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iBook...it just died.

Brother Michael

Brother Michael

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 14, 2004
717
0
I can't explain it really...so I'll give it my best shot.

Tuesday night, I downloaded the iTunes update and quicktime update along with the security update.

After it finished, I shutdown my machine and packed it up to go to my parents house for a while. the next morning I turned on my iBook at a friends house and it crashed when adium loaded. Thinking it was Adium i tried to force quit with command + option + esc. No luck.

So I rebooted manually with the power button. It loaded up fine and i went along my merry way. after about fifteen minutes it locked up again. No idea.

I have received no error messages or kernel panics or anything it just locks up. When I rebooted again it became stuck at the boot screen. This happned like 3 more times, then the LCD finally quit "turning on"

Thinking OS X was corrupted I tried to boot Single User mode...no luck, tried to boot from CD no luck.

What could the problem be?

Mike
 
Brother Michael said:
I can't explain it really...so I'll give it my best shot.

Tuesday night, I downloaded the iTunes update and quicktime update along with the security update.

After it finished, I shutdown my machine and packed it up to go to my parents house for a while. the next morning I turned on my iBook at a friends house and it crashed when adium loaded. Thinking it was Adium i tried to force quit with command + option + esc. No luck.

So I rebooted manually with the power button. It loaded up fine and i went along my merry way. after about fifteen minutes it locked up again. No idea.

I have received no error messages or kernel panics or anything it just locks up. When I rebooted again it became stuck at the boot screen. This happned like 3 more times, then the LCD finally quit "turning on"

Thinking OS X was corrupted I tried to boot Single User mode...no luck, tried to boot from CD no luck.

What could the problem be?

Mike
Click to expand...
i really truly hope it isn't a logic board. but since it is a model that is affected, i am sure it is.
 
don't freak out too bad. It just happened to mine and they were very nice about it. Prompt shipping. Fixed in two days.

I have an ipod, so I was able to easily back up the whole hard drive. As it turns out, they didn't erase my original drive, so it was unecessary. However, I would definitely recommend making a backup.

pm if you have questions.
 
Well, huh...see I don't have AppleCare. It's a used Laptop. Its also like three years old so I am sure that any AppleCare protection is gone.

How much does this cost?

Mike
 
To follow up on this one,

it was the logic board. I sent it to Apple, took 4 days.

They even replaced the little feet on the bottom of the laptop! AWESOME!

The only two things about it that I didn't like, was I turned it on and a question mark pops up! and they put a 500mhz chip on it instead of my 600mhz :eek: :confused:

Oh well, everything works

Mike
 
Brother Michael said:
The only two things about it that I didn't like, was I turned it on and a question mark pops up! and they put a 500mhz chip on it instead of my 600mhz :eek: :confused:

Oh well, everything works

Mike
Click to expand...
Dude,

I would get on the phone pronto to get the 500/600 mhz thing fixed. There is a very big speed differential between the 500 and the 600 (due to the bus speed).

They should send you another box for you to send your iBook in. Plus they should apologize for the inconveince.
 
The guy told me that the difference was going to be very slight and that was about where the converstation ended. hmm...I mean is this something that I really should press that hard? I mean this isn't my primary computer (i have a nice PC) and I was planning on getting a newer mac within the next year anyways.

Mike
 
Brother Michael said:
The guy told me that the difference was going to be very slight and that was about where the converstation ended. hmm...I mean is this something that I really should press that hard? I mean this isn't my primary computer (i have a nice PC) and I was planning on getting a newer mac within the next year anyways.

Mike
Click to expand...

If it bothers you, then call apple again.
Btw, did your 600 mhz have Radeon or Rage graphics.
If it had Radeon gfx it supported Quartz Extreme, the rage doesn't.
All 500mhz was released with Rage gfx, the 600 mhz had both Radeon and Rage.
If you are downgraded from Radeon to Rage, then call again and tell them its unacceptable.
 
cluthz said:
If it bothers you, then call apple again.
Btw, did your 600 mhz have Radeon or Rage graphics.
If it had Radeon gfx it supported Quartz Extreme, the rage doesn't.
All 500mhz was released with Rage gfx, the 600 mhz had both Radeon and Rage.
If you are downgraded from Radeon to Rage, then call again and tell them its unacceptable.
Click to expand...

I don't remember. Crap. I haven't noticed a difference in that respect, so I am thinking that no it did not. How would I figure out if my model did? I have a CD/DVD Drive if that helps narrow it down.

Mike
 
Faster is OK, slower is not -- slower is cheaper, meaning they are cheating you out of money.

Ask for a supervisor, what they did is nothing short of theft.

A person who sends in a 2.5GHz PowerMac for repair and gets back a 2.0GHz machine would freak -- since Apple just stole a good chunk of money from him.

The 600 to 500MHz downgrade is dollars stolen out of your pocket, since you paid for a more expensive machine.
 
I agree with Sun Baked. I think that the difference would be more than just "slight". The 500mhz iBooks had a 66mhz bus. The 600mhz iBooks had a 100mhz bus.

Is the amount of RAM the same. All 600mhz iBooks came with 128MB soldered on the motherboard. Most 500mhz iBooks did as well (you're iBook had a DVD drive, so it would have had 128MB). Make sure that the replaced logic board on the replacement has 128 and not 64.

Whether or not you press the issue is your call. Personally, I would make them replace it. You paid for it. You should get what you paid for.
 
Brother Michael said:
To follow up on this one,

it was the logic board. I sent it to Apple, took 4 days.

They even replaced the little feet on the bottom of the laptop! AWESOME!

The only two things about it that I didn't like, was I turned it on and a question mark pops up! and they put a 500mhz chip on it instead of my 600mhz :eek: :confused:

Oh well, everything works

Mike
Click to expand...

Damn man, I remember when you bought that unit... I'm glad you got it fixed for free, & fast too !!! Good luck with it...
 
It's been a great rumming machine and it is continuing to serve me well.

I am going to press this issue. I am in agreement with you now. Even if it is old, I still want it to be as fast as possible.

How do I handle this? I have never had an issue like this...

When I call do I ask to speak with a supervisor immediately?

I'm not a rude person nor have I ever been a real assertive person...so how do I talk to them? Just not take no for an answer?

Mike
 
Complain! I would be very upset if this happened. Who knows, you might get your new Mac this way...

Basically, you paid for a 600Mhz iBook in whatever year. Now, you have a 500Mhz iBook that is worth both less than what you paid for the other iBook AND it has a much lower resale value. You are being robbed, but not blind.
 
Yeah, you paid for this laptop, and even if it was used, Apple can't send you a slower laptop. It is slower. Heck, just looking at the components and system bus, it's probably slower in every way.

Just explain the situation calmly to whomever answers the phone at Apple. When they try to turn you away, which they very well may do even if it's trusty old Apple (their employees are still lazy, error-prone people too), ask for a supervisor. You don't have to verbally rough'em up. Just insist on talking to a superior. When he gets on the phone, explain the situation again from the beginning, and point out the differences in video card, cpu, and system bus speed of your current machine when compared to the one you sent in last week.

They'll give you a 600MHz G3....minimum. If they don't, they'll just upgrade you to whatever is better and in stock.
 
I would talk to them with an offensive tone, telling them you feel robbed. I bet they will send you more then what you're asking for :)
 
Well, I'm not greedy. I just want it fixed.

Now, I am having some issues with my Airport card on the university network. Everything is running real slow, and and i have to reload pages for them to display. Now that could be the Univeristies fault, but I doubt it because no one else is complaining about the wireless network here.

Could this be related to said problem?

Mike
 
So I just got off the phone with Apple. At first the guy didn't really know what it was I was asking, so he transferred me to another customer support department. After explaining the situation again, the guy just replied back to me, "Well...that's just wrong. Tell you what, I am going to send you a box and you can send your computer right on back and we will fix it right up."

AWESOME!

I was seriously prepared to have to fight an uphill battle with at least 3 people and a supervisor. As far as I am concerned, no harm no foul.

Thanks guys for the little push to get me back on the phone with them.

Mike
 
Glad to see it's all working out! Is this iBook the same one you mention in your sig? You were prepared to accept it as a 500 MHz machine, huh!

If the "little push" from the respondents in this thread hadn’t motivated you to call Apple again, I was fully ready to come in and give you a "big shove." :)
 
dotnina said:
Glad to see it's all working out! Is this iBook the same one you mention in your sig? You were prepared to accept it as a 500 MHz machine, huh!

If the "little push" from the respondents in this thread hadn’t motivated you to call Apple again, I was fully ready to come in and give you a "big shove." :)
Click to expand...

I honestly at first didnt think too much of it. I mean all the apps i want to run wont work on a G3 so I figured it didn't matter much, until I really thought about it. My Mac is slow enough, I don't need it slower.

At any rate still on the march for a G5 in 2005!

Mike
 
Ok I got my iBook back today.

They replaced the logic board and it now rund at 600mhz again.

Problem.

I was greeted with a letter, and attached with this letter was my RAM in a little bag. They stated that the RAM was bad and that was causing problems. Now, I thought at first clever marketting ploy to get me to buy Apple RAM as opposed to 3rd party, but they didn't do this last time. I also don't want to just go sticking RAM back into my computer if it's bad. So I guess I am going to have to get it tested and such and if it is bad try to figure out how i am going to get it fixed.

Thanks again everyone for the push to get me to call Apple back and get that fixed. Sadly, I think I would have said screw it...and thats just wrong.

Mike

BTW: How well does OS X run on 128mb? :p
 
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