Stange unheard of fault with iBook G4..

Ok this is how it goes...

You hear of all the problems with the logic boards with the iBook around this era but yet i havn't found any that match the description of the problem I have..


Can any one help me??

Basically if my iBook was a regular laptop you would instantly say... yes this is an overheating problem, put some new thermal compound on the processor..

But this is an iBook!?!?!?

The iBook will boot fine, have no problems what so ever, the screen shows no distortion or glitchy-ness, text comes up fine, always runs any programmes fine....
but then... the screen will freeze after about 6-7mins.. freezing everything.. fan still runs fine, caps lock and num locks lights still turn on and off when pressed (I heard this is another fact that needs to be mentioned) otherwise nothing will respond to anything i try..

So.. i turn it off and try to turn it back on again and the freeze will be almost instant.. I need to leave it for a "cool off period" to get it to even get past the OS loading screen..

This is when i desided to investigate.. by taking apart the iBook.. (possibly one of the most scariest things i have ever done!!!!! apple certainly don't want people doing DIY repairs!!!)

The heat sink pads were still in place and everything looked all in order..

(Thought i'd add that i sucessfull re-assembled the iBook without any spare parts which is apparently quite an achievement.. lol)



So this is where I need your help..
Can anyone Diagnose this problem???

i've had 1 friend guess it's a problem with the voltage regulator...

But wud really apriciate any clues to what this problem is so i can fix it..
thanks peeps!!!!

oh.. thought i shud add..
It's the iBook G4 12" 1.2GHz..

you might want to take that to an apple store if you still have apple care

ibookclamman300 said:

you might want to take that to an apple store if you still have apple care

Click to expand...

Unfortunatly I live in england where there is only 8 Apple stores!!!!!

I no.. Shocking... I lived in sydney, australia a small time ago and they pretty much have an apple store in every suburb..

My nearest apple store is about 250miles away

So wud love for anyone who might be able to save me the 500mile round trip...

Might be the hard drive seizing when it gets warm or hot.

Brown Study said:

Might be the hard drive seizing when it gets warm or hot.

Click to expand...

Maybe.. but the laptop it self doesn't feel hot at all really...

well... 6-7 mins aint that long for any computer to heat up...

If it is this how wud i stop it from happening??

Whatever spinning bearings or axles or whatever spins in hard drives might be shot, so they'd get hot or simply decide to take time off when ordinarily they wouldn't. I'd back up all the important files as soon as possible.

If that's the problem, it's not as likely you'd need an Apple specialty store to replace the drive.

I would not suggest you put the computer in a freezer for a few hours in an attempt to stave off the seizing. (This idea is floating around the net.) Power going through circuits and/or the mother board when it's that cold might do damage. Cold decreases battery power, too.

Brown Study said:

Whatever spinning bearings or axles or whatever spins in hard drives might be shot, so they'd get hot or simply decide to take time off when ordinarily they wouldn't. I'd back up all the important files as soon as possible.

If that's the problem, it's not as likely you'd need an Apple specialty store to replace the drive.

I would not suggest you put the computer in a freezer for a few hours in an attempt to stave off the seizing. (This idea is floating around the net.) Power going through circuits and/or the mother board when it's that cold might do damage. Cold decreases battery power, too.

Click to expand...

ok.. dont like the idea of putting it in the freezer!?!?!?!?
so if i take out the hard drive and chuck it in the freezer over night an try it again would that have the same effect??

Also it's only got a 30Gb hard drive so is it worth buying another to see if that'll fix the problem???

Finx_1 said:

so if i take out the hard drive and chuck it in the freezer over night an try it again would that have the same effect??

Click to expand...

That seems to be an accepted practise on the net, apparently. But I'm no expert. No microcircuitry in the computer would be affected by contraction and expansion, though.

And I have my suspicions that condensing water vapour as the machine warms isn't factored into the equation. There'd be less danger of that doing any damage if it's just the drive you freeze.

Also it's only got a 30Gb hard drive so is it worth buying another to see if that'll fix the problem???

Click to expand...

Freeze the drive first and see what happens. If the computer runs for a longer time than before, you've probably narrowed down the problem. At that point, you'd have no choice but to replace the drive.

Cheers.. i'll try this method.. and post what happens..

I have another laptop.. a TIME A520-K7...

I no.. I no.. TIME is a disgrace to the computer industry but i was young and clueless when i got it..
This is why i bought the iBook..

But it has a 60Gb hard drive in it.. cud i just move it over to the iBook and see what happens??

I have never changed a HDD (I no how 2 tho..) so i dont no the effects..
Will i need to reinstall an OS??? Or format the Drive first..???
Also will the b any compatability issues???

Cheers..

I never heard of TIME. Don't power it up in the Mac, even if the connectors fit — I doubt they would — until you find out whether it's compatible. You might fry everything. And the OS wouldn't work, anyway, even if the thing connects. It would be like dropping a Toyota engine into a Honda and expecting it to fit and hook up to the transaxle.

Anyone better versed in hardware out there?

Brown Study said:

I never heard of TIME. Don't power it up in the Mac, even if the connectors fit — I doubt they would — until you find out whether it's compatible. You might fry everything. And the OS wouldn't work, anyway, even if the thing connects. It would be like dropping a Toyota engine into a Honda and expecting it to fit and hook up to the transaxle.

Anyone better versed in hardware out there?

Click to expand...

Cheers for the heads up... TIME is a company from the UK.. similar to dell, packard bell, etc.. but there stuff is notorious 4 going wrong...

Travelstar r apparently the way to go...

fingers crossed this is right.. I'm preying this ain't a logic board problem..

It could be this issue. If so it could be repaired.

http://www.forbrug.dk/fileadmin/Filer/PDF/ENGF959-orig.pdf

PDF takes a bit to load.

dtravis7 said:

It could be this issue. If so it could be repaired.

http://www.forbrug.dk/fileadmin/Filer/PDF/ENGF959-orig.pdf

PDF takes a bit to load.

Click to expand...

I dont think it is..
Because I don't need to use the "Clamp" method for the laptop to work..

I will be taking the laptop appart to try the hard drive freezing method.. while doing this i will check the high lighted components for dodgy connections..

i'll post the results..

Keep us posted. Some of your symptoms do fit the video ram issues.

"(the screen will freeze after about 6-7mins.. freezing everything.. fan still runs fine, caps lock and num locks lights still turn on and off when pressed (I heard this is another fact that needs to be mentioned) otherwise nothing will respond to anything i try..)"

That right there very well could be the solder joints on the Video.

Which G4 iBook is it? What Speed G4?

dtravis7 said:

Keep us posted. Some of your symptoms do fit the video ram issues.

"(the screen will freeze after about 6-7mins.. freezing everything.. fan still runs fine, caps lock and num locks lights still turn on and off when pressed (I heard this is another fact that needs to be mentioned) otherwise nothing will respond to anything i try..)"

That right there very well could be the solder joints on the Video.

Which G4 iBook is it? What Speed G4?

Click to expand...

Yes.. the fact mentioned here is similar to the whole chip issue..
but the fact when i turn off then back on it screws up straight away causes me to think it might b something else..


From experiance..
(a while back i took apart my PC laptop to clear out all the dust and fluff built up in the fans and cleaned the thermal compound off the processor without replacing it... :S)
This is producing the exact same symptoms as what is happening here..
When I opened up the iBook the first thing i checked was the processor for thermal compound.. (it had 1 of those thermal pads with it) but i still applied some compound to help..

If these Dodgy chips are being effected by even the smallest ammount of heat then the possibility is quite strong..

The model of iBook is:

M9623LL/A
iBook G4 12" 1.2GHz (Late 2004)

If you want to try the drive from your PC, you definitely can.

Just make sure it's also ATA and not SATA (the plugs are different) and hook it up.

You'll need to reformat it with disk utility on the included CDs to HFS+ format, but then you'll be good to go - if that is the issue.

Aptmunich said:

If you want to try the drive from your PC, you definitely can.

Just make sure it's also ATA and not SATA (the plugs are different) and hook it up.

You'll need to reformat it with disk utility on the included CDs to HFS+ format, but then you'll be good to go - if that is the issue.

Click to expand...

You are talking about Laptop hard drives.. arn't you???

Yep...

erm... ok...

as a reply to the freezin the HDD... left it in the freeze in a ziplock bag.. (so no moisture got in) for 6hrs... put it straight in freezing cold.. 4mins later same effect with the screen freezing... Checked the temp and it was still cold to the touch..

As for the soldering of the components.. i did a very small small ammount of touching up of the notorious legs of the well know chips to fail.. and also added shim's to the chips... still same effect..



this is very weird...

could it b that the processor is fried but for some reason works for a small ammount of ime when completely cool...??

Sorry, Finx. I'm out of ideas.