iBook repair

[Des Zac]

I am currently refurbishing an old ibook 500mhz, (I think refurbish is the right word for what I am doing) And I thought I'd keep a kinda dev blog to keep track of everything.

Entry 1: The backlight is out, (which was the problem I bought it with) And I believed that it was the loose wire defect that was common among ibooks, sadly it was not. I am going to end up having to order a new screen. (As the backlight batteries are almost the same price as a new screen at twice the hassle)

I ordered Mac OS X 10.2 Server edition for it, an OS that is not too straining on the ibook but not tooooo old. (I don't wanna run OS 9 )

So, I'll be back in a couple days when the disk comes to upload a picture, until then, Ciao.

 

[shu82]

New screen??? If it is not the graphics card (are you sure its not the graphics card? That has broken on 75% of the past 40 ibook g3s I have come across), just get one with a bad graphics card. I used to use ibook G3s as place mats at my dinner table. You should be able to get a stack of 3 for the cost of shipping.

 

[Des Zac]

#1 I don't have money.

#2 I'm 14 so I can't get money very easily.

#3 I can still see the screen, It's just the backlight that's out.

 

[Nameci]

There are no back light batteries I suppose, what you need is an inverter board. If you put a flashlight at the back of your screen against the apple logo, can you see the object diplayed on the screen?

btw, what particular iBook do you have?

 

[sporadicMotion]

#1 I don't have money.

#2 I'm 14 so I can't get money very easily.

#3 I can still see the screen, It's just the backlight that's out.

Does it make the BONG sound when you try to turn it on? Do you know for sure that it works?

 

[Des Zac]

Yep, it plays Sosumi (I love that ) when it starts up, and I can see the "find OS" or whatever pic when it starts up, it's just the back-light.

 

[Des Zac]

btw, what particular iBook do you have?

It's a G3 500mhz

 

[Des Zac]

Just ordered the screen yesterday, should be in by next week, I'll post some pics of it working when it comes!

 

[KurtangleTN]

Congrats, cool that you're saving it.. most people would just quit on the thing. I know I would, damn iBooks are tough. Best of luck!

 

[Des Zac]

Just got the screen! I fixed it and it's ALMOST good as used! Other than the crack in the casing (Pretty small) And a little bit of other minor things, it's in working order! I also found our OS X 10.2 Server won't run on an iBook (I'm an idiot for not looking that up, but I can use it for another project I'm going to work on) so I'm going to order OS X 10.3! I'll post a vid when it's all done!

 

[Des Zac]

Ok guys, I got OS X 10.2 Server running on it, and I thought to commemorate me finishing my first mac, the first mac I own now, and I think it makes it more important to me since I fixed it myself, I thought I'd upload some pictures for you to enjoy!

This post is being posted from the ibook! I think that makes it even more special!

 

[Nameci]

Congratulations on your old but not yet vintage iBook...

 

[Des Zac]

Thanks! It can almost surf the web! Lol, but anyways I enjoyed fixing it and for it's price in the end (About $40 for the ibook itself and $25 for the OS) I'm glad I got it. Imagine if I bought it at release, the ibook itself would have been $1299 and the OS would have been $999 Now I got that for $65, damn stuff declines fast. But I'm happy because my intro into the amazing OS X world was from something I built and that personally makes it all the better.

 

[adcx64]

nice job, congrats on your first Mac!

 

[Des Zac]

Thanks! I plan on getting a core 2 duo imac 17" so I can use lion by the end of the year. I've wanted to use Mac OS for a little over a year now and Finally getting to use one feels oh so good. I originally was trying to save up 1000 dollars to get a core 2 duo macbook but now I realize how much easier it is to just get an older mac that is still compatible with the newest OS.

Edit: Oh, and those aren't scratches on the back casing, that's residue from what I believe is Duct Tape, it was Like that when I got it but it's definitely from a tape of some sort.