G3 iBook won't turn on

[Sky Blue]

I have a G3 iBook that seesm to have died. I was using it earlier when the screen froze and it started to crackle (like a tv slightly out of tune). The screen then faded to white, so i held down the button and switched it back on. It made the 'bong!' sound and i could hear the hard drive whirl but nothing else happens. I've haven't altered anything recently and added memory. I did upgrade to 10.3.7 when it was released.
Anyone have any ideas?

[mcgarry]

can you try booting up with an external monitor? If you don't have a cable, I think you can still buy one in most any Apple store, but I don't know. I know some of the older G3 iBooks, at least, came with cable to miror the display to a TV and such ...

If the computer is on but you can't see anything on the screen, my hunch is your screen is dead. Did it meet any feet lately? Also, I can't understand from your post if you added RAM recently or are you saying you haven't added it recently. If so, of course try without the extra RAM. That might be a good general tip if you have any aftermarket RAM installed, take it out and see if the problem stays.

[Sky Blue]

No, it's not really been moved at all. I do have the cable to hook it to a monitor but no monitor to use it with!

[diamond geezer]

Try zapping the PRAM or removing the battery for half an hour to reset the logic board.

[mcgarry]

If you can try any of this ...
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=89736

... it might help.

[mcmav37]

It made the 'bong!' sound and i could hear the hard drive whirl but nothing else happens.

I agree that you might just have a dead display. I had something similar (I think) happen to me a couple of years ago. Everything seemed fine except I couldn't see anything. Well, I took a flashlight and shined it through the Apple logo on the back and could see that my desktop was there, but the screen was just not illuminated. I took it to the Apple store and they agreed and had it fixed. Luckily, at that time it was still under warranty, but you probably won't be so lucky. I don't know if you have any other options, though.

[Sky Blue]

Thanks guys, i'll give it a go. It's getting on for 2years old, so it's not in warranty :(

[jspivack]

Thanks guys, i'll give it a go. It's getting on for 2years old, so it's not in warranty :(
If it's the logic board, and not just the display (i.e., if, even by shining a flashlight through the back or booting to an externaly display, you still get no image), then it's covered by the iBook logic board replacement program regardless of whether you have AppleCare.

http://www.apple.com/support/ibook/faq/

When my logic board died (iBook G3 700), when I tried to boot the HD (or something) would click quietly once or twice and then it would go silent. Does yours do that?

[Sky Blue]

i've tried taking out the battry, zapping the PRAM and nothing happens.
When i turn it on and put my ear to the hard drive, it sounds like a normal start up...so i guess i'll have to take it to work and hook it up to a monitor there!

The logic board faq says "The Expanded iBook Logic Board Repair Extension Program covers iBooks that have a specific component failure on the logic board, resulting in the computer starting up but the built-in and attached external displays exhibiting one or more of the following symptoms:

Scrambled or distorted video

Appearance of unexpected lines on the screen

Intermittent video image

Video freeze

Computer starts up to blank screen"

so that sounds like it maybe?

[Blackheart]

It might be the logic board. I recently brought an iBook with a bad MLB to the Apple store near me and they confirmed what I had thought. You could always take it into a store and they should be able to let you know if that's the problem or not.

[Benj]

It might be the logic board. I recently brought an iBook with a bad MLB to the Apple store near me and they confirmed what I had thought. You could always take it into a store and they should be able to let you know if that's the problem or not.

I 100% agree with this. My iBook of similar vintage displayed exactly the same symptoms. Call Apple up - details of the replacement programme are at the bottom of the homepage - took a week or so - free collection, repair and delivery.

Don't worry - you'll be up and running again in no time.

[Blackheart]

I 100% agree with this. My iBook of similar vintage displayed exactly the same symptoms. Call Apple up - details of the replacement programme are at the bottom of the homepage - took a week or so - free collection, repair and delivery.

Don't worry - you'll be up and running again in no time.

For the iBook that I turned in, only took them 2 days to call me up and let me know the iBook was fixed and ready for pick-up.