Several iBook G4 Problems.

[benvw99]

Hi.

I have an iBook G4 running OS X 10.4.11. It is the 1.07 GHz model with 768 MB Ram. I got it from a friend, and it is on the list to fix. It has several problems.


1. The laptop will sleep by itself. Yes, I set my laptop to never sleep and dim at 15 mins, but when I unplug it, it seems to last about 30 - 45 seconds before falling asleep.

2. Battery wont hold a charge. Before I buy a new battery, I would like to know if there is anything to do to fix my current battery. I will unplug it for about 30 seconds, and it will sleep. When I plug it back in and power it on, my battery will say it needs 63:xx to charge, even though I only unplugged it for 30 seconds.

3. Display cuts out. The laptop's screen will only work/display the right colors when it is at a 100 degree angle. If you push it anywhere outside of that, the screen will glitch and sometimes not even work.

4. Software update doesnt work. I have already connected the laptop to my wifi, and when I click on software update, it will load up as usual, but the progress bar will get stuck at the beginning point.


Thank you for all your help.

 

[eyoungren]

Hi.

I have an iBook G4 running OS X 10.4.11. It is the 1.07 GHz model with 768 MB Ram. I got it from a friend, and it is on the list to fix. It has several problems.


1. The laptop will sleep by itself. Yes, I set my laptop to never sleep and dim at 15 mins, but when I unplug it, it seems to last about 30 - 45 seconds before falling asleep.

2. Battery wont hold a charge. Before I buy a new battery, I would like to know if there is anything to do to fix my current battery. I will unplug it for about 30 seconds, and it will sleep. When I plug it back in and power it on, my battery will say it needs 63:xx to charge, even though I only unplugged it for 30 seconds.

3. Display cuts out. The laptop's screen will only work/display the right colors when it is at a 100 degree angle. If you push it anywhere outside of that, the screen will glitch and sometimes not even work.

4. Software update doesnt work. I have already connected the laptop to my wifi, and when I click on software update, it will load up as usual, but the progress bar will get stuck at the beginning point.


Thank you for all your help.

#1 & #2. You need a new battery. The old one is gone. Expecting anything more from it is counterproductive.

#3. Most likely your LCDVS cable. This is the cable that goes from the logicboard to your LCD. It travels through the hinge that holds the LCD in place to the body and is what delivers video signal from the logicboard to the display. Over time, all that moving the LCD up and down can chafe the insulation covering the cable. The hinge itself can also pinch the cable. Both of these things cause the problem you are having. Putting the LCD in the position you have to means it's the only position that is not pinching the cable.

Replacing the LCDVS cable is a really involved and complicated procedure. It's bad with the PowerBook G4, I can only imagine how much worse it is with the iBook. You can also replace the entire LCD, which is still complicated but infinitely easier to do.

#4. You have not mentioned what version of OS X you have. You'll note that no matter what version you have, no PowerPC Mac can run anything higher than 10.5.8.

 

[benvw99]

I have OS X 10.4.11 if I forgot to mention it. Sorry, I thought I had said it.

 

[eyoungren]

I have OS X 10.4.11 if I forgot to mention it. Sorry, I thought I had said it.

Maybe someone else can chime in here, but I'm under the impression that Apple had shut down the update servers for OS X versions older than 10.5.

I may be (probably am) wrong on that.

 

[RedCroissant]

Maybe someone else can chime in here, but I'm under the impression that Apple had shut down the update servers for OS X versions older than 10.5.

I may be (probably am) wrong on that.

I heard the chime! As of right now, the Tiger update servers are still active. I recently updated the iBook G3 that I sent to Altemose and it worked just fine. Now Panther might not be working but I know that you can at least download the actual update dog from Apple's support website (I have done that for every single OS X version so far).

 

[eyoungren]

I heard the chime! As of right now, the Tiger update servers are still active. I recently updated the iBook G3 that I sent to Altemose and it worked just fine. Now Panther might not be working but I know that you can at least download the actual update dog from Apple's support website (I have done that for every single OS X version so far).

Cool, thanks! I was one version off it seems.

 

[RedCroissant]

Cool, thanks! I was one version off it seems.

You're welcome. OP, let me know if you need help with the update if it isn't available and you can't find the file. I can always put the updates in my dropbox and then that can serve as the update server.

 

[jruschme]

As for #4, do you have any MacFUSE mounted filesystems mounted? A while back, I had a problem with Software Update on Tiger hanging because of Wuala's filesystem.

 

[Altemose]

I heard the chime! As of right now, the Tiger update servers are still active. I recently updated the iBook G3 that I sent to Altemose and it worked just fine. Now Panther might not be working but I know that you can at least download the actual update dog from Apple's support website (I have done that for every single OS X version so far).

I have been spoken of by name! They dropped Software Update for 10.3 and lower. Software updates are still available via Apple Support!

 

[benvw99]

Huh. Can't seem to get the software update to work.

 

[Altemose]

Huh. Can't seem to get the software update to work.

Could be the network settings are incorrect...

 

[SusanK]

My iBook G4 was doing all kinds of weird things when it needed a new battery. Printing was in strange symbols, not alpha or numeric. Lots of weirdness.

Battery from OWC solved the issues.

There was no display issue on my iBook.

Hope it all works out.

 

[benvw99]

New battery ordered. While I was at it, I ordered a RAM upgrade. iBooks can hold up to 1gb correct?

 

[RedCroissant]

New battery ordered. While I was at it, I ordered a RAM upgrade. iBooks can hold up to 1gb correct?

Yes they can if you mean" can the iBooks accept a 1GB RAM module." Most of the iBooks had a max RAM of 1.25 GB while the 2005 iBooks had a max RAM of 1.5GB.

 

[benvw99]

So I ordered the wrong ram then? Cause I wanted to max it out.

 

[Zotaccian]

So I ordered the wrong ram then? Cause I wanted to max it out.

No if you ordered 1GB DDR PC2700 or PC3200 SO-DIMM stick then all is fine. Ibooks have built-in memory as well, later models for example had 512MB built-in so after you add 1GB you are maxed at 1.5GB.

 

[RedCroissant]

So I ordered the wrong ram then? Cause I wanted to max it out.

Sorry for the delayed response!

No if you ordered 1GB DDR PC2700 or PC3200 SO-DIMM stick then all is fine. Ibooks have built-in memory as well, later models for example had 512MB built-in so after you add 1GB you are maxed at 1.5GB.

Yes, what he said.

 

[Zotaccian]

...and apparently PC2100 is also OK for that machine, checked that after I posted previous message but didn't edit it