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General discussion

Accidently pulled off a connector..

Jan 4, 2008 8:41AM PST

This is quite an interesting situation I'm in.
Today during High School, my first period, I noticed a Mac iBook G4 in the recycle pile used by my schools Tech department. I decided to swoop it up and give it a whirl, and see for myself what the problem with it was.
When I first powered it on, I was receiving a scrambled signal on my display. It was merely a white screen with lines in it, after a while of tinkering, even grabbing a few mac knowledgeable buddies of mine to see if they could do anything. It seemed like this would drag on, and I would not fix it.
In the end, we ended up tapping the screen and seeing a faint hope of light, that light was the appearance of the desktop! Unfortunately, the screen soon vanished back into it's scrambled state. Upon further tapping, we could only figure it was a problem with the connection of the display to the logic board.

I decided to open up my iBook, following this guide:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/iBook-G4-12-Inch/Display/83/18/

Everything was going great until this step:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/83/images_large/40.jpg
In which it states in the directions:
"[WARNING] The connectors at the ends of the cables are attached very firmly to the sockets on the logic board. Pulling directly on the cable will either separate the cable from its connector or the socket from the logic board.
* Lift the upper case enough to disconnect the blue and white power cable from the logic board. Using your fingernails or a dental pick, carefully pry the connector from its socket. Make sure you're pulling only on the connector and not on the socket."

I used a small screwdriver to pry up the connection cable, in the end I ripped the connector off of the logic board..

Here's a few pictures to possibly help:

This one is of my iBook, and the circled area is where the connector was pulled off.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w157/jacobs4chan/Un-Chan/Dscn0448.png
This is a close up of that area.
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w157/jacobs4chan/Un-Chan/Dscn0439.jpg
And here is a close up of the cable that also has a connector attached to it.

If it helps, the cable that was connecting these two peripherals was Blue and White, connected to the keyboard, and is directly wired to the power button. ):
So the real question now is: Can this be soldered back on? Is there any hope for this device? Possibly another way to turn it on? D:

Thanks in advance.
-Jacob.

Discussion is locked

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Whoops.
Jan 4, 2008 9:52AM PST
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Well you could put a new logic board
Jan 4, 2008 10:02AM PST
Wink or not. Better to buy a new MacBook. Take it to an authorized tech and ask them. If it can be soldered on at all leave it to a professional.

Besides that, I have a question. First of all, everything was connected when you opened it up, right? So was it the logic board or the display responsible for the issue? Because swapping the logic board would fix that up but those tend to be expensive. Hmm... there's usually hope for something like this but I would think you'd have to be willing to invest in it, which may not prove to be good in the end. There may have been something else wrong but you never know.

Hope I helped you out some,
-BMF
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The iBook Issue
Jan 4, 2008 10:07AM PST

there was a series of iBooks, white, that had this same issue. No not some student pulling off connectors, but having failing video. This may explain why it was in the trash to begin with.

It looks as though the machine is not starting up, it doesn't, but if you grasp the front left hand side of the wrist rest. Thumb on top, fingers below, and squeeze fairly hard, the video returns and the machine will boot. Scary!

The only fix for it is a replacement logic board or, you clamp the thing to the desk with a "G" clamp. Not too hard because the HD is directly under that part of the machine.

With a logic board this small, you really need to take it to a professional who has the equipment and ability to solder something this small.

P

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Haha.
Jan 4, 2008 1:22PM PST

Yeah, I was doing some research before the incident and I read up on some iBooks that had failing video. Seemed like the common was as you mentioned, but I figured I'd fix it for good and crack it open, and secure it.
Do you have maybe a ballpark figure of how much it'd cost for this to be soldered on? Think it'd be possible to do it on my own? I don't want to dish out too much money on this, seeing as how I got this for free.. but meh, I could end up spending a couple bucks on it if I can end up using it. (:
Thanks for the tips, I wish I would've known them sooner!

-Jacob.

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Mhm.
Jan 4, 2008 1:19PM PST

Yes, everything was connected when I first cracked it open. I just didn't realize that cable so snuggly fit into the connector.
I don't think it was the logic board, it looked like the cable from the display to the logic board was loose, so I secured nice and tight.. too bad I can't turn it on now.
And yeah, I'm not sure if I'll put any money into it. I was hoping I could make a few bucks off of it, but meh. We'll see what happens.
Thanks for your help.

-Jacob.

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Too bad it couldn't be put to use.
Jan 4, 2008 2:09PM PST

Those G4s perform nicely when they work right, but then again, all Macs can Wink. Ah well.

I'm still wondering why it would be in a recycle bin. Surely whoever put it there knew that someone could look at it and repair it, unless the person who put it there is a Windows guy. What's done is done though. Keep us informed if you ever decide on having it looked at.

-BMF

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It was in the recycle bin
Jan 5, 2008 12:55PM PST

because a silly Windoze user put it there... :S

Just a thought o.0

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And yes it could be soldered but..
Jan 4, 2008 10:37PM PST

If you had the skill and equipment you wouldn't be asking. I'm sure that today they don't have those "dangerous" solder irons with the killer lead solder in schools anymore. They removed them during a "lead" panic here.

But yes, if you found some grey hair with a solder iron they might solder wires back on where you tell them.

Bob