Charger board or DC-in board problem?

I have an iBook SE Graphite 466 with 576 ram with original 10mg HD running OS 10.3.9 and 9.2.2 (on occasion). It has a new battery that I can get 4 to 5 hours run time with. I seldom use the trackpad preferring a USB trackball.
I am experiencing intermittent battery/power problems. I suspect a DC-in board problem and/or a charger board problem.
Sometimes if I move the power-in electrical cord (plugged in on the right side) the computer will abruptly lose all power with the screen blacking out and the HD stopping. After startup from these incidents I must reset my system clock from 1969. This, to me, seems like a bad DC-in board.
At other times, when working with the electrical cord plugged in (with no movement of the cord) or using on battery power only, the same abrupt lose of power will occur.
Separate from this symptom, if I shut down, then restart at a later time, I may or may not have to reset my system clock. This seems random.
Another symptom, sometimes when putting the iBook to sleep from the menu (OS X), it goes to sleep normally. But when I shut the case lid, the hard disk and screen will power up and immediately sleep again. Then power up, then sleep and on and on until I finally open the lid and shut it down. This to me seems like a charger board problem.
Do these symptoms sound like problems with both the charger board and the DC-in board, or something completely different, like a logic board problem or loose connection somewhere?
Thanks,
Greg
PowerBook 5300c, Clamshell 466 SE, Lombard, Pismo, eMac Mac OS X (10.4.7)
PowerBook 5300c, Clamshell 466 SE, Lombard, Pismo, eMac Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Rick,
Thanks for the response. I know there is no pram battery in clamshells. This makes me think that the problem lies somewhere else. The battery is new as of when I purchased the iBook last May or June.
The iBook will instantly lose power, on occasion, when working from the battery. But the same thing has happened when the computer is plugged in. If I immediately restart I can continue to work, without having to plug in, though the system clock will be at 1969 again.
This rather confusing set of symptoms, plus the ones mentioned above, makes me think that power from and to the battery is being interupted by a bad or failing component.
Would a failed or failing charger board be responsible? or is my understanding of what the charger board does wrong?
Thanks
Greg

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DC In Board or Logic Board problem?

I have a 12" iBook G4 that's about 2 years old. It's been having intermittent problems reading the charger for awhile now and would flash charging and then not charging over and over again before it would begin to charge up again. This weekend it decided to stop reading the charger completely. The battery works fine in another computer and another battery works fine in it -- it just won't charge again once it loses it's juice.
It also will not work with just the power adapter plugged in with no battery. The little light comes on, but doesn't seem to pump power into the computer. And it's not an issue with the charger as it charges our other iBook just fine.
I've read conflicting info elsewhere about what it actually could be so I'm hoping someone could shed some light. Does it sound like just a DC In Board problem? Or a bigger Logic Board problem? Any help would be great... thanks!

From what I have read on this forum, people have managed to get the DC In Board replaced for a little over US $100. This would be at an Apple authorized repair shop rather than by Apple itself. This is much less than the cost of a new MacBook. I don't know what might be available in your area, but it would be worth asking at a repair shop.
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Continual logic board problems?

I just had my third logic board replaced (on my ibook G3 dual usb) this week. It goes out every 13-14 months, like clock work. 2 (including the most recent) out of the 3 times apple has replaced it without fuss or charge. When I received the computer this last time, it booted up fine all of my data and programs were there, except the clock was set to 1969. I had backed everything up on an external hard drive, so I decided to do a clean install of tiger. Tiger installed and booted then I shut it down for the night. This a.m. the computer would not turn on. I tried removing the battery, leaving the battery in, unplugging from the power supply, standing on my head etc. nothing, no apple tone, no light, although the keyboard light is on. Question, what happened? I have not tried resetting the PMU but I am not sure that it will work b/c I cannot even get my computer to turn on....Any thoughts before I send it back to the depot.
also, about the logic board replacement program....is the 3 year time frame a moving window? for example, i bought my ibook in 9-02 but my last logic board was replaced 2-06 is the 3 year time point at 9-05 or 2-09?
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Your logic borard problem isn't the screen one then? I ask as I have exactly this machine (same RAM too!) and it has developed what sounds like an identical problem. It had its video fault logic board replaced 2 years ago but has been perfect since. Been used daily without a hitch. Then it just shut down without warning.
Now, if you leave it a while (hrs) it boots. You can then run it for a while, typically 10-20 mins (long enough to drop a back up of all the data over a wireless network which all worked fine). The it just suddently and without warning goes to instant death. And will not power up again. Pressing pwoer key or trying the PMU reset produces no response at all. Battery is ahcrged and charging system works when it is running fine.
This suggests a logic board problem but not the video one the free warranty covers. But you are saying yours has had this shut down problem repeatedly?
It has the feeling of being a risk to invest in logic board replacement.

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IBook G4 (Jun 2005 model) Logic Board Problem (No Display and HDD noise)

Hello All
I have been using my iBook G4 (1.2 GHz) with no problems since I purchased it in June 05. But over the past 2 days, I have been noticing this weird incident of "no display" when booted and I was hearing a loud fan noise at times and I can hear my HDD spinning etc. When I tried to restart pressing CTRL+OPTION and POWER after shutting it down, it booted up but reverted my PMU to a date in 2001 (resetting all my email, music etc). But when I tried shutting it down again and restarted normally, I heard the bootup chime but no display. Again, I could hear the fan and the HDD spinning.
I took my laptop to the Apple Store here in Boca, FL today and was told that its a logic board problem.
I know there was a Logic Board Repair Initiative from Apple for the G3's and early G4's. Does anyone know such a thing for the fairly recent iBook G4's??.
Any help is immensely appreciated.
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[email protected]
[email protected]
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How do I verify that my issue is a logic board issue. Recently, computer froze. Tried a hard reboot but no luck. It either shows a blank blue screen or I'll get the grey screen and apple with the start-up spinner but it'll stop spinning.
That's it. I'm able to browse the contents of the iBook's harddrive when I connect it to my Ti Powerbook via Target Disk mode. I even lauched Disk Utility from the powerbook and verified the iBook's drive and it found no problems.
Could it be the same logic board issues that you guys are having? How do I verify this? Is it worth paying to repair an 800mhz G4 iBook (applecare expired April '06)?
I've heard about kernal panic issues with the macbooks so I'm apprehensive about getting one of those right now too. Getting frustrated. Actually considered copping an inexpensive PC laptop... ugghhh.

How can I differentiate logic board problem from display problem?

I have been given an iBook G3 900MHz (one of the models known to have logic board issues.) When I boot it up, I get the Apple chime, the hard drive spins, and the caps lock and num lock lights light up. Sometimes the display comes on, sometimes it does not. When it does, it flickers and goes off and on. I don't get lines or pixels or anything that I have seen described as being indicative of logic board failure. As far as I can tell, the computer works fine otherwise.
So, how can I be sure the problem is logic board-related and not an issue with the inverter board or the display cable?
I was also wondering, how much trouble - if any - is Apple giving people about replacing logic boards on certain models of iBook? This one should be eligible, as its serial number falls in the right range and it was bought in Oct. '03, which was within the past three years.
Thanks!

there was a period when the display showed colored lines and pixels
Classic logic board symptoms.
The iBook freezes a lot
Mine did, too, with the logic board problem.
my gut tells me the problem is logic board-related.
My gut tells me your gut is probably right.
My question about repair coverage is this: According to Apple's support site, where I entered the serial number, this computer's "estimated purchase date" was October 3, 2003. But the owner no longer has any actual proof of purchase; no receipt, no packing slip, nothing. Is that needed to have Apple replace the logic board?
No. As I said, I bought mine, used, on eBay. I called in when I recognized the logic board symptoms (I had been working these boards for over a year at that point), they sent a box. It went out on Wednesday. They got it, fixed it, and shipped it back to me on Thursday, and it was back in my hands on Friday. (Practice makes perfect, I guess.)
Also, does Apple make their determination of age from when the computer was purchased or when it was built?
Purchase date only.
Or does that decision depend on if a person can produce a receipt or not?
Nope. The only paperwork I sent in with mine was the slip Apple sent in the box to indicate what all I was sending them (adapter, battery, extra RAM). What good would an eBay seller's receipt have done?
I probably have to go to my local service center (in NY that's a place called Tekserve, which is a great place to get a computer fixed, but the wait to be seen averages over an hour!)
Don't mess around with Tekserve. Call Apple at the number listed on the FAQ page:
http://www.apple.com/support/ibook/faq/
Thanks again for your input. I appreciate it.

Logic Board Problem?

Hey Everyone:
I'm still a fairly new Apple user, coming from a world of DIY computer problems. Problem is, this nice compact ibook of mine prevents me from being able to do much on my own. I'm trying to solicit some advice as to what I can do about my current hardware issues.
About 5 months after having my ibook I noticed white spots on my screen. I knew it would be repaired by Apple, but being the cheap SOB that I am I decided to put it off until the end of my 1 year warranty. I figured I could get everything fixed then, and avoid paying for the extended warranty. Well, I followed through with my plan, but I've noticed some new problems. I'm not too happy about this, but at least I realized these problems in time to extend the warranty.
The Problems:
-The first night I got it back, the computer completely froze! Everything working fine, and BAM! The screen looked fine but the entire system was locked up. Fortunately, this only happened twice that night, and I haven't seen it again.
-Also that first night, the computer would not come out of sleep. It sounded like the hard drive would start spinning, and the flashing light would turn off, but the screen was completely blank. I would be forced to hard reboot, and then things worked better. This led me to a reinstall, but the problem still comes back every so often.
-One day, I logged in to find that my clock had been reset to 12:00 and somewhere around 1960(?). I set the clock to the appropriate time, and have since realized this could be a PMU issue. I just reset the PMU a few minutes ago, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed this could solve the problems.
-A couple of weeks ago, the computer would give the dreaded 3 beeps at startup. This seems to imply that OS X can't find the memory bus, but again this seemed to disappear as well.
I'm looking for some help here. I'm afraid that the Genius bar will just ignore me, because I still can't find a way to reproduce my problems on a regular basis. Yet, the instability is driving me nutty, and I rely on my laptop to get almost all of my work done. Overall, I'm not very pleased with Apple's hardware work. Instead of replacing the entire screen casing, they only replaced the screen itself. That seems like a lot of work with a lot of potential to mess things up on my computer. What's with that farce of a bill that Apple used to convince me to renew my warranty saying that the screen cost $400? No way a screen costs that much, maybe the entire unit. Also, I lift up my keyboard and notice the Technician lost one of the screws. What kind of professional work is that, I ask you?
Does anybody have any advice on how I can get help with these problems? I just want to get through these rough times while minimizing my inconveniences, and avoiding the potential loss of any data. I am making regular backups, I just don't like the idea that my laptop can die on me at any given time without any warning.
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maciscool,
That's a good guess, but maybe I wasn't clear enough. The only hardware changes are what Apple did when they replaced the screen. If the RAM is faulty, then it is something they damaged, because everything worked fine before I handed my ibook over to the Genius Bar. I ran memtest, and the Apple Diagnostics CD a few times, and I don't get any errors.
I'm more curious as to how people knew they had Logic Board Problems, and how did they prove this to Apple. As I see it, a problem such as this would either be disastrous or unpredictabe, that latter being much harder to prove to the retailer.

RAM upgrade MBP 7.1 fail. Only stock RAM works. Logic board problem?

pulling my hair out here.
I have recently uprgraded my mid 2010 mbp to mountain lion and thought i would upgrade as much as i could but ran straight into frustration town.
after a full day trying 8 different types and amounts of RAM, my MBP will only boot to a useable state with the stock ram it came with.
I made an appointment with a 'genius' at the apple store (the annoyance of having to call a condescending punk a genius is just too much to handle) and had said 'genius' disappear with my mbp for a half hour or so. Once he returns he tells me it is logic board problem and 'boy you aren't going to like the price of the repair'. F'n' right, genius!
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Charging/DC-in board problem

My computer will no longer charge the battery, even when off, nor will it run at all off of wall power. The adaptor is new and fine, and the battery is fine (i'm using both to power my brother's computer right now). When I plug my computer into the wall with the battery in, the adapter ring glows sometimes yellow and sometimes green. The battery icon at the top of the screen switches from battery power to wall power to charging every few seconds. I have reset the PMU, but it didn't change anything.

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The adaptor is new and fine, and the battery is fine (i'm using both to power my brother's computer right now).
So did you try your brother's charger and battery in your iBook?
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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431
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Charger board or DC-in board problem?

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