iBook G4 A1134

[Lucretius]

Hello folks!

I just found a very nice 14", and I will be installing an mSATA 64GB card in a few days. I've done this on 3 other G4's and it's Fun & Easy...just have the Apple install DVD's ( Tiger and Leopard ) and it's very easy and fun.

So: what about the CPU's heat sink paste? I've not done this before ( recall hearing that it can do more 'harm' than good...?! ), but I'd like to hear from those who know more about these machines than I do!

If the idea is that I should ( must?? ) re-do the paste, just how is it to be applied, and does anyone have a favorite Brand?

As always: Thanks!

 

[GRudolf94]

They come by default with phase change material, a hard-to-remove gunk. It is a better thermal interface than most pastes, but only if not disturbed. I always clean it up (acetone does the job) and replace with Arctic Silver. The phase change material is worthless as soon as board and heatsink are separated, something I usually do for cleaning.

Parker Chomerics, Laird and others still sell phase change pads, if you wish to replicate the original solution.

 

[MacUp72]

Do you have a photo of that paste, is it creamy and white? Normally any modern, good thermal paste will do (like said Arctic)..

When I recently did a repaste job on my new MSI gaming Laptop I saw that they stock used a white thick paste on all near voltage transformers under the heatsink.



Turned out to be a special liquid hest conducting form of thermal pads, K-5 Pro.. only made by a greek company. Its a thermal putty..
I ordered it via ebay, its great, temps are much lower..allegedly Apple uses that dtuff in newer Macs also..

 

[Lucretius]

They come by default with phase change material, a hard-to-remove gunk. It is a better thermal interface than most pastes, but only if not disturbed. I always clean it up (acetone does the job) and replace with Arctic Silver. The phase change material is worthless as soon as board and heatsink are separated, something I usually do for cleaning.

Parker Chomerics, Laird and others still sell phase change pads, if you wish to replicate the original solution.

Thanks for the response...it gives me something to consider. This is the first time I'd heard of "phase change material", and I'll read-up on it.
I will say that I took a look at an iFixit description of what's involved in getting to the heat sinks, and it seems a lot more involved than I imagined...doing a HDD / mSATA swap is easy, while the heat sink job is 'not so easy'!

 

[GRudolf94]

IIRC they're about the same, i.e. both a pain. iBooks are not really easily serviceable laptops.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

honeywell ptm7950 has become popular lately. It’s another type of phase change pad. Supposedly works great, I haven’t gotten any yet.

 

[Lucretius]

IIRC they're about the same, i.e. both a pain. iBooks are not really easily serviceable laptops.

I agree...the iBook G4's I've instralled mSATA cards in ( 12" and 14", as a hobbyist ) have been OK to work on. It's been a few years since the last operation and I forget if the 14" has one, but the aluminum shield covering the motherboard on the 12" was cut so as to NOT remove the little, white ( speaker? ) connector that's known to fail uppon removal, and take the board with it. A short snip with a sharp knife, and the shield was removed without touching the connector, and that was that: easy job / new SSD=Happy Apple!

I've long imagined that there were Battles at Apple between the engineers and marketing departments, and that sometimes one group prevailed, and sometimes, another. Just consider the iBook G4 and the MacBook ( A1342 ). It's as if they were designed on different Planets. The iBook is dense and complex and ( almost... ) Victorian, while the A1342 is elegant and simple and svelte. It takes about 60 seconds to remove the 8 Philips screws securing the MacBook's base, and that's it: everything's laid out clear as day, and looks to have been designed by Aliens sent down to Cupertino to give them some hints as to what a Good Design SHOULD look like!

Then again, part of the Allure of the pre-Intel Apple's is the reality that--after 20 years and counting!--many continue to spin away, and even spend a little time online. My G4's will play YouTube music videos ( audio=Great / video=not-so-great...), and allow me to access my Gmail. And more.

Which was and continues to be Fun!

 

[akator70]

^ Totally agree about the insanity of the iBook G3 / G4 and PowerBook G4 internals. I haven't serviced all models but the ones I have are a mess. I never look forward to working on any of these.

It's such a contrast once you open one up because they're so nice on the outside. I don't know the exact date the PowerBook internals turned into such a mess, but the 100 and 500 series PowerBooks are nice to work on. I have a vague recollection of not enjoying working on the late 90s models but it has been too many years since.

 

[GRudolf94]

By now, I have enough experience in all of them that I can probably go in, swap the HDD and be back out with the machine fully closed in <30min, but... Getting here wasn't enjoyable, nor does it make the occurrences when that becomes needed any less miserable still

 

[akator70]

By now, I have enough experience in all of them that I can probably go in, swap the HDD and be back out with the machine fully closed in <30min, but... Getting here wasn't enjoyable, nor does it make the occurrences when that becomes needed any less miserable still

30 minutes, LOL. I would love to only take that long.

I upgraded the NVMe in my 2021 Lenovo Flex 5 earlier this month. Less than 10 minutes start to finish, and that's having never opened it before.

 

[MacUp72]

.. Just consider the iBook G4 and the MacBook ( A1342 ). It's as if they were designed on different Planets. The iBook is dense and complex and ( almost... ) Victorian, while the A1342 is elegant and simple and svelte. It takes about 60 seconds to remove the 8 Philips screws securing the MacBook's base, and that's it: everything's laid out clear as day, and looks to have been designed by Aliens sent down to Cupertino to give them some hints as to what a Good Design SHOULD look like!

totally, it seems that an all new metal case was enough 'new' engineering for them to go on for years..
then unibody..
when I look into a G4 I instantly am back to the year 1999/ early 2000..IDE, IDE cables, ATI Radeon 7500, VGA, 4:5 ratio, CD-R/DVD, aluminum plate heat sinks, 56k modem, Riva Runer soft modding..actually that was my time when I socialized with PC's in general.
but also, coming from a fat plastic case of the first 100's to a 190/5300..also a big step

 

[GRudolf94]

Wow, RivaTuner. That was forgotten somewhere on a dusty shelf of my brain.

 

[Lucretius]

Although I own and enjoy working on these Old Computers, I'm also attracted to Old Watches. I've been finding pocket and wrist watches in antique shops for 25+ years, and I'm capable of taking one to pieces, cleaning everything, and putting it back together and doing some adjustment along the way. I've taught myself and have good tools, and have probably Ministered to upwards of 400 examples, most of which were made between 1870 and 1960.

I mention all this just to provide a sense of what attracts me to computers like the iBook A1134: in a nutshell; they're Old and need Help! I really enjoy buying a complete laptop that looks very tired and ( perhaps ) in need of a good cleaning. An hour or so spent with a collection of toothbrushes and cleaning solutions and soft cloths and a goodly amount of polish, can work Wonders, and it's simply a lot of Fun to scrub away a few decades of neglect on the outside, then turn to some issues, inside, and end-up with a good looking & good running Apple.

 

[MacUp72]

vintage watches..fascinating, you need a lot of patience and very good hand/finger skills for that I guess.
I have done a lot of repairs on ancient large format/ view cameras with Compur shutters, the complicated internals often remind me of those of watches, a lot of cogwheel/ springs for different delays, releases, self-timer etc..

 

[GRudolf94]

One of us!
One of us!
One of us!

It's also on my list of hobbies, but not with the same intensity. I've only fixed a few, mostly because I don't have space for more tools, nor do wish to pay what Bergeon charges for the good ones.

 

[Lucretius]

One of us!
One of us!
One of us!

It's also on my list of hobbies, but not with the same intensity. I've only fixed a few, mostly because I don't have space for more tools, nor do wish to pay what Bergeon charges for the good ones.

To my mind, getting a really good ( need not be expensive ) Loupe is as important as is a good screwdriver and light source...once you can actually see what's in front of you, many things become comprehensible, and able to be worked on.

I own several of Bergeon's tools, and respect their quality and usefulness, but I must admit that their prices seem a bit weird. It's one thing if you're a Pro working on high-end watches in a major City and can 'charge what the traffic will bear', but there are excellent alternatives that really are OK, at very much lower prices. Used tools are a Great Idea, and things like tweezers and screwdrivers can be freshened-up with a good abrasive stone, and I have quite a few tools from the 19th C. that are as usable as any available nowadays.

Just get a good light source and loupe, a few tweezers and screwdrivers ( and a few, other things...! ) and get started. You'll probably know pretty quickly if working on these small devices is something you can and want to do, and decide what other things you need as you go along. Keep your screwdrivers in good condition ( many watchmakers attend to them at the start of the day ), and have some Fun. It's a great Hobby, and affords a real sense of accomplishment when you've taken a tired, old watch and got it running again!

 

[Lucretius]

vintage watches..fascinating, you need a lot of patience and very good hand/finger skills for that I guess.
I have done a lot of repairs on ancient large format/ view cameras with Compur shutters, the complicated internals often remind me of those of watches, a lot of cogwheel/ springs for different delays, releases, self-timer etc..

I own a few cameras with Synchro-Compur shutters ( Zeiss Contaflex lV, 35mm ) and recently took a look at an online video @ cleaning the lens. I was OK with what I saw ( could probably do it ) until the fellow started to disassemble the spring-loaded, innermost parts: he took each item out very quickly, and did not provide, say, a line drawing to go along with the video, that would outline the part, and allow it to be related to where it came from.

The work, itself, seems doable with proper tools and a good sense of Things Mechanical, but I would not attempt this work without a good, well-illustrated manual that clearly showed each step.

Some of the small springs in the shutter reminded me of similar items in the calendar mechanisms of wristwatches: they are not easy to manipulate and are delicate little critters, all-too-given to flying off into space...perhaps, never to return!

Oh: of my small collection of Old Cameras, the one that sure looks to have been the most nicely-made, is a Contax lla, with the Color Dial. I found it 25 years ago in a small Antique shop, an hour's drive away. What a Sweetie. It's not only jewel-like to look at, but the 1/60 th second shutter sound is almost...erotic!

Michael.

 

[GRudolf94]

Oh, cameras too? I am beginning to suspect the people on this forum might have a hobby overlap thing.

Mostly I keep to newer 35mm SLRs. Last thing I refurbished was a Praktica MTL3.

 

[Lucretius]

Oh, cameras too? I am beginning to suspect the people on this forum might have a hobby overlap thing.

Mostly I keep to newer 35mm SLRs. Last thing I refurbished was a Praktica MTL3.

Good call: I'm one of those folks attracted to small, mechanical things. Cameras and watches and tape recorders and...etc! I've always thought that if a thing was the size of an Old-Fashioned bread box, I could understand it and work on it. About the only mechanical device I've ever seen that I think would slow me down a bit ( or a lot! ) was one of those hand-held, "Curta" cylindrical calculators, that were operated by turning a little handle on top.

I took a look at an online video of a fellow assembling one, and I'm sure I could do it...eventually. What a mechanism. Just looking at a line-drawing of how the parts fit together and work was quite an experience. I designed a few mechanisms many years ago just for something to do, and feel at home around small, intricate things...these Curta's though, are something else!

 

[GRudolf94]

I briefly looked at what it would take to duplicate a Curta in metal and... Nope. Should try a printed one someday.