iBook shorted out?

This will sound really weird. My roommate's laptop got peed on by a drunk guy, and now it wouldn't work so he threw it out. Naturally, I took it out of the trash. He doesn't want it. It's an iBook, he bought it in August '04. 60gb, 256mb ram, 1.25GHz (1.07? I forget), Airport card, 15" screen.

So now it won't start up. There seems to be some corrosion on one of the transistors (a tiny box on the mobo, not sure if it's a transistor or what). What do I do? I can take the thing apart, I found a guide. I'm guessing it's the motherboard that's the issue here. We cleaned the thing dry after throwing the guy out of our dorm room. The iBook was on, and when he peed on it, it shut off/died. So, where can I get a new motherboard cheap or whatever...any ideas? Any ideas for ANYthing? I don't want to waste this hardware, and I'm sure a lot of it still works...

Just so you know, I'm a Windows nerd. Don't hate me, I don't hate Macs! I own two now actually, but yeah. So you might need to get a tiny bit simple but I'm guessing I'll understand what you have to say about the iBook's hardware.

Note this... it's plugged in, it's charging the battery... I push the power button and nothing else lights up. I push the button on the battery, and it does that little thing where the lights light up. But no go on the Power Button. Could it be the power supply?

You could try resetting the power management unit.... hold down the shift + control+option+power! Hold them all down at the same time.

sonofapplepm said:

You could try resetting the power management unit.... hold down the shift + control+option+power! Hold them all down at the same time.

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It made some kind of clicky noise when I did that, but no power yet. In fact, it still periodically makes that noise, and I pushed the buttons like a minute ago. Ok, it stopped. What now?

Well, i have to say i think you have BIG problems! If that would have worked, the iBook would have turned on!

Maybe that was the harddrive trying to spin up?

Maybe just the screen is fried? What happens if you plug in a usb device, (i.e. a mouse or something that will light up even if the mac isn't running?)

I think you may be in bad shape here. A drunk individual may release quite a bit of urine, and if that got onto the keyboard, and under, it would go straight to the logic board.

to put things into perspective, my cat knocked over between a teaspoon and a tablespoon of soda onto my iBook. within seconds, it seeped through the keyboard, but i caught it before it really settled into the airport slot, and down to the logic board. If the drunk guy had done a full round of emptying himself, thats ALOT of liquid.

see if powerbook medic sells logic boards for that particular model. might be up to 500 or so bucks though.

good luck

try to hook un external monitor...

it would have been great if it works, but it could be anything..sigh

Decembermouse said:

This will sound really weird. My roommate's laptop got peed on by a drunk guy

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That's funny but also not. That guy should get the chair for that one; well maybe life in prison.

On a serious note, sounds like the logic board is the problem but who am I to really say. I wouldn't be surprised if the hard drive got damaged as well. I'd just take it in to get looked at or send it in since it should still be under warranty for parts. Since that's destruction of property I would personally sue that guy for damages or go pee on something of his of value and call it even :ninja: . Good luck though, that's just unfortunate.

Decembermouse said:

This will sound really weird. My roommate's laptop got peed on by a drunk guy, and now it wouldn't work so he threw it out. ........

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If that had ever happened to MY iBook, I think I would be throwing the drunk guy in the trash, not the iBook...if you catch my drift

D3v1L80Y said:

If that had ever happened to MY iBook, I think I would be throwing the drunk guy in the trash, not the iBook...if you catch my drift

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lol same with my PowerBook, after of corse i bash the drunk guy over the head with it.

I'll try hooking up a mouse. Nothing really lights up though besides that... the drunk guy didn't release a WHOLE lot of urine as far as I know, my roommate stopped him pretty quick and we quickly dried the thing and its logic board off.

Yes, the 'drunk guy' (lol) bought my roommate a new iBook. Which is why I have the 'dead' one to play with.

Is the 'dead' one covered by damage like that? I mean, it's not either of our faults of course... would they at least look at it for free in a Mac store? Can they possibly repair the logic board, if that's even the problem (which I'm guessing, but not sure, that it is)?


ALSO-- a new development. This is kind of odd. So my roommate took the thing into a Mac shop to get looked at. They gave it back to him and said that yeah he should just have the guy buy him a new one or whatever. What's weird is that the is slot on this iBook is EMPTY! Did the Mac store steal the is? Nobody else could have... the drunk guy doesn't even know what ram IS, or how to open an iBook. Would the lack of ram affect the ability of an iBook to turn on?

The missing RAM just means that more was never added to the iBook, dont worry there is 256 soldered to the LogicBored.

I dont think an apple store worker would steal anything becuase knowing apple they probably have white, shiny cameras hidden some where

Amazing. Didn't know Apple soldered ram. Is it any good? I hear there are different brands you can use on an iBook...

That shiny camera comment made me laugh, though it might help that I'm dying from lack of sleep because of projects for bio.

Warranty, anyone? Could I possibly get it taken care of under that? Would they look at it for free, even if they didn't DO anything to it?

The Apple warranty does not cover "spill" damage...which is probably why the Mac techs told your friend to just have the drunk guy buy him a new one.
They won't look at it for free, and it will probably cost an arm and a leg to fix if it needs a new logic board or other internal parts, etc.

tick tock

Figured as much.

Sitting with it here, I noticed it makes noise sometimes. Evey minute or so, it'll make the sound the letter 'K' makes, twice, with about 2/3 of a second in between them. What is it thinking?

Decembermouse said:

Amazing. Didn't know Apple soldered ram. Is it any good? I hear there are different brands you can use on an iBook...

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I don't know what brand it is, you would have to strip the whole computer down to the logic board to know. My guess is its the same as what they sell you for upgrade, don't remember what kind it is cuz i bought it a wile ago.

screws

I'm trying to take the dang thing apart. I've taken the battery out, and the two screws from within the battery compartment. I've taken the feet out, and two of the smaller screws on the bottom, but can't seem to get the one in the middle out without the right screwdriver. Where in tarnation does one find one of these hexagonal screwdrivers, anyway?