iBook G3 graphics chip problem

[MacJester]

I had some fun-and-games getting my iBook display to work (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/610191/) and was told by the ever-helpful OrangeSVTguy that resetting the chip is a short-term fix as it would work loose again soon enough. He also said he had added a shim of some sort to keep pressure on the chip, but even this only gave his iBook six months of life before it died.

I wanted to hear of anyone else who had experience with a similar problem and ideally knew of a longer-term solution. I really like this Mac (my first for a very long time) and don’t want to get used to it only to lose it after a few months. Also I’m not sure I will be able to afford to replace it with another one soon.

Is there maybe a way to strip it down and solidly re-fit the chip? Or maybe buying a replacement chip is the answer or a better shim-type solution? The Mac will not be moved around too much as it will only be taken out of the house for the odd trip to college by my eldest son.

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

I had some fun-and-games getting my iBook display to work (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/610191/) and was told by the ever-helpful OrangeSVTguy that resetting the chip is a short-term fix as it would work loose again soon enough. He also said he had added a shim of some sort to keep pressure on the chip, but even this only gave his iBook six months of life before it died.

I wanted to hear of anyone else who had experience with a similar problem and ideally knew of a longer-term solution. I really like this Mac (my first for a very long time) and don’t want to get used to it only to lose it after a few months. Also I’m not sure I will be able to afford to replace it with another one soon.

Is there maybe a way to strip it down and solidly re-fit the chip? Or maybe buying a replacement chip is the answer or a better shim-type solution? The Mac will not be moved around too much as it will only be taken out of the house for the odd trip to college by my eldest son.

Other solution is to send the motherboard into a company out of Arizona that "reflows" the solder under the chip. They charge $50 to do that and I got a quote that it was like $12 for shipping. I'll see if I can find their link for you.

On the other hand, there is an approach that you can take. You can strip everything down on the logic board and place it in the oven at like 300-350. With the logic board upside down so the graphic chip is on the top, get something metal and heavy about the size of the chip so it can "press" the chip as the solder heats up and melts. I imagine it can work as I tried it with one but I took it out too soon before the solder had a chance to harden and ended up moving/screwing up some resisters on the logic board. If I'm ever in that situation again, I'll just leave it in there for an hour with the oven door open so it can cool down properly. Make sure that you remove all the paste or whatever that is on the chip first.

*added*
Here you go ~~~> firstphasetech

 

[MacJester]

Hey OrangeSVTguy - you came through once again! LOL

Unfortunately I live in the UK so that company wont be a likely solution! I am a dab hand with a soldering iron and l-u-r-v-e to take kit apart so if it happens once more I might take a mini hex set to the iBook and have a look around.

ATM I'm having fun playing with the Tiger OS and trying to find cheap/free software for the G3. I updated the OS via Apple and it is pretty cool now but there are a number of apps I'd like to have to do similar tasks as I use on my PC such as word processing and picture manipulation - but that'll be for another thread in an appropriate section!

Thanks again OrangeSVTguy!

Mark

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

A really nice Photoshop-Like app that you can download for free is called Acorn. It does layers and has some nice filters too.

 

[MacJester]

A really nice Photoshop-Like app that you can download for free is called Acorn. It does layers and has some nice filters too.

Sounds cool, we generally use ACDSee as Photoshop has a fairly big learning curve and the attention span of my family needs an easy to pickup and use app! LOL - me included.

What about a decent word processor? Currently the iBook has Mellel installed and I haven't tried to use it in anger yet to find out how good it is.

90% of the use will be internet browsing & word processing though the kids do sometimes use powerpoint and publisher. Are there Mac apps that are compatible or would we need to get the office suite for Mac's to get anywhere near these apps functionality?

 

[ebika]

Sounds cool, we generally use ACDSee as Photoshop has a fairly big learning curve and the attention span of my family needs an easy to pickup and use app! LOL - me included.

What about a decent word processor? Currently the iBook has Mellel installed and I haven't tried to use it in anger yet to find out how good it is.

90% of the use will be internet browsing & word processing though the kids do sometimes use powerpoint and publisher. Are there Mac apps that are compatible or would we need to get the office suite for Mac's to get anywhere near these apps functionality?

Normally I would recommend OpenOffice since it is free and works very well on Macs, but only on Intel Macs.

You should try http://docs.google.com . It is also free and works very well.