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iBook G4 Troubleshooting... read on

O

onkzzz

macrumors member
Original poster
May 28, 2013
47
0
Coventry, England, UK
Hi guys, havent posted here in a long time...
Im 13 now btw.... anyway

I just got an old 2005 12 inch iBook G4 from my uncle. It won't turn on and I don't know what the issue is.
Heres what I know:
The battery is fine - led indicators on bottom seem fine.
The charger is brand new, and working.
The iBook itself doesn't show any orange led for charging but it still charges...
It won't turn on; I cannot hear any HDD spinning up noises or DVD drive sounds, and the power led isn't active, at all.
I don't mind testing the HDD, since I have all the tools and a SATA 2.5 inch caddy at hand.
So, any suggestions on what the issue is?
Thanks
 
Update:

Update:
I managed to get it on for 3 secs with the battery in, i heard the boot sound and then it shut off, no screen backlight or picture though.
It was only on for 3 secs.
Maybe it is a battery issue?
The battery has been charging for 1 hour and after taking it out and pressing the button, it has died.
I think its the battery...
Anyone else have a conclusion?
 
Perhaps it's not charging? You stated it is still charging...how have you determined that?
 
reco2011 said:
Perhaps it's not charging? You stated it is still charging...how have you determined that?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.
I know because of this:
Everytime I take out the battery, I press the button.
It flashes for a few seconds. And then it doesnt flash again.
It will only start flashing again when I put it back in and charge it...
 
onkzzz said:
Thanks for the reply.
I know because of this:
Everytime I take out the battery, I press the button.
It flashes for a few seconds. And then it doesnt flash again.
It will only start flashing again when I put it back in and charge it...
Click to expand...

I am thinking the Logic Board.
 
benvw99 said:
I was too. And I have no clue on how to fix them. Sorry op!
Click to expand...

Short of soldering, or in the case of liquid damage, cleaning, there isn't much to be done. Sometimes it is better to pull the plug on a part rather than repair it and send it to the big iCloud in the sky!
 
You can try to reball the logic board... It's expensive, but you can send the logic board out to a BGA rework facility. They could desolder the CPU, GPU, and northbridge, reball the parts, then solder them back on.

Of course, it would be cheaper to just buy a new logic board.
 
catzilla said:
Have you tried a PMU reset?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431
It seems like the little guy is trying to come back to life, don't give up yet.
Click to expand...
benvw99 said:
I was too. And I have no clue on how to fix them. Sorry op!
Click to expand...
Altemose said:
I am thinking the Logic Board.
Click to expand...

A big thanks to all of you guys who replied. I managed to get it working again.
Turns out, it was the charger port. It would only work if bent slightly. And the battery was totally dead too.
I left it bent and taped at an angle overnight and it is fully working now.
Thanks again guys for the help.
 
onkzzz said:
A big thanks to all of you guys who replied. I managed to get it working again.
Turns out, it was the charger port. It would only work if bent slightly. And the battery was totally dead too.
I left it bent and taped at an angle overnight and it is fully working now.
Thanks again guys for the help.
Click to expand...

reco2011 for the win!
 
onkzzz said:
A big thanks to all of you guys who replied. I managed to get it working again.
Turns out, it was the charger port. It would only work if bent slightly. And the battery was totally dead too.
I left it bent and taped at an angle overnight and it is fully working now.
Thanks again guys for the help.
Click to expand...

A new DC in board isn't hard to do. It is a relatively affordable part too!
 
[solved]

reco2011 said:
reco2011 for the win!
Click to expand...
lol, reco2011 FTW - sorry forgot to mention you in last post...

catzilla said:
Glad to hear it's working again, those aren't bad machines. What are the specs?
Click to expand...

Specs?
They are kinda just stock at the moment:
1.33GHz PowerPC iBook G4 (12 inch)
40GB HDD
512MB RAM

Anyway, now it's almost fully working, I am creating another thread for an OS X issue i have. If you guys could help, that'd be great!
Thanks.
 
onkzzz said:
Specs?
They are kinda just stock at the moment:
1.33GHz PowerPC iBook G4 (12 inch)
40GB HDD
512MB RAM

Anyway, now it's almost fully working, I am creating another thread for an OS X issue i have. If you guys could help, that'd be great!
Thanks.
Click to expand...

I have the exact same iBook! :D
I have the RAM upgraded to 1.5 GBs though.
 
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