Dead AlBooks

[Franklinstein]

Being bored and crazy (and maybe slightly drunk...), I lurked on eBay for a while before purchasing a set of dead 1.67GHz 15" AlBooks, knowing that both are dead and battery-less.

So they show up, and I try to power them up (gotta try, right?). One has a green power LED, but won't boot. The other has an orange power LED and won't boot. So at least they don't have the exact same problem, right?

I tear them apart, since they're dead anyways. I took the green-LED DC board and put it on the motherboard of the orange-LED DC board and vice-versa, but the same remains: orange and nothing, green and nothing. Hmmm.... well, looks like at least one DC board (the one with the perpetual orange LED) is dead. So what about the other?

I'm fiddling around with the green-LED one, and press down on the power jack as I press the power button. BONG! WTF? Is it just a broken solder joint? Oh well, it works! Hot damn!

So I piddle around with it some more, and find that it's not the pressure that makes it boot, it seems that it wants a high-impedance circuit from the power port to ground (created by me touching the power jack and the case at the same time). Using this DC board, both machines operate with or without this circuit once booted, but completely refuse to boot without it (I have no batteries to try).

Anyway, long story short, both machines work fully save for the whole bad power thing and some dents. Since I've already spent so damn much on these, I'm kind of at an impasse: should I spend another ~$50 on a new DC input board, or attempt to part them out? I left out the fact that one of the hard drives and both of the DL SuperDrives were bad (stupid goddamned Matsushita!!!!1!), but more on that later; the SDs may be repairable.

So: spend more to potentially gain at least one working machine, or part 'em out and attempt to recoup most of my costs?

 

[Byrd]

Nice work, I always like to hear of something coming from faulty Macs Build up a good one using the best condition parts for yourself, and sell the other on eBay as "faulty".

JB

 

[slimac55]

What LEDs? I can't see any LEDs on my 12" AlBook.

 

[Franklinstein]

^^ I was referring to the ring of light (provided by LEDs) on the power plug.

Anywho, yeah, I'm actually using one of them now. It's INSANELY fast. For some reason, Apple updated the system controller for the final 1.67GHz PowerBooks (the HiRes/DL SD models), as it uses DDR2 RAM and has a few other niceties not present on even the previous 1.67GHz models. Taking into account the terribly short lifespan of these machines, it's surprising: the TiBooks subsisted on essentially the same UniNorth and KeyLargo controllers from the original 400/500MHz model to the final 1GHz version, which was a couple of years. Perhaps Apple was considering moving to a derivative of one of the dual-core G4 chips Freescale was cooking up prior to the Intel switch...

For some useless trivia, although everymac.com lists these things as utilizing the 7447A, according to the etching on the die itself, it's actually a 7447B (I have pictures, I'll upload them eventually).

I also managed to repair both of the SuperDrives. I curse Panasonic (Matsushita changed their name to Panasonic sometime in the last three years or so) for making these things so cheaply: the mechanism used to drive the laser assembly utilizes an unreasonably thin and flimsy plastic bit to mesh between the laser assembly and the screw drive (it's pivotal as it converts rotational movement to linear movement), and to top it off, they didn't even put any lube on the thing.

I cannibalized an intact plastic dealie from a flaky Matsushita CDRW, and that fixed one. The other was repaired with careful application of the best adhesive EVAR, JB Weld. I used the JB Quik stuff for this, and it held up perfectly. I'm very happy about that, as the drives exhibit no malfunctions otherwise.

I'm still slightly hesitant to spend any more money on them, as it may be some sort of ridiculous logic board failure and not a DC board failure; I mean, Apple's early/mid-2000s stuff was, unfortunately, very prone to some sort of issue. These, for example, were often stricken by the lower RAM slot failure...

But this thing is just SOOO fast that, regardless of the dings in the case and the uncertainty of where the true failure lies, I may go ahead and buy a DC board. If it doesn't work I can resell the new DC board, and then attempt to get some cash for the displays and other miscellaneous parts. Or I could try to find a ~1MΩ resistor and attempt to permanently install the circuit that makes these things boot...

 

[bubbleman7546]

don't spend a ridiculous amount of money to get the one working; set a cash limit and stick to it. if it doesn't work out, then sell them for parts.

 

[slimac55]

^^ I was referring to the ring of light (provided by LEDs) on the power plug.

Ah, okay. That makes sense.