Ibook Hardware Help!

[Crash-n-Burn]

My friend gave me his ibook 900mzh that was not displaying because he did not know how to fix it so I took a stab at it. I am not new to fixing computers as it is my profession but I'm new to Apples.

Anyway, the first time I turned on the laptop the lcd displayed without any problems, every time after that it turns on randomly. After taking it apart about 3 times for various reasons and mistakes the laptop now displays every time I turn it on, but if I apply any type of pressure to the lower left side if the laptop the screen either goes black or gets small lines running through it.

From what I have learned the only possible conclusion that I could come up with is the magnet that tells the ibook if it is open or closed has something wrong with it. It feels almost as if whenever there is any pressure around the hard drive the screen goes black.

Any ideas, or tests I could do to fully determine the problem?

Thanks,
Jason

 

[banjomamo]

i had logic board problems with my wifes very same model. it had the same symptoms. it would be better to replace the whole computer than repair since logic boards for a machine that old are hard to come by and cost more than the machine is worth.

if you have the original disks that came with the computer or an apple os disc you can run the hardware test app. you must boot the machine with the disc by restarting and holding down the c key.

 

[chipchen]

logic board. The G3 ibooks were notorious for having this problem.

If you do a search on google (or even in the forums)... you should be able to find a "self fix" for this.. basically, take it apart, put a shim on top of the specific logic board area that has the problem.

long story short, the video board soldering comes loose and detaches from the board. the shim helps to keep it in plase. doesn't work all the time.. but sometimes it does. if it doesn't, sell if for parts.