G3/900 No Display.

Question

I understand these are some of the 'least reliable' Apple laptops ever, but am wondering if there's a work around. The computer sure ACTS like it wants to work, but either the display, or the video adapter itself has gone bye-bye. If I hook an external monitor to the laptop, should it come on as is, or would I have to do something within the Mac itself, or hopefully, there's a shortcut/keystroke that exists to alternate between built-in display, external monitor, both, etc. (a la a PC notebook)

Answer 1

It should mirror the display upon connection.
Sometimes the graphics chip on the logic board comes loose and that renders the display useless. This also usually causes the iBook to be unusable with an external monitor.
Enough Dual USB G3 iBooks suffered from the logic board problem that Apple began the iBook Logic Board Repair Extension Program in January of 2004 (which has now basically ended, since there is a time limitation of 3 years after the original date of purchase of the iBook). Do the symptoms look familiar? After leaving it sit overnight, does squeezing the case to the left of the trackpad allow you to start up and work for a bit as long as you keep the pressure on it there? If so, you may want to consider trying the shim fix suggested by John Sawyer in the Apple Discussions iBook G3 (Dual USB) Displays Forum:
[Y]ou can often fix this yourself by removing the iBook's bottom housing, and placing a shim of any sort, about 1mm to 1.5mm thick, onto the raised square on the bottom shield. I use a Scotch mounting square--you can get them in hardware stores and many grocery stores. When you reinstall the bottom case, it will press against this shim, which will press against the graphics chip, and may allow the chip to come into better contact with the logic board.
John Sawyer
CJS Macintosh Repair
Instructions for removing the lower case:
iFixit.com