I have the latest model 1.42GHz 14" iBook (bought in January) and just now when I woke it from sleep, it started making a clicking sound in the harddrive, as if it was getting stuck. It was operating fine, but the hard drive would spin up, slow down, spin up then slow down and click, then would stop, and this would happen over and over again. I shut it down and havn't restarted it because I don't want a fatal error or kernal panic to occur. I don't get it. I have babied it and have done nothing out of the ordinary. I leave for Michigan at 4 in the morning tomorrow, and have been hoping to bring it. Is the clicking sound, to blatant, bad? If so, what should I do? There will not be an apple store anywhere near me up there. I need help now!
Unfortunately, it sounds like your HD is about to go. If I were you, I would quickly start to backup any files you need on it to CDs, flash drive, external HD, the web, whatever. You're probably going to have to replace the hard drive. Thats my advice. Hope it helps.