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HELP my Ibook is on the frzzzzzt

sleazenation

08:24 / 18.09.03

my lovely lovely ibook doesn't love me anymore, or rather it keeps crashing and losing the screen.

My problems
my ibook started to crash unexpectedly and then the appeared to be some interference on the screen and now on restart the screen seldom works at all, and when it does the other two problems kick in.

Fortunately its still under warrenty, but - if worst comes to the worst i'm affraid i won't be able to get an ibook with os9 as well as os 10 on it...

So yeah this is a cry from the heart can someone tell me what might be wrong before i hump it back to the shop?

The Strobe

08:28 / 18.09.03

What vintage ibook is it? Could be a problem with the connection between the logic board and the screen; various gens of ibooks have had problems with that kind of thing.

Thing is, though, that shouldn't be related to crashing unexpectedly. There is a thread on macintouch.com about ibook screen problems, iirc; i recommend a hunt there.

We're The Great Old Ones Now

08:31 / 18.09.03

Long ago and far away I had Powerbook 145 - this was in the old days of monochrome and laptops the size of small cars - and I had a similar problem. The connection between the screen and the laptop was damaged. It's an issue which also came up with the early iBooks, if I remember rightly - the single central hinge which also protected the connection wasn't quite tough enough. They sorted it out on later models, which is, I believe, why the iBook hinge now runs almost the entire width of the machine.

Or I could be totally out of my mind. It's not unknown for me to remember things which might have happened in some other place, but have nothing to do with the reality of this one.

sleazenation

08:43 / 18.09.03

Its a 2003 vintage ibook 15 in variety - I've had a look and can see no visible damage...

the crashes aren't so much crashes as freezing up. It seems like it could be a short somewhere inside it all...

The Strobe

08:55 / 18.09.03

I think it could be an internal wiring problem, which should be entirely fixable. The screen shorting out/disconnecting would lead to the blanking, and the other problem could be subsidiary. I've heard of this problem on Icebooks. I'd take it somewhere, preferably a shop with a warranty, and look into getting it fixed... pretty sure it's not a software issue.

God, Powerbook 145s. I remember them. Back when Apple knew how to design trackballs: make them huuuuge. Screen size/res (and the size of the giant plastic border around the screen) was faintly ridiculous, though...

I think the iBook hinge has stayed the same size - the PB12 hinge (of which I have one) is far wider than the ibook hinge, and it does make sense.

The Return Of Rothkoid

09:22 / 18.09.03

A friend of mine had the same problem, and the running quote in Edinburgh was around 900 quid. Sounds like the same thing; logic board problems. Either that or cable pinching by the hinge, which is, as mentioned, a fairly common problem with the model.

She ended up getting a friend on the way to the US to take it and get Apple there to look at it: they only charged her about $300US for exactly the same thing, as I recall. And there were three other people in line with the same problem.

sleazenation

09:46 / 18.09.03

surely if its under warrenty there shouldn't be any such charge...? (uns and hides from potential expense)

The Strobe

09:57 / 18.09.03

If you're under Applecare it should be fine. It's when things aren't under Applecare they start getting very expensive. This is why Applecare is a good thing. And Rothkoid has a point - Apple support in the US is better simply because of the preponderance of Apple Stores, which one can just walk into.

sleazenation

11:21 / 18.09.03

shouldn't a manufacturer's warrenty cover it? (this question is probably better directed to the staff at john lewis...)

We're The Great Old Ones Now

11:46 / 18.09.03

I would imagine that even if it doesn't, a certain amount of aggrieved whining and fearsome letters would do the trick, or at least get you - for example - labour costs knocked off. Certainly, the warranty ought to cover it, and you may also have standard rights. Equally important, you have a moral right, if the object has failed in the process of normal operation within a reasonable period, to expect it to be covered... and to make a loud, angry noise and point out that it ought to be able to cope and is this the way Apple expect to increase market share and yadayada.

The Strobe

12:30 / 18.09.03

In year one manufacturers warranty = Applecare. Sorry for confusion.

The Return Of Rothkoid

13:01 / 18.09.03

I think it was under Applecare: the replacement part still cost her about $200. Try connecting to the computer with Firewire; you should be able to access the computer without the screen - and it'll let you know if something else is wrong other than the screen if you can't.

sleazenation

13:45 / 18.09.03

don't jhave firewire cable but do have ethernet cable... but the working-ness of the sound up-downy thing seems to indicate workingness... hopefully

w1rebaby

13:50 / 18.09.03

My iBook's screen suddenly stopped working too. I'm not sure what the problem was, but it didn't take very long to fix. I could still run it with an external VGA monitor, though an iBook that you have to use an external monitor with rather defeats the point.

Hieronymus

15:23 / 18.09.03

I just wrestled with this issue a month or two back and from what I understand now, it is a rampant problem in iBooks released from the factory from the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2002. It is not something that can or should be fixed on one's own and so my recommendation to those of you have your iBooks still under warranty (there's a means to check if it's under the year warranty by the serial number but I've forgotten how to read them) is to call Apple ASAP. I had thought it was a problem with the display connections to the logic board but it turned out to be an entire logic board replacement. Something you definitely don't want to pay for out of your own pocket.

Call 1-800-APL-CARE. After walking you through a few keystroke fixes, they'll concievably send you a box to ship it to them in. I got mine back, spinning like a top (they even replaced the beaten up plastic on the bottom of the casing) in a matter of a week.

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