Jon/Tokyo

Q: Screen issues; horizontal line

Hi,

I bought a 1.67 ghz 15 inch Powerbook G4 on eBay. He claimed the screen was perfect and yet the bottom third of the screen is black and there's a line across it. There's also some discoloration spreading out from the bottom left of the screen. I know this is bad and I've asked for a refund, but I'd be interested in knowing what's causing it - logic board etc? It's a great shame as it's a beautiful machine.

Thanks.

Posted on Mar 12, 2012 8:13 AM

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Q: Screen issues; horizontal line

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  • by a brody,

    a brody a brody Mar 12, 2012 9:05 AM in response to Jon/Tokyo
    Level 9 (66,875 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Mar 12, 2012 9:05 AM in response to Jon/Tokyo

    Generally the inverter cable or board is damaged.  The cable can get damaged from overstretching the hinge.

  • by Jon/Tokyo,

    Jon/Tokyo Jon/Tokyo Mar 12, 2012 9:09 AM in response to a brody
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Mar 12, 2012 9:09 AM in response to a brody

    Do you mean the motherboard|? I've no idea what the inverter cable is.

  • by a brody,Solvedanswer

    a brody a brody Mar 12, 2012 9:16 AM in response to Jon/Tokyo
    Level 9 (66,875 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Mar 12, 2012 9:16 AM in response to Jon/Tokyo

    http://www.howtodothings.com/home-garden/how-to-repair-lcd-inverter-board-and-ca ble generally describes what they are, but not how to fix them on a Mac.  http://www.ifixit.com/ may have the repair instructions for the Mac in question if you run into this issue again.

  • by Jon/Tokyo,

    Jon/Tokyo Jon/Tokyo Mar 12, 2012 9:31 AM in response to a brody
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Mar 12, 2012 9:31 AM in response to a brody

    Thanks for the link - now I understand what the inverter cable is - there's no way I'm fixing it, though, as he's agreed for me to send it back. Thanks anyway.

  • by Allan Jones,Helpful

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Mar 12, 2012 11:14 AM in response to Jon/Tokyo
    Level 8 (35,151 points)
    iPad
    Mar 12, 2012 11:14 AM in response to Jon/Tokyo

    It's a great shame as it's a beautiful machine.

     

    Agreed, but if you look for another, you might consider the 17-incher instead of the 15. A lot of 15-inch PowerBook G4s with 1.5 and 1.67Ghz processors had a very nasty logic board issue that caused one RAM slot to fail. The only cure was a new logic board.

     

    Apple had a repair extension program but it's now expired. The bottom line is that the program resulted in few unaffected boards on the used/pulled market. Even if you got a sweet deal on the purchase of one of these and could afford a new, unaffected board, you could have a long, hard search ahead of you.

  • by Jon/Tokyo,

    Jon/Tokyo Jon/Tokyo Mar 12, 2012 5:57 PM in response to Allan Jones
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Mar 12, 2012 5:57 PM in response to Allan Jones

    Hi,

    I've read about that RAM slot issue but already got another 15 incher (1.5ghz) on the way, but I've been looking into some 17s too - they're more pricey but very desirable. Ultimately, for that kind of money I can get a 2008 MBP 15 C2D that'd be Lion compatible. But don't the 17s with 1.67 have the same logic board issues?

  • by a brody,

    a brody a brody Mar 12, 2012 6:17 PM in response to Jon/Tokyo
    Level 9 (66,875 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Mar 12, 2012 6:17 PM in response to Jon/Tokyo

    Some 17" might, but only the 15" for the most part got the attention from Apple.  They were the only ones under the exchange program:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2164

    The issue as OWC once described to me was one of "bus slewing."   You can search for it on the net to learn more about what it is.  Point is with the RAM you get the best quality RAM that is exactly to spec for the machine*:

    http://www.macmaps.com/badram.html

  • by Jon/Tokyo,

    Jon/Tokyo Jon/Tokyo Mar 15, 2012 2:44 PM in response to a brody
    Level 1 (27 points)
    Mar 15, 2012 2:44 PM in response to a brody

    The weirdest thing happened - I returned the Mac and he said that there was nothing wrong with the screen when he started it up! Can that be possible? Would this problem be something that flares up then goes away? He refunded, but I'm still none the wiser.

  • by greg h,

    greg h greg h Mar 17, 2012 4:59 PM in response to Jon/Tokyo
    Level 2 (339 points)
    Mar 17, 2012 4:59 PM in response to Jon/Tokyo

    Jon/Tokyo wrote:

     

    .....I've been looking into some 17s too - they're more pricey but very desirable....

    Just curious, why are these G4's desireable?

    I have a 17" that I was albe to get my screen with vertical lines repaired through that one time $400 repair and was kind of regretting going that route.  If it still has some value maybe I can offset the price of a refurb.