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help: something fell out of my powerbook!

F

fuzzynavo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Ok, hopefully someone knows the answer to my question. I was upgrading the hard drive to my Rev B 12" PB a few days ago, and everything went smoothly, until when i was reassembling the case. After I had put the top panel and keyboard on, I heard a rattle in the case. Then a small black chip (pic attached) fell out of what I'm guessing was the memory door since that seemed to be the only opening large enough.

The funny thing is, my PB seems to run normally: the hd is recognized and everything works. It kinda weirds me out that there don't seem to be any symptoms from missing this chip. But I'd like to know what it is, and if I should be wary of my PB catching on fire or what not. 😱

Thanks in advance!

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Come to think of it, when I turned the computer on after the install, it said the date and time was incorrect. Might this be the battery to maintain the settings when the AC and notebook battery are removed?
 
fuzzynavo said:
Come to think of it, when I turned the computer on after the install, it said the date and time was incorrect. Might this be the battery to maintain the settings when the AC and notebook battery are removed?
Click to expand...

It looks like it because of the (+) on the top and the circular shape on the bottom in the middle.

But I know nothing, so it's just a guess, however if your date and time keeps resetting then it could be.
 
Probably your PRAM battery. A good way to test it is to set your date and time settings correctly and turn the PB off. When you turn it on again if it asks you to set the date and time again it is definitely the PRAM battery.
 
I'm assuming I would have to disconnect the power and remove the notebook battery as well to test this? The PRAM battery saves settings only if both of these are disconnected right?

Thanks for the replies.

Edit: Hmm...doesn't seem to be the PRAM battery since I did all the above steps and on restart the time and date settings are all correct.
 
The battery can be placed back in. if you go to ifixit.com there is instructions on how (I am 95% sure)
 
synth3tik said:
The battery can be placed back in. if you go to ifixit.com there is instructions on how (I am 95% sure)
Click to expand...

I've opened up the casing again, and from what I can see it doesnt look like its the PRAM battery, but I also cant see where the piece in question could possibly go. My hunch is that its somewhere on the bottom of the logic board since i think thats where it fell out of (from the memory compartment on the bottom of the pb).

Puzzled. 😕
 
fuzzynavo said:
I've opened up the casing again, and from what I can see it doesnt look like its the PRAM battery, but I also cant see where the piece in question could possibly go. My hunch is that its somewhere on the bottom of the logic board since i think thats where it fell out of (from the memory compartment on the bottom of the pb).

Puzzled. 😕
Click to expand...

can you get hold of any electrical diagrams for such components as the logic board? that will tell what it is

i remember i chipped a surface mount resistor off my 6800GT when trying to pry off the stock leadtek heatsink and replace it with a zalman (considering the leadtek was a big copper block with a heat pipe it didnt work very well)

i thought all was lost,

yet when i popped it back in, it worked just fine, even overclocked a little more. i think i managed to get hold of a board diagram....and i found the resistor. it didnt tell me what it was for, only that it was a resistor.

but luckily i think it was just for some auxilery parts like VIVO or something that wasnt actually on my card. or it may of been some kind of power regulation circuitry or linked to the video processor (which was bust on the 6800's anyway)

so if its working just fine....well dont worry too much. but it is worth finding out what that thing is.

you got any better shots of it? it doesnt look like its been soldered to anything, more like glued...but i cant be sure
 
otis:

Here are some better pics. It does indeed seem to be glued, not soldered. I can't seem to find a diagram online, but I'll do some more searching tomorrow. I'll also consider stopping by a mac repair shop to ask if anyone there knows.

Thanks for the help.


DSCF2765.jpg


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its a capacitor

most likely it was not soldered properly in place. or got loose somehow. you should be able to spot where it belonged on the logic board. putting it back will take some expert help though.🙂
 
sden said:
most likely it was not soldered properly in place. or got loose somehow. you should be able to spot where it belonged on the logic board. putting it back will take some expert help though.🙂
Click to expand...

Would it be a bad idea to use the computer as is without replacing the capacitor? I'm trying to minimize the cost of having to get this machine professionally repaired. I'm thinking of upgrading to a mbp sometime in the near future, but would like to use this machine occasionally. It seems to run fine now, I just want to know if there's any sort of risk of damaging my pb.

Best.
 
Looking at the image below I'm sure that is not a battery and it came from the mother/logic board. They are all over the logic board:

544386383_337feecde7_b.jpg
 
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