G4 ibook motherboard fault.
There is a problem with the logic board in the Macintosh G4 ibooks. It can appear after a year or more in some machines and the symptom is that after being on for a few minutes, the screen goes black (it looks blank, but the light has gone off) , the fan turns on, and the computer freezes. You might think it is a problem with the display but it’s actually a problem with one of the chips on the main motherboard. This article describes the problem and how to repair it.
What models are affected?
I conducted a survey (thanks to over 300 readers who participated!) to see which model g4 ibook had the problem. The results are here and it appears that every iBook model can develop the blank display problem.
Thankfully the Aluminium power books don’t have the problem. In fact the powerbooks from this era are a great design, the 15 inch Aluminium G4 powerbook is one of my all time favourite macs – I still have one.
The original 2003 ibook G4’s (800/933/1Ghz) have the fault.
The “Early 2004” (1Ghz) models up until Oct 2004 have the same motherboard.
The 60G (1.2Ghz) “Early 2004” model and all the “Late 2004” model ibooks (1.2Ghz/1.33Ghz) and Mid 2005 (1.33 and 1.42Ghz) have different logic board (built in airport extreme)- but they still have the fault – even models with the new logic boards are affected!
What is the fault?
One of the chips heats up and cools down each time the computer is turned on and off, so that eventually a small stress crack appears on one of the pins. When the computer heats up and parts expand, the crack opens up and the power does not get through. This means the display goes blank and the computer freezes. If you press the plastic case of the ibook in just the right place, it can put enough pressure on the chip so that the pin makes contact and the computer will power up again. In fact, here’s a crude DIY repair method involving a shim where you open the laptop and put a piece of rubber on top of the chip to press it down: http://coreyarnold.org/ibook/?p=20
Here is another DIY solution is that involves clamping a g-clamp onto your iBook – I would not recommend this one it will place all sorts of physical stresses on the iBook internals!
http://johnbakersblog.co.uk/design-fault-in-apples-ibook-g4/
Here is a photo of the fault developing. (from here: ENGF959-orig). You can see the thin black line running below the lead which is a crack in the solder.
I rang Apple and they don’t acknowledge that the problem exists. They have officially ‘never heard of it’.
The repair!
You need a fine tipped soldering iron to heat up the top few pins of the chip one by one and resolder them to the logic board. Press the chip down while you apply a very clean and fine soldering iron tip to each pin.
Don’t attempt this one unless you have had some soldering experience – or you are ready to say goodbye to your G4 ibook if something goes wrong!
Here are some pictures:
The G4 ibook with the bottom case off. The offending chip is circled.
Here is a closeup of where I have soldered the legs of the chip. You can see the base of the top pins are shinier and a little fatter from the new soldering. I soldered the top 3 or 4 pins on each side, but it’s only the top 2 pins that the fault occurs with as they are the main power pins. I applied a little more solder to the joint as well, that’s why it looks a bit lumpy.
TYou don’t need to apply any new solder to the chip. Just apple some solder to your soldering iron to clean it. Then wipe the iron clean on a rag. Then gently touch the iron to the legs of the chip for about 3 seconds each leg to melt the solder down onto the joints again.
Here is a close-up of the chip you are soldering. Solder the end with the little circle on it. Solder the top 2 legs on each side.
STOPPING THE FAULT FRM OCCURRING
As pointed out in the discussions below, once your ibook is fixed, or if your G4 iBook has not yet developed the fault, you might want to take out $10 worth of insurance by buying this little app.
It turns your fans on earlier and lowers the internal temp of you ibook. You can set the temperature lower so that your fan turns on a little sooner to keep the iBook cooler.
If you repair your iBook be sure go make a post below. So far there have been lots of successes and no failures at all!
I am not an experienced solderer and I am now working on the ibook I fixed! very good instructions-the hard part is seeing what you are doing-you just have to be as accurate as possible and have faith!
You rock ………guess what’s just above the chip ? something that we use all the time. no wonder it cracks. what a coinkydink….it’s almost like they designed it this way on purpose (knowing it would break)
Amazing!
I chose the soldering route. One thing I did was to sharpen up my soldering iron tip to get a very fine point, let it get super hot add the smallest bit of solder then a steady hand, plenty light and magnifying glass. It was a tense moment when switching it on again but it worked!
I can’t thank you enough
Well, it proved the fault, but didn’t boot next time I tried, so I did the solder with a normal soldering iron lightly tinned on one corner, holding the solder there as the iron got hot and puling it off as soon as any got on the iron. held it to the legs for about 5 secs, then cleaned off any residual on the chiplegs with a fine needle and magnifying glass to ensure no short between those first two pins. Perfect, works fine..8)
For this kind of soldering you don’t need to add tin, but rather use a small amount of soldering flux (liquid, gel, or no-clean flux), since the main problem when re-soldering an SMD component is the oxidizing of the non-leaded tin due to the high temperature of the solder tip. The soldering flux prevents such oxidization, thus avoiding the need for adding new tin (also avoiding the risk of short circuits between the ic legs).
Good tip Henry thanks!
what’s the procedure when applying flux? is it still applied with hot soldering iron? details appreciated as i’m just about to do this fix… :)
I only have a high heat soldering iron so decided not to risk it. Rather, i rolled some pieces of electrical tape, made a sticky little pad that creates pressure inside the case and taped it to the chip. i then shut the case and it worked. been working for some time without any problems.
Awesome!
Thank you for sharing on how to fix broken G4 iBook logic board.. really helpful..
on test for a few hours now and all working! YAY!
Brilliant!!!
I used the electrical tape trick and it is now working after setting under the bed for two years, now I have a great
garage computer. thanks guys
I also have an iBook G4 that was effected about a year or so after I got it took it to apple to see what was wrong and they said I needed a new logic board so instead of doing that I bout a 15″ MacBook Pro late 2006 and just put my iBook away in storage. I recently moved and thought that maybe other ppl had similar issues with their iBooks. So I found that they did since I don’t know how to solder or own a soldering device I was wondering if you could tell me about the electrical tape you used to fix yours I have mine open and ready but need to buy the tape and have the instructions on where to put it if you could please let me know I would be forever grateful there are pics of my parents on the hard drive that I want so bad they both passed 5 years ago this past May. Also if you have any pics showing where the tape goes that would be great I now know what chip it is thanks to the pics on this website.
Thank You
Sincerely,
Elijah
god bless people like you tankyou so much
thanks for the guide :D
really helped me a lot
nice post dude :)
Thanks!!!! it’s really usefull for me!
Thank you for sharing. This is very helpful :D
this was great
this help me so much
big thanks
i used a piece of plastic that broke off of the case and taped it to the chip, screwed the case down tight and it worked for a while, i think i will try the soldering next. How hot should i get the iron, it has adjustable controls.
thanks
thanks a lot ! i’ve just repaired an old 14″ powerbook thanks to
you :) <3
This may not be the best place to ask but, I have been looking for a place to bring my Mac for servicing. Has anyone ever heard of this mac repair service? They’re right in West Los Angeles, which is not too far from my home. It’s called – Mac Repair Los Angeles, 11322 Santa Monica Blvd, Ste B Los Angeles, CA 90025 (310) 966-9099.
Yes, I just performed the soldering minutes ago and it WORKED on my iBook G4 11″ 1.3 ghz. A week ago I had black & white stripes all over the screen BUT now is fixed. : )
However it is already my 2nd attempt. My 1st attempt was 2 years ago on my iBook G4 14″ 900mhz. I did tried to put extra solder on the pin and like people mentioned above, I messed up the pins.
So my advice would be to first put flux on those pins that you are going to solder. Then NO NEED to put extra solder. Just press the solder tip onto the pins and let it melt the existing solder on the pins. If done successfully, the solder on the pins will become shinier.
My equipment: Aoyou digital solder
Temperature: 450 Degree
Good luck!
Hi! My iBook G4 freezees right when I turn it on. I get the spinning wheel but it never fully starts. Any solutions???
Thanks
thanks
thanks
Did I say Thanks?
Thanks
I have my little laptop again!
thank you
I use g4fancontrol. It is free and works great after finding the right code in terminal to use. “http://jurriaandevos.nl/control-ibook-g4-temperature-with-g4fancontrol/” is the site.
a good few years ago I purchased an ibook g4, 14″ (I think. It was the larger). It was a great laptop. Then one day some water from a spilled glass fell near the power inlet. A slight fizzle occurred. I turned it on it’s side and attended to the damage. Needless to say the power cord (and two other power cords) does not boot the machine. However, the laptop was still perfect and ran on the battery (charged by a secondary laptop). It has sat idle for a few years. I am wondering if it is possible to repair the machine where it can use the power cord again? Opened the machine and there doesn’t appear to be any damage. No burn marks. Could it be a simple fix?
there is no simple fixes on an ibook…..but if you have the time and the patience, you can fix it. you will likely need to buy an new input plug and the wire that goes from it to the motherboard …. or i saw a video of a guy that just solders on a new plug onto the existing mini circuit board and wire and that worked, too. or does one of your chargers have the tip missing off the headphone style plug in the middle? They come off a lot and it happens when you are unplugging your power charger and the tip stays stuck inside the power input (female) receiver. it stays stuck in your laptop and does not allow your computer to charge. Many iBook/Powerbook owners have lost their minds and their ability to charge their mac’s after viciously digging out that little tip, lol. The smart owners sent their computers back to apple to fix this ….. but there is great trick to remove it yourself . You gotta get a magnifying gl;as, a flashlight or some kind of lightsource and a pin or some kind of pokey stick and get that tip aligned inside so it is sitting the way it would be if had not come free from the charger and was still attached. the small pin that fits into the rest of the headphone plug should be facing outward. then you will need the inside of a Bic Pen ( the ink tube) and Super Glue ( don’t stick your fingers together ). the tip will fit perfectly snug into the end of the ink tube …. just put a drop of Krazy Glue on the end of the ink tube and press it firmly into your laptop and onto the stranded charger tip. Leave for 5 or 10 minutes to dry and then firmly yank that nasty little pain in the butt out of your Mac.
It will now charge once again, if you have another charger that has not lost it’s tip.
Best of Luck!
This problem or similar does manifest on the uni body power books. …
i was wondering if you can help me for iBook G4 14″ 1.42 GHz Logic Board, i could not found the chip.
Thanks
The chip is next to the black thick cable and slightly under it.
Thank
thank
thank
thank for you :)
Hey can you please tell me the values of Q36, R150 and R155 which are located under modem module on iBook G4 A1134… Please…
WOW! I simply put a shim of wood in the chip and put the cover back down and it was good as new. This saves me from buying a new laptop for several years (if it lasts).