11-14-2007, 12:06 AM

I've been having internet connectivity problems, and other problems, with my blue-and-white Power Mac G4. I believe I've narrowed the problem down to the logic board.

Because money is tight, and also because I'm not 100% certain the problem is the logic board, I bought a used board on Ebay. It's the same part number as my existing board.

The new board has all of the PCI and memory slots. I'll have to remove the heat sink and CPU from my existing board to put on the new board.

I've had non-Mac people tell me it should be a piece of cake, and others warn me of disaster.

So, which is it? And does anyone have any tips? Also, does replacing the logic board require re-installation of software, as one PC owner told me?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

11-14-2007, 12:17 AM

This is probably a Moot point but the Blue and White Macs were a G3 and not a G4 unless the CPU was upgraded with an after market upgrade. I just changed the logic board on my old G3 Blue and White from a Rev 1 to a Rev 2 and it was easy as pie, but then again I do it for a living. It was no harder and maybe easier than a typical PC. Just be sure to plug everything from the old board into the new and don't bend pins or damage anything.

Have you replaced a board in a PC?

If the OS and Software are there and intact it should just work if it's the same board unless something else is wrong.

What were the symptoms when it died?

11-14-2007, 12:43 AM

Thanks for the reply, dtravis7. My mistake: mine is a blue and grey G4.

I've replaced a lot of parts on various Macs, but not a logic board. I was warned by some PC folks to get some heat paste for the heat sink. Actually, I was warned about a lot of things.

The main problem has been internet connectivity. I lose my connection intermittently. Sometimes it's once every few hours, and sometimes every few minutes. I was on the phone with Road Runner tech support for hours, and the support guy and I finally agreed that the problem must lie with the ethernet connection on the logic board.

Because I run OS 10.3.9 as well as OS 9.2.2, I can't just get a network card. Or at least I haven't found one that will work on OS 9.2.

From looking at the board, it would appear to be an easy task. But I've been wrong before.