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It's a sad day here...
That glorious iBook that my mom was really starting to love had its logicboard go last night. I was attempting to hook into Ethernet directly because my Airport stopped working and I couldn't get online(this is the first time in a LONG time I got online-I think the problem was actually on Verizon's end but am not sure!). The Apple Store gave me a brand new Airport Express anyway, so I should be cool with that for a while.
So, I don't know what the rules here are regarding buying/selling in general, but I'd like to sell the iBook G3 600 for whatever I can get for the Airport card/120gb hard drive... and get her something else. She's not ruling out a desktop at this time(for durability over a laptop).
I'm sure there'll be questions regarding my Internet Disaster, too.
rfd
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unfortunately very common on those iBooks. It was a BIG design flaw. MacBooks are much more durable.
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[quote mattkime]unfortunately very common on those iBooks. It was a BIG design flaw. MacBooks are much more durable.
Not a single symptom of the logic board failure was listed in this post (other than some vague mention of trying to connect ethernet and problems getting online, and Verizon issues, and Airport issues), so it's really hard to conclude that it's due to the video chip problem that was common (and Apple would repair for free for 3 years from the date of purchase).
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Nah, the probems I describe regarding Verizon/Airport/online problems weren't with the iBook-what happened with that was the cursor froze, screen flickered, and then irreversibly went black.... it was the Apple Store that diagnosed the logic board failure. It's an '03 machine anyway... we're 'at peace' with its death, just looking to the future.
One of the complaints Airport is having is double NAT and it wants me to use bridge mode(settings all over the place got changed at the request of Apple tech support). It's working okay after hours on the phone with both Apple and Verizon. What's odd is that the Verizon guy got 'disconnected' the moment the internet came back up... though he insisted it was not on his end. I had a 169 IP address and Apple said it wasn't an Apple issue.
rfd
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Good find. So, presumably, they test it and confirm it works before sending it back to you . . . and if they can't get it working, no charge?
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No...as stated on their site, they re-flow the graphics processor and the one known IC that commonly comes loose on the G4 iBooks. So it's a $50 gamble. But where are you going to get another iBook for $50?
From their site:
"G4 Logic Boards: The Apple G4 Logic board failures exhibit the same thermal/mechanical stress fractures to the video BGA mentioned above, but in addition, have a history of fractured solder joints on SOIC devices affecting the video circuit. As part of our G4 service, First Phase Technologies will re-solder each pin on these devices whether we can visually see a fracture or not."
"To date we have successfully repaired well over 100 of these now for various customers providing our BGA chip reflow service. Our first repaired units have been in operation for over a year with no reoccurrence of the problem. Please note that this service may only be an interim solution. We’d like to believe that our reflow soldering is more focused and effective than the OEM’s, (providing you a permanent, long term repair), however, reflowing the device does not correct severely inconsistent paste printing by the OEM that built the logic board. The only way to correct that is by re-balling the device, which we can offer for the “Rage” type ATI chip, but not on those with the memory devices on top of the GPU. The yield on reball of those is approx %50 since they are not robust enough to handle the reballing process. You can contact us for more information."
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Sounds good-does it now sound like you guys agree with the Apple Store's diagnosis(I'd hate to send it off to him if it sounds like it could be another issue)? How should I go about removing the thing, or should I have someone else do that? I'm not used to digging around in laptops but am not a complete novice when it comes to delicate operations. I doubt I'd be confident enough to re-install a fixed logic board when it potentially returns to me, though.
Thanks,
rfd
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Well, you've jumped to talking about G4s aj, this is a G3.
RFD, I've been into that 'book twice for hard drive swaps, and it's a real bear. There are instructions online (powerbookfixit I think?) that will walk you through-- but you will need to lay everything out and work very methodically with a special set of computer tools- probably something like 60-90 minutes to get the board out; and you wil need to leave it all untouched until the board returns. There are a few tough things like disconnecting tiny cables and accessing hard to reach screws on the optical drive.
You didn't say what you meant when "they opened it up" but is it already partially dissembled?
I strongly feel your best bet is to sell it whole with all its parts intact/untouched, describing what happened and letting someone who's handy with reflowing (there are a couple who frequent this board who are) turn it back into a healthy, whole iBook.
