Good news: I got a "Graybeard" at the physics department to help desolder the mess that I made two nights ago. He fixed it. The iBook now chimes and starts...

Bad news: sometime in the past 3 days, the hard disk failed. It's not spinning like it should be. Therefore, I get the folder icon on screen. Fortunately, this will be comparatively easy to fix.

(Man, it's like one thing after another!)