suspected hard disk problems

["curby ." <curby.public@gmail.com>]

I'm running Sarge on a Mac Mini.  Out of the blue last week, the
computer locked up.  It didn't seem to be able to access the hard
disk.  I couldn't read manpages because it couldn't make a file in
/tmp.  I could run reboot/shutdown/halt because it didn't seem to find
/sbin.

I did a hard reboot with the power button, and the machine came up
fine.  However, about once an hour, I've been getting the following to
the console:

hda: irq timeout: status=0xd0 {Busy}
ide0: reset: success

Googling for the error message returns list posts from years ago, so
it doesn't look like it's a common problem anymore.  Occasionally,
I've heard what sounds suspiciously like the "click of death" that
hard drives like to make before dying.

I installed smartmontools and am saving reports daily via cron, but
I'm not sure what I should look for.

Should I call Apple?  How do they react when users report Linux errors
and want service?  Thanks!

--Curby