I think my iBook is dying

Background: the CD drive died years ago, but it runs Tiger just fine. Replaced the battery a few weeks ago and it holds a charge well. A few months ago, the trackpad sensor (?) started getting iffy, but I learned how to tighten it up by popping out the keyboard and Airport card and pushing in the ribbon thingy. It's a backup Mac -- my sister uses it to play games while on bed rest, and my mom uses it for e-mail and FaceBook when I'm working on the desktop iMac.
Yesterday, Mom said the "pointer" froze while she was logging off FaceBook, so I shut it down and tightened it. I booted up, turned on Airport, and got online. No problem.
This morning, Mom was on FaceBook when it froze -- not the "pointer," but the internet connection. I tried to re-boot, but got the dreaded "?" symbol. I was able to shut it down, and upon starting it again, managed to get about 95% success. Everything showed up on the desktop, but portions of the menu bar were missing -- Airport icon, clock, etc.
I shut down and tried to boot into Safe Mode. It never got past the grey screen with the Apple logo and rotating "gear." After a half hour or so, I forced shutdown and let it rest an hour.
I then started it up again and reset the PRAM -- again, it won't get past the grey screen/logo/rotating gear. There's a faint clicking-growl-buzzing sound.
I'll most likely buy a cheap replacement on eBay, until I can afford a new one, but I'd like to be able to get this one up and running long enough to do a proper clean-off. Any suggestions are appreciated!

My wife had the same freeze and then no startup. Plus deafening jet-engine-like fan noise. Black screen.
This seems to be a failure of the logic board, as I learned in these archived threads:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/209089?tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/210455?start=15&tstart=0
The discussions about the loud fan and startup failure seems to indicate the only solution is a new logic board. But still, I'm wondering, is there any other possible solution?
Or maybe it's finally time to move up from Tiger to Lion ;-)

Similar Messages

_ (Help, my iBook is dying)

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Help
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I think my iBook contracted an STD after playing with his buddy, the iMac G5.
(N.B. the iMac is not relevant to the problem, just like the <html> codes[I'm bored!?])
But anyways, my iBook is a 1.33 14 inch. I got it in December 2004 (X-Mas) I use it every single day of my life! But now my battery is dying, it dies at a rate of 1% per minute ± Therefore MAX operating time is ±1.4 Hours. I do not turn off my iBook ever, I sleep it.
But anyways in XRG (X Resource Graph) my current is given as about 1400 mAh. Less then half from december last year (2900). My iBook is no longer under warranty and I have no money for a new battery. I'm wondering if anyone else has dead battery issues?
If so can anyone help me get over my iBook's Terminal illness?
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Why! My poor iBook's life has been shortened by so long. It's still a young computer. Better save up for a new battery for X-mas. By then I'll probably get a new one for the same price!
Why Are iBook batteries quoted to last so long? Are people expected to only use their batteries for a month then replace them? I just think that the rate of deterioration is far to great! Just say, If I had applecare, which I don't, would I get a new battery or replacement of some type?

I think my iBook G4 is dying...

I've had my iBook G4 for about a year and lately it's been getting real slow and every few weeks I get the blue screen of death for a few hours, but even before that my display has been going out randomly. Sometimes when I try to wake it from sleep it doesn't come back on, but the computer itself is on (I can hear the volume change, press the caps lock key and see it light up) and other times it just goes out while I'm using it. I'm no expert, but it seems like it could be a loose wire? Thoughts? Any way to fix it? Thanks!

B,
yes, sometimes when I've moved it it's flickered and I think once or twice it's gone out
Most likely that's an inverter problem. If it is you should get it fixed. The problem usually occurs at the hinge point and if it shorts out (vs just opening up) it could blow a tiny SMT fuse on the logic board. Been there and fixed that but a pro is probably going to want to replace the cable and the logic board. $$.
are they something I could fix on my own
Yes if you're experienced.
or would I have to have a pro do it and if so, expensive?
Not too at this point. Probably around $75 + parts (see iFixit for that cost) but maybe more in LA. Oh check w/ DT&T services:
http://www.dttservice.com/
They're in Fremont, CA.
Richard

Old ibook has died; Can I get my thesis off hard-drive and on to macbook?

Howdy,
My trusty old ibook has finally died (which is understandable; it is some six years old and has been around the world with me, and has served me well)... however, i didn't have the foresight to get some very important files (my thesis among them) backed up elsewhere...
When I attempt to turn on the ibook, the screen stays black, i hear one or two chirps, and then nothing... if i put my ear close, i can hear the extremely soft sound of something spinning (the harddrive, i assume).
I have attempted to access the ibook harddrive by connecting it to my new macbook via firewire and starting up the ibook while pressing "T", but to no avail; it does not appear on the macbook as a disk, or anything at all.
Is there anything else I can try to access the important data on my ibook, and transfer files onto my macbook? Thank you so much for any help and advice... it will be much appreciated!
love,
dewfall

Dewfall:
Ronda's suggestion to try Disk Warrior is a good idea. Actually there are three excellent directory maintenance and repair utilities (including Disk Warrior): Tech Tool Pro, Disk Warrior and DriveGenius
These all do a great job of repairing directories and have revived many a seemingly dead HDD. TechTool Pro and DriveGenius do a number of other things, and even they you purchase one of these and it does not work, it is a good tool to have in your toolkit. I own both TechTool Pro and Disk Warrior and use one or the other at least monthly.
However, your main concern at the moment is to rescue your data, and if the drive is viable at all, placing it in an enclosure and connecting to another mac will help. The directions linked in my earlier post are very explicit and helpful. The enclosure linked there is the best price I have seen anywhere, and it does have the more reliable Oxford 911+ chipset. If you decide to remove the HDD here are few tips you may find helpful:
• Print out the ifixit directions as well as the screw guide ahead of time.
• Be sure you have the right tools. You don't want to damage the screw heads or you may never get them out. And the Torx 8 screw driver is critical.
• I use small medicine cups one for the screws in each step. I nest them so that the last ones out and the first to go back in are on top. You can use an ice cube tray, egg carton, dixie cups etc. (Some users report cutting up the screw guide and placing the applicable section in each container.)
• Be very careful pulling out leads. Hold the lead as close to the plug as possible and wiggle (the plug ) to loosen its grip. Don’t hold the wires and pull as that can damage the cable, or worse, in some instances pull the wires out of the plug. Use needle nose pliers if you can access the plug, or nudge the plug with a small instrument to help loosen its grip.
• Use force gently in removing parts. Separating upper and lower case takes some doing. Use a plastic tool (spudge) so as not to leave marks.
• Refer to the screw guide when reassembling computer. Putting longer screws in the wrong place can perforate the circuit board.
Please do post back should you have further questions or comments.
Cheers
cornelius

Tried to connect to TV, display (ibook?) died

I hope someone can help me with this one!
I have been having some issues lately connecting my ibook to a tv ... kinda of had to fidget with the video plug to get it to work right. It would be almost all the way plugged in but not quite and then it would show up on the tv.
Well, today I was doing this routine again, fidgeting with the plug trying to get it to display on the tv, and the ibook screen was flickering and then it went totally black. The backlight is also not turning on.
I was also in the middle of transferring a 700mb file from an external storage disk to my ipod.
I couldn't get the screen to turn back on and didn't nkow what else to do so I forced a reboot.
Now it still won't turn on. It is sounding the chime. I <think> the harddrive is spinning but i'm not sure. I zapped the pram, and reset the pmu (well i followed the directions, but there's no way to tell whether it actually reset or not). I also put my installation disk in thinking, surely it would boot from that. Well it was spinning in the drive, but still no screen so i have no idea if it is starting or not.
Now I cannot eject the disk, even if I hold down the trackpad button.
Any advice??
Is it possible that it's stuck in some sort of inbetween tv and normal mode??
Or has the logic board failed (please no!)

i believe that your mlb has failed. if you let it sit
for a while and eventaully high fans come on then its
def dead
mlb? Sorry... not up to speed with the acronyms.
And do you mean let it sit and the fan will come on on its own??

My iBook is dying?

Hi, I have an iBook G4. In the last month, it has been having some issues. First of all it started to shutdown randomly, and when it is off, it doesn't start unless I take out the battery.
Also the display when off the other day, but the computer was still on.
Is muy iBook dying?
How can I fix it? If I erase all the data and start all over, would that help?

Tom:
Since you do not specify which iBook you have click here and navigate to your iBook, the click on HD replacement for step by step directions.
In terms of tools, you can get the tools from ifixit. Look in the right sidebar under required tools.
Here are few tips you may find helpful:
• Print out the ifixit directions as well as the screw guide ahead of time.
• Be sure you have the right tools. You don't want to damage the screw heads or you may never get them out. And the Torx screw driver is critical. For a spudge I use the handle of an old toothbrush (choose one made of hard plastic), cut off the brush and bevelled the handle end like a flat blade screw driver).
• Picking up on one user’s suggestion, I clicked on the pages of each step which involved removing screws to enlarge, then printed out the pages. I poked holes in the paper where the screws were removed, poked the screws in the holes and stacked the pages in order in which there were removed. Reassembling was a lot easier. No cups to tip over and spill. No guessing. Each screw was exactly in the right place. You can use an ice cube tray, egg carton, dixie cups etc. I previously used small medicine cups one for the screws in each step. I nested them so that the last ones out and the first to go back in are on top. (Some users report cutting up the screw guide and placing the applicable section in each container.)
• Be very careful pulling out leads. Hold the lead as close to the plug as possible and wiggle (the plug ) to loosen its grip. Don’t hold the wires and pull as that can damage the cable, or worse, in some instances pull the wires out of the plug. Indeed, some users have pulled the socket off the logic board! Use needle nose pliers or tweezers if you can access the plug, or nudge the plug with a small instrument to help loosen its grip.
• Use force gently in removing parts. Separating upper and lower case takes some doing. Use a plastic tool (spudge) so as not to leave marks.
• Refer to the screw guide when reassembling computer. Putting longer screws in the wrong place can perforate the circuit board.
cornelius

Ibook g4s / dying out?

is it just me or does there seem to be a noticeably greater number of 'ibook, blue or black screen, hard drive dying, cold restart, etc ...' posts lately? i wonder because my 5 year old machine just gave up the ghost on the weekend. (yes, it was due to that mentioned above.) (i type this from a nice and new and shiny macbook.) are we witnessing a 'critical mass' of faulty parts? i must note however, i replaced my machine gladly because, a. the repairs were too costly, (@$400) and b. i felt that since the g4 has given me nothing but stellar service over the past half decade, i couldn't complain. raymond.

raymond:
Congratulations on your new MacBook! Five happy years with an iBook G4 is great!
iBooks, both G3 and G4 have been plagued with hardware issues, notably a variety of logic board issues. Yes, you see quite a few of them in these forums. Unfortunately the millions of iBook users who have not had issues and are happily computing on their iBooks don't post here, so we hear only of the problems experienced with iBooks, but not of those who are perfectly happy with them.
One of my sons-in-law has an iBook G4 14" 1.33 GHz, and he ran into serious issues with his iBook. After swapping out the HDD a couple of times he passed it to me to see if I could help. I soon found that the ATA Controller failed. The computer works perfectly fine for him booting from an external firewire HDD. On the other hand one of my other daughters also has iBook G4 of the same vintage. Apart from some occasional OS maintenance I do for her, she is perfectly happy with her iBook G4 1.33 GHz. I have a long thread about my son's-in-law iBook in this forum, but not a word about my daughter's. That by way of illustration.
Donating your iBook to be repaired and recycled will extend the happy years you had with it to someone else. What a deal!
cornelius

I think my ibook is totally screwed.....

ok, so first off, I'm going to sound like an idiot. I manage bands, not computers..... I envy whoever can answer this. So I was in the "get info" section of my hard drive and dropped down the ownership and permissions window and I think I accidentally left it on "no access" then when I closed that window, everything went away except for the dock, nothing would open so I restarted the computer. I get to the log in screen no problem, type in my password..... and then it just sits with a blank bluue screen. Also, I don't have any of my original cd'ss that came with the computer, but i do have my imac g5 cd's if that would do anything?...... so I guess I'm screwed????
Anyway, If anybody can figure this out, I will send you cd's t-shirts. you can check out the band @ www.myspace..com/scientistvswerewolf

Did you have a backup of everything on your iBook before this happened, perhaps on your iMac G5? Or are there files on the iBook that are not currently on the iMac? Depending on the answer, that presents two possible solutions.
First, you can't use your CDs from the iMac on the iBook; they're not compatible, so if you don't can't find the CDs for your iBook. you will need to buy a retail version of OS X 10.3 or 10.4, whichever you need or prefer.
If you can find the CDs for your iBook, you can use it to run Disk Utility and Repair Permissions; this may fix the problem. If not, assuming you have a backup of what's on the iBook or at least nothing you can't easily replace, you can do an Archive & Install, preserving Uses and Network settings. This will move everything currently on the iBook to a Previous System folder, which won't be usable anymore. If the files you need are in one of its sub folders, you can copy them over to your new install and then delete the Previous System folder.
Can't find the iBook CDs? Then you should try connecting your iBook and iMac in Target Disk Mode, and see if you can use Disk Utility to repair permissions on the iBook. In this case, the iBook is the Target.
In the future, don't change anything unless you understand the consequences of doing it, and have a backup plan just in case.
Hope this helps,
Mulder
iMac G4 700Mhz Mac OS X (10.3.9)

I think my iBook G4 got "fried" this a.m.

I was writing emails this morning when there was a "pop" and the house electric went out. When it came back on I could not start my iBook G4 again. I think it may be fried but I made an appt with the Genius Bar just for confirmation. I did not have a surge protector attached!! My fault!! Is there a re-set button somewhere I don't know about?

The following kb article will tell you how to reset the PMU:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1431

I think my iBook is dead...

This really burns me up. I've owned two Apple laptops now, and both died within a few weeks of having them. I thought that Apples were the most reliable computers out there?
Anyway, up until about ten minutes ago, this iBook hasn't given me any trouble at all, aside from a battery issue. Anyway I was just casually perusing the internet for maybe 10 minutes. I then had put the iBook down for 2 minutes to help my girlfriend do something. When I went back, the computer was kind of frozen; I could move the mouse around but couldn't do anything else. I then closed the lid to try to put it to sleep--no luck. When I opened it, the screen kind of flickered and some lines flickered across the screen. It did that for maybe 5 seconds and then the screen went blank. I tried to put the comptuer to sleep by closing the lid, but no luck. I then shut it down by holding the power button. Now I can't get it to turn on again.
So is this a dead logic board? This stinks. It was already replaced once; why would it die again? I was just starting to like Apples again after the last failure...

You may want to calling (800) 767-2775 and ask for Customer Relations (NOT Customer Service--they can't help you) and ask them to please make an exception to the three-year limit in your case.
It has been suggested by a couple of engineers who posted in the Displays Forum that picking it up by the left front corner alone can cause enough flexing of the case to make the solder of the graphics chip come loose from the logic board, causing this failure. The recommendation is to never pick it up by the left front corner alone. If you're picking it up with your left hand, pick it up in the center of the trackpad.
Other Apple laptops have logic board failures, but not in as great numbers as the iBook G3 (Dual USB).
If you are unwilling to pay to have it fixed, and Apple won't fix it, you may want to try John Sawyer's do-it-yourself fix:
http://discussions.apple.com/messageview.jspa?messageID=1033473
Instructions for removing the lower case can be found here:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/50.5.0.html
PowerBook Tech buys non-working iBooks and parts them out, but I have no idea what they pay for them.
Whatever you decide, good luck.

I think my screen's dying.

only today it's been kinda dull, and goes from dull to bright (normal) and just really annoying. can this be fixed......well, without buying another laptop? hopefully it goes away but have u heard of something similar?

If your iBook is around the 3yr old mark or longer then I would say the wiring thru the right hinge that carries voltage etc to the screen's backlight is starting to fail. I would think seriously about
1. Repairing it ($300 min)
2. Replacing the display ($300)
3. Fixing it yourself ($30 part and 6 hrs of your time - very difficult repair job)
4. Sell the iBook before it fails consistently and buy another laptop Mac
If I were you I would sell and buy another laptop. Time to move on, I say.

IBook G4 died.... what to do?

My iBook G4 1.2GHz died, presumably because of a small machine screw I discovered that had shaken loose from inside.
At first the computer would just lock randomly, and the display would freeze up with vertical lines. The freezing became more frequent over a couple of days, until finally the computer just refused to power up at all. I attempted to reset PRAM and PMU to no effect.
Now when I attempt to power on there is no chime. I hear the optical drive crank and hard drive spin up, but the screen does not light and there is no further drive activity. The machine is then totally unresponsive unless I reset the PMU again, which then only lets me try to power up again with the same results.
I pulled the hard drive and placed it into an enclosure, it works fine.
Power is getting to the hard drive, optical drive, and keyboard (caps lock light toggles).
Neither the LCD nor external display will show anything
The AC adapter and battery are known to be working, and the symptoms are the same from either power source.
I figured the logic board must have went bad, presumably thanks to that loose screw bouncing around and causing havoc. I can do my own repairs, so I ordered a replacement logic board off eBay. However, after a smooth replacement the iBook exhibited the EXACT same symptoms, except that occasionally the LCD backlight would power up with the replacement logic board.
It appears I have a lemon replacement board from my eBay seller, but my question is whether anything else could caused these symptoms. I can't imagine what that would be though. Any ideas?
Thanks,
-Dan

Dan,
Of course it is possible that you're right about the screw. Where did it come from?
It's a 12"... does this mean both logic boards have fried graphics chips then?
Not necessarily
I never got the chance to see the vertical lines problem with the replacement board since the machine won't boot... no matter which logic board I try now it won't boot.
OK let's look at one at a time
Is the inability to boot, no chime, etc also symptomatic of the failed chip?
Yes but the other problem is possibly U28 on the bottom of the board. Examine that chip carefully with a strong magnifier. Does the soldering look good?
Here Corey does a shim fix:
http://www.coreyarnold.org/ibook/
OK let's go back to the first one and try to boot it with a shim placed on the
ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 4x AGP graphics processor chip.
When you put the book back together it's the one under the heat sink with ATI written on it. It's the last of the three down. Put a piece of cardboard between the heat sink and the chip. Better a thermal pad but for this test the chip doesn't put out that much heat.
The ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 4x AGP has a known failure rate and is infamous in Dell, Sony, IBM and Compaq notebooks. Since you saw lines at one point we're trying to find out if it's the ball grid array that has failed.
Does anyone know if Apple covers this flaw out of warranty?
No they did on the G3s but so far nothing on the G4s except in Denmark.
Richard

IBook G4 dying- any hope?

My iBook G4 has been fine for the 10 months I've had it.
For the last 2 days, it's been failing to boot up with a different result every time: display seems on but nothing appears; gets stuck at the gray screen; gets stuck when the apple appears; appears as a terminal prompt asking to continue start or use safe mode; desktop appears but either freezes or immediately goes to a window saying that the iBook must be restarted.
After leaving it for a day, it now starts up very slowly and always freezes within 15 minutes. I've run disk utility but it finds no problems with either the disk or the permissions.
Luckily, I was able to back up some critical docs I was working on during one of the windows of life.
Please, any help would be appreciated, especially if there's some way to fix this without sending it in (I'm in Belgium right now and the closest apple store is 3 hours away in London!)
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3) 1.33 Ghz, 512MB

Your problem may not be as dire as you think. The symptoms you mention sure seem like they are being caused either by corruption in your System or User Cache files, or corruption to the directory. Given the nature of the crashes you probably will have to address the issue of directory corruption first before attempting any other type of maintenance.
Directory corruption (something Disk Utility is not very good at detecting or repairing) is best addressed by Disk Warrior I suggest you look into purchasing it . It's an excellent utility for repairing directory corruption, and IMO a "must have" for the maintenance toolbox.
Other types of maintenance requirements can be handled by OnyX. This freeware utility can correct cache and other problems.
If you use OnyX, please make sure you understand what the program can do (informationfound in the program's Help menu) before using it.
At the time of this posting Disk Warrior's site was not accessible. If so, try this link later - http://www.alsoft.com/
Message was edited by: Hawaiian_Starman

IBook is dying? Or not. Help me!

For the past month or two my iBook G4 (about a year and a half old) has been randomly freezing on me. I was confused and panicked and called all my friends who knew about macs and did everything possible to fix it. I had been keeping it on most of every day in various stages of sleep for the past school year, and it hadn't gotten much use over the summer. When I got back in the fall it worked normally for a few weeks and then started just freezing. It would freeze whenever I tried to use it in class, or a second after I logged in, or after 30 mins to an hour of use. For a couple weeks I couldn't really use it for more than 15 minutes without it shutting down on me, probably twice in that period of time.
Here's what's confusing me: I ran a maintenance and a virus scan, I made sure that it was getting power because I always keep it plugged in as long as I'm not in class, and I made sure that it was off any time I wasn't using it. The problem seems to be getting better; It will still freeze maybe every other day but I can use it for at least a couple of hours before it does for the most part. Yet it still freezes when I take it to class or move it around.
The only thing I have not done (besides taking it to a tech) is erasing everything and starting from scratch.
My questions are the following:
Should I wipe it and start over, or is it likely to be a completely different problem? If I should, I know I need to back up the files, but my computer doesn't seem to want to install the Backup Program (keeps telling me it won't open in various files or that it can't be read or something), so can someone help me with that?
I know it was suggested that someone else whose computer was freezing check to see if they have Applecare- I have no clue whether not I have it and would love it someone could tell me how to find out.
And finally... should I need to take this to an Apple store or something, should I take it back to the COMPUSA we bought it at? or go to an actual Apple store (if this is the case, does anyone know a location relatively close to Athens, GA?)
Thank you so much for helping me!!!

hey there,
sorry to read that, one simple thing you could try that often bugs people on ibooks is taking any additional ram you have out, and put i back in place, that could explain why it freezes. If you don't feel confident enough to do it, take it to any apple store, they'll do it in a minute and shouldn't charge you. The best way to find out about your applecare is to call apple, they'll be able to tell you.
One last idea i have, your computer hates class, and would rather stay at home and sleep all day, just like any of us!
Hope you'll solve this problem, regards
C

My ibook is dying, help!

well my ibook froze the other day, so i was forced to do a hard shutdown. when i tried to bring it back up, it wouldn't get past the gray apple startup screen. since then, i have been using target disk mode to try to recover the data (i just bought a 250 gig drive for backup, no backups performed). anyway... i can get the drive to mount and show up in finder... however, after accessing the drive for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes finder, or whatever is accessing the drive, locks up. this includes: disk utility, dd_rhelp, data rescue ii, super duper, and some more i probably forgot about already. when i plug in the drive, i can sometimes get to the directories and so i have been able to save a few photos. when everything hangs, i have to pull the firewire cord and then the host computer (my powerbook g4) comes back from the hang and i try to mount the drive again...
any help for me? any tricks to get this drive working long enough to get some more data off of it?
thanks,
keith

Were you able to use the Disk Utility in your PowerBook in 10.4.7, to see
and 'repair disk' in the iBook, when connected by FireWire cable? [Forget
about verifying anything when your best hope is to pry a few repairs out
of the iBook's messed up hard drive, and any chance at repairing it just
enough to get that much more out, is not what verify can do.]
You can hardware troubleshoot the iBook's other hardware by installing
a new OSX version into an external FireWire hard drive (bootable extern-
nally enclosed drive) and if you have third party disk utilities, install them
onto the external as well. If you partition the external Firewire drive, you'd
then be able to have more than one OSX system on it; one per partition.
That means, your external drive would be also ready for use with your
PowerBook; backing up the drive or making a complete clone of the
entire hard drive is great medicine; if done before a failure. As in the
iBook's situation, if you could've gotten all the good stuff off that Book's
drive, then get the machine to boot from the OSX installer disc#1, and
get it to boot into Disk Utility, those utilities (zero data option) and re-
formatting to HFS+ could at least be assured if any minor drive errors
were there, they'd be 'written over by zeros' this way. A fresh start.
With a one year old iBook (close to or past the anniversary?) the ticket
would be (or would've been) to get the extended AppleCare protection.
Could be just a hard drive... Best of luck in this adventure.

I think my iBook is dying

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