Best Ghetto Apple Hack Ever: iBook Logic Board Fix
If you’re a G3 or G4 iBook owner, chances are you’re well aware of the terminal LOGIC BOARD FAILURE which has plagued these machines since their inception. Because this iBOOK LOGIC BOARD PROBLEM has been so greatly documented, Apple extended Free Fix-It service to these machines from three years after their original purchase date (most likely to halt a class action lawsuit as in the case of the iPod batteries).
Faulty logic board problems manifest themselves one day as garbling the screen image and quickly result in total failure of the machine to boot up or otherwise function. From onset of first symptoms, complete logic board failure can happen over a couple of months or in a matter of days. For me, LOGIC BOARD FAILURE happened overnight.
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Earlier this year, I picked up a 900MHz G3 12″ iBook with 40GB HD, built in AirPort Express, and Combo-Drive off eBay for $600 bucks (including shipping - a SMOKIN’ DEAL). This handy little machine came pre-loaded with OS X 10.2 (which I quickly bumped up to 10.4.4), and has become my field production/ traveling weapon of choice for writing, emailing, blogging, research, and even running Photoshop CS.
When the logic board failed on me, I instantly recognized the problem (as I’ve seen three others go in the past). I called into Apple thinking I’d have a free, easy replacement - but it turns out this bastard failed 20 days too late for Apple to replace the logic board for free. Ouch.
Sooo…..what options do you have when your logic board fails?
- Apple wants $350 to fix it at a flat-rate, down from the $750 they say it “should cost” (give me a break).
- Authorized Apple dealers/ service technicians charge around $450 for the replacement (still an unsound investment).
- Find a used logic board on eBay ($100 - $350 usually), hope it truly does work, and do some un-fun part swapping.
- OR, do what I did: Take off the bottom cover of the ‘puter, tape four business cards together, and stick them in between the bottom plastic case and the heat shield.
Seriously.
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The most common documented problem with iBook logic board failings suggest the GPU is subject to corroding soldering and would eventually loose contact due to flexing, thus resulting in the famous scrambled video/ black screen error.
This discussion online suggested that applying pressure to the bottom of the book would allow the computer to function temporarily, and many user’s wrote in and described how they solved the problem.
Here’s my fix, in detail:
Step One: GET THE BOTTOM COVER OFF. For the aqua-flavored circles, you’ll need a small phillips screwdriver, and the red circles require a 2mm hex wrench. For the purple dashed lines, you’ll need a prying tool like a putty knife or a small flat-head screwdriver.
But in my case, THE THE HEX SCREWS HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY STRIPPED. Those puppies were not coming out. What to do?
Go to your hardware store and grab a “stripped screw remover” drill bit. Essentially, this is a reverse machined drill bit which attaches to the head of your screw by rotating counter-clockwise (with drill in reverse) instead of clockwise (like a normal drill bit).
You may also try using a dremel to sand down the case and cut the head off (as I sort-of tried - note the middle hex-screw case destruction) or super-gluing the wrench to the screw. IMO, these two options suck, so just go buy the stripped screw remover kit and be amazed by it’s effectiveness.
(P.S. More iBook disassembly instructions and pictures can be found here.)
Then, use your prying device to pop that back cover off. Be firm, but gentle, and note that there may be a touch of adhesive in place on the three outer corners (so crank it a bit harder - but not much).
Sweet. Bottom cover off. Good job - the hard part is done.
Now you need a shim. I chose to use some old business cards, but I’ve heard of others using all types of objects about as thick as a CD or DVD.
As I was on location (with downtime and a tinkering mind), my tools/ shims were limited to what was in my car, so I simply taped four said business cards together and then ripped them to form three different “pressure pads” so my ‘puter would still sit level.
A ‘lil more tape to hold the cards in place, snap the lid back on, re-insert screws (and buy new ones if yours were stripped like mine), then fire that sucker up.
Right on - happy iBook.
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If you’re skeptical about this working on your broken machine, try starting it up while applying pressure to the palm rests. If the computer functions normally with pressure, this trick will probably work for you.
And for the record, the added pressure in the case + business cards/ tape on the heat shield + less internal airflow has not yet affected performance in any way (that I can tell), nor has my computer caught fire (as one friend suggested it might - and I found no documented cases of this happening online).
After this hack……
Expect between 2 days and 6 months worth of happy iBook. Based on my experience and submitted emails, I’d say the average user gets another 3 more months before the problems persist again. Does that suck? Yeah, it does.
Outside of replacement, there is no absolute fix for this problem, but at least now you have a stopgap between either getting a little more extreme with fire or tossing the iBook completely.
Think of this new era with your iBook as cherished moments. You now have enough time to at least backup your files, and furthermore - you might even get a couple of more months of trouble free computing.
Over time, the faulty soldering will continue to deteriorate and you may find yourself adding thicker shims every-so-often. Prepare yourself for the worst, but enjoy this hack while it lasts.
Read below for more DIY user experiences. I’m glad this hack has helped, at least a bit. I didn’t discover the technique , but I may be among the first to give you a how-to guide. Long live Ghetto Hacks ($750 my ass, Apple).
Thank god someone posted more in debth about this.I’am going to try this on my G4 this evening and see if I can get the sucker to work.Long live DIY fixes!
Comment on July 16, 2006 @ 2:47 pm
I was actually on eBay looking at logic boards (my display was totally black) when one listing had a link to this page. It seemed totally crazy but I had nothing to lose (I was going to have to remove the back cover eventually anyway)
I nearly messed myself when I powered her up and the display came on. The simple solutions never cease to amaze me.
You are going to f-up the edges while prying off the back lid, but get over it. And enjoy your older iBook, if for only just a little longer.
Comment on August 21, 2006 @ 10:01 pm
Dude… She’s purring like a kitten!
Already picked up a MacBook already after the iBook “crashed” and am transferring files to it as we speak. Thought I was going to have to pull the HD, but thanks to you, my 16-year old gets the iBook.
Thanks from us both.
Terry
Comment on September 1, 2006 @ 9:24 am
Ok, I didn’t do the whole hack operation, but I did press firmly on the palm pad as I powered up, and my book is up and running again with no crazy lines (yet)! This is the second time my ibook has dealt w/ the logic board failure. I’m not up for paying $300, and the “genius” at the Apple store was basically like “sorry about your luck” as there will be no free replacement this time around… Perhaps this little pressing method (wishful thinking?) will work me through my Fall semester in college until I can purchase a MacBook in February (though my husband loves to tinker and hack, I’m a bit squeamish in pulling this thing apart). At any rate, thank you so much for this entry- you really helped me out, if at least temporarily! I find it odd that even the Mac “genius” didn’t perform this form of video screen resusitation.
Comment on September 4, 2006 @ 9:51 am
By God, it worked.
Comment on September 13, 2006 @ 10:00 am
yours still working, josh? i tried this hack round four months ago. got to replace the shims thrice, and now got to crack it again
Comment on September 18, 2006 @ 12:20 am
Sendaljapit-
This hack seems to be only a temporary solution. I’ve also replaced (increased) the shims a couple of times. Eventually you run out of room to squeeze, but yeah…I was hoping the iBook would hold on forever like this - at least you can get a couple more months out of it!
I’m curious to find how long other people’s hacks last. I feel (although I only have anecdotal evidence to prove this) the G4 iBooks may last a bit longer with this hack.
Comment on September 18, 2006 @ 5:51 am
this fix is running since 23 april 2006, my brother is very happy since this date .
=> http://www.powerbook-fr.com/ibook/bricolage/repair_g3_video_en_article797.html
Comment on October 9, 2006 @ 1:43 pm
this worked on my G3 too !
Comment on October 18, 2006 @ 1:46 am
Does this work on desktops as well? I’m having logic board issues (I think) on my G4 iMac and would love a simple solution rather than a new computer.
Comment on October 21, 2006 @ 5:22 pm
Hi Josh,
thanks for the tip…Apple store asked me 800 euros bucks to swap my logic board !
I can find a brand new for $450 G4 1ghz….grr
Anyway,I gave it a try, used plastic cards…and…voila! it ’s working great…
[Ibook G4 August 2004]
Comment on November 6, 2006 @ 9:47 am
Hi Josh,
Thanks a lot for this tip! The logic board in my 3 year, 2 month-old G3 iBook broke last week, but now it’s been back up and running flawlessly for the last 5 days. I used two large washers (each a little over 1 mm thick), duct taped in place. This creates a bit of a bulge in the case, but seems to do the trick (when I only had one washer in there, it worked pretty well, but crashed whenever I moved the computer).
Comment on November 8, 2006 @ 6:07 pm
A dude in the apple store told me a way to deal with this temporarily without even opening the machine - duct tape a pen across the lower left corner and press down a bit on lower left and upper right corners. he said there is a short circuit on the logic board that somehow gets fixed if you do this. I’m about to try it… Your way sounds better and I’ll try that too! Thanks.
Comment on December 13, 2006 @ 2:02 pm
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks to M for finding this fix. Been using my wifes back up PC laptop to surf from the couch BUT not the same experience. Cheers to you.
E.
Comment on January 2, 2007 @ 5:42 pm
I had the same problem, now solved thanks to this fantastic guide. Cheers!
Comment on January 9, 2007 @ 11:06 am
wow….
the apple store guy today gave me big tude…and i love mac….now you can’t get the logic board fixed under the flat rate apparently….in fact he tried to blame me for fixing it once before(i had to do the display wire repair last summer)
anyway i did it using a small cut piece of sterling silver…and 2 washers….
and it booted right up….
they actually quoted me $800 dollar repair!
i love mac….but i am learning to try to do it yourself if you can….
Comment on January 18, 2007 @ 5:02 pm
That is a pretty sweet idea. Thanks
Comment on January 30, 2007 @ 11:34 am
I can hardly believe my eyes! Thanks so much
Comment on February 1, 2007 @ 6:54 pm
HA!
Out to the garage I go but despite the small collection of hex drivers I don’t have one small enough. Tried the pen trick (well, actually just a pencil and no tape ;P) and it started right up!
I will go and get the proper sized hex driver tomorrow assuming that I will have to open ‘er up. (I’ve had 3 ‘repairs’ so far.)
I love this, but must say if the pressure within doesn’t hold, I don’t mind trying the tea light technique!
here…
http://geektechnique.org/projectlab/726/diy-obsolete-ibook-logic-board-repair
Comment on February 11, 2007 @ 9:44 pm
On the pen technique…is that something you do just before you try to boot up or do you have to hold it down as it’s starting? I tried (in a sort of half-ass way) the palm-rest pressure method and nothing…and want to try the pen before I take this machine apart.
Comment on February 18, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
I tried this paper shim technique and still had loads of problems like freezing up and booting to a white screen.
The repair that worked perfectly for me was taking off the silver sheet as well and putting a two pence piece between the chip and the silver sheet. Now the computer runs and muih faster too!
The only problem I had is whilst jigging the case open I seem to have broken the sleep light, and the catch is a bit slow to open as well, still, rather that than my seventh logic board repair that would probably fail anyway! (Makes you wonder why apple don’t just tell people to do these repairs themselves. would save them lot’s of trouble)
Comment on February 20, 2007 @ 4:16 am
If you are comfortable with completely disassembling your iBook, then take out the logic board and send it to FirstPhase Tech in Arizona. They re-flowed the soldier in my G3 900 iBook for 50 bucks and the machine works perfectly now!
http://www.firstphasetech.com/
You can find a take apart manual online at the iFixIt website. http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/
Comment on February 20, 2007 @ 6:36 pm
thats crazy….my 1st ibook did this and i bought another one from ebay which did the same thing…i def tryin this…i wish i would have seen this sooner..wouldve saved myself 600 bucks from the new one….WHY APPLE WHYYYY!!!
Comment on February 25, 2007 @ 6:16 pm
I have been researching this problem for some time, now, myself. I own an ibook 800mhz that was afflicted with the typical video/crash/lockup problems, alleviated somewhat by significant pressure to left of the trackpad.
I found a post by Guy Kuo at http://forums.macnn.com/66/ibook-and-macbook/210232/diy-ibook-dual-usb-logic-board/ explaining how he “reflowed†the solder joints in his G3 using an ordinary heat gun, typically used for paint stripping.
I had also seen a website for a firm in Arizona that does reflows on these chips very reasonably ($50 + shpg) through eBay auctions. They claim 100% success on these ibooks with the ATI chip problem. I read in another forum of an ibook owner that had already had two logicboards repaired through them. In case anyone is interested in the reflow outfit they are http://www.firstphasetech.com and the ebay seller ID is tom1ptech; look for the listing as “ATI Video Chip Apple Ibook repair Radeon Mobility” (I have no connection to or financial interest in, or even first hand knowledge of this company, but wanted to offer it up for those who lack the nerve to melt their own ibook, and might consider this a reasonable repair option)
For me (conservative old guy - my first computer was a mac plus) this sounded somewhat more appealing that torching my ibook with a heatgun. BUT, I’ve got the bottom off; my buddy owns a heat gun he offered to lend me…
Well. I finally got the guts and the heatgun, and BY GOLLY! IT WORKS! I performed this miracle following the instructions provided by Guy Kuo, and my ibook loaded OSX 10.3 successfully, and has run now for several days without a sign of it’s previous problems. Prior to this Heat Trick, I could barely get the ibook to boot by holding significant pressure to the left of the trackpad, but it has run flawlessly for several days now!
I did the process almost verbatim the instructions of Guy, except that I left the heatgun close for nearly two minutes before slowly backing away to gradually reduce heat. I did not remove the board, but did open the screen and set the keyboard face-down over the edge of a counter so that the heat did not affect the LCD. It got warm inside the body of the ibook. I left it set for 5 minutes before turning it over to try booting, and the palmrest to the left of the touchpad was still quite warm then!
I took some photos of the process, but since I was working alone, I have no photos of the heatgun actually in use (not enough hands).
I hereby make all the usual disclaimers…. blah, blah! if you torch your kitchen or ruin your mac, it’s NOT my fault. Your mileage may vary, etc. etc. …but if you were planning on stripping it out for parts (as I was close to doing before I found these posts online), what have you got to lose by trying this first?
Best wishes and good luck to all who endeavor any DIY type of repair on their ibook!
RayNman
Comment on February 27, 2007 @ 6:48 pm
Dude my iBook screen just died, so I took it into a licensed repairer and they told me that because my apple care had run out 6 months ago I would have to pay $800+ (NZ$) for a new logic board. They sugguested calling Apple to see if they would be willing to replace it as I had never had a hardware fault before. No luck! Apple said unfortunately I was just outside their parameters for a free fix. So I hopped on my PC and checked the net to see if there were any DIY fixes and google sent me to this page! Awesome! I followed the steps and lo and behold my iBook is back up and running!
Cheers for the easy to follow guide! You saved my iBook from being demolished.
Les.
Comment on March 8, 2007 @ 12:54 pm
After one hell of a time trying to remove the center hex nut (that baby was stripped and didn’t want to come out) I was able to implement Josh’s fix. First I experimented with several pieces of wood then a thiner strip of wood but since the wood had no give it didn’t work. Bottom cover wouldn’t fit properly. Next I tried two strips of card board which seemed to do the trick at least so far.
Just wanted to say thanks to the tip. When I went to the apple store here they said the repair would cost $300.00. An since I didn’t have an extra three hundred to spare my ibook just sat collecting dust.
Thanks for sharing this information. It was extremely helpful.
Robert
Comment on March 13, 2007 @ 4:58 am
Hey, I had my logic board replaced about two years ago. I think my second logic board has failed because my screen started to dim every now and then. eventually the screen started to go black. i found that if i squeezed the bottom left cornor the screen would come back on. but after doing that for about a month or two, the computer doesn’t even turn on any more. do you think the logic board its totally dead or do you think there is a way i can rig it?
Comment on March 14, 2007 @ 4:59 pm
The ‘expert’ asked for 175GBP to fix it, i declined the offer, he returned the machine and i realised he ‘forgot’ to put back in the airport card and ‘by mistake’ he swapped the battery and the combo drive(apollo computer repairs in brixton are scum). Anyway man, a few ripped cards later the ibook totally works, perfectly fine. Genius. Thanks
Comment on March 24, 2007 @ 5:31 am
Worked like a charm…I really cant move it without it starting to freeze up, but if I plug in a USB mouse, it works great!! Some other shops wanted 150 bucks or more…for free, it’s working pretty well. I’m using my G3 iBook as my upstairs ‘emergency’ computer!! Thanks!!
Comment on March 29, 2007 @ 4:48 pm
This DIY job did the trick and I am very grateful for your post. My wife is a book designer and our ibook started to have the logic board problems. We can’t afford another computer right now or to have it fixed so I had to figure out a quick fix. This was certainly the fix I was looking for and it worked great.
Gracias,
Armando
Note: The cover is a little difficult to pry off. You will probably end up with scratching and cracking the edges so be careful removing the cover, yet firm enough to remove it. A few scratches are minor compared to the cost of replacing it or having to pay big bucks to have it fixed.
Comment on April 13, 2007 @ 5:28 am
WOW, my iBook is richer by 3 cent now!
Josh, you rock!
…taped 3 cent in the 3 places and here she goes again!
Allright, next time I come through Arizona…
My wife is using it niw, I steped up to the MacBookPro…
we’ll see what that would bring after time?
Mac On!
S
Comment on April 18, 2007 @ 5:44 pm
Yea!!!! My beloved iBook is my go-to computer. I have a MacBook Pro, but prefer my iBook. Anyway, this did the trick and I am so grateful!
THANK YOU!
Comment on April 21, 2007 @ 4:36 pm
Hey,
I have tried this solution on my G4 1ghz IBook… She is working, but now and then i have to add-on some more cards in it… But It’s working saving me a lot of money… (Down here, in Mexico, the “expert” told me that it would cost me around $650.00 USD)
THANX A LOT FOR THE TIP DUDE…
Comment on April 23, 2007 @ 9:40 am
WOO HOO - it’s alive! Brilliant solution.
After the 2nd logic board death last week, I was quoted $1300 for a repair/replacement - yeah right!
Found your website and thought I’d give it a go. Like many, I had a few troubles getting the screws out. The “skilled” apple techs had nicely stripped most of them. My local locksmith had a good solution and drilled two little holes on either side of the stripped hexagonal part of the screw head. He then used the drill to cut a groove between the two small holes and now a normal flat screwdriver fits perfectly into the groove and hey presto it was out 5 minutes later. It will also make it easier to put them back if you can be bothered, although it seems to function just fine without them. Hard to describe, but actually very simple, easy and neat. Most people could do it, you just need a very fine drill bit, a steady hand, and don’t rush!
Packing it, case back on, so far, so good. In your face Apple hehehe.
Cheers mate, very grateful
Comment on April 23, 2007 @ 3:34 pm
Thank god! I was able to stuff the case with enough folded paper to get my iBook back up and running. Hopefully it’ll last the rest of this semester, if not, I pray it stays up long enough for a backup…
Comment on November 13, 2007 @ 12:50 am
I utilized a piece of cardboard from a box I decided to disgard. I put the cardboard in the area of the the four holes that formulate a square which is above the battery housing.
My iBook G3 worked.
After working on Mac OSX Server Panther for a bit, the iBook G3 frozed. I turned the computer off. I booted the computer again, and she works.
My plan is to secure a permanent fix by inserting an object on the GPU unit. In addition, I can also follow the pictures in the tutorial above, inserting (3) square pieces of something between the plastic bottom and metal casing. If those fixes are not permanent, I will pay the $50 to the E-bay guy’s to secure a permanent fix.
I purchased the iBook G3, pre-owned, for $199 from Macsales.com. The iBook G3 was an added feature in my security class lab in our network running SUSE, 2000 Advanced Server, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2000, XP, and of course my iBook.
Personally, the iBook G3 consumes little energy, therefore it is a perfect candidate for running as a home network server.
Josh provided the best pictoral fix that I have ever seen. Excellent work Josh.
On lives the Mac, built on UNIX from its beginning!!!
Comment on November 29, 2007 @ 7:46 am
Holy crap, I could kiss you! My iBook has been inoperable for about 10 months, and just putting pressure on the left palm pad while booting up brought it to life. Apple replaced the logic board once while it was under warranty, so when it started to go bad again I knew what the problem must be. I was frantically trying to export movies of my infant daughter from iMovie when the computer gave out for good. As I type, I’m exporting the last few files and have already gotten most of them onto a USB memory stick. You are my hero! Thanks so much for sharing your tips.
Comment on December 3, 2007 @ 8:39 pm
Thank GOD (Gurus on Demand) for support sites like this. This is my second (laptop) logic board failure. This one was only 3 years old. Thanks to those responsible for this brilliant yet strange fix.
Comment on December 25, 2007 @ 12:02 pm
It really works, thank you!!!
Comment on February 1, 2008 @ 9:02 am
I recently inherited an old iBook minus power adapter. So to get it working I bought one on eBay and found to my dismay that the iBook display would not come on.
After some tinkering it came on briefly so I knew it was not an LCD problem. After some Googling I found this article and thought I’d give it a go.
It now works brilliantly. Thanks for letting us all know how to fix this, even if it is only temporary. I think I’ll wait a bit before I get the blowtorch out and try to re-solder the graphics chip!
Comment on February 19, 2008 @ 6:38 am
This fix works - I had my g3 logic board replaced in 04 with the original recall, and four years later the l-board crapped the bed again. Time for a shim, so I cut a foam expanding earplug in half (provides constant pressure but who knows if it will catch fire) and put it over the chip, tightened the screws and it’s back up and running. Let’s see how long it lasts…
Comment on February 25, 2008 @ 2:45 pm
Nice fix you have written up here. worked for picked up an ibook g3 700mhz on ebay with the display problem. except i used a different shim which i think works very well. i dismantled an old 3.5 floppy drive and used a plate that housed the motor of the drive. it has 4 small tips on it on each corner so i put the flat side down onto video chip, taped in down, and the 4 tips are resting against the bottom cover so it is putting even pressure on the video chip. works great!! if any one would like pics of this design you can email me at starmaxpc at yahoo dot ca
Comment on March 12, 2008 @ 9:40 pm
edit my last post…..
i put the shim on the outer side of the heat shield over top the video chip NOT directly on the video chip. sorry…..
Comment on March 12, 2008 @ 9:42 pm
My powerbook seems to be going out with similar bad flickering on the screen, so i am assuming it is a logic board issue, does this fix work on the 12 inch G4 powerbook, anyone?
Comment on June 19, 2008 @ 2:45 pm
Thank you very much for the temporary fix - my logic board went last night and I was surprised at how quickly I was able to find out what the problem is thanks to the many other people experiencing this. I love apple but I’m a little let down over this - I have two imacs and a clamshell that have never had any problems. I can’t believe how expensive it is going to be to fix this and I am not going to bother at this point. So thanks again - at least I can clear my hard drive!
Comment on June 25, 2008 @ 9:55 am
You have no idea how I’ve searched and read the different solutions to this problem. I like the torch idea but that was too great a risk…and the candle trick I found hard to believe. Your fix seemed the least volatile and one I knew would work for sure, and it did. Much thanks!!! I knew I had to keep pressure on it somehow, but wasn’t sure how to do it.
I also had my logic board replaced by apple (who I loved until recent times). I wish I knew about this trick then, I lost very valuable info and more…lesson learned.
If it wasn’t for my other problem - MacMini shutting off/ going to sleep (when overheating???) I don’t think I would have found your site. If you have any thoughts on that problem - holla!
God bless you! for taking time out of your schedule to post this fix and help others.
Comment on August 5, 2008 @ 10:21 pm