DIY obsolete iBook logic board repair
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A while ago, a 700 MHz iBook was given to me with an infamous video-problem. An iBook which boots, but gives no output, neither to it’s own display nor to a hooked up external monitor.
Now the data on the thing was the most important (and valuable) so the question was if I could get that off. I’ve been taking this iBook apart and was looking for worn out cables and such, but after a while I decided this is a no-go. How much time do you want to invest in such a machine? (which wasn’t mine at that time). So to keep things a little sane, I decided to take out the harddrive, which still seemed healthy, and put a small bus-powered external enclosure around that, so the data was accessible. In the mean time, I’ve been cannibalizing that iBook for parts, making someone happy with a new keyboard and someone else with rubber feet…
Last friday I took a trip through Holland for picking up my next roadwarrior, a Powerbook 12” G4 1500 ( *^_^* ). That one needs work on it’s own, but more on that later… Any way, I also spotted an advertisement for another defective iBook (G3 600) which I also picked up for little money.
A quick inspection learned me that this one has the same infamous video-problem. Now, I could cannibalize this one for parts also but with two iBooks with the same problem something told me I could take some more risk in trying to repair this infamous problem…
the problem
I call the problem an infamous problem, since it seems Apple has been replacing iBooks with this problem while they were under some kind of warranty.
Now Apple describes it as:
iBooks that have a specific component failure on the logic board, resulting in the computer starting up but the built-in and attached external displays exhibiting one or more of the following symptoms:
- Scrambled or distorted video
- Appearance of unexpected lines on the screen
- Intermittent video image
- Video freeze
- Computer starts up to blank screen
Well, my two iBooks both give me a blank screen although they both start up with a healthy startup chime….
iBooks which were eligible for this Logic Board Repair Program were:
certain iBook G3 models (see below for a complete list) with serial numbers in the following range:
UV117XXXXXX to UV342XXXXXX
iBooks with the serial numbers listed above may be referred to as:
- iBook (16 VRAM)
- iBook (14.1 LCD 16 VRAM)
- iBook (Opaque 16 VRAM)
- iBook (32 VRAM)
- iBook (14.1 LCD 32 VRAM)
- iBook (800MHz 32 VRAM)
- iBook (900MHz 32 VRAM)
- iBook (14.1 LCD 900MHz 32 VRAM)
- iBook (Dual USB)
- iBook (Late 2001)
- iBook (14.1 LCD)
Only thing is, this program has ended… The program covered affected iBooks for three years after the first retail sale of the unit or until March 18, 2005. Unless you bought yours new in 2004, which is very unlikely, all of these iBooks aren’t covered in any such program anymore.
So, what can we do with iBooks which start to show this problem right now? I guess there must be plenty of these iBooks out there, probably already started a second life as paper weight or such. Well, how about and give it a shot to try to repair it ourselves? ^_^
Yesterday I found this excellent forumthread which I somehow must’ve missed earlier… It discusses on how to repair this problem the real hobbyist way, with blowtorches and heatguns, now this is more like it! ^_^
The real problem seems to be the videochip, the chip itself is placed onto the logic-board on a so-called Ball Grid Array
the videochip on a BGA on the logic-board
click to see a bigger picture of the logic board
not exactly the way it’s placed on our iBook, but close enough
Extensive explanation of a Ball Grid Array from Intel (pdf)
The real problem seems to be that these solder balls don’t hold and the solution to this is to reflow the solder… Now in that excellent forumthread some people are succesful in doing that by using a heatgun or even a blowtorch… But I didn’t have a blowtorch or heatgun so… this is how I did it…
DISCLAIMER
Now, to make things sure, this is NOT A HOW TO. If you set your house on fire because of this, don’t come complain to me, okay? If you do attempt this, this is all AT YOUR OWN RISK. This really is the last thing you want to do to your iBook and the chance this operation succeeds is very little.
Well, of course, first of all I needed to open up this iBook. Now, I did that before, more than once actually so that’s not too hard. If someone needs pointers in how to open one of these up, consider these fine manuals:
iBook G3 12” manual on iFixit.com
Replacing the hard drive of a G4 iBook 800Mhz (although that’s a G4, it’s almost the same)
Once it’s open, we need to locate the videochip. It’s on the backside and there’s some yellow foam on top.
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image courtesy of medicalmac.com
I scraped off the yellow foam and also got rid of the plastic around it.
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Now in order to reflow the solder, I took a couple of approaches… with tea-lights! Now this being the holiday-season and such, I sure had a cosy kitchen-table! *^_^*
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To get a higher temperature, I experimented with two and even three candle wicks inside the same cup. But to no avail, it didn’t seem to get the solder balls to the critical temperature.
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Now, this being an all-or-nothing repair, I figured that when I would power her up, the chip would also gain a couple of extra degrees, maybe this way it would bring the solder balls to their critical temperature…
And so I did…
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You can clearly see the lit Apple-logo while I’m burning tealights on top of the videochip…
But, this also didn’t repair it. I didn’t break it up to this point so I hadn’t actually hit the all-or-nothing point quite yet.
As a next one, I got a small metal cup with a flat bottom, to be able to extend the heat better from the souped-up tealight to the chip (and the chip to the solderballs underneath).
a small metal cup with three candle wicks
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...but this still didn’t seem to solve it satisfactory… so… I took a look in the kitchencubbard and found a can of pure alcohol, which I’ve used before to clean out the skins when I painted my own iBook. Now that’ll burn probably much better (and getting us the temperature we need…).
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if the video somehow doesn’t work, here’s the link
In the end, I needed a couple of these burn-sessions to get it right. I even ran out of alcohol and switched to white spirit (with a candle wick in the cup to get it going) and … I also powered up the iBook in this process(!!!). The CPU-fan starts to blow quite late in the process, only when you already applied excessive heat to the videochip. But somehow the fan is a nice way to judge where we are… if it’s spinning on it’s tops you know you’re almost there… *^_^* (this really is a Mad Max approach on fixing things, I know…)
burning white spirit on top of an iBook logic board…
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And that somehow must’ve done the job! I hardly can believe it myself though…
By now you must all think I’ve gone mad, but get this, this baby now works! I assembled’er back together again, put a fresh install on there and I’m stress-testing her right now… But really, believe it or not, is seems to be a-okay!
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As a matter of fact, I’m publishing this article by pressing ‘save’ on the fixed iBook…
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...right now! *^_^*
...and I guess I really am putting old technology through it’s paces, the Sony Cybershot I made these pics with just started a new life by starting to count all over again(from DSC00001.JPG, for this article I hit DSC09999.JPG so that means 10,000 pictures and counting… oh dear…)
Anyway, I now actually have one working iBook more than I somehow bargained for. I’m gonna keep my green iBook as long as I can I guess and this ‘new’ powerbook will be my new workhorse/roadwarrior for when I’m on the road, so what to do with this one? Is it ethical to sell this, after such a DIY-job? I’m not sure yet, I can’t guarantee a thing on it (but no 2nd hand seller normally can) but when I decide to sell it, I will be honest about what I did to it, although I’m not sure I’m gonna show the pictures… *^_^* I guess life would be a whole lot easier if I find another use for this one or maybe lend it to someone who can use it really well, until then I’m just gonna make sure this baby really works well. *^_^*
DIY trackback
MAKE:blog
Digg: Get your iBook working again with fire
MacUser: Repair your iBook… with FIRE!
The Consumerist: Dude Fixes His iBook By Lighting it On Fire
Gizmodo: Screw Geek Squad, Just Use Fire to Fix the iBook
Cult of Mac: Major geekage: Fix an iBook with FIRE!
you can find all of my projects overhere
FIRE!!!
on another note. I say that you paint it all pretty and then give it to one lucky reader (me). maybe do some sort of contest, drawing a name out of the bag.
I’d buy it if I wasn’t:
1. 17 years old, with no job and a way to afford it.
2. We didn’t live countries apart (Shipping kills).
Even though I own and am typing on a almost-new MacBook Pro, I’ve always had a soft spot for iBooks.
But you can’t sell it…as per make’s rules, it’s yours. (If you can’t open it, you don’t own it)
But I do say, VERY nice solution to the problem. I would have thought something like that would damage some of the IC’s on the board.
Maybe you could stash it somewhere in case your new PowerBook or your current iBook fails on you.
I’ve got an iBook with a similar problem. However, it was the very very first of these iBooks, and had other problems such as the hinge completely breaking and therefore causing a terrible tearing of the display cable. I too had this video chip problem, and fixed it by placing a metal shim in between the casing and the video chip, causing just enough pressure to make the video display correctly. Now the iBook lives as a headless unit, for when I need such a thing. As it happens, I’d already taken the iBook apart several times when the warranty extension was announced :(
Im extremely surprised you didn’t damage/melt the chip putting such extreme temperature on it…Very surprised.
Awesome.
http://digg.com/apple/Get_your_iBook_working_again_with_fire
That’s bloody brilliant !
It reminds me of the time I fixed a color TV with an oil-canned shadow mask by dropping it face down on the floor – and I was a “professional” at the time !
Kudos !
Jake.
It’s actually quite normal for components to reach temperatures warm enough to melt solder. This is how most surface-mount components are soldered to boards in the first place: in an oven. The catch is warming and cooling everything slowly enough to prevent cracking.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflow_soldering
I think I have a suggestion to improve the effectiveness of of this for anyone who might want to try it. Most of the heat of combustion here is getting carried away by convection. Perhaps if a nail were set in the tea light pointed up, with the head on the bottom, it could pick up some of the wasted heat and move it back down to the base where the chip is. Haven’t tried it, just a thought. I have had pretty good luck in the past using a small “hair dryer” to reflow or remove SMT parts. By hairdryer I mean the ultralight heat guns used in industry. They are preferable to the large guns (which also work fine) in that their small nozzle means you can desolder only the part you want. There’s nothing more frustrating than bumping a hot pcb and sending a handful of SMT resisters across your bench.
Ive fixed conexant chips in a similar way on Dish Network recievers, but I put a penny on top of the chip and heated the penny up with a micro propane torch from harbor freight. The penny dispersed the heat evenly.
So, it’s not the inverter board like I keep getting told? Bring on the tins of fire. Raaaaa.
RESPECT!
BTW: I’m so proud my favorite geek actually lives in my hometown! :-P
You should give it a flames paintjob ;)
Mad Props dude. I am new to Mac with a Macbook. I hope if anything goes wrong I can be as inventive. Will be back to check out how its going as time goes on.
Nice hack. By the way, if it still booted you could’ve put it into target disk mode by holding T after powering it on. That’ll make it pretend to be a mass storage device on it’s firewire port, so you can connect it to another mac and just copy over the data. (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583)
>you could’ve put it into target disk mode by holding T after powering it on.
Yes, that’s what I did. I just thought an OS installation was a nice first test. Anyway, I now have three 12“s with the exact same install on it…
*added* Oh wait, you mean to get the data off in the first place? Yes, well, euhm, at the first time I had a look at it I didn't have a firewire-cable laying around, so I ended up doing some mumbo-jumbo with external harddrives and such, I wrote about that here: dying iBook drive
Congratulations Markie !! I like your candles !!
It’s better than little blocks and fin, and/or hot air gun …. you are my master now !!
This is just great. Way to use your noggin man!
Nice!
dugg.
Hello!
Wow, nice Job ! I would say: No Risk, No Fun !
My Kids could use such a Fired Thing
With best Regards
Woah, didn’t think of this. I wonder if my TiBook 500mhz could be fixed like that. Mine keeps freezing because of a similar problem. I’m using foam and other stuff to keep it in place, but that doesn’t last.
If anyone knows about the ATI chip being assembled the same way on the TiBook, I’ll be reading here.
Is there a way to just use an ibook as a macmini’s monitor and keyboard?
Thanks.
that is great man. i can’t believe you fixed your laptop by setting it on fire.
Amazing!!
Guess what, my iBook is fresh out of warranty, so if anything happens to it, instead of the costly Apple service I’m gonna look for you! (I study in Groningen, which is close enough.)
Sorry about the blank message — premature enteration. ;) Keep in mind, sometimes video problems aren’t always the chip, some are the backlighting. To tell, boot up the ibook, and shine a flashlight or lamp through the apple logo. If you see an image where the apple logo is, then it’s probably the inverter board and/or backlighting tubes. I have a G3 iBook here with that kinda problem. Need to not be lazy and fix it for my friend. :)
Wow, yknow ive had this problem for ages. my brother gave me a broken ibook, same as what you’ve got here. I will be doing this project tonight or tomorrow, thanks alot.
While I was still living in England I bought an Apple iBook G3 White on September 9, 2002 on Zones.com and got it shipped to friends in California. It was accepted on September 21, 2002 in Fresno and shipped to Oxford by some friends.
When I finished my college education in England I took my iBook with me to Brazil on October 28, 2003. I have been using it ever since my return and don’ t know how I’d cope without it to keep me connected with friends and actively looking for job opportunities. Until the infamous logic board failure hit me in October last year. Before that I only had the iBook fixed for the infamous 90 degrees and black out problem with the display, which was repaired by replacing the Reed Switch part.
I knew about the worldwide extended warranty program and tried to get the iBook included. The iBook serial number is within the range of serial numbers of laptops that could be affected. I first tried to get an authorisation from Apple Brasil and Apple USA to arrange a repair, but for no avail. Then I talked to the Customer Support at Apple Brazil again and spoke to a girl named Martha who was able to help further. She gave me a servive order code to pass on to an Apple technical support representative to obtain a formal technical report from them and then get back to Apple Brasil again with the result so they could judge the validity of my case.
In order for Apple to authorise the repair I first needed to take the iBook to be tested at a local AASP. My first response wasn’t a favourable one, and it was very enervating to realise that they seemed to know what the problem was but would not fix it.
Not happy with this situation I decided to seek for a second opinion on the diagnostic of the logic board failure at another AASP. After some phone calls, I made three key contacts who were very helpful to find a solution for my case. A dude named Leoni working at an AASP in Ipanema walked that extra mile to get things sorted out for me. He not only answered my every e-mail promptly, but forwarded the attachment complaint letter to Apple Brasil. I thought that Apple would take some time to get back to Leoni, but surprisingly enough the answer came 4 hours later with the happy news: They said they would give me the logic board on Costumer Satisfaction. Wow!!! And Apple even asked if I minded having the work done at the same AASP that detected the problem, but was not able to help,
On their first attempt to replace the logic board the iBook worked but something mysterious happened that burned the newly replaced logic board while still in the repair unit. So they had to order another logic board and make sure that didn’t happen again by isolating the display clamshell (which had been burned in the process) from the rest of the iBook parts. So now after two months I have my iBook back and am using it with an external 17’ VGA flat monitor. Yep, I know It’s been turned into a desktop, but at least it’s working and I have a bigger screen.
ill buy it from you. name the price. i could use an extra computer for home.
The difference between most 2nd hand sellers and you in this situation is you know the extreme you had to go to in order to repair this laptop and therefor can’t be sure if it will hold and/or cause damage later on down the line.
If my laptop stoppped working and then I droppped it on the floor and it worked again, I don’t think I’d feel it were ethical to sell it on to someone else… unless I told them exactly what happened first. If you confess, you’re cool.
I have an iBook clamshell. It is a survival!
More than 15 times it has been dropped over 1 meter; power connector completely destroyed 2 times each and every extremity. the power connector side that goes into the laptop is now an audio p2 connector (little banana as we call in brazil).
once a friend pluged the p2 power connector at the audio/video output and shocked the logic board with 45W of power. It went headless for days and after battery out rest for a week it came back working again.
water droped over varios times; soda also; vodka also; put your favorite drink here!
this laptop worked years with os9, then with debian, then ubuntu, xubuntu, now it runs OS X and in a month it will run slackintosh and problably will have, for the first time in nearly 10 years a hardware upgrade: a 80gb harddrive!
Fire is good but black non-conductable tape is even better :)
happy new nearly-disposed mac!
Not that it matters anymore, but booting while holding the ‘t’ key puts the device into target disk mode, and allows you to use your desktop/laptop as an external firewire drive. I have used this feature several times when I recieve laptops or desktops with defective cd/dvd drives and needed to do an installation.
yes indeed and understandably (since I didn't clear that up in this article) that’s the one comment that keeps coming back here and on other sites. It’s a feature I have been using quite often lately, but at the time I was inspecting the iBook and was trying to come up with a solution for it, I didn’t have a firewire-cable laying around(...). I wrote something about that here too.
Yeah, I got screwed with the expiration of the repair program too. I had my wifes laptop fixed three times. It broke again once more two months after they stopped the program. My friend and I dissasembled it ourselves and could not find anything wrong, no torn cables, no cracked board, so we put it back together (with just a couple of screws left over) and I’ve been using it as an external drive using the astartup-t trick ever since. After years of looking, this is the first time I’ve seen what caused the problem in the first place. So, after a nice new backup hardrive purcahse, I’ll be trying this trick out. Hopefully the next message will be from the repaired craptop.
I just picked up a laptop off ebay specifically to try this fix. :) I’ll post up my results once it arrives.
I vaguely recall there being some similar situation with an extremely old home pc, like the comodore 64 or something along those lines. Some component, during assembly, wasn’t pushed into place properly. So when people called for technical support, they were told to drop it from the height of a few feet.
This reminded me of that.
Hi,
How did you know when to stop, where the ‘critical temperature’ was? Did the display magically turn on when it was there?
just performed your little experiment and got my 5 month dead ibook working again! thanks! i’m now just trying to figure out how to put those little screws in underneath the rubber pads on the bottom of the shell!
@kyle:
Wow, that’s great! Even though this has been quite a popular project in terms of traffic, I haven’t heard of any outside success yet, you’re the first one I guess. If there’s anyone else having success on this, I’d love to hear it!
Will later today try to fix the two iBook G3s that I have… I have bought a 2000Watt heatgun in a ‘home DIY-and repair store’ and will use the technique mentioned on the forum here:
http://forums.macnn.com/66/ibook-and-macbook/210232/diy-ibook-dual-usb-logic/
Will report back later…
Hey, thanks for the advice on this, have just tried this method using a candle with 3 wicks in, i left it to burn on top of the chip to the point at which the wax started to boil and spit, then eventually set on fire, with the same effect as parafin etc.
I then powered on the iBook while the candle was still burning and immediately the fan kicked in at FULL speed, left for a further minute or so then removed the candle (with plyers as it extremely hot, and burnt my finger on the video chip itself!!!).
Powered off the iBook and replaced the bottom case, then Voila!!!! it worked!!!!
Im sat here with the iBook on my knee typing this!!!!! very happy person!!!!!!!
You should all try it!!!!!
Once again… thanks!!!!
Tried the method with the heat-gun and blew two iBook logic boards. One 700Mhz/16MB VRAM is completely dead, the graphics chip was fine but the RAM chips got busted because the solder between RAM and graphics board was overheated.
On the 900Mhz/32MB VRAM the RAM chips have a special ‘spacer glue’ between the RAM-chips and the graphics board so that prevent the air pressure from the heat gun to depress the RAM chips while the solder is liquid.
I blew the 900Mhz board applying pressure to the graphics chip, so do NOT apply pressure. Almost did succeed on the 900Mhz, but got impatient and pressured it… doh! The 900Mhz now works headless, that is, I completely removed the graphics chip, and use VNC to remote control the 900Mhz iBook.
Will probably try the candle method with another iBook logic board when I get hold on one!
Great article. It help me save my ibook. THANK YOU!
Okay… so I posted earlier that I purchased an iBook off ebay with the express intent of doing this fix. Drum roll please… I tried it tonight and IT WORKED. Inconceivable :) Thank you so much for posting this great video and for providing such detailed instructions. Don’t worry I didn’t burn down my house in the process either.
Yep, great job. I have done a few boards with a heat gun. However you might find that after a month or so they come unstuck again. The problem is the video chip getting so warm and casuing the problem of the desoldering.. Make sure the video chip is packed with a shim to help port away the heat and it might last longer
Thanks, This looks very good! I have 2 broken ibook G4’s with the same problem, one was 5 months out of warranty… I’m going to try it next week…
>I have 2 broken ibook G4’s
Well… If I’m not mistaken, in the G4s, the videochip is mounted on the other side of the motherboard. Probably as a reaction to the problems with this G3-series… So if you’re looking around where the chip is located… this is your answer :D
G3 900 MHz iBook – It Really Works!!
Well what do you know … I used the heated coin method, and it has worked! I used a UK £2 pound coin, heated in the kitchen oven to 250 degrees Celsius and then placed the hot coin directly on to the Logic Board chip, I then allowed it to cool naturally and slowly. Booted up straight a way! On replacing the bottom cover to the iBook I placed 2mm stack of Post-It Notes directly over the chip, between the casing and the Logic Board cover (additional pressure on the chip).
Today, does your ibook still working?
I would like to try this method on my iBook G3 800Mhz and I’m a bit afraid to definitly kill it.
Thanks for your comment.
Cyrille, yeah sure, it still works flawlessly :-)
Great job!
I have two G4 933Mhz logic boards with the same fault. cant wait to see if you try the heat gun option. Then I might have the balls to do mine.
I just had my sister’s relatively new (got it off ebay for her birthday 6 months ago) iBook screen just go black a couple of hours ago. I found this website and, judging by the comments, it seems like a lot of people are having success with this. Thanks for the article, even though it’s a very old problem, I’m surprised to find an article written a matter of days before it happened to my sister’s iBook!
I’m going to leave this as a last resort and try Apple support first, but I’ve bookmarked this article and hopefully I won’t need to come back to it!
Of course these repairs are still in their early stages and we don’t know the long-term affects, but you might consider investigating this some more, maybe even a small case study to see what percentage the success rate is and whether or not some sort of shim is needed after the surgery.
I tried this technique and the first time the fan went on and so I thought it worked. I turned on the ibook and it worked…. for like 10 minutes only to resort back to the lines again. I was determine so I let it burn again, but this time I let it burn for awhile even when the fan was going on. It got to a point where the ibook just shut down by itself. (TRUST ME IT WAS HOT) I think I let it burn in paint thinner for 1/2 hour. Anyways, I let it cooled down this time without turning it on ASAP and waited a day. Tried it last night and it was good, but I’m monitoring the situation closely. It could just be my Logic Board is gone, but for the meantime, it works!!!!! (Fingers crossed)
Interesting article. I’m considering trying this trick on my flawed All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro. It’s not like I’ve got anything to lose with this one, since it doesn’t work very well right now anyway.
What do you know, it seems to have worked! I used a heat gun to do mine, but the process went quickly and smoothly. I’ve got it running 3dMark ’01 right now. It’s got a few issues, but that might be the older drivers I’m running it on.
I was going to try it yesterday, but then I decided to call Apple first and see if I could get a repair for free. They made ‘an exception’ so now I’m hoping to get a G4 replacement instead of a G3 700MHz.
What a great solution, can’t wait to try it on my next “dead” logic board (I have had several go in this way). Do you think this method would work on a G4 iMac 15”. I have one sitting in the corner that has blown its second logic baord (video problems) and the replacement logic board from Apple was only reconditioned. What a great way to spend au$700… not.
Help, i have g3 700mhz ibook but the problem is it doesnt power up. do you think this method can save my laptop too?
Hi i looked at your website and with your instructions fixed a 700mhz iBook myself. I also have a 17” 1Ghz with video problems. Can I do the same to that one?
Once again great website and thanks for the information I would never of thought to do that to my iBook.
Tina
I am planning to but a ibook with a blue stuck screen in the startup. Do you think it is the same problem?
Anyway do you guys have a solution? will a harddrive replacement work?
Can you give me a email with any posible solutions
thanks
Hey!
Thank you for all these nice tips!
Allthough I used the HeatGun Method, This Info helped me a lot!
Don’ t trash Macs!
See you with the next bUG !
Kai
Great site! I used your candle technique (plus a creme brulee blowtorch) to fix a defective graphics card on an old iBook. It worked! Thanks so much. Cheers,
Riley
Guys! How do you take the flame off from the chip?
I used a heat gun on my G3 900 mhz. Like other people, I put a piece of solder on the chip to make sure it melted. The ibook worked for 6 hours and then went back to it’s regular video problems. So, I did the heat gun two more times and it worked. It’s been three days and so far so good. Great fix, but ever since I took it apart three times, I can’t put the screws in the battery compartment that attach the case. If I do, the battery won’t power the ibook. I take those screws out and then it works. Weird.
Has anybody tried this with a 14” iBook? I’ve experimented with a variety of different burning liquids including denatured alcohol, naptha (Zippo fluid), rubbing alcohol, and the parafin from a standard tea candle with several wicks. Those fixes managed to get the chip hot enough that it would power on the screen, until it cooled down again. At that point, the video became sporadic. So, I got a solder gun and a square of aluminum the size of the GPU, put it on top and put a little solder on the aluminum. Then I turned on the solder gun and held it on the aluminum until the solder melted. That got me apparently closer, but even though the iBook would boot it would soon freeze up. I’ve re-done that process many times, holding the soldering iron on as long as two and a half minutes after the solder melted, but I apparently haven’t gotten it to the critical temperature, because the iBook will never continue working without freezing. Can anyone think of what I might be doing wrong, or what I might be able to do differently to achieve the results I want? By the way, I know the vieo chip isn’t bad because if it’s shimmed it will work fine. However, it has to be shimmed quite a bit, so I end up with a big bulge in the bottom of my iBook. Any help would definitely be appreciated.
I’ve had the same problem with my iBook 700mhz and put a little piece of hard foam between the chip and plastic underside cover. It does work but i’m not very happy with it because if you shake the iBook around to much it freezes. And I want to put the old iBook in my VW Beetle, so to much shacking is not an option. I’ve tried the trick with the heatgun and spoon but it didn’t work. So i’ll probably pull out the old thealights and alcohol. Thanks for showing this trick (even if I burn down my house) Hope it works as well for my iBook.
Hi, may I ask you a thing?
I’ve just bought a faulty ibook, I can start it, i heard the boot sound, but no video on lcd.
So i thonk about the problem you deal with there, but I also see that if I power up the ibook the apple logo behind the screen isn’t lighted at all.
any idead how to fix?
I’m not that brave. My Logic Board died a couple of weeks ago. Other than no display, it seems to be working fine. After I transfered everything to my new MacBook using Target Disk Mode, I didn’t know what to do with the headless iBook.
I was trying to come up with a way to use the iBook as some sort of server and control it through VNC. The only problem was that I couldn’t think of a way to turn on VNC without a display. Then I remembered Apple’s built in VoiceOver. I turned it on and with some trial and error was able to turn VNC on so I have control over the iBook from my MacBook.
If anyone has an iBook that can’t display anything, but still makes the start up sound and seems to work other wise, this is something fun to mess around with (without setting your house on fire).
very good pyro’s but my solution is to power up the ibook, listen for the hard drive to stop whirring (you hear a click sound), then close the ibook up and turn over (battery face up).
Leave to cook in that position 12 hours as this heats up the logic brd just as hot, if plugged into the mains power (just feel the heat on coming from the case on the right hand side next to the battery). One other side effect the logic board fault I’ve noticed is that power plug can not make its mind up switching between orange and green even though when you test the battery button its fully charged. One way of telling your logic board is on the mend when you get a stable green light.
There no fire extinguisher required. One idea would be to place the ibook upside down after every use I suppose.
I just tried Steve B’s method of turning it upside down for 12 hours last and it appears to be working correctly as of this morning. Let’s see if it lasts…if not I will go the tea light route…either way much better than the 300 dollars the genius at the mac store quoted.
I have a g3-900 with similar problems except that my video still works intermittantly and then goes blue; thinks about it for a second or two and then comes back on. Would this be a symptom of things to come?
It works!!! I did it about 7 times with lighter fluid for about 2 min burn times. And vwalah!!! Thanks
Steve B.‘s idea seems sound and I’m trying it right now. I gave my old ibook to my niece and she’s only had it a year and this thing happens. The logic board was already replaced for the issue two years ago, but I guess the supposedly ‘fixed’ new logic boards weren’t good enough, either. Failing this attempt, I’ll get crazy with the heat gun. I will say if the turning it upside down method works, it needs a lot more press! It’s certainly worth trying, but this is the only place I’ve seen it mentioned. Steve, you should get word out there! People are flame torching their iBooks (do they just want an excuse to take the mad scientist approach?) needlessly. I mean, I’m a certifiied portables technician, and I’m reluctant to do anything drastic! If the more drastic measures do not work, I intend to buy a replacement logic board on ebay and replace it myself. Anyway, here’s hoping.
ok, the upside down method did not last. It only worked for a day. I’m going to try the burn method next.
Snagged a 12” 800 Mhz w/ 640 MB ram / 32 MB vram in nice shape knowing it had bad
video for $120 – would display desktop 1 out of 4 tries but various video crashes
< 15 min – have a 60 Watt Soldering Iron [big pencil type] I thought I’d try – took
back skin & RF shield off – video package has one teeny surface mount capacitor in far corner
underneath yellow thermal foam surrounded by thin clear plastic square – cut 1/4”
thick copper plate to roughly 1” square – drilled v. small holes in center of plate
with drill press to facilitate pounding in a medium small screwdriver that matched
tip of Soldering Iron – eventually got a ‘friction fit’ where Iron would balance
upright even w/ heavy cord – dished hole side of plate w/ die grinder in drill press –
put closed laptop on carpeted floor – positioned plate & fired the Iron up –
heated up pretty slowly – applied lots of solder around Iron/Plate interface to
improve thermal transfer (reason for dishing plate) let cook for 4 hours – using
cheap IR thermometer guessing board temps nearby reached 250F – surface of plate
~ 375F – clear plastic surround barely singed ! – let cool for 1/2 hour – teeny
capacitor ok ! – laptop works great ! —- going away on vacation so won’t be able to
reply to comments any time soon – some notes : Big Soldering Irons like I used are
expensive & rare (mine a 60w HexAcoN Roselle Park N.J.) you could use 5 ‘el cheapo
pencil type irons etc. [I wouldn’t use ‘acid core’ or plumbers solder ~ I also
wouldn’t use an aluminum plate] – perhaps a silver dollar and a nest of dollar store irons is
the safer ghetto repair – good luck !
added by mark, some pics of this operation, sent by mail
g3a.JPG, g3b.JPG
I have a 12” Powerbook G4 1.33 that seems to have this same problem. Anyone tried this on a board like that? My only other option is to buy a new board so I think I will try shims to see if this is indeed the problem, then light it up…
ha ha my gasoline even went over it a few time! BURN THE MOTHERFUCKER! but afterall, it works great!
thx for the info.
but there is one thing…
Alcohol doesn’t reach the heat you want, use gasoline instead.
Just did the logic board fix on an iBook 800 I have not used for a year and WOW! It’s rockin and rolling just like before it died. I got a MacBook to replace it a year ago and used the “T” trick to move the drive over.
I used a tea lite put in a cap for a “shaker” (from the bar) My reasoning- it was more conductive of the heat (heavier gauge metal) and had a smooth flat bottom to contact the chip evenly. Used 2 squares of foam plate stacked to provide pressure after re-assembly.
I am AMAZED! Oh, and I have 2 left over screws… anyone missing some? HA!
THATS GREAT!
but my question is, will it work on an old clamshell? Thats whats wrong with mine, maybe its the connector? idk
ok…. so the concept is HEAT THAT SONOVAB up enough and ti will melt the pins back in place.
i didnt have any Tea Candles, heat blowers.. i did have quarters..
the heated up quarters didnt work…
eventually i took a lid off an OLD ENGLISH 40 OUNCE!!!!
and put alcohol in it and lit it … and went away and played playstation….
A 40 OUNCE SAVED MY LAPTOP w00T
Thanks for the fix… this worked great! You saved my laptop…
My best friend’s comment when I sent her the picture: Looks more like a pagan ritual than a computer fix.
i have 3 of these if anyone wants im want to get rid of them id like to keep one and fix for myself but this is a lil out of my league…maybe someone can help
i have 3 of these if anyone wants im want to get rid of them id like to keep one and fix for myself but this is a lil out of my league…maybe someone can help MIKEVINCENT@MAIL.COM
sorry my email is mikevincent@mail.com 2 ibooks and 1 powerbook
Un-freaking-believable! This guy is right! It worked! I have never opened a computer up before, let along a laptop. I mean I’ve never even installed a drive , but I cracked this bitch open and fixed it! I actually used a metal measuring cup filled with cooking oil heated on the stove! I press the cup, (it was hotter than a bitch) on the chip until the fan went on full blast, switched the ibook on and it started up! The damn things been dead for months.. Bro you just saved me 300.00 bucks! Thanks!
I know an Apple authorized tech who will perforn the heat gun technique on these problem iBook logic boards for $119 (includes return ship fee). Warranty on this type of service is only guaranteed for 10 days, since this type of service is at times unreliable. Any unit received with the same logic board problem will be refunded $95.
Email me at syncimage@mac.com for procedures for sending in your iBook. Thanks Jim Moy
hi Mark,
I have a G3 DUAL USB with the known problem, could I get in contact with you for some help?
thanks
I had an old ibook that was broke for 2 years with this problem. I tried using a shim, a piece of card, then a 2 pence piece to get it working, but it still conked out after a while
I’ve just tried this, burnt isopropyl alcohol for 20 mins, the fan was going on full blast for half of that. The computer still boots to just a white screen!!!!
I guess some logic boards are more screwed than otheres
Any idea if this fix will work on my Ti Powerbook 867Mhz… at least in theory if no one out there has tried it.
Thanks,
Maria
Nice, this is a real geek repair !
natural computer
Just did it in my ibook 900 burning kerosene with a little bit of alcohol.
It works, hope it lasts… If not, I will retry. Thanks a lot Mark!!
Has anyone done this fix with a heat gun and had success? Also how long has it lasted so far, any feedback on the problem reoccurring over time or is it a pretty stable fix?
Wow, i collect old computers and i will try your technique on an atari Falcon030 with faulty dsiplay … Greetings TOM:-)
I tried it today with a heat gun. I only used the gun for about 3 min. The fan didnt even start to blow harder, but it worked. Suddenly I could see my desktop again.
After putting it all together again (only 2 screws didnt know where to go), I started my ibook a few hours later and it doesn’t work anymore. This time I will try the candle-thing. Maybe its better to have a little lower heat constantly than almost melting the board. Any one had the same problem, that it only worked for a short time???
Thanks for the brilliant information. Apple were quoting €500 (exlcuding tax and labour). My logic board had been broken two times before within warranty but this time I was out of warranty. I really didnt have a clue what i was doing opening up the laptop. Found it kinda hard to get the case off but nothing like brute force to get the job done. I got a spring and 2 spare screws left over but at least its working fine now. Hopefully it lasts…I think apple are a complete disgrace for not replacing all faulty laptops straight up with new ones. Im never buying an apple product again and Im going to tell everyone I know how crap they are. First iPod battery, then logic board…
hey markie,
how long are you supposed to leave the alcohol burning?
Ok well I did this fix a few weeks ago, for some reason it only lasts for a few days, I let the card heat (using a heat gun for) about a full minute after the solder I put on top melted. I’m afraid if I do it any more than that I’ll fry the card but even with the solder AND a shim holding it all together it starts to go on the fritz again after a few days! Is there any way to make this fix more permanent and reliable?!
@ Steve B.‘s idea…
My iBook goes to sleep when closing the lid. Anyone have a solution for that? VNC to change the prefs maybe…
I think the coin in the oven might be the next step, but I’d like to try the up-side-down thing first.
I tried leaving the laptop on for like 20 hrs upside down, not fully closed. I had a belt keeping the lid from closing fully… But it didn’t fix my problem.
See, I’m not 100% that it’s just this video problem. Yes, I have the lines and sometimes it boots fully with no screen. But, sometime it jsut freezes and doesn’t boot fully. Also, I sometimes hear some sort of crackeling sound, like sparks from two electric cables tounches eachother sporadically (no, it’s not the hard drive working). I dunno… I haven’t had time to pick up the tools to open it yet. Any thoughts people?
Anyone got this great solution working on an iBook G4?!
some lunatics comment
Holy Crap! I tried reading the post above me and it’s pretty rough. Whacko, too… and long. Hopefully it’s deleted. BTW, I bought an ibook off ebay to try this with. It arrives in a few days. I can’t wait.
Can’t wait.. am getting a iBook G4 with these problems 2moro and am gunna try this method…
Wish me luck!!!!!
I’ll post the results!!!!
i have this problem also in my ibook g3 900mhz..as of now i always put a shim in the top of the video chip but still after how many weeks it goes back again the same problem..well i dont want to wait till my lower case to be destroyed due to lot of shims inserted…well i will try want stevie b did..ONE THiNG?
i just want to ask…
by putting a tea light how many minutes would u let it stay till you removed those tea lights…
thanks
Freeping brilliant! After witnessing my wife’s shock at the local computer mechanic’s $ estimate to fix the issue, I finally convinced her it was time to light the thing on fire. Thanks to this web page we are now up and running again as though there never was a problem. Thank you, THANK YOU!
(Note: Acetone doesn’t work, since it starts boiling off before it gets the chip hot enough to reflow the solder. Paint thinner really is the way to go.)
My experience is that these reflow “hacks” only seem to last a couple of months. Your mileage may vary.
I used a heat gun w/ a temperature probe to reflow the solder on my 700mhz g3 … four times. The first attempt was the most successful and the machine ran fine for about 2 months. However, each subsequent reflow resulted in the machine running for shorter periods of time. After the forth reflow, the machine ran for two days before experiencing the video/lock-up problems.
Some people claim that having the BGA reballed (http://www.superiorreball.com/) is the way to go. I think their prices are under $100 US.
so when heating in a paint thinner..how many minutes will u let it LIT? im just curious coz i want to try this method…
Has anyone considered opting for an origional ibook clamshell, I’ve never heard of any video issues with them. Infact I’ve just completed a hybrid build! g3 ibook Clamshell with; 80gig HD, DVD drive (from a broken g3 dual USB, same problem as above), RAM upgrade and an installation of xpostfacto and am now running 10.4.7 on a durable, bulky beast that turns heads. Why don’t more people stick to the golden oldies like the clamshell, ok so 366Mhz aint great but at least it won’t die! (Saying all that I think I’d rather play with fire too, will be rebuilding the dual USB. Small is sexier!)
Can anyone tell me how long you have to put the candle on the videochip? Just 5 minutes or longer?
Thanks!
Hi everybody. I have been exploring this problem of ibook failures (G3 and G4’s) and I think I may have come up with a solution that involves placing the GPU’s Ball Grid Array (connects it to the logic board) onto a different platform so that it would not come of the board so easily. However, I do not know what the BGA looks like. For those of you who now what I am talking about and for those who don’t but are interested I have posted some threads at either (http://www.applefritter.com/node/21337 or http://www.macworld.com/forums...)
I would appreciate the input especially from those who have seen the GPU’s BGA or have images of the BGA. I am afraid I have never seem them and so I cannot begin to guesse if the idea is possible. But I hear that reballing services that repair these boards take X-rays of them.
Sincerely Raulito15
My daughter said she wanted a laptop and I said “No way.”
Then I said “Wait… um, maybe…” We have an old iBook G3 which got dropped and the screen was dead. I thought I’d open it up take a look and see if connection came loose on the video or something.
I went online to see how one goes about opening up an iBook in the first place. Then I found your story.
I HAD to try. So I put alcohol in a stainless 1/3 measuring cup (half full), lit it and let it rest on the chip. It burned all the way down and I did an second time for good measure.
I just finished and the G3 seems to be fine! It’s updating to the latest system version now. We’ll see how long it lasts…
The most amazing part? My 16 yr old daughter now thinks I am a total genius.
i have a g3 14” ibook with the same problem-so glad i’m not alone. i was blaming myself for the longest but i can’t bear to do this myself. what is the estimate cost for repair at repair shop?
To ofwhatiam. Do not, I mean do not try this!!! I have been speaking to an SMT rework expert (they work with these types of chip especially BGA’s) and he told me that when you heat the chip you actually cause the heat required to melt the solder balls under the BGA to increase. Eventually, the heat required to melt the solder would certainly destroy the chip itself. Because this “reflowing” of the solder does not solve the problem it will inevitably happen again. This fact applies to hot air guns, coins, and alcohol based burning. In fact these methods probably and most certainly do cause the logic board to warp “technically” reconnecting it to the chip. Obviously, you do not want to go running around warping your logic board. This SMT expert posted his analysis of these home grown fixes at (http://www.consolerealm.com/Tech...)
for anyone who is interested. Do not be alarmed by the specific address to X-Box’s problem because this GPU BGA array failure goes for them, Thinkpads, and any other idiotic company who decided to go crazy with garbage BGA chips that are not ment for high use electronics. Don’t get me wrong I love a apple and will always prefer an apple computer over any other but they just let the ball drop with this one… hard.
Yes your best bet is to get an expert to do this. You can get a reflow of your chip or you can get a reballing of your chip. Reflows are cheaper (usually $50 for everything including shipping) than reballing but these will probably give you a year or two before it breaks again unless you leave your ibook on a desk for the rest of its life. Reballing is more expensive >$60 but would probably offer a more a comprehensive fix. You will probably want to get the strongest solder possible and find some way of keeping your ibooks logic board cool so as to be less likely to warp. The only way I see to permanently fix this problem is to replace the GPU’s BGA with something more flexible which is what I am working on right now.
A good reflow/reballing service is at (www.superiorreball.com) they reball for $60 and reflow for $50. This is probably as cheap as it is going to get because it is just triple digits after that. Also I think there are two services on ebay that will either reflow so just search ibook repair and you’ll find them.
Hope this helps your.
Sincerely Raulito15
Raulito: Yes, helps plenty! Thank you for the links and advice!!! Much appreciated.
I don’t want to sound boring, but the same thing happened to my 12” 500Mhz iBook and i fixed it by putting business cards between the vieo chip and the case and that worked (though your way sounds more fun)
The really interesting thing for me is that broken xbox 360 have exactly the smae fault a bga array which has come loose. The chance are you could fix your 360 the exact same way
I have seen arti. about the ATI chip being loose and took apart my G4. Mine has 2 Samsung chips and an NEC chip and mem chips. No ATI? I thought they were pretty much the same. I have no video and can’t see anything on the screen at all. The sys seems to boot makes the right noise but no video? Any help would be great! Thanks, Ken
I believe your video problem lyes with another chip on the board. Although I believe your GPU is on the other side of the logic board (facing the keyboard) it is generally another chip causing the screen failure. If you go to (http://www.coreyarnold.org/ibook/) I you will see the offending chip piece. The danish consumer agency did a press release on their findings of the faulty chip at
(http://www.pbcentral.com/columns/hildreth_moore/denmark.shtml)
with some pictures as well. A guy was successful at resoldering it himself at (http://www-us.flickr.com/photos/metasim/sets/72157600316722784/). I do not know if it is a good idea though if you do not have the proper tools. Unfortunately, I do not no of any services that specialize in fixing it off hand (they generally charge less for repairs) so if you are desperate or do not seek spending hundreds it may be an option.
Hope This helps You
Sincerely Raulito15
I asked iFIXit.com about it and they asked if the external video worked! I am so new to Apple that I didn’t know it had E.Vid. I ordered one from them. I am experienced working on PC laptops but not Apple. I will try compressing a chip at a time until I find the badie(per the link). Thanks for the ideas and link.
Do you think this problem plagues the MacBook Pro as well, because mine has just died :(
I popped the lid off to tighten the screen hinge screws, a simple enough task for a tech and now it refuses to start up. The light is on, the disks power up, fans turn, screen is dead. So I tried all the usual key sequences but no response. Maybe more than just the graphics chip >:|
I think that it is a different problem entirely. From what I have seen in the ifixit guide, it is possible that the ram is not completely reinstalled. I say this because when you say you took off the lid I guessed you meant the upper case which the keyboard is attached. So one of the prior steps include removing the a ram card. I have heard that it sometimes requires a bit of force to make certain it is in all the way. It seems however that you have done this before so I doubt that you would have neglected this. I think that a good thing for you to do is to connect you laptop to an external monitor. If something comes up, then it is more likely than not a video problem that maligns the internal display. I would go back and recheck all the things that were detached if you have not already. Make sure the keyboard ribbon cable is properly connected as well. Is your warranty still good? It may be easier to just get it repaired or replaced since many of the early problems have been fixed in the current macbook pro models. I still doubt that you had broken anything with such a simple operation but it is an unfortunate possibility.
Or you could just place a shim, like a rubber foot on the GPU. This presses down on it when you put the ibook back together and works fine. Worked on mine anyway. Didn’t need to go to all the hassle of mad scientist extavaganza!
Ok. I have the same problem with my dual USB iBook.
I’ve read all of this page and I’m willing to give it a try. It seems like by doing this you lower the melting point of the solder, but you could just open a few holes in the case so that air flows better. Perhaps you could also install a fan under there.
I’ll repost in a few weeks and let you know, how it went.
Wish me luck ;)
A poster quite a way up (Peter Falk Larsen) mentioned something about removing the graphics chip altogether and running the iBook headless.
I’ve done the shim which makes the iBook operate in a fragile-at-best state. And more often now I’m getting lines and hangs. I’d try fire, but I really don’t NEED the video to work if I could do away with it and have the iBook boot fine.
So this chip removal strategy would suit my purposes PERFECTLY—assuming I could VNC to the iBook. Does this semi-destructive, no-going-back approach work? (Sounds to good to be true. If a glitchy chip causes hangs, how could no chip possibly work???)
Thanks for anyone’s help! joshjellel@gmail.com
Sure, I guess you could do it but it would be unnecessary. Your laptop will boot up and run regardless of the state of the GPU. I am guessing you want to use your laptop as an extra hard drive or server or something using target disk mode. Unless you want to use an external monitor which would definitely not work without the GPU it could be done. However, if you yourself are going to do the removal it is unlikely that you will be able to put it back or salvage the BGA under the chip. But I am sure you thought of this already. But ultimately such an operation is unnecessary since anything you could do on an ibook with no GPU can be done with a broken one as well.
My name is Nick from Milwaukee, WI. I was putting a new hard drive into my iBook G4 14” 1.42 GHz laptop and encountered a problem. There are two copper colored zig zags that protrude from the bottom of the logic board and make contact with the back shield. They are labeled ZS 8 and ZS 9 on the logic board. The ZS8 popped off, but the ZS 9 is still intact. I re-plugged everything into the computer, turned it on, and everything seemed to work properly. Is this a problem?? Will my computer eventually crash or ignite, or are these just grounds for the logic board and having one will suffice. Thanks!
Worked for me using a thick copper block (8 mm) with a test piece of hi-Ag solder as an indicator on the top side. Heated the block over the stove until the test solder melted and then a little more, put the hot block on the ATi chip and waited until the test solder turned solid again, waited a minute more. It worked first time and has now been running 12 hours at full load and no sign of video problems (dead/intermittent screen at startup unless left hand rest pressed).
Thanks—keeps me going on the old G3 until Apple comes up with a laptop I like.
Worked for me too. used a tea-candle (almost perfect fit to the chip) with pieces of a few matches to get a decent fire going. I waited till the fan was working like i never had heard before, then waited 1-2 minutes and removed the tea-candle (not by hand!). Waited for the machine to cool of upside down. Lo-and-behold the screen works again. beautiful
This is just awesome Markie, would it be possible for you to repair and sell an ibook like the one you just fixed. I hope to get a reply soon.
Hi, just wanted to say thanks for a great DIY article. I followed the steps and my ibook works! For heat, I used a food-grade butane mini-torch and masked out the rest of the board with aluminum foil-covered cardboard.
I had the logic board problem previously and was able to send it in for free repair when the program was active, but the same thing just happened to the new logic board. This seemed to have fixed it, but it pretty much has to be a desktop computer now – sometimes the screen freezes/blacks out if I try to pick up the computer. At least now I can transfer my files. Again, thanks for your ingenuity and for writing about it!
After seeing some other fixes using direct pressure over the video card I fixed my G3 iBook using a 2pence coin!
I opened the case & placed the coin between the outer casing and the underside of the video chip
And it worked!
Eventually even the Coin of the Realm stopped working, so I bought two clamps from a DIY store, clamped it to a table, putting pressure over the right place and it’s crash-free!!
However, I’m now in a position to upgrade, and my black MacBook (snobbish I know!) arrives soon…
Wow. I thought I was the only idiot who managed to get my G3 fixed through the logic board replacement, only to have it fail again a few months later. I guess I’m not alone. Hey Apple — how about some help for our troubles? Pyro is fun but it doesn’t look like a longtime fix. I’d be happy to take some credit towards a new mac (hint).
so. I heated 5 quarters in the oven at 400°. Set them on the video chip for about a half hour and then cut up a small stack of index cards to act as a shim. I’m totally back. Thanks.
Does anyone know a way to solve “the other issue” with iBook Logicboards: No chime, no screen, just the fan propelling like hell ?
Knowing what causes this is also a great help.
YES YES YES
A thousand thankyous.
YOU HAVE FIXED MY BELOVED iBOOK
Oh, what heartfelt thanks.
I did it exactly like you said.
I lit a tealight on the chip. When it was melted I blew it out and doped it with white spirit.
Lit it again, turned the iBook on, waited for the fan to spin up…
Had to have to attempts before it worked reliably but HEY it works now.
ZERO TO HERO
Wow dude. I have an Ibook 1.2Ghz G4 and this would majorly suck if it happened.
Anyway, my mate’s got an Ibook g4 with this exact problem and he’s going to try this whole heating up the chip thing tonight. I’ll keep you posted. Poor bloke’s got assignments due and everything!
For now, Mr Mac and I will keep on keepin on. (Knock on mac!)
Two tealights spiked with white spirit did the magic.. i’ve got the book back to life and I have you to thank! fantastic advice from a brilliant bodger!
Boy, I was just Googling around to check out some of the techniques people were having success with, and you’re the winner. I’ve been working up a series of flowcharts for laptop troubleshooting, not sure if I’m going to try to work in board-level repairs, but I’ll definitely mention your BGA repair in the text if it gets to the book stage:
http://www.daileyint.com/hmdpc/lcd.htm
Morris
nice. Very nice. Once they’re unconsious they’re fair game as far as i can see. Too many die in the dirt in india. Also – blank keyboard is style.
I was at a loss for my 6 year old G3 600 Mhz as the screen was completely blank. I followed your instructions and used a heat gun on the low setting for about five minutes and like magic, it was alive again. I am not any kind of electronics wiz, but I was an auto mechanic and found this to be a pretty simple repair. Thanks a million, or at leat 600 mega hertz million!
I tried a variation of your repair and after 2 years with no video…tadaaa…and then….folder with question mark. I was really encouraged to see video but it’s jut not finding the hard drive. I used the utility disk and everything checked out fine but when putting the OSX install disc in and trying to do a hard drive repair, it doesn’t find the HD. What the??
PS: Thanks so much for this “repair by fire”. Not only was it interesting, it was kind of fun and is a good story as well. Now, if I can only get it to find the HD!!
yes,yes,yes, this is simply great! i have just applied the above trick to my G3 ibook and it has arisen from the dead. used gasoline instead of alcohol though, to get a higher temperature.
SIMPLY AMAZING!
Same here, I tried the businesscard-shim method for people who dont mess with fire. The ibook booted up fine a few times, but now it just displays a blinking question mark. Even with the install CD it does not find the HDD.
Check this out:
1. “Press release (May 2, 2007) about the iBook G4 logic board issue made by the Danish Consumer Board”
http://www.forbrug.dk/presse/nyheder/pressekit/ibookg4/ibook-g4-english/
2. “iBook G4 Logic Board issue report made under the authority of the Danish Consumer Board”
http://www.forbrug.dk/presse/nyheder/pressekit/ibookg4/lab-report/
3. “Press release (Sept 20, 2007): Apple accepts the decision of the Danish Consumer Complaints Board in case concerning iBook G4”
http://www.forbrug.dk/presse/nyheder/pressekit/ibookg4/accept/
My iBook G4 is dead after 1 year & 5 months of flawless use. It’s sitting on my shelf collecting dust and I’ve removed the disk drive and use it as an external hard disk.
After coming across the links above, “the question now is whether Apple is going to go on denying that there is a design fault in the same type of computer in the world outside of Denmark’s borders.”
P.S. I’ve already lodged a complaint with the Consumers Association of Singapore (www.case.org.sg) and am awaiting for their decision. It’ll definitely take some time but will keep you guys posted. In the meantime, spread this out and post the above links on other sites as well.
Hi, I was wondering, if i paid for shipping and all expenses, would you be willing to fix mine as well? I’ve been having major issues with it, and I know that it’s definitely the logic board video card causing it. Thanks a lot, um, email me when you get this (if you do) thanks.
Hi,
So I’m about to try this method using a heat gun, can some one who has done this tell me is you iBook is still working? or if not how long it lasted for?
Thanks
Superior Reball and Rework will be happy to attempt repairs on logic boards. Please remove logic board from your laptop and pay for the shipping. You may not be charged until it is fixed. If it can not be fixed, you will not be contacted and Superior Reball and Rework will be unreachable by phone and will not return your emails and most likely will not return your logic board because it will be used for parts for other customers repairs.
I hope others don’t have this unprofessional experience with them. I did. Good Luck.
Well,
Just an update. I did this method using a heat gun (Paint stripper) and guess what, im posting this from the fixed G3 800mhz iBook :)
thanks to all.
Can I mail you my iBook to have it fixed;)?
I was angry when Apple gave me an “extension” on my iBook then rejected it because of post-warranty upgrades! I now have an expensive, worthless, paperweight. In near perfect condition, no less.
Looks like I’ll be trying some FLAMES :D!
[I really hope this works…]
Okay, I just fixed my 800 mhz G3 by heating up a silly tourist coin from the historical trolly tour over the gas stove until it was red hot and putting on the video chip. This improved things but the back light was still out. I managed to fix this by taking off the top cover and litterally wiggling wires near the hinge until the backlight came back up. I love apple but any company that puts out a product that can have this many easily avoided engineering weaknesses has to be brought to task.
I used pennies, I left the yellow heat pad on the chip and just set about 4 pennies stacked up in columns of 2, I cooked them in a pan on the stove for a bit then set them there, took a couple of tries with the pennies on there and power up, now it works…im currently cooking the pennies extra high and putting them back on while the ibook is still on, ill get back with the life i get from it
I followed the suggestion of turning the ibook upside down with it powered on overnight and when i woke up the screen worked again. No idea how long it will last, but so far so good. This is an excellent way to avoid fire. Though, admittedly, I was looking forward to torching the computer.
I have snapped the earphone jack off in the socket. Now my macbook thinks there are headphones in all the time. Leaving me without any sound through speakers!!! HELP – ive tried tweezers etc
I’m a G4 ibook user and I’ve got strange pixels and lines after opening 3 windows. After an Apple Hardware test it give me an ATI video error. Do you think that it is the same problem or a different one. Some blog said that a SOIC component is involved with the problem. I can use the computer now as I work with low color. But I m looking for a solution (shim is doing nothing).
Thanks
Nico
Superior Reball: BEWARE !!!
I’m having a very bad experience with Superior Reball (Illinois). I sent 12 motherboards to be inspected and repaired July 19 2007. I sent 10 iBook G3 mobos, 1 iBook G4 mobo and 1 PowerBook 12” mobo to Dale. I had a good quote from him before I shipped the mobos so I decided to send them to his professionnal shop. But since July he never responded to my emails and I’m still waiting for my boards. My customers are waiting for their machines since July. I contacted Dale by phone 4 times and he’s always saying he’s gonna ship five of these boards that had been repaired but nothing arrived yet. I’m now ready to call the Gilbert’s police station to complain. So beware before sending your board to this compagny.
“I have snapped the earphone jack off in the socket. Now my macbook thinks there are headphones in all the time. Leaving me without any sound through speakers!!! HELP – ive tried tweezers etc”
So why are you seeking help by posting in the comments of an article about repairing a video problem with fire?
Did the shift-key burn? You can see this on the photo’s.
To recap, the pennies work for a bit, but not long enough for me to sit upright with the laptop, i talked to a buddy at work and he suggested adding more pressure to the top of the chip, because basically the problem is that the board is cooling faster than the chip and therefore the two slowly separate. What i did was add about 3 foam double sided tape pieces to the top of the yellow foam, equaling between about 1/8 – 1/4 an inch higher, then i screwed the metal plate back on tight and it worked perfectly, put everything back together, tried being rough and pressing around the spot that the chip is from the bottom of the laptop and still no troubles, im leaving it on for a while letting it heat up and i will try putting pressure on the bottom again, but this seems to be a very good fix without actually adding extreme heat to the board, just make sure whatever shaft or riser you use is not very flammable. I’ll post again once its been running for a while
GlassOnion, did you ever get your boards back from Superior Reball? I’ve been thinking about sending a few boards in to them, but I’m hesitant after reading about your experience.
Does anyone else have suggestions as to other good logic board repair companies? I’ve seen auctions on eBay for companies doing this kind of work, but don’t want to try someone, unless I know others have had a good experience with them.
I can’t believe it brought my ibook back after being in the closet for almost two years. I used gasoline filled halfway in the cap of a martini shaker. I had the ibook on during the entire process. The apple logo didn’t light up for me, so I thought it wouldn’t work. After the gasoline burned off completely I turned it over and pressed the power button…and it turned on. Incredible. Thanks so much!
HELLO,
i just want to ask…
by putting a tea light how many minutes would u let it stay till you removed those tea lights…?!?!
Apple ibook logic board repair service.
Removal, Reballing, Replacement, X-ray and Functional test of the GPU. Flat rate of $75.00.
1-847-426-3012.
The Tea light technique will probably cause the GPU to fail in the near future. The tea light most likely heated the GPU’s temperature beyond the maximum temperature that the GPU is designed for. There is no way to monitor the heat with a tea light. This maximum temperature for the GPU is specified in the data sheet from the GPU manufacturer. This over heating will cause latent damage to the GPU witch will cause the GPU to fail in the future. This wont happen with our rework equipment witch has profiles designed to ensure that the maximum temperature that the GPU sees doesn’t exceed the manufactures specifications.
Dale Miedema
Customer service
Superior Reball and Rework
1-847-426-3012
customerservice@superiorreball.com
Hello,
I bought a 2001 IBook G3 (Model # M6497) for my daughter and unfortunately found out that the previous owner replaced the power cord. The bad news was the tip of the old plug in was lodged in the power jack. I got the unit all the way open and removed the piece. Unfortunately I think in the process I probably ruined the jack. Had some hissing, etc., so not positive but assuming the jack needs to be replaced. It seems from looking in the jack the problem was simply the contacts were not aligned right and I can not get them where they need to be to have good contact with the male end of the power jack when it is inserted. I am wondering if there is a cheap fix if the part is still working to jump past this connection problem even if the cord needs to be left permanently connected. They replaced the power cord with an IGO power unit and the light is on when plugged in. Early on in the attempted repair I had a good contact and was able to power up the unit.
Any thoughts? Thanks. As you can tell I am not a computer tech and just working on what is probably a paper weight and a bad purchase due to retail replacement costs.
Dave McDowell
541-390-2891
This is an interesting thread. Props indeed for such an inovative fix, a man after my own heart! The only fix I’d heard of was the shim fix.
I recently purchased a 500mhz iBook G3 that runs perfectly, I’m typing on it right now. It only took me fifteen minutes of ownership to upgrade the RAM to 640MB and install an Airport card, and I’ve basically fallen head over heels for it’s simplicity of design. What saddens me is to hear all these reports of ill, and criticisms of Apple. At the time the 12” G3s were made, I beleive they were really the smallest viable option on the market, and basically have become the industry standard for smallness without compromise. Just compare to the size of the bygone black PowerBooks and colorful toilet-seat iBooks and one will quickly realize the originality and worth of the iBook G3.
Now I know Apple isn’t perfect, and I know the iBook has issues, but let’s not damn them to hell over a few issues, when their overall product line is known for reliability and innovation. And to those who have one bad experience and turn their noses up, you never were qualified to touch a Mac anyway. Go back to your mommy Windoze.
After all that ranting and raving, I do have a real question – do all iBooks basically have a deathwish? Is it inevitable that my iBook will just poop out on me one day? I speak of Apple’s longevity because I have an Original Mac that still runs perfectly after twenty-four years of service, A Mac Classic, a PowerMac 7200, a PowerBook 3400c, and two styles of iMacs that all work PERFECTLY and always have. But from what I hear, the iBook is an exception. Would it be worth the effort of fixing the video if it died, or would it be easier to just buy a slight upgrade on ebay and transfer my data, my new battery, my RAM, my case, my wall charger, and my AirPort card over to the new gal? I only paid $95 for this one, but after accesorizing the beast she’s up to about $240 – my point is that the accessories could work with any iBook. I like my iBook, but I want to ask fellow die-hards if it is worth staying on the iBook boat, or trying to move on. There is something so charming about an old computer that can still kick the pants off a windows machine – this one feels as fast as my roommate’s new ThinkPad, though he’d probably waste me if we tried any heavy computing. The difference? An extra two grand in my wallett!
Does anyone have advice on the iBook situation? What I’m really looking for is a solid statistic either on how often iBooks fail, or what percentage of iBooks are likely to fail in a certain period. I’ve seen many estimates, does anyone know of real research that has been done on the question? Thank you in advance for your help and advice.
I’ve had my iBook for five years now and it seems just fine – I too would be interested in some statistics. Does anyone else have success stories – i.e. an iBook that DIDN’T die, or am I the only lucky one? How widespread is this problem?
I am the second owner of the ibook 12”. It’s been a really good laptop but recently showed signs of video/display problems. I didn’t put much into this computer so I’m gonna try this experiment with heat and see what happens! But I do love this computer…
I used to drag my old console TV outside and stick a running garden hose in the back of it whenever it stopped working. Turned on just like new every time…anything that works is fair game. I’ll be trying the heat trick on my video card tommorow. Or, the hose.
I bought a laptop from Powermax.com. An iBook 12 inch g4 800 mhz. And, a few days ago it started having the problem with no video. I bought the machine in July of this year. I have emailed Powermax to see how they will help me. Dag, my fault for not buying new…but, I have always wanted this iBook. I hope Powermax will work with me…I am not feeling adventurous to try this solution yet.
Whenever you try this method with thinner you better do it in a descent place. Like your garage or something. Now there are a lot of black spots all over my room of burning thinner.. And the result is not 100% yet. I have to do it again, same method, different location.
I bought an iBook 900Mhz, 14” on Ebay like 3-4 months ago…
One month ago i had swiched to OSX 10.3 (upgraded to 10.3.9)from 10.2.8, very soon they had started the problems…
At the begining some icons started to display wrong (some coloured lines only), next they start to dissapear and on the last week even to be swiched between!!!
Imagine my FireWorks had a icon of a Quick Time AVI!!!
Then today was the end – two consecutive freezes and BOOM...no more video after the second forced restart!
A “beautiful” black screen with the usual chime when pushing Power button but no more video…
Of course, like everyone i panic a little so i tried to put out power and battery for a few minutes but NO CHANGE! So i jumped on my old Clamshell (what a lucky reserve);) and looked for the problem around!
I fixed it temporary SQUEEZING the MIDDLE PART on the LEFT-(between touchpad and the left out edge) quite strong and now is back!
Of course…i don’t consider that should be a too long time fix…but in case of emergency it is worth to give a try!
Hope it would keep a while since i am quite terrified to open such a monster myself and try the prcedure with heating the video chip!
Hope would be usefull to any of you wich are not experienced enough to open a laptop and put it back!
All the best Cher Wally
Cher,
This fix does work temporarily because it presses the video chip down on the board, and gives it enough pressure to reconnect to the board to give you video.
I have a 800mhz G3 iBook, when I first got it it had that problem. So I applied pressure, and it worked for a few hours, then it got to where it wouldn’t work so I clamped it down, and that still works well, if you don’t mind it being a permanent desktop. But what’s the point,
So, soon me and a friend are going to try the burn, and see how it goes.
Such a huge design flaw.
But I am sort of relieved maybe? to know I’m not the only one out there still dealing with this.
I just tried on my friends ibook g3 and i cant believe it worked especially after the note on the site saying that there is a slim chance of it working
Hi geeks.
My ibook G3’s video died a while back and I decided to do something about it… anyway, I used a heat gun on it and insulated the rest with layers of aluminum foil. I tried to follow the slow-heating and slow-cooling ideal, and I put balls of solder on the chip and to the side of it to ensure that the solder below the chip would melt and that to the side of it would not.
The first time, however, after I replaced the bottom shield and booted up, I did not hear the start up chime as usual, and the screen still showed black (there was a sound of fans whirring). I did it again, because I now really had nothing to lose. The second time, I heated it until even the ball of solder to the side of the chip melted. This time when I started up, I got a blue screen, no chime, and no start-up. Is this what they call “the blue screen of death?” It leads me to believe that when I heated it the first time, I fried something that I shouldn’t have (with conducted heat?), and the second time I actually did reflow the solder in the right way. Should I give up, or is there some genius fix for my new problem?
Thanks.
I am just wondering what some other peoples opinions on this are. Is the solder joint failure really a design flaw? I’m no electronics expert. Just wondering if it could be from:
1)To much flexing of the board in that area, esp. on 14” models
2)Excessive heat from the hard drive being sandwiched right on top of it. That seems to be the hottest spot on an ibook. Just left of the track pad.
3)Lack of cooling air flow?
Just wondered what others think could be the true technical cause of this symptom.
Mike
A few weeks ago, I updated my Sister’s iBook G3 900mhz to OS 10.3.9. Then, a few days ago it started getting the crazy lines and not displaying anything when starting up. It’s funny how it ran great for so many years and after updating the OS, it started acting up. For all of those years it’s been running on the OS that shipped with it. Could the newer OS be causing things to heat up more than it can handle or is it just a coincidence?
i had my video go out on my 700mhz 14’‘ seen this and tried it used a mini torch heard a pop and noticed my logic board was warped hurried up and pushed down on the ati chip and hoped it worked turned it on and holy crap it still hasnt broke works great
Ok, I got an ibook with a G3 700Mhz CPU and a Radeon 7500 (with 16 VRam).
Now, I think I have the GPU failing problem, as I get weird colors on my screen and my book will boot but without displaying a thing :S. So before I go screwing around my book, I was wondering, if it is possible to upgrade the ibook with a G4 CPU (or a Logic Board which has a G4 CPU on it). All I’ve seen so far, are logic boards with G3 CPUs :( .
BTW, I was reading around and I reed that it is impossible to have an 802.11g card inside the iBook G3, the ibook I bought has a DLiNK 802.11g card in it o_0.
Thanks in advance for the replay
PS
I don’t know how you did it Mark, but doing it this way, usually kills your CPU/GPU as it reaches the meltdown temperature, or am I wrong on this one?
My old Pentium 4 1.8 melt down when I accidentally turned on my PC without the heat sink and the fan :S.
Danger DANJ is maybe right as I guess the GUI of OSX is the one heating the GPU to a point where it disjoints the balls.
..but the idea it’s not bad at all.Thanks!
Hello mark ,
I wanna try the burn with lighter fluid
Does your g3 still function properly ?
thnx for ur idea
to all of you that have the ibook video card/logic board problem.
I had this problem with my 800 mhz ibook g3 about at year ago. When the technical issues started occuring, i was furious because it was my school computer and i didn’t have the time or the money to invest in the DOY repair online, or to pay for a new Logic board. i called apple support and they told me that the coverage of the logics boards on the g3 model numbers uv117xxx…. through uv342xxx….. ended in march of 2005 i believe. upon hearing this i was extremely irrittated, i mean its an obviously faulty product and they should have to repair it no matter if its been one year or four. anyways, i didn’t give up. i called apple support again the next day and yelled my guts out at the apple rep. he kinda didn’t know what to do, and told me that he agreed and that he wanted to help me with the repair, but couldn’t because “his hands were tied” soooooo, i asked him to transfer me to someone whose hands weren’t “tied” so he transferred me to his supervisor. upon talking to the supervisor, i discovered that apple DOES still cover the ibooks, they just don’t make a point of putting it out there that they do. it even says on the apple website that they don’t. Basically they “only grease the squeaky wheels” only people that are angry and could present legal problems for them like the ibooks have in the past get the help. sooooo, they mailed me a box, and i put my laptop in, mailed it to apple, and two weeks later, my ibook came back working perfectly. and it never cost me a anything but a couple angry phone calls to apple. even the shipping was free. all i had to do was take it to DHL in the box that apple mailed me.
my advice to all of you is to call apple tech support, tell them about the problem your having and then ask to speak to someone higher up, because only those people have the authority to do the logic board replacement.
hope it helps,
ben
Hi guys;
I found another unorthodox way to save my logicboard:
All the other suggestions did not work at all/partial.
So I assumed that Apple does use a technique that melts all components together at the same time.
That can only be done in an oven.
So I thougth: I also have a hot-air oven to bake Apple-Pie;
why not bake an Apple-Logicboard???
And I just did that. Had after all nothing to loose.
I Stripped everything I could to ensure that only the components that could take the amount of heat necasssary to melt the tin/led points underneath the Graphic Chip remained on the board. I Also removed the Battery with a soldering-gun.
I set the oven at 190 degrees Celcius (I am from Holland).
Put in the Apple-LogicPie and a smal stroke of tin, just to watch if it would melt. And waited.
At the time it reached the right temperature I waited another 3-4 minutes.
Then I opend the oven to cool things of and waited some more to ensure I would not burn my fingers.
Then I basically reconnected onle the essential parts to check the function of the logicboard (harddrive; display; power) en started the iBook…..
IT WORKED!!!!!
For the first time in weeks it did not stop at the “famous” Blue Screen!!
Right now I am downloading the latest upgrades of Tiger till 10.4.11 and it still works.
I have made a few pictures of it.
You can watch them at
http://tinyurl.com/6nhuum
http://tinyurl.com/5bes24
http://tinyurl.com/4t6hcs
http://tinyurl.com/3o5szz
If it still works after 1 week; I’ll put another picture here of my re-assembled iBook G4 14″ at the following place:
http://tinyurl.com/4qwj69
Greetings from the Netherlands!
macfan55
Benc
What if I never bought this ibook from Apple, but bought
second hand? What then? will apple still repair it? I don’t
think so…
macfan55
Wow you must be CRAZY to put the logic board into the oven.
What if the plastic components on it would melt ?
How will you connect your parts afterward?
I think I will try placing a 2 dollar coin into the oven, heat
it up to 250 cellcius and then place it on my chip for a few
minutes. It might actually work better.
To bad apple is covering this up, as they have more then
enough money to fix all those faulty iBooks.
Hello all,
I used the metal cup burning technique with alcool and also a butane torch and it worked well. I get the iBook working, even after a couple of reboots (before I re-assemble the iBook).
However, when I re-assemble the iBook, I get a black screen and I have to re-heat the video chip again to have the iBook working again. So something wrong happens when I re-assemble the computer.
Any clue? Has this happened to someone else?
Thanks in advance,
I used an click lighter (like the ones for lighting grills) and this worked like a charm.
Thanks!
Hi
I disassembled my wife iBook G3 800MHz yesterday (nice puzzle :) and took a heatgun (read that in another google link) and hold it 30 – 10cm over that BGA for some minutes (why does an ibook have a fan?) let it cool down over night and reassembled it again, RAM and Airport needed some out/in cycles and now it runs again :-D
Thanks for your article which gave me the kick to try it.
No thanks to Apple as I already took part in that logic board exchange program years before and for building such a mess inside :-).
Just a quick note, I had my logic board repaired 3 times, it went almost every year after me having it for 18 months. I’m now chasing apple for a full replacement as under UK consumer law if something is sent back for the same repair 3 times then it’s deemed “not fit for purpose”, and since Apple extended the warantee itself they haven’t got a leg to stand on! If they fixed it with a working part then fine but they just swapped out a bad part with a bad part – stupid!!
woo…this is the same problems with my ibook G3 800mhz
its bcoz the VGA position facing down n the logic board temp.
i think this is the most defect happen to ibook G3.
congrats to u!!!
can u fix mine???eheheh…
Whilst changing the hard disk in my iBook G4, 12” 1,3 GHz, and trying to disconnect the blue & white power cable connector, the socket has come off the motherboard. Can this be resoldered?
Many thanks
My ibook G4 is doing the whole grey screen thing, I want to do this fix but my motherboard isn’t exactly the same as pictured above. Please anyone help me out, which part do I need to heat up ?
http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc02985mw7.jpg I couldn’t find an obvious video card on the motherboard.
I just succeeded in doing this successfully to an iBook G3 using my acetelyne welding torch over a tunafish can full of pennies to dissipate the heat. IT WORKS !!!! I wonder if the later model G4’s can have the same problem ?
I have the screen problem on my little iBook G3 900Mhz. However, there’s no way I’m going to open the case. I don’t have any electronics experience.
If anyone here wants it, I started the auction at $1. Copy paste this link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110288761153
Hi,
Have an iBook 800 Mhz with the GPU problem.
Can you recommend a good/reliable place for reballing the chip, from your own experience.
How found two places:
http://www.superiorreball.com/ and http://www.crsrepair.com/
thank you in advance.
I feel like I need to have my balls reflowed.
Would anyone like to come over and help?
I have alcohol!
:D
Thank you! this worked. I used a heat gun like the other post, but it worked first time.
Wow I just got a g3 900m and being new to the mac community It had the same problem as yours so I tried a similar approach but with a 50 cent piece 1969 mostly silver and a pen torch as discribed the fan speed up and the back light came on and the display finaly fired up unfortunly a mac simble flashes with a question mark so still more work but at least the display works cool thanks great post
Very cool that is actually worked…
I have a friend whos g4 went out and they want 460$ to fix it…
I might be trying your “solution” then nail and penny are good ideas .
Maybe a nail thru another tea light cup inserted into another cup (to keep the nail upright… and the bottom cup leak free…)
Woah! This was ace!!
I sat down this Sunday (23rd Nov), after a hearty breakfast and some strong filter coffee and went for it.
My daughter thought I was crazy and was going to ring the Fire Brigade!! ( I did sweat and tremble a bit).
Put it all back together and hey presto. One good as new ibook. Even had the bottle to upgrade the hard drive to 120GB whilst everything was opened up!
Thanks. You have been an inspiration!
Hi, I had the same problem, but I put a alu shirm on the top of GPU. It fix the problem just in part. ibook works fine, dont freez graphics, BUT black colours are displayd as red, not at all but in some areas. Do you think that technique described on this page will fix my little colour problem and don´t destroy my gpu ?
I will be cheerfully if you send me email with some solution on vsycev@centrum.sk
thanx, btw: sorry my english :))
Problem fixed in a similar fashion, thanks !
I used heat conducting paste, applied between the tealight cup and the chip.
This white paste can be found in electronic part supply shop and is used between transistors and heatsinks.
I got some for free at the repair department of a TV shop.
Hi Markie et al,
a very interesting post, thank you. I live in the UK (Surrey) , and have a similar problem. My 1069 mhz G4 (early 2004) ibook (512 ram and 40 gb) seems dead. The fan comes on, the dvd drive clicks and then nothing ! When the problem first started, the screen would go blank with no warning, or would come on in technicolor lines after several attempts. Now the computer won’t come on at all apart from the fan. Does this sound like a logic board problem to you ?
Also the screen is a little loose from it’s frame but nothing major. I don’t have any tools to open up the case would anyone located in my area be willing to have a try using the method above ?
PS I’ve also got a CD stuck in it :(
thanks
Belle
@macfan55
Congrats! I am thinking of following your method too. The heatgun and flame methods sound like too much of a thermal shock for the board.
I will try to video the thing.
IT WORKS! i used it on an old Toshiba CF-72 (same graphic cipset, same problems)... and… IT WORKS! i can’t belive it!
Ciao e grazie
from Italy
The boiling point for alcohol is 70~90°C,
the melting point for solder is above 180°C.
How could you make it? Must be other reason
I had given my iBook up for dead and was taking it apart to harvest the hard drive when I decided to see if I could fix it. I can across this post on google and after a chuckle, decided to try the fix. I didn’t have candles so I used the top of a 6 oz. tomato paste can and a Makita thermocouple heat gun (model HG1100). I placed the lid on the logic board making sure it didn’t touch anything else around it and placed the heat gun right above the lid, I started with the lowest setting and increased the heat several times until it was at maximum. I also press down on the lid a couple of times with the tip of the heat gun hoping to apply pressure to the solder. Otherwise I followed the directions in this post. Needless to say, after several minutes, the chip, board and surrounding parts of the computer got very hot but the fix worked and now instead of a paperweight I have my favorite G3 back. Thanks.
I bought a 14” iBook G3 with this problem and I’m gonna try to fix it like you, but I’m not quiet sure what to use in that tea-light. I have got “Feuerzeugbenzin” (the liquid stuff you put in your zippo lighter, sorry I only now how it’s called here in Germany, but no idea how you call it ^^) and “Spiritus” (Ethanol, 99% as far as I know) so what should I use?
Thanks!
...and from now on i’ll bring you:
Hell…
Fire!!! BoopDepDooooooop;
I’ll bring you to burn!!! BoopdepDooooppp…
Yeah!
You know what, i’m happy; it was a long time since, i’ve had to laugh that much, while thinking about HIGH-TECH.
It all reminds of the stories of the Kosmonauts and what they did to survive their missions and come back to earth. Kind of thingy between hand- and witch-craft.
Also it dropped me in some memories bout’ the good ‘ol days: when i was around 9 or 10 years old and did some, let’s say, ‘speed optimazations’ to my breadbox. There were some ways to bridge the resistors and in effect quadruple the rate of the 6510 to nearly 4 MHz. Boy, that rocked! Nothing was playable anymore, but coding the blitter was hell of a fun.
Little side effect: the processor got so hot, that the keyboard carrier started melting and the solder pins cooked to heaven.
But from that on i just left the C64 open (looked very sexy…) and put a gym weight from my mother on the chip to give enough pressure that the cpu has contact again. It worked.
I’m sorry, it had all nothing to do with your stuff, but i think it’s now time to spend some money at ebay for a broken G3, since i stumbled over here because i intended to buy a mac for the first time in my life.
In short: I’m proud of landing here…
You made me curious about the REAL and NECESSARY ways to act with all that HIGH-TECH nowadays.
You’re thinking of making a mars mission? Tell me, i’ll be with you…
Greetings and lots of respect,
Claudius Raphael Paeth, A3lyphe
Thanks a bunch! Your description was of my problem was the best of any site I encountered!
Hardware:
I’m running an iBook G4-900Mhz, 40GB drive, Ati Mobility Radeon 7500 Video chip. It is now been running for over 1 hour with no problem.
Boy this laptop is third world inside!
After opening the case I removed a foam like substance from the video chip and cleaned the surface with rubbing alcohol. A pen torch \ soldering iron was used to heat the chip. I applied the flame directly to the video chip moving around the chip to heat it evenly. I then moved the torch away and touched the surface to figure out how hot it was. I also lightly applied the flame to base of the chip and the two plastic squres next to it. I never got it so hot that it would burn my finger if touched for a second. I applied the flame for a few seconds on and off for about 1 minute.
TIP: I think it is not a good idea to put an object in the case to keep pressure on the chip. This traps heat which softens the solder and flex the chip to board connection.
i am trying to fix a 14.1 256/30 700MHz version and i am not having success with the tea cup and alcohol. 1. How long did you burn above the chip?
2. Is another cup necessary? 3. If necessary, what did you use?
uuhhh… what a great description with such cool pics. I nearly have a similar problem and I’ll try your solution within the next few days.
BURNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN! ;-)
Tried it yesterdayevening with succes!
Not with the candle but with a heated piece of steel. Left it on top of GPU for about a minute. Just enough to burn my fingers on the processor when i removed it. Only i didn’t left the machine running.
Components can handle more heat when they are switched off then when they are switched on.
When i removed the piece of steel and i turned it on the fan turned like it was taking off. But…....
The freeking thing worked again !!! Thanks a lot for the tip.
Afterwards i used a piece of aluminium and some heatsinkpaste to establish a better transfer of heat from the processor to the backplate. This instead of the yellowish foam that was there in the first place. My guess is that the foam just didn’t work anymore in the first place becoase there was no form of contact at all between the foam and the backplate when i removed the backplate.
Now the outer body shell presses a littlebit on the processor via the piece of aluminium. Just enough to keep a good contact between the motherboard en the GPU in case its gets loose again.
The thing now works like a charm and doesn’t get so hot anymore.
Instead of soldering or using the tealight method to fix the logic board (which are both scary to a novice), I have a quick fix. I C-clamped the left hand corner of my iBook and used two quarters to distribute the weight and now I have no display issues. Sure, I can’t place the laptop on my lap, but it’s quick and cheap fix for an old laptop.
i did this today with a Rework station, on a G3 ibook,
thanks to this and the excellent forum lol,
great!
it worked for me too!
i did only 2 burns one of 1 minute and the second of about 4 minutes.
the chip, that was not properly aligned on the motherboard, is now perfectly seated and more important, it works! (iBook G3 800MHz broken since july 2006)
GG!!
great!
it worked for me too!
i did only 2 burns one of 1 minute and the second of about 4 minutes.
the chip, that was not properly aligned on the motherboard, is now perfectly seated and more important, it works! (iBook G3 800MHz broken since july 2006)
GG!!
I used the coin method and it worked for me as well. The first 3 times, the screen blanked on me after a few minutes to an hour. The last time I did it, I quickly reassembled the case with some aluminum foil wedged between the case and the video chip to apply pressure before the solder could fail again. So far so good, except the case gets pretty hot around the area of the video chip. Does anyone know the best way to dissipate the heat this thing puts off?
I sent mine off to a place in Utah to get it done right ($45 with return postage); seems to work just great.
The biggest problem was curing the keyboard of the disgusting glue smell.
My iBook has been dead since mid 2005, I was contemplating throwing it away this Thanksgiving weekend, but I found this site and gave it a whirl…. I removed the foam from the video chip, and I used 3 rounds of alcohol, 2 rounds of gasoline, and the last round was kerosene. The last time I took a penny and put it under the tea light container before putting the kerosene in and lighting it. After the last round of burning was complete, I let it cool on its own and put everything back together. I’m commenting on this page on my restored iBook that has been out of commission since mid 2005! I’m going thru software updates like crazy and enjoying all the pictures that are on here that I had totally forgotten about…. Thanks for the great tutorial… I was sure it would not work for me, but alas, here I am getting ready to click save on the computer that has been dead for nearly 4 years! Thanks Bro!
Dont know if Im doing this right, tried the alcohol a few times, but it didnt seem like the gpu was getting hot enough. When the Alcohol was finished the gpu wasnt even warm. So I decided to use an iron, uplugged everything and placed a quarter on top to give some room so the iron doesnt touch the other surrounding chips. Still have a lit screen with no display, need a little help.
Tried this fix with hot air gun on highest setting (layers of tinfoil round chip) Placed a 1oz weight (like you get with an old-fashioned set of kitchen scales) heated gingerly at first to no avail then thought nothing to lose! Went in with the gun at max setting about an inch away from the weight tfor about 2 mins until weight was really hot (tested the heat with a strip of solder) then left the weight on top of the chip and let them both cool down together. When cool re-assembled ibook and Bingo! It worked! Not sure how long it will last, but what a great tip!
Maybe the weight helped put a little pressure on the chip so it settled back down into the reflowed solder?
Thanks once again!
Thanx for all Mark.
I’m gonna try it in your Honor.
You left this world to soon !
R.I.P.
Tried this and it worked! Have had a few problems but replacing the foam padding seems to have worked. Used old train tickets cut to size and bound in electrical tape. Have had a few black outs but now I know why so I can adjust it accordingly!
Thanks so much…
Last week a friend of mine gave his old G3 as payment for some ad-hoc IT support I did for him (e.g. helping him with his home network and other tasks that service people charge hundreds of dollars). I knew the screen wasn’t working, but I thought I could always sell it for $100 on Craigslist for people looking for parts. But I Googled the problem and I came to this post. And all I have to say is that the hot coin works. Although I didn’t use the one specifically used in the example, it did work. For those wondering, it needs to be heated to 250 Celsius before putting it on top of the chip. Long live G3. I had a blowtorch ready just in case the coin didn’t do the trick.
Great page! We had a Mac come in the shop with the same style issues but we use an IRD InfraRed reflow station to make this fix. Also teamed with no mess acl based clear flux it holds up great.
Have a great weekend,
-Pete
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1qVUA2D-Kw
Wow,
Paid to fix this years ago, then got one free repair from it before it broke again. Sure missed you back then. So, I was all set with the torch with nothing to lose, when I just tried the pressing method. Ta da! Ok, now I do have something to lose maybe, so I needed metal shims. Hmm, a beer can seems appropriate. Cut out a shim and repacked. Have one extra screw, but who cares?
Thanks so much. To fix this thing so primitive made it all the better.
Parabems!
I am trying to learn about different ways people fixed their video problems related to the mother board in macs as I have an eMac with the same symptoms… This was very interesting. Great work!
This is apple’s version of the “3 Rings of Death”. I fixed alot of broken Xboxes 360 that had the infamous 3 rings of death situation, thats is when you power on the xbox you will see three red leds, when that situation happened is because of faulty soldered joints on the CPU or the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) which is exactly what happened to these apple mac’s. (Now I guess Apple and Microsoft are on the Same Boat)
I cannot thank you enough for giving me the idea on how to fix the Video Chip problem on my MacBook Pro Core Duo.
I saw a video describing your solution ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4Coozv2DdE ) and thought that it was a joke, but after reading your page I took it as truth and tried it out for myself (with heat-gun rather than tea-candle).
I am now writing from my previously video-corrupted MacBook Pro, and you can find the video of my success here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=outHBB4AlB4
Thanks again! (Your page is referenced at the end of my video)
So far so good, except the case gets pretty hot around the area of the video chip. Does anyone know the best way to dissipate the heat this thing puts off?
see u
Thanks loads for this. I cracked the case, following the instructions at http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-iBook-G3-12-Inch-Bottom-Shield/125/1. I scraped off the yellow foam on the chip, ran the heat gun for a few minutes, then put the pieces back together. Amazingly, the thing worked!
Thanks for putting this up, and thanks to everyone who’s commented! I’ve read and re-read most of all this page preparing to fix an iBook G3 800MHz that I used in college. I actually bookmarked this page months ago, but only now got time to try it out.
For me, I ended up using a flat stone (maybe from a river bed) and a folded piece of foil about the size of the ATI chip. I heated the stone on the gas stove in the kitchen, and using tongs, quickly took it from the stove to the iBook and placed it on the foil that was on the chip.
After making sure it was ideally set, I turned the computer on, and, sure enough, there was light (and a picture)! It’s still set on the table as I write this, but, so far, so good! I only got temporary results using a torch and a coin (and no results using alcohol and a metal cup), so I can’t vouch for those.
Assuming the picture stays working, I’m going to apply some thermal compound to the foil and reassemble the iBook, then try again. I sooo hope that this stays!
Thanks again!
I used your shim fix on 2 ibook G3s, fixed both after first attempt. Now the question is how long will it last? I used thick label paper and wrapped small piece of cardboard. Very dense so I hope it will last, placed 3 in spaced out locations. If anyone else has shim updates or the life span of the shims, please update : )
Just acquired my first ever Mac yesterday afternoon. An old 900Mhz Ibook G3 which seems to have this obligatory GPU/solder problem. The scrambled graphics, the freezes, and black screens. After a quick Google i came across this and another couple of related forum threads and one bent loyalty card later the thing now works just fine, or at least has been since yesterday.
The only real mistake was not using the wife`s Visa card instead of the Tesco`s loyalty card. :)
I`ll see how long it last`s before moving n to the bonfire approach.
Good job!