IBook G4 problems

Two years ago I bought an iBook G4. Like a complete idiot I didn't buy the AppleCare Plan. I didn't think we would use it as often as we do. I did use a credit card to buy it, however, which extended the warranty on extra year.
In the first year the black lettering started wearing off the keyboard. Apple replaced it. Into my second year the Firewire port stopped working and the black lettering started wearing off the new keyboard. I though I would just have to live with the problem when my credit card company called and reminded me of the warranty extension. I was told that the Firewire port was wired directly to the motherboard and I might as well get a new computer. Extended warranty in hand I visited my local Apple Store believing I would get a new computer out of all of this. To my surprise Apple fixed the motherboard and replaced the keyboard for just over $300. No explanation why the repair was so cheap.
Now my iBook freezes, shuts down without warning and requires a complete power disconnect to restart, and the sometimes the screen go black. Three different power cords have problems keeping connected and the charge icon switches between battery/plug/charge and causes the screen to flicker. The Apple store couldn't duplicated the problems in the brief 5 minutes they looked at it. Now I read that the iBook has motherboard problems. I'll bet my keyboard issue is not uncommon as well.
Any thoughts?

ately, although i recently have had both the logic board and hard drive replaced, my ibook g4 has been crashing when i leave it sleeping. it is unresponsive and i have to manually turn off the computer. when i try to restart a gray screen with a flashing file/question mark appears. i have to manually turn it off and on again and/or leave it to rest for a while before it will work again. i have re-installed/archived following the advice of the local genius bar guy, but that hasn't seemed to help as it continues to crash when i leave it sleeping. also, it has happened a few times recently that the computer just shuts off in the middle of an application session, and will not respond at all to pressing the power button. i thought for sure that my computer was dead the first time it did this, but after leaving it a few hours it responded to pressing the power button. luckily i have everything backed up, but my applecare runs out in a few months and i am afraid that i will be left with a non-functional ibook. can anyone advise me on this, or should i petition apple to replace my ibook?

Similar Messages

Trouble shoot iBook G4 problem

I have an iBook G4 that is having problems. This computer has been replaced with a Macbook. I am trying to determine if the iBook is salvageable. The iBook was dropped on the floor about a year ago. It required a replacement logic board. It was replaced (big mistake). I am getting strange things like it won't boot (box in the middle of screen with a question mark (?). I have been able to get around this several times by running Disk Warrior in target mode. Since replacing with Macbook, I have erased and reinstalled Tiger. Currently, I am getting a message to "enter keychain password." It won't accept my login password. Manny problems with this computer. Bottom line: Is there anything out there diagnostic wise to figure out the problem? I don't want to put any more money into it. I would be willing to put in a new HD, but otherwise it might go out for the garbage.

By comparison, my iBook drive, a new WD 120 GB, has 2045 power on hours, has a temperature of 44〫C, and shows no errors. However, since your drive came up "verified" in Disk Utility" and "Passed" in S.M.A.R.T. Utility, I'm not sure what to make of the 22,189 CRC error count or the total error count of 6. Did you click on the "Show All" to see the detail of the CRC error count?
I'm not a hard drive expert, but it is my understanding that there can be some errors and the drive will still be OK. Over time the number of errors will increase, and at some point there will be so many that the status of the drive will change from "Passed" to "Failing" or "Failed". But this has not happened to yours. And the number of power on hours seems quite low. But the CRC error count seems quite high.
S.M.A.R.T. status is not infallible--it is just a means of trying to predict a hard drive failure in advance so that you can rescue your data before the drive dies. A "Failing" or "Failed" status is more credible than a "Passed" status. So I am not certain that the drive is really OK.
Since you mentioned running Disk Warrior in Target Disk Mode, I assume that you have done all you can to repair the disk and permissions.
What might be good to do next is to try installing Tiger on your firewire external drive and run the iBook for a while on the external and see if the weird problems persist. Since the iBook was dropped, almost anything could have happened. If it runs perfectly off of the external drive, then I would tend to still be suspicious of the internal drive, or possibly its connections. However, if the weirdness is still there when running off of the external drive, that would indicate some other problem. But I do think that running the iBook off of the external drive for a while is the thing to do next. Please post back with how it goes.
Good luck!

Strange ibook display problem

My wife has a 12" ibook g4 1.33 mhz. It has been exhibiting the following symptoms with increasing frequency:
1) the display will completely dim to the lowest setting or cycle between bright and dim, as if pressing f1 and/or f2 repeatedly
2) some of whatever she was typing or working on at the time will be deleted
3) a string of repeated characters (usually q1aq1aq1a) will appear in her typing
4) often the desktop is brought to the front as if pressing f11 in expose
5) other than the problems described, the computer continues to work normally
6) problems are almost always related to moving the hinge position, but sometimes happen randomly, with no movement at all
7) it will sometimes occur many times a day, then not at all for several days
8) it seems to happen more often when the computer is not on a hard surface, but this may just be my imagination or some random bad luck
I am at a loss as to what the problem may be. I was thinking it might be the display cable because of the link to hinge position, but that wouldn't account for the random typing. Then I thought it was the motherboard, but the computer seems to work ok other than this. I did realize the other day that most of the problems are things on the left hand edge of the keyboard (display brightness, the q1a pattern), but this doesn't account for the deleted typing and the mysterious f11 thing.
Does anybody have any thoughts? Am I looking at a display cable (hopefully this is it - I have no problems with disassembling/reassembling things)? Or is it the motherboard (probably means it would be more economical to get a new machine)? Or is it something else?
Thanks for taking the time to read all this, and I appreciate any help you can provide.

Thanks for the suggestion, Richard.
There was definitely never any liquid spilled. I'm not totally convinced that the keyboard is at fault, mostly due to the problem being linked to the position or movement of the hinges. Could the keyboard be flexing when the lid is moved? But, I figured it couldn't hurt to try your idea out.
I didn't have an external keyboard handy, so I exchanged it with the one from my other ibook. I would have expected the problems to have followed the keyboard if that was the issue, but both computers are functioning normally so far. I have no way to tell if this means something, or if I'm just in one of those lucky streaks where it works for a while before the malfunctions pop up again.
Any other ideas?

Format issue causing iBook navigation problems

Hello!
I created an iBook for a client, but some of the default functions of an iBook aren’t working when it’s previewed on iPad. My question is: since the file format seems to be the issue, what can be done to alleviate it?
Problems
When previewing the iBook on the iPad...
Framing features such as navigation bar, book info, bookmark tool, etc. are missing
The pages lack animated page turns
Right and left page edge riffles are missing
When the iPad is turned vertically…
Pages scroll top to bottom instead of left to right as they should
All images disappear
Basically, the iBooks works mostly well in landscape mode but not so much in portrait mode. The client checked other iBooks to compare and the iBook I created is the only one with problems with the interface functions.
Steps Taken To Save & Preview File
Saved the iBook file as an IBA file. I also Exported it as an iBooks file.
Sent IBA and iBooks files to the client to preview on his iPad (I don’t have one so I can’t preview it myself).
The client opened the IBA file using iBooks Author then clicked the “Preview” button.
The IBA file cross-loads to the iPad and the problems can be seen.
The client also attempted to load the IBA and iBooks files on the Book Proofer application (this application does accept IBA and iBooks files), but that didn't work either. The client told me that are some file format issues unrelated to content, leading me to believe that it's a format issue.
Technical Specifications
iBook Author version I used to create iBook
1.1 (the latest)
iBooks version client used to preview iBook
iBooks version 2.1.1 (April 16, 2012 release)
iPad version the iBook is being previewed on
1st Generation 64GB iPad
File being used to preview on iPad
The IBA and iBooks files for the iBook
Could it be file format incompatibilities? Has anyone had this issue before? I hope the information I provided is useful. Any insight about these issues is greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Catrina

Again, sorry, a 'Shared' .ibooks file has the same format as what users download from the store.
You don't need to be in the store to circulate that file. 'private' as defined depends on you. Email that file if possible and/or put it on your own server/dropbox and share the link to trusted individuals.
If you're sending the .iba file to someone that then uses it in iBA, they need to use the 'Shared' menu to generate an .ibooks file, then drop that into iTunes and sync to their device.
See iBooks Author: Publishing and distribution FAQ - Support

Fixing iBook power problem

I wanted to share an experience I had fixing my son's iBook for a problem that seems common on this forum. The power light on the end of the charging cable was not always indicating the right color. The charging icor in the menu bar was often giving the wrong indication showing no AC adapter was attched, even though it was. Wiggling the connector or applying pressure on it to one side would cause the light and icon to show correctly but as soon as the sideways pressure was removed from the connector, it would act up again.
I suspected mechanical damage internal to the iBook so I used a take-apart guide (http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/iBook-G4-12-Inch/83) and removed the small power board, called the DC-In board in the referenced guide, that the charging connector attaches to. By looking at it with a magnifying glass I was indeed able to see that the solder had cracked on several of the pins that attach the power connector to the board. Using a soldering iron and some fresh solder I was able to touch up all the solder joints. When I reassmbled the iBook, it was working perfectly again.
I realize this type of repair is not something everyone can perform for themselves. But for those who can, consider it. And for those who can't, use this as a big clue where to tell a technician to look to fix the problem, assuming your iBook is having similar symptoms.
I'll stop short of calling this a product defect on Apple's part, but looking at this design mechanically and critiquing it, I can see why Apple went to Magsafe.

Wow excellent detective work and fix. I'd suspected this problem on a lot of posts.
I don't know if I'd blame Apple on this, people walk away, trip over that cord all the time and the constant plugging and unplugging. I think Magsafe is a great solution. I don't see anyone else doing that.
Richard

Two month old iBook has problems waking up, I think

My coworker asked if I could post this message about her problem for her. She just bought her iBook over the summer:
"I fell asleep last night with puter on and internet on, etc., which i've done PLENTY of times in past with other computers... i woke up this morning and had REALLY hard time getting the screen to come up again... screen was left up all night, moving mouse didn't ignite anything, plenty of power, cause cord plugged in... this had also happened once before where I had a hard time getting it to wake up or whatever it was doing, held power button down long time, short time, moved mouse, nothing was working, i gave up, came back an hour later after my frustration over and it started, the fan started, etc. etc..."
She only had AOL and IE open at the time she forgot about the computer and went to bed, if that means anything.
Any help?

First-advise her IE is horrible, she should be using firefox, camino, opera or safari-anything but IE.
Secondly-has she tried this:Resetting PRAM and NVRAM
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.
Or, try restarting from the OS disc(insert disc, restart computer holding the "C" key), go under Disk utility and repair permissions.

Clamshell ibook keyboard problem

I just added some RAM to a 300 mhz blueberry clamshell iBook and upgraded to OS X. Everything went smoothly until it came time to type in the registration info, when I discovered that one diagonal row of keys on the keyboard -- the 9 O L and . keys, to be specific -- no longer worked.
Any idea what might have happened? Did I tweak something while removing the keyboard to get at the RAM? Do I need to get a new keyboard, or is this a problem with the connection ribbon?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Peter...
I can't see how the Ram could be the problem from what you describe. I suggest removing and then connecting the keyboard ribbon just to make sure all the pins are well attached. The pbfixit site has good instructions if you need them...
http://www.pbfixit.com/Guide/49.4.0.html
Failing this perhaps the ribbon itself may be kinked or damaged slightly?
Good luck

Opening pdfs with ibooks ipad: problem

Hi,
I found that many people have this problem: opening a pdf (that's attached to an email) with ibooks, used to work perfectly.
And now it doens't anymore.
Sometimes (1 on 20 tries) it does work. Often the pdf lights up for a second in ibooks, and then disappears again.
I tried doing a reinstall as advised on many fora, but this doesn't help.
Any other ideas why this happens, and a solution?
It's a shame, cos it was such a fast way of working.
Thank you in advance.
Jan.

I have been experiencing this problem for over a month now. Seems a bug in iBooks. However, if I close the iBooks and then from email try to open the attachment from Email, it works. Having iBooks open gives this problem.

IBooks file problems

I am having problems with a collection of exported ibooks that have all originated from one template. When exporting the ibooks into the ibooks application only one file from that collection is visible. When I try to import one of the files in again it asks me whether I would like to replace it which is very confusing with no file visible. I have deleted the .plist files in the library and restarted but the problem still remains.
Does anyone have any ideas?

Just other users are reading here, to report bugs best use the feedback channels:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Ibook power problem

hi
im new here
i have a problem hope you can guide me
i have a ibook 600/128/10GB i think is a dc-in board problem
im just speculating but, i managed to open the ibook and expose both logical and dc board so when i plugged the dc cord a short crackle sounds and the orange led of the dc cord start flashig also a strange sound comes from de dc adaptor, so i unplugged the dc in board strip cable from the logical board and plugged again the dc cord and the short circuit stops and the orange led lights normally , can you tell me what is the problem here? Dc-in board or the logical (hope is only dc)
Thanks for any replies

These are the four most common possibilities when the battery will not charge:
(1) there is something wrong with your battery
(2) there is something wrong with your power adapter
(3) there is something wrong with your power input board (the part that contains the port where you plug in the adapter)
(4) there is something wrong with your logic board
Have you tried resetting the PMU? There is a chance that may help.
When a DC-in board quits working, the computer will run fine from the battery, but won't run from the adapter, and the adapter will no longer charge the battery. This does sound like what has happened to you. To diagnose a bad DC-in board, you need to make sure it isn't the battery or the adapter at fault by swapping out first one and then the other, If it runs from a known good charged battery okay, but won't run from a known good adapter, then you are going to have to replace the power input board. This happened to my husband's. It acted exactly the way yours is acting.
Usually, if it is a logic board problem, the iBook simply will not run from the battery. This happened to mine. The battery showed up in the battery status indicator. It was recognized by the computer and charged by the adapter (as shown by the battery status indicator). However, when I unplugged the adapter from the iBook, it was just like pulling the power cord from the wall on a desktop. The iBook immediately shutdown. Dead.
Judging from our experiences, it is likely a bad power input (DC-in) board.

IBook Battery Problem

Hi guys,
Just registered for these forums, as this is the first problem I've had with my iBook in nearly two years!
Recently, for no apparent reason, my iBook has stopped recognising that it's got a battery in it. An "X" appears in the battery icon on the top right of the screen, and it says "No Batteries Available" when I click on it. The battery is fully charged (according to the lights on the underside of it), and it's inserted correctly...so I have no idea what the problem is.
I'm running 10.4.8 on a 1.2GHz iBook G4.
Any ideas what's up? Anybody experienced this before?
Thanks!
Mike

Thanks Phil.
The iBook itself is just under 2 years old, but thanks to the battery recall program the battery was replaced late last year, October or November I think.
There's not been any physical damage to it, or at least there's not been any I'm aware of! I did think of that, as it seems not to recognise it at all, but I can't think of anything that would've caused it.

IBook G4 problems archive and install or erase and install?

I have been having problems with my iBook G4 (it will be five years old this thanksgiving and it got a new hard drive just before the 3 year applecare ran out). I tried updating safari in may and I think that somehow screwed up my system. I can no longer use safari or open any adobe pdf files. also, when I try to run software update, it will bounce a couple of times in my dock and then disappear.
I can still use word and firefox (although firefox has been quitting with more and more frequency recently, about 4 or 5 times a night). I ran the disc utility and the hardware test and neither of those identified any problems.
I didn't do anything major earlier like an archive and install or reinstall because I couldn't find my copy of word in order to reinstall that, but I found it over the weekend and I am ready to try to fix my computer.
So here is my question--should I do an archive and install or erase and reinstall? also, I have three apple install discs and five of the software restore, is that right? I don't want to get halfway through the process and realize I am missing something.
the iBook is almost five years old, if I start all over, am I going to run into the same problem--that some of the updates won't work on my system and might cause problems?
Thanks!

Welcome to the Forum.
Before that you might want to try running a repair disk routine on the HD, and clear the cache files too. Download ONYX, a free cache cleaner from here: http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs2/english/download.html and clean the system and user files. Once this is done go to the next step.
Booting up while holding down CMD-S. Once the screen of code has loaded and the cursor stopped moving, type in *fsck -fy* (note the space after the 'k') and hit return. Repeat until it says the HD is OK. Type reboot, hit return.
Post back.

IBook G4 - Problems Starting after installing RAM

I installed a 512 MB RAM chip last night, triple-checked it for correct specifications. I've installed, uninstalled, and re-installed it several times, each time getting the same problem. I turn my iBook on, the start-up screen does its thing, and then it stops at the message "Login Window starting," right before my desktop would normally load. This does this with and without the RAM installed. I tried the disk utility CD 1, and it didn't seem to do any good. Any suggestions?

Does the iBook boot and run from the install CD?
If so run DiskUtility from the pull down menu. Still runs OK?
This would seem to indicate pretty good functionality.
Is it possible your software configuration wasn't healthy before you installed the RAM? You might have to do a re-install of the OS.

Ibook PDF problems

Can someone help please. I have upgrade to a new Ipad but my PDF files in iBooks are not showing when I reinstall my profile from Itunes.

Hi and welcome.....
. I've NOT upgraded the iOS at all,
You're having problems with iBooks as a result of not updating your iPad software.
Read here:
iBooks requires 4.2 iBooks: Viewing, syncing, saving, and printing PDFs on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
"iBooks 1.2 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch requires iOS 4.2 or later."
Connect your iPad to your computer. Launch iTunes. Under the Summary tab click: Check for Update
Carolyn

IBook boot problems

Hello, My iBook recently won't boot correctly. It goes to the login screen and then goes to a full screen terminal and asks for my password. The only password that works is the root password. Now this happened after I installed the xvid codec for quicktime but as far as I know that couldent have caused something like this. So in trying to fix this I rebooted the computer into single user mode and removed the applesetupdone (/var/db/.applesetupdone) file to hopefuly get the computer to just go through the intl. setup. Well that didnt work. Now it gets stuck in a loop saying it cant load up the intl. setup. I can still get into single user mode though so it should still be fixable. If not I think the mac has smbmount so I could just move my files over to my friends computer and reformat. I know this problem was not caused by my dual boot because its been running fine for about 2 years. Could anyone tell me how I could fix this boot problem or how to startup the network services in single user mode.
Thanks, Spazo

An update. . .
Booted in TDM and wouldn't show up on my MBP, however could view it in disk utility. It wouldn't let me mount it though. I've tried repairing however after an hour still nothing. Here's the info notes. I'm getting the impression the hard drive is damaged beyond repair.
Name : AAPL FireWire Target Media
Type : Disk
Disk Identifier : disk1
Media Name : AAPL FireWire Target Media
Media Type : Generic
Connection Bus : FireWire
Connection Type : External
Connection ID : 2979676490117816
Partition Type : Applepartitionscheme
Device Tree : /PCI0@0/PCIB@1E/FRWR@3/node@a95fffebd32b8/sbp-2@4020/@0:0
Writable : Yes
Ejectable : Yes
Mac OS 9 Drivers Installed : Yes
Location : External
Total Capacity : 27.9 GB (30,005,821,440 Bytes)
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
Disk Number : 1
Partition Number : 0

IBook G4 problems

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for