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PowerBook Logic Board Problems???

A

aclose72

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 28, 2004
39
0
hi all,

i purchased a new PB 15" 1.5GHz after they were released in May/June. wonderful machine. :)
about two months ago i would wake it from sleep and it would beep three times and the screen would stay completely black. i attempted to power it down and back up but got the same symptoms. after Googling for PowerBook Beep Errors i found that three beeps usually means bad RAM or something to do with the memory. my memory was the original 512MB stick from Apple when i purchased the PB, so everything was covered under APC. i moved the DIMM to the other slot and the PB booted and acted fine. no problems. since i do want to upgrade the memory in the near future i did send the PB in to have it repaired. after about three weeks they told me they replaced the logic board and all was well. aside from the extra long wait everything seemed fine and dandy.
the other day i attempted to wake my PB up from a nap and it started the old beeping again. so i'm looking at sending it back to Apple for a second time as soon as this semester is over.
has anyone else had a similar problem with the new PB's? i have seen news of logic board shortages at Apple so i'm guessing that's why my repair took so long last time. but are these shortages because everyone is having issues?
i love my PB and don't want to be parted from it, let alone have to replace it. this is the first computer i've owned that i've ever had issues with. and this is also the first 'new' Mac i've owned (i'm a 'proud' recent switcher).

andy
 
I've had mine replaced 2x along with the screen 3x and the power board. Mine's the 1.25 GHz 15" bought over a year ago.
 
ouch. do you know if this is a common occurance?
i surely hope not.
after having your logic board and screen replaced that many times did they ever offer you a new PB? or are they still replacing parts? i wonder what happens when the warrenty runs out...
 
ive never heard of mass logid board problems in powerbooks like witht he ibooks so i guess when the warranty runs out to put it frankly your screwed
 
wow, you had me freaked out about my p'book. About a week ago I had it sleeping with the lid closed and when I opened it the screen wouldn't turn on. I shut it again and then opened it and it still didn't wake up. Finally I just tapped the power button and it jumped to life. It never beeped or anything but your post made me worry about the logic board.

However, the Hardware Test reveals no problems :D
 
heh,

sorry to scare you DeBroglie. :)
however, that is what i did when my problem started, not that that's the cause or anything.
how much RAM do you have? and did you upgrade or order with the amount you have? i ordered with a 512MB DIMM and am hoping to upgrade to 2GB when i can afford it. but i'm worried that that will cause more problems. maybe i should have just ate Apples price gouging RAM prices and purchased with 2GB so everything would be covered under APC. :D

maybe i'm just unlucky. it doesn't look like too many ppl are having the issue i'm having (which is a good thing).
 
If the power board didn't fix my Powerbook then I was probably going to get a new one - but it's been working fine since. I still have APP for two more years so I'll be covered if it happens again. The hardest part was waiting for it to get fixed (I had to ship it to Toronto to an authorized repair shop, on my own dime) - Apple Canada sure doesn't help you out if there is no authorized repair shop in town.
 
bummer. Apple USA is pretty slick. i was impressed with the system. i called in and stated the problem. they told me that packing materials would be delivered in one to two days. they were there the next day. easy to follow packing instructions and good packing materials. packaged it all up, put a couple provided stickers on it and called the pickup service. easy enough.
the hard part was the wait and lack of info while i was waiting. i had to call several times because their website was down or just said on hold forever.
my PB came back in very good condition. i didn't notice any scratches, dents or anything else wrong with it. it was as i left it as far as i could tell.

hopefully i'll have the same experience this time minus the wait. :) and hopefully it will be fixed (and stay fixed) this time.
 
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