those iBook logic board problems
It’s been quiet here lately.
Actually it’s because I haven’t been able to use the iBook much in the last few days: it’s failing with what I’m sure is a recurrence of the iBook logic board failure problem. It had it in July last year, and the logic board was replaced then by Apple.
The other day it started again: display fritzing, lines… I rebooted; all seemed well, but with some foreboding I quickly did a backup. Just as well, because shortly afterward the display went dark, and wouldn’t light up again.
Down at MagnumMac this afternoon they told me that because I bought the iBook more than three years ago Apple’s extended replacement program no longer applies. The part required has a list price of over NZD$1,000 ex-GST, so that with labour the end bill won’t be much short of $1,500 (I’m not the only person who finds this a little upsetting), a price that’s not out of line with reported quotes I’ve seen on overseas websites.
This evening I surfed the net on my phone for information; it seems that more than one source suggests placing some sort of insert into the machine to press the logic board and the graphics processing unit closer together, as apparently the connection between the two is the root of the problem.
Applying this logic I tried rebooting the iBook while compressing hard the left hand-rest area (below which the GPU lies). And so it booted, with the display working fine this time.
It lives. Until the next time it fails. I don’t think I can trust it to be reliable, to not fail and thereby risk our precious photos and emails. And yet buying a new machine, while nice, wasn’t really in the plan for this year.
What a pain.
Comments
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Heck
1 July 2006, 00:57 #
Since I experienced a total hard drive implosion a few years back (losing three months of my life with it, and notice I say “first”, it hasn’t been the only one) I back up daily and to three different locations, all outside my computers. While this might be a bit extreme for your needs maybe, I do heartily suggest that you buy a nice external hard drive at least, and use it as a main storage device instead of the laptop. That will take a huge weight off your chest if the worst comes to pass.
External hard drives do fail too, but in five years I’ve lost two, while Apple machines (particularly since OS 10.4 came out) have been giving me serious trouble that could risk my data like, oh, every month?
With perpendicular drives coming out already, prices are really going down, and you can get easily a 120 GB ipod-size usb-powered disk for a very interesting price which shouldn’t hurt your budget at all. I suggest Smartdisk, for instance.
Heck
1 July 2006, 00:59 #
Eeek. Actually I forgot to write “first” – “my first hard drive implosion”...
You know what they say, it’s not “if”, it’s “when”.
;-)
Patrick Quinn-Graham
1 July 2006, 06:08 #
My suggestion is to contact Apple NZ, see if you can’t persuade them to do something better for you.
Mr Reasonable
3 July 2006, 07:24 #
Hmmm, I’m not sure that Apple can opt out of replacing it despite the length of time if the fault is a known hardware issue at the time of purchase. You could argue that the item wasn’t “fir for the purpose” on the day you bought it and it was only a metter of time before the fault appeared. Give the CAB a call – they are really good at this stuff as it appears that retailers try it on every day. Who’d have thought…...
Martha
3 July 2006, 09:50 #
Yeah, I agree with Mr Reasonable. If it is a recognised fault rather than wear and tear, I think they’d have a hard job wriggling out of it.
Alan
4 July 2006, 09:25 #
Hmmmm, well, I have to admit that I am such a sad and recidivist Macintosh user that I have bought a new MacBook. I have too much mental and emotional capital tied up in Apple products to want to change now.
Meanwhile, as suggested, I am asking Apple “WTF?” on the defective iBook issue and will report back any response.
oswaldo
27 July 2006, 04:59 #
Mi Ibook got the logic board curse… for the third time.
Apple won’t repair it for free anymore, now it’s a 300 USD fee.
I’m just waiting for the second generation of macbooks so i won’t pay 300 bucks.
I aplied your technique of compressing hard the machine… and it works too!!
Greetings from México!!
Alan
27 July 2006, 07:02 #
Oswaldo: glad to help. I notice that in the US Apple often (but not always) replaces the iBook after the third occurrence of the problem. It’s sad to hear that Apple México might not be so customer-focussed.
Alan
4 November 2006, 20:17 #
Good news! It took a while, but Apple NZ replaced the iBook’s logic board this week.
Of course, I’d since bought a MacBook as replacement… but we’ll keep the iBook for the kids…
a.y
13 January 2008, 09:03 #
Before sending your ibook to apple. Try everything you have to give it a shot. Try pushing down the gpu. This didn’t work for mine but this did. Apparently apple has sold me a refurbished ibook. This is because when i opened up the machine, not all of the screws were in place on the logic board. I placed metal washers between where the screws are place as these are contact points where power and data is transferred. After this process I removed the battery and the ram and let it rest for about 72 hours to reset the board. It worked! Better than ever. With no data lost.
DJ _ A.S.Ent Co.
14 August 2008, 13:10 #
Hello I have a customer who brought me his iBook that has this same Logic Board issue. I have tried pressing the gpu and that no longer works. Is there anything else? Where exactly are you putting those washers?