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is my ibook dead? logic board problem?

Y

yellow bear

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 4, 2006
28
0
Hiya,
recently my ibook g4 hasn't been able to switch on fully, it started off with just crashing and I was able to switch it on again for a while then it would crash again, then the time it stayed on got shorter and shorter, I managed to backup all my files I wanted onto an external drive, I tried all the things the mac support site told me too, I then completely wiped the whole thing clean and am now trying to re-install the OS (panther) it now wont stay on long enough to load the software, i've reset the pram and pmu, i've even managed to run the disk utility etc through a cd, but the problem is still the same. Sometimes I get things like this:
qqxq4o.jpg

14vn41l.jpg

on the screen (those coloured lines dance!)

but sometimes it just stays blue......
I've hit a dead-end, I can't find anything else to try to fix it with.
Any ideas?
Could it be this logic board thing I keep reading about?

Bare with me, i'm not the most up on technological computer terms etc-so if suggesting anything please explain in basic language-thanks!

any help would be so much appreciated!
thanks
Claire
 
Time for Apple Care

Yeah, that's definitely the logic board. My iBook G3 did this exact same thing 3 times and each required a logic board replacement. Hope you still have Apple Care otherwise it's not a cheap repair and you may wanna just use that thing as a doorstop and get a new MacBook :)

p.
 
oh poo!
being unemployed does not cater for new laptops unfortunately, it'll be a long time before I can afford anything again. I'm not on apple care no.....
thanks anyway.........
:(
 
worth a shot

As these logic board failures have been well-known in the iBooks, esp. the G3 range and to an extent the G4s, it might be worth going to an Apple Store and talking to a genius to see if they would fix it for free anyway... just make it sound like a manufacturing defect (which in my opinion it is) and see if they help. Sometimes they're cool. If that goes nowhere, last chance is to call Apple Customer Relations and complain. Again, if you search the Internet you're sure to find lots of people complaining about logic board replacements on these models, which I think means it was a poorly designed machine.
 
shim method

I had exactly the same problem over a year ago with my ibook g4 and, because of the repair costs, just left it for dead.
But later, I did find out that there are a couple homebrew, very nonscientific ways to get these things running again. One is the C-clamp method, where you can clamp the left corner of the notebook to your desk. I guess the problem is a loose chip in there, and clamping the right spot gets all the connections firing again. This worked OK for me, but was not a permanent solution.
Another method, which worked better for me, is the shimming method. It's more complicated and is described on this site.
Using a shim, my old ibook G4 has been running well for months now... without the limitations of being clamped to a desk. The only downside is that my battery no longer works, so it has to stay plugged in the wall. Anyway, it's certainly not an Apple-approved repair, haha, but it's worked well for me and might get your ibook back and running.... but also might break it more.
 
The shim is not really a good permanent fix. I have that going on with my iBook G3 and it worked well at first but now it fails sometimes, especially when it is moved excessively. It works, but if you want a more reliable fix, look elsewhere.

That being said, I am currently thinking about a new MacBook. :cool:
 
pablol said:
it might be worth going to an Apple Store and talking to a genius to see if they would fix it for free anyway... just make it sound like a manufacturing defect (which in my opinion it is) and see if they help. Sometimes they're cool.
Click to expand...
would a 'solutions inc' store be ok? or does it have to be an 'apple' apple store?
http://www.solutions-inc.co.uk/storelocator.php

thanks everyone, i'm not ready to try the hack yet, but if it comes to it I am quite desperate and in need of a laptop as i'm photographing a wedding in may (want to upload during the day so I can check the quality of what i've got).
 
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