General iBook hard drive capacity question.

[Matt Stahley]

Im a little confused. I just bought a G4 800 iBook refurb from Apple with a 30GB drive. For some reason the system profiler recognizes the drive as that capacity but also says the capacity is only 10GB and that I only have 3.9GB available.What gives here? I can understand a few GB needed for OS etc. But I dont understand where the rest of my storage space is? Also first time with 10.3(my other 2 macs still running Jag) could this have something to do with it? Should I do a reinstall etc? Thanks for any help.

[Mike Hanlon]

I would reinstall from the CD set that (I assume) you got with it. Once booted from the install CD, go into Disk Utility (its in an Installer menu) and repartition the drive (to one partition or whatever you prefer).

Then reinstall/restore from your CD set.

[Matt Stahley]

Mike I was thinking they had it partitioned a certain way but could not find out how. Thanks.

[Jeff Donald]

Try running fsck -y (or fsck-f if your drive is journaled) and see if it detects any errors.

[Matt Stahley]

Anyone know how i can erase the entire disk? I did an OSX reinstall but there seems to be a near 16GB partition devoted to 9 and classic that i cant access thru the disk utility?. I dont have any 9 or classic installed on my iMac was hoping to be able to do the same on the iBook. Not to mention they did not send me a power adapter so now im stuck until the AM and hopefully a local dealer will have one.

[Matt Stahley]

Jeff it is journaled. Ive never seen this before. Cant run the fsck-f battery is low and no adapter right now.

[Dave Perry]

I would send it back and ask them to send the correct unit with the power supply as well.

[Mark Sloan]

Send it back. If they really refurbished it then it wouldn't be partitioned at all and it would have a power adapter. You might be able to take it to an Apple Store to get it rectified... Is there one nearby?

[Mike Hanlon]

The fact that the hard drive seems to have "missing" capacity can happen to a refurbished unit, not likely, but possible. During the unit test process (after it is assembled and before given the final ok to ship), the hard drive has a special directory format that hides the installed software from the test software. It is possible that the hard drive's directory wasn't restored at the end of the test process, which removes the test software and makes the installed software visible. Instead the OS was probably installed into the "mini-partition" that the test software was occupying.

You can't fix the drive's partition structure at this point, you need to repartition it and reinstall the OS and the applications from CD/DVD.

Repartitioning the hard drive as I described above should do the trick, but an Apple Store can help if you have one nearby.

[Boyd Ostroff]

I agree with Mark and Dave; send it back. The refurbed units come with a full warranty and there's no reason you should put up with problems like these. Apple used to have a very good return program, which I assume still exists. You call the support line, they take your info and send you a shipping box which goes out via Airborne Express. I've had to use this for a couple powerbooks at work (although it was a number of years ago) and I was very impressed, the computers came back within a few days with everything fixed.

Several years back there was an article in MacWorld about refurbed Macs and how they often weren't checked out very well. Looks like you're a victim of this. Now's the time to take care of this because there may be other problems you just haven't discovered yet.

[Jeff Donald]

Matt, Mike Hanlon is correct. Repartition and reinstall your software.

[Matt Stahley]

Thanks everyone for the info and suggestions. Im am now waiting for the power adapter to arrive so i can at least power the thing up again to see what the deal is and if problems continue i will be sure to send it back. This is my 3rd mac and my first refurb they seemed helpful with the power adapter was only transferred once during the phone call!

[Matt Stahley]

I finally got the power adapter now im having trouble with the partitioning.There are 3 partitions but i cant seem to erase the entire hard drive or partition. In the disk utility the disks Brand and the Mac HD show up along with the other 2 partitions. The 2 partitons are names diskos9 and diskos11 and when i select either partition i am unable to do anything with these like erase etc. If anyone has any info it would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

[Mike Hanlon]

Don't select the partition, select the whole drive, then repartition the entire drive.

[Boyd Ostroff]

I don't want to detract from the helpful suggestions that others have been making, but would just reiterate that if it were mine I would return it to Apple and ask them to bring it up to spec. It's ridiculous that you need to mess around so much with a computer that should have been delivered in "like new" condition right out of the box. And if Apple's prep has been this sloppy it would make me wonder what other things might have been overlooked.

I have used Macs exclusively ever since their introduction but have mostly purchased them new. A number of years ago we bought some refurbs at work to save some money, and they were fine. But when I look at those refurb prices I usually think they aren't a very good deal. Your experience is reinforcing that impression. Just looking at the Apple Store, you can buy a new iBook G4 1ghz/256/30 for $1099. The same computer refurb'ed is $949. Now that isn't very much of a savings.

From Apple's website:

Refurbished Apple Products are pre-owned Apple products that are placed into Apple's stringent Refurbishment Process prior to being offered for Sale. Each unit is fully tested (including full burn-in testing); refurbished with replacement parts for any defective modules identified in testing; put through a thorough cleaning process and inspection; repackaged (including appropriate manuals, cables, new boxes, etc.), and given a new refurbished part number and serial number. Each unit is also placed into a Final QA inspection prior to being added to sellable refurbished stock. Refurbishment Procedures follow the same basic technical guidelines as Apple's Finished Goods testing procedures.

Based on what you've said I find it hard to believe that your computer was actually subjected to this process. That's why I'd want them to make good on their promise. You've already wasted a lot of your own time on something that should have been right when you opened the box.