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iBook broken Ethernet port

E

elensil

macrumors regular
Original poster
I had tripped over the wire and broke two little plastic corner pieces (that snap in the wire) on the port itself. The port works but the wire falls out🙁

What is the cheapest way to repair?

It is my wife's baby, she's going to kill me!
 
Re: iBook broken Ethernet port

Originally posted by elensil
I had tripped over the wire and broke two little plastic corner pieces (that snap in the wire) The port works but the wire falls out🙁

What is the cheapest way to repair?

It is my wife's baby, she's going to kill me!
Click to expand...

Did you break the wire or the port? Obviously if it's the wire, replace that (to check, try the other end of the cat-5 cable in the port).

If it's the port, use some electrician's tape to hold it in.
 
If its still under warrenty or Applecare, I'd call them and have it fixed. I had a similar thing where I unpluged an Apple Keyboard from my TiBook, and the cable took the spacer (The center peice of a USB Port) with it. Apple kindly replaced my Logic Board, No questions asked.

TEG
 
Originally posted by TEG
If its still under warrenty or Applecare, I'd call them and have it fixed. I had a similar thing where I unpluged an Apple Keyboard from my TiBook, and the cable took the spacer (The center peice of a USB Port) with it. Apple kindly replaced my Logic Board, No questions asked.

TEG
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They repaired that because it was faulty. The warranty and AppleCare isn't there for accidental damage.

Apple will charge for a repair if the damage is caused by accident or misuse.
 
Apple replaced that logic board in my 15" flat panel iMac no questions asked when it got struck by lightning. Granted I now have surge protection on *everything* in the house but at that time I didn't. Cost me gas to bring it to the repair shop but that was it. Had it fixed in less than 48 hours.
 
This happebed to me on my modem port and apple said I would have to replace the whole board since it was sodered on. If it still under warranty, apple should fix it

edit- I do not think there is a way to fix it without replacing the logicboard
 
look, you broke it and its considered customer abuse and is not covered under warranty. call apple and tell them you need it fixed, some just dont tell them that you caused it. see if they will fix it, just dont admit to anything.

iJon
 
Originally posted by SilentPanda
Apple replaced that logic board in my 15" flat panel iMac no questions asked when it got struck by lightning. Granted I now have surge protection on *everything* in the house but at that time I didn't. Cost me gas to bring it to the repair shop but that was it. Had it fixed in less than 48 hours.
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Sorry to hijack this thread, but I have to point out that surge protectors do NOT protect you from lightning. If you want your expensive equipment protected from lightning, you have to either unplug it or buy a surge arrestor. The lightning just went two miles from cloud to ground--why would a quarter-inch of separation in the surge protector stop it?

As for the original post, I'd see if AppleCare will fix it. If not, I'd say you're SOL and paying several hundred for a new logic board. Apple usually doesn't ask any questions.
 
Originally posted by Daveman Deluxe
Sorry to hijack this thread, but I have to point out that surge protectors do NOT protect you from lightning. If you want your expensive equipment protected from lightning, you have to either unplug it or buy a surge arrestor. The lightning just went two miles from cloud to ground--why would a quarter-inch of separation in the surge protector stop it?

As for the original post, I'd see if AppleCare will fix it. If not, I'd say you're SOL and paying several hundred for a new logic board. Apple usually doesn't ask any questions.
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well the surge protector i have says they will pay up to 500,000 dollars if lighting gets through, they seem confident to me, or are we not talking about the same thing.

iJon
 
Surge protectors operate fundamentally differently from surge arrestors. Surge protectors are designed primarily for the spikes in power that occur when power comes back on after an outage or a brownout. There are a pair of contacts that separate and turn off the power when such a spike is detected, much in the same way a circuit breaker works, only much faster. Basically, it flips the switch. The problem is that a quarter-inch is nothing to hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity which just jumped two or three miles from the clouds to the ground.

A surge arrestor actually has a contact that will switch the load to the ground when a spike is detected. Since that is the easiest path for the electricity to take, the power will ground out through the ground pin on the electricity rather than through your iMac.
 
Thanks for the info.

Now it only sounds like you broke the wire, not the port itself, so just buy a new wire.

If its the actual port that's broken, do NOT say that you tripped over the wire. Say that you pulled the wire out, and the port broke, and you can't figure out why. Do NOT say that you plug and unplug it regularly. Say that you rarely unplug it, and on the rare occasion you unplugged it, it broke off. They may blame you for wear and tear, not because of faulty craftsmanship on Apple's part.

Good luck, and remember to lie through your teeth if you have to. Replacing the board can cost you hundreds. No, not $200 or $300. It'll cost so much that you may as well buy a new iBook (say $700 or $800). Be careful what you say.
 
Originally posted by Daveman Deluxe
Surge protectors operate fundamentally differently from surge arrestors. Surge protectors are designed primarily for the spikes in power that occur when power comes back on after an outage or a brownout. There are a pair of contacts that separate and turn off the power when such a spike is detected, much in the same way a circuit breaker works, only much faster. Basically, it flips the switch. The problem is that a quarter-inch is nothing to hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity which just jumped two or three miles from the clouds to the ground.

A surge arrestor actually has a contact that will switch the load to the ground when a spike is detected. Since that is the easiest path for the electricity to take, the power will ground out through the ground pin on the electricity rather than through your iMac.
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Interesting... didn't know that... I really don't know what I have... I just know that in case of blowing up they will replace my equipment up to some ridiculous amount that would buy me 4 pimped out XServes , a PowerMac G5 and a 23" flat screen... so I feel good... like iJon... 😛 I'll have to see what I have when I get home...
 
Surge protectors are fine, but in most cases your lightning coverage would come from your home owners insurance.
 
hhmmmm...

When you call apple let them asume everything! Don't say you broke it or "you did somehting an then..." just tell them it is broken and you don't know how. Act casual, they will probably fix it. They usualy let you off easy the first time. When my iBook Charger started to spark and then later on brake I said I was 😉shocked😉 from it. I got a replacnment for free, yet the other chrager broke and I am now using a nice 3rd party one, so I got what I paid for.... Let Apple do the talking, just sit there and play dumb...

duuuurruhhh, ethernet? what's that? 😉
 
tell them you just got cable modem and you plugged it in for the first time and it wouldnt stay in.

iJon
 
Oh, come on!

I can't believe all the crap I'm reading here about how to scam Apple out of a repair. TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR MISTAKES, PEOPLE!!!

I'm disgusted by the advice suggesting ways to get/let apple take the hit for this guy's negligence. This kind of crap is what makes it hard for people with legitimate problems to get warrranty work covered.

elensil, suck it up and find an electronics repair shop that can handle the repair. It should be a straight forward soldering job as RJ-45 jacks are common parts with a standard layout. It'll cost you a few bucks but it's cheaper than replacing the entire logic boad and a hell of a lot better than trying to scam Apple out of a repair. Look in the yellow pages under "computer repair" and start calling. Hopefully you'll find a mom-and-pop shop that can actually repair equipment rather that just swap out parts.

Obviously, this will void the warranty (assuming it's still got one) but the fact that the damage was caused by abuse means the logic board won't be covered any more anyway.
 
Re: Oh, come on!

Originally posted by jtown
I can't believe all the crap I'm reading here about how to scam Apple out of a repair. TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR MISTAKES, PEOPLE!!!

I'm disgusted by the advice suggesting ways to get/let apple take the hit for this guy's negligence. This kind of crap is what makes it hard for people with legitimate problems to get warrranty work covered.

elensil, suck it up and find an electronics repair shop that can handle the repair. It should be a straight forward soldering job as RJ-45 jacks are common parts with a standard layout. It'll cost you a few bucks but it's cheaper than replacing the entire logic boad and a hell of a lot better than trying to scam Apple out of a repair. Look in the yellow pages under "computer repair" and start calling. Hopefully you'll find a mom-and-pop shop that can actually repair equipment rather that just swap out parts.

Obviously, this will void the warranty (assuming it's still got one) but the fact that the damage was caused by abuse means the logic board won't be covered any more anyway.
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your disgusted...im sorry. im also sorry we all cant be on the honor system here. he has a perfectly good warranty and something is broke, why not get it fixed if possible, who the hell wants to spend that much money on getting a new logic board when he can say a few right things and he has it fixed.

iJon
 
Say a few right things; you mean say a few wrong things. You don't think that people should be responsible for their own actions? The OP ran the wire across the floor, which was inviting this to happen. It happened and now he wants a free fix. He has three options.

1. Live with it; it's a free.
2. Pay for a board replacement.
3. Pay to have the port replaced by a computer repair place.
 
Re: Re: Oh, come on!

Originally posted by iJon
your disgusted...im sorry. im also sorry we all cant be on the honor system here. he has a perfectly good warranty and something is broke, why not get it fixed if possible, who the hell wants to spend that much money on getting a new logic board when he can say a few right things and he has it fixed.

iJon
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Read the post. He tripped over the wire. That is most certainly not a legit warranty claim.

Jamie
 
Re: Re: Re: Oh, come on!

Originally posted by jtown
Read the post. He tripped over the wire. That is most certainly not a legit warranty claim.

Jamie
Click to expand...
haha i know that. who wouldnt want to get it fixed for free. i just find it funny you get disgusted and all huffy puffy over something like that.

iJon
 
Oh geez...What would you rather do? See must people don't have 500 or 800 bucks to spend on repairing a computer...so if you tell a little lie you get it for free...I don't see any big problem with that. Sure he should have been more careful but when it is truly a mistake what are you gonna do? Pay teh big money for an ethernet cable!? Ok listen if you don't wanna call Apple and lie to them, buy a wireless router for $30 at CompUSA.com and a cheap AirPort card on eBay. It is cheaper that having Apple repair it and you get a nice Wireless thing going now...

There all done...😀
 
The one thing I've noticed when people have called me for support is that I would end up finding out (quickly or slowly) that someone made a mistake and have to charge them.

Apple doesn't always do that. They sometimes realise that it doesn't cost them so much to fix the thing and just put it on the AppleCare warranty as a covered cost.

I'd guess that they don't have to replace a lot of anything because they're more careful than most manufacturers.

I couldn't lie about the problem, but if you do, lie well. Whatever happens, good luck.

<uploads duct tape because that fixes everything> 😀
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Oh, come on!

Originally posted by iJon
haha i know that. who wouldnt want to get it fixed for free. i just find it funny you get disgusted and all huffy puffy over something like that.

iJon
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Maybe because that increases the costs of the products for everyone. Why don't you start a business so that we can rip you off by saying a few right things?
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Oh, come on!

Originally posted by Lanbrown
Maybe because that increases the costs of the products for everyone. Why don't you start a business so that we can rip you off by saying a few right things?
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Apple sold me a lemon iBook and repalced the logic board four times, I think that they are causing more problems themselves than this guy, who will probably never be so clumsy again. Price are so high because thats where apple wants them. One guy getting a break is 1 :4 to real mobo's i've needed. Whos causing more trouble manufacturing defects or an easy mistake.
 
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