Screen Issus...Rainbow of Death

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So my ibook G4 has been working great. Well yesterday I got home, took it out of my case and turned it on. My screen was shaky and static was on it...when I moved the screen back and forth it would make it better or make it worse. Well, now the screen is flickering with every color you can imagine. I have the mini VGA port and the computer is still working, I just have to connect it to an external monitor.

The Apple peeps at the local store said it would cost about $400 to send it to Apple and they would fix everything wrong with it. Is there another fix for this? Is that worth it? I paid $650 for it used about 9 months ago so I am wondering if I should just buy a new Macbook Pro, which is a lot more or if I should get this fixed. :[
 
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Sounds like another case of the infamous logic board problem:

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65141

The design fault on all iBook models is that on the logic board around the area of the Gfx chip there are some components liable to dry joints cracking up. This area is right under the trackpad so presumably pressing the trackpad button cause just enough flexing of the board to eventually lead to failure.

The good news is that re-soldering the components fixes the proble, the bad news is that Apple currently are refusing to admit liability.

Amen-Moses
 
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Ughh...so you think I should just chunk it? They said it would cost at least $300 to fix it. But the guy at the store said they would fix everything for $375...I am guessing this would not include the logic board since an Apple rep said that would cost $800 and $1200 for the screen...if that was the issue. Yet, a computer guy at work said he thought it might be the video card but he has no experience with Macs.

Maybe I should just ebay it?
 
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Ughh...so you think I should just chunk it? They said it would cost at least $300 to fix it. But the guy at the store said they would fix everything for $375...I am guessing this would not include the logic board since an Apple rep said that would cost $800 and $1200 for the screen...if that was the issue. Yet, a computer guy at work said he thought it might be the video card but he has no experience with Macs.

Maybe I should just ebay it?

Get someone who is handy with a soldering iron to fix it for you, the instructions are in the thread I linked to.

Amen-Moses
 
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hmm...so you think it is probably just a soldering job? that would be awesome if it was...i will try it tonight and let you know.
 
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after reading that article, it is kind of crazy that Apple would replace everyone in Denmark's G4 or at least fix it...but not anywhere else? Obviously it is a problem.
 
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That chip on the logic board is TINY. How did you solder that? I tried the shim method and that didnt seem to work.

I am assuming that the shim method would work without putting the heat shield and the case back together and just buy leaning on the chip with shim in place? I also ended up with 4 extra screws! hahahahaha.
 
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Ah, I might just sell it for parts on ebay. If anyone is interested, please let me know.

School starts in 2 months so I have to figure something out.
 
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That chip on the logic board is TINY. How did you solder that?


With a specialist soldering iron and a 2.25x Bench Magnifier with built in light ... Oh and a very steady hand!

It is possible that in your case the dry joints are on the Gfx chip itself, these joints are actually under the Gfx chip which is under the funny looking heatsink. Try applying light pressure there and switching on the machine.

If that is the case then there is no way on earth that you can fix it properly.

Amen-Moses
 
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:'( that is what i was afraid of. I applied pressure, turned it on and the same thing occurred.
 
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To be perfectly honest.. If you have the money to get a macbook pro.. don't hesitate!!! Get one!!!
I am saving for 1 myself..
With the current computer just back it up if you havn't already.. and sell it on ebay for someone else to fix..

A macbook pro is what everyone here wants..
so do it!!! Get one!!!
 
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Sorry to resurrect this thread but this is the thread I have been looking for for months!

This 'Rainbow Screen' without the 'Death' is a different problem than the much more common 'Fan of Death' many have been describing online over the last few years. The computer still operates fine but the screen is a 'pretty rainbow of colors' that just makes you want to go and listen to some late '60s music before you blow your brains out!

I was looking for a 'fan of death' 1.33 GHz machine on ebay (they are everywhere for under $150) to repair to use instead of my trusty old 400MHz Pismo. When it arrived it was a 1.2 GHz with the 'Rainbow Screen'.

No amount of shimming seems to do anything either on the Voltage Regulator or the Video chip. I don't have a mini-VGA adapter to connect an external monitor but I suspect it would work fine if the above comments are correct. So the problem has to be either in the connections of the video chip to the internal display circuitry or possibly (though not likely) the video cable to the LCD. This doesn't look like an easy fix, maybe I should try that company that does the $50 re-flow, I don't know if it would help a BGA Video Chip though.
 

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