My iBook is dying... Logic Board Maybe?

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spencerb

Guest
OK, here's the symptoms.

The screen will start to flicker. Not going to black, just as though the brightness keeps going hi/lo.
I played a quicktime video, and the sound was faint but the speakers emitted a shrill tone and crackled. Then it froze and was stuck on the shrill tone.
Once when it crashed I had two 1" bands of thin horizontal lines that flickered.
Sometimes the machine will simply turn off without warning.
I started the machine, and it seems to be happy just sitting there. I can lightly tap the ibook on the table and nothing happens (doesn't seem to be an extrememly loose connection).
Once I booted and moved the mouse to the battery icon and it just froze on the way there.
When I scroll through a list of programs or files, the screen flickers in sequence with the scrolling items (one line of scrolling flickers once). Then it turns off.
It froze on "installing IP firewall application" the first time I turned it on.

Usually the dimming screen is a sign that it will soon freeze or turn itself off. I'm running on AC power, and I've tried it with the battery in and out. (BTW what to the four lights on the battery mean? I had one green flashing light).

More info: I just bought this machine (used), and it was poorly packed (loosely wrapped in one layer of bubble wrap and placed directly on the bottom of the box with newspaper on top). If I am convinced that it was damage during shipping, then I will file a claim with UPS, but I am an honest guy, so if I believe that it was unlikely to be caused during shipping, I won't file a claim. There is no physical damage to the computer.

This is my first Mac, and I was excited to get to play with it after waiting forever for it to be shipped. Oh well, it's not the end of the world! If I need a logic board or ???, what do you think a fair price for one would be, and where should I buy one besides ebay? There are two listed now.

Thanks for all your help. Maybe soon I will make the "switch!"

-Spencer
 
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J

jonnyturner

Guest
sounds like the logic board is a possibility unfortunately although some of the other guys will soon comment too.

im really sorry to hear that though, what a shame :( i hope you get it sorted out soon enough, im sure you will :)
 
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S

spencerb

Guest
Oh yeah, it's running OS X 10.2.3. It's the Dual USB G3 500 if you didn't catch that in my signature.

Another note is that none of the symptoms are consistant.

UPDATE: I booted while holding the shift key to disable extensions. So far I've been playing with the machine for several minutes with no bad symptoms. I am planning on wiping the system clean anyway. I just didn't want to format and reinstall if there was a harware problem.
 
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S

spencerb

Guest
And yet another symptom. I had the CD drive open while I was playing with the machine (normal boot). I got it to die by scrolling through the list of the applications windows. The machine instantly shut off and the screen went blank. I put a CD in the drive (I don't remember if I then hit the power button or not) and the desktop reappeared instantly exactly how I left it, and I was able to work around in it for a little while longer.
 
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S

spencerb

Guest
I formatted and installed Panther, and all went well. Now I'm up and running system update, and I occationally get crackling noises in the speakers that are synchronized with dimming of the LCD. I just looked and now the machine has turned off. Is this still a logic board issue?
 

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