I acquired a 12" PBG4 with a shattered screen for mad cheap and bought a screen to go with it. The screen seems to work, only the backlight isn't lit. I don't know if the backlight is out because I the light is burnt out or because I didn't plug the connector in properly - I do recall its being unsettlingly loose, but I didn't do anything about it because I wanted to get the whole thing together.
The 12" G4 has always been my favorite Mac and I was so excited to get one, but it's a real PITA to work on. I'm used to Thinkpads, which can be disassembled completely by intuition. With the Powerbook, I had to take the whole **** thing apart just to get at the screen, and put it all back together only to find it wasn't working. I took it apart over several days, but I put it together all at once and it took me two hours. I really don't want to spend four more hours unbuilding and rebuilding this thing only to find that I may have to spend a further two taking it apart again to get the screen out and return it to the seller, who fortunately gave a warranty. The seller listed it as tested and working, though, and I'm inclined to believe them because they listed a flaw in the display (a horizontal line running through the middle) that you couldn't know about unless the screen was running.
So I'm asking: Is there any way, short of cutting through the aluminum casing, to get at the backlight plug without taking the whole computer apart? And once I've got it, is there any way to test the backlight without reassembling the whole computer? Maybe turn it on while it's in pieces?
Thanks!
The 12" G4 has always been my favorite Mac and I was so excited to get one, but it's a real PITA to work on. I'm used to Thinkpads, which can be disassembled completely by intuition. With the Powerbook, I had to take the whole **** thing apart just to get at the screen, and put it all back together only to find it wasn't working. I took it apart over several days, but I put it together all at once and it took me two hours. I really don't want to spend four more hours unbuilding and rebuilding this thing only to find that I may have to spend a further two taking it apart again to get the screen out and return it to the seller, who fortunately gave a warranty. The seller listed it as tested and working, though, and I'm inclined to believe them because they listed a flaw in the display (a horizontal line running through the middle) that you couldn't know about unless the screen was running.
So I'm asking: Is there any way, short of cutting through the aluminum casing, to get at the backlight plug without taking the whole computer apart? And once I've got it, is there any way to test the backlight without reassembling the whole computer? Maybe turn it on while it's in pieces?
Thanks!
