My ibook G4 has stopped reading my external dvd drive.

it is not an easy job to change a HD on an old iBook G4.
you need some experience in handling microelectronics.
step-by-step guide is available here:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iBook+G4+14-Inch+933+MHz-1.33+GHz+Hard+Drive+Replacement/189
iBook G4 14 933 MHz 1 33 GHz Hard Drive Replacement

Make sure you have the right software first VLC is good software and will play almost everything.
Does your version iBook even have a DVD optical drive?
Is the optical drive failing?

well there is a solution so first check the type of hard drive in your ibook and check if any of your friends have an ibook, if so replace hard drive with yours and you can extract your data if your hard drive is working.

good luck.

The problem could be that the wiring has gone bad or that your cd-rom has completely been fried. The only way to fix this problem is to check wiring and if it is not that than buy a external cd rom drive.

Hold down the Apple and the E when you restart your computer.

Some of the iBook G4 optical drives are very sensitive. The best way to test if it is still working is to use the System Disks that comes with every Mac.
Regarding the Flash disk, it may be that your iBook is using USB 1.1 protocol, while your Flash is using USB 2.0. You can check what type of USB your iBook has in the System Profiler. If it is 1.1, then you are out of luck. If its USB 2.0, then you have a faulty logic board.
Either way, not good news for you. Sorry.

it won't read it because the new os disk is double layered and the g4 drive you have probably won't read double layered dvds.  best solution is to buy or borrow an usb external dvd drive.  i did this last week and it worked fine.  

**** that all ****

http://coreyarnold.org/ibook/?p=20

Hi
If you are still faced with this problem.....
Possibly the video card has gone in the unit. The original screen on the laptop may have had an blown inverter which would not stop the funcioning of the external display. However for the external disply to stop working would suggest the video card. Before going this far have you checked to see if there is power to the external monitor? Have you tried the monitor on another computer? If the monitor works with another computer you can be certain there is more wrong with your poor old iBook. You will need to take it in to be looked at.

Hope this helps.

Regards