• Hello MLAers! We've re-enabled auto-approval for accounts. If you are still waiting on account approval, please check this thread for more information.

G4 tiBook Motherboard

R

racepres

6502
Well Now it has happened to me... Having heard about poor motherboard design on the early tiBooks, I have been feeling lucky, and being darn careful, of the book I use for Work. But, alas she has failed me! Not completely. Just If I move it or touch it just wrong, or... sometimes just because it feels like it, the thing locks up tight...

I do not feel like putting "foreign objects" inside it [under the keyboard seems most touted]. So, Has anyone had any kind of luck with repair of this problem... seems from looking at single user mode that the firewire has something to do with it, but, that may be coincidence. If there is a way to disable , or unhook firewire [as in some towers] maybe that would magically "cure" it!

I'm gonna stay after it and await others experience...

TIA

RP

 
TiBook motherboards are pretty reliable - can't say I've heard much wrong with them, unlike iBooks of the same era. You can't "unhook" firewire.

Your best bet would be to troubleshoot your RAM and hard disk first - strip the 'book down to one known good working stick, and perhaps try booting off an external HD with OS X installed to see if any problems arise.

JB

 
Yes... Thanks for the reply. Done all of that.

Took one 100mhz ram from a working [for quite some time] wallstreet. Booted to both cdrom and hdd [10.3], will try 9.2.

The thing will work seemingly indefinitely... unless, you move it, or ... and this may mean something more, you unplug the adapter cable!. oh And yes I have tried more than 1 adapter.

PMU?? But it does not go Off, it freezes!

Thanks again for the help

RP

P.S.

Battery seems good, and runtime, does not seem influenced by running with / without.. except of course without it, simply goes black when unplugged!

 
Geeze.. when it rains it pours...Figgered I'd put the OS9 hdd from my lombard in the ti and the 10.3 hdd from the ti in the lombard!

But. Of course I have the dreaded PowerPC 750L (LoneStar, Rev2.2) Copper G3 PVR =0x00088202 cpu.

a single 256 RAM is probably Not gonna cut it on this Job, so off to Flea Bay, where there is a guy I have dealt with before, has 333 cpu's inexpensive... but what's the odds I get one just like I have????

Heck I'm gonna go dig out the "toilet seat" and see if it can take up the slack, cause I use this box for "work".

Done Bellyachin' now!!

Not my Day!!

 
Except I don't know how, and never done it... Heck If I thought I could do that I have a PeeCee M.B. that could use that treatment also!!

RP

 
I just fixed a compaq desktop today that just "died" no post.

Reflowed the nForce chipset and she booted right up again. :-)

all it takes for the barebones method, is a regular heatgun with attachments, Chicago Tools/Harbor Freight brand is good.

Put it on low, and let her rip. but you HAVE to watch the board. if it starts to bow, back away. thats why its important to pre-heat. but if you dont pre-heat you have to pay attention to thermal shock.

Once you leave it heat for a few minutes without seriously bowing the board, remove heat. let cool down, and give her a shot. Sometimes all ti takes is a small amount of heat to reconnect broken solder connections.

 
Heck I'll try it... probably on the peecee first, they are after all disposable! And I kinda have a clue that the problem rests in the video chip, so I know where to concentrate my efforts...

Any ideas where one should concentrate on the Ti??

RP

 
I also have a VGA TiBook which took a few days off. During the last weeks the machine made some ugly noise through the speakers on startup and did not boot. Reseating the RAM seemed to fix it for a while, but in the end it did not work any more. The RAM itself is known good, as I double checked by swapping RAM modules with another TiBook. Might the RAM socket be the culprit? Or it it just coincidence of manipulating the bord at the RAM socket but fixing a contact problem somewhere else?

 
I have been down that road also. The telling thing is that while running, I can freeze it up totally, and I can do it on demand!

wiggle the power adapter [used more than 1] also freezes if you plug in either firewire, or usb device. I can at times [not on demand] make it freeze simply by picking it up!!! Very confusing, and I know from hours on the net, that others have had this same anomoly!

I am going to eventually try the "heat" method, wish I knew where to apply said heat. If I could prove it was in the "ram area" that would be kooool.

RP

 
I had this problem with a TiBook. It was the ATI graphics chip. Apply pressure on it, and the lockup problem went away. I reflowed it twice with a heatgun. The issue got better, but still locked up if you slightly twisted the casing.

I eventually replaced the motherboard with another one I found.

However, a reflow would not hurt, and if it is not working now there is not much to loose. Monitor the heat with an IR thermometer if you can, and shield of parts you do not want to heat with aluminum foil. Pay attention to plastic parts, and the cable coming from the modem port.

Expose only the ATI chip, and gradually heat it.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

davecom
Tips for Upgrading a Mac mini G4 for Mac OS 9 Use
2 3
Replies
41
Views
14K
akator70
akator70
BeniD82
Troubleshooting a Flaky Houdini II DOS/PC Compatibility Card & Cooling Upgrades
Replies
6
Views
2K
killvore
killvore
Back
Top