabulous Posted October 13, 2008 Author Share Posted October 13, 2008 Well if you have external usb/fire wire drive enclosure like I do then install OS X on it then you could boot using the fire wire on the laptop if it has it then clone the OS onto internal HD, you could try a Knoppix live CD/DVD to check that its not your install disk, external laptop drive enclosure/put it into a machine to install OS X on then put the drive back in the laptop. Putting your OS X install DVD in it would be an idea as well just to make sure it was not his disk that was bad basically you need some method of getting the OS X onto the laptop drive somehow. Well its not his OS X disc that was bad because it won't even install Linux from the optical drive which leads me to think that it is the optical drive thats the problem. Thing is too I do not have OS X discs nor do I have another mac. I am going to go on craigslist and grab Leopard, probably tomorrow if I can or Tuesday. Is there anyway to install Linux with a USB stick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacUser2525 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Well its not his OS X disc that was bad because it won't even install Linux from the optical drive which leads me to think that it is the optical drive thats the problem. Thing is too I do not have OS X discs nor do I have another mac. I am going to go on craigslist and grab Leopard, probably tomorrow if I can or Tuesday. Probably right on the bad drive but it can never hurt to try as improbable as it sounds could have been two bad disks that were tried to boot with. Is there anyway to install Linux with a USB stick? Can't see why not I believe I have read about the Debian installer on a USB stick only problem there though is I don't believe that Mac's can boot from USB only fire wire.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobby fabulous Posted October 14, 2008 Author Share Posted October 14, 2008 Just an update, I took it completely apart and used some compressed air to clean out every nook and cranny and blew out the optical drive. I then put it back together and had more luck with the Ubuntu Live CD and have managed to install Ubuntu with complete success. My conclusion is that the optical drive is a little finicky so thats my next step, to locate a compatible drive I can slap in there and I'm good to go. Thank you for the help all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts