[iBook] system freeze following sound

[Joy Freeman]

My husband is on the road. His iBook (dual-usb G3, 600MHz) went down
yesterday, but he got it back up this morning long enough to send the
following email:

> I got a system freeze yesterday afternoon, following a loud sound from--okay,
> if you put your hands on either side of the trackpad, the sound was coming
> from underneath the left. I thought it was a dead hard drive, but now I'm
> thinking maybe a fan failing or clogging and an overheating experience. Do you
> know any way to check logs for fan or drive faiilures? System Profiler/logs
> shows me nothing (or is that "show me nothing"? I think the former).

I guess the immediate question is should he be using it or should he shut
down and leave it so until it can be looked at? Is there any chance this is
a well known symptom to a minor problem I can fix myself? (Yeah, right!)
Where can I look for guidance? I'll start Googling but any specific sources
for info would be appreciated.

He really needs his computer, esp. email access, as he's in the middle of a
job hunt and the plan was for him to stay in another state for a few weeks
while looking. And of course money is tight. Bad timing...

Thanks for any help,
Joy

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