iBook G3 Startup Fails after 6 sec

[Armand]

Hi,
My iBook G3 (700 MHz; 30 GB; supplemental 640 memory) died (again) last year after several trips to the shop while under warranty (including a new hard drive), and one repair after the warranty expired. It does not seem like a reliable machine.
As a learning experience, I'm thinking of doing my own repair.
Before getting into it, I'm wondering if the startup failure is diagnostic of what repair I'll need to make.
Pushing the startup button generates the startup "chord", but very close to 6 sec later, the machine makes a whining sound (hard drive trying to start?) and goes dead. To repeat the process I have to remove the power and battery and reattach.
Any tips on diagnosis would be appreciated.
Thanks,

 

[Sherman Homan]

Any screen activity at all? Those were famous for bad graphic processor units.
Will it boot off of the install CD? That would maybe diagnose a head hard drive.
Will it boot into Target mode? If not, that could indicate a blown logic board.

 

[Armand]

Any screen activity at all? Those were famous for bad graphic processor units.
Will it boot off of the install CD? That would maybe diagnose a head hard drive.
Will it boot into Target mode? If not, that could indicate a blown logic board.

Hi,
Thanks for the quick response!
No screen activity.
Does not boot off of any CD. Same behavior - dies after 6 sec.
If I hold down Ctrl+Option+Shift (Target mode?) and push power nothing happens. If I let go and push power, same 6 sec till dying routine.
Does this indicate blown logic board?

 

[Dustman]

not sure if it would help, but you could try removing the HD, then booting from a CD if incase a malfunctioning hard drive is making your ibook flip out. I could be wrong, and any one feel free to correct me, but if it still wont boot from CD/Target Disk Mode then it might be the famous falling apart graphics card. Luckily if it is the graphics card, you can do a quick temperary DIY repair involving a heat gun.

 

[Sherman Homan]

No screen activity is a bad thing. The keyboard command for target mode is to reboot and press the letter "t" immediately. I would bet that it is the graphics processing unit. The heat gun trick that Dustman refers to is an interesting one. Just make sure that you are willing to toss your iBook to the fire gods if it doesn't work!
iBook Solder reflow

 

[Armand]

FYI: Target reboot doesn't change anything - same deadend after 6 sec.

I haven't tried shopping for parts (or doing repairs). Are graphics cards so costly or difficult to replace that the fire trick is an attractive alternative?

PS. I really appreciate the direction I'm getting identifying the problem! I had heard about the recall of the G3s, but I didn't consider how it might apply here until I got your comments.

 

[e12a]

the graphics chip may have come unsoldered from the logic board. You could try heating up the chip and re-establishing the solder points. This takes extreme measures but it has been achieved.