Black Screen on Powerbook G4

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Level 1

5 points

Black Screen on Powerbook G4

Hello,

I took my Powerbook G4 15inch into work today in my rucksack and upon getting it there I've found out that the screen is now black. It works fine on an external monitor but there's no light from the one on the actual machine.

I've read a few similar questions but not seen any responses... is there anything I can do. I've tried re-setting the PMU and the PRMU but to no avail.. any other tips, or do I need to take it to the mac shop (can they fix this) or is it time for me to buy a new mac 😟

Chris

IBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Posted on Oct 14, 2007 4:30 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 14, 2007 6:40 PM in response to Chris Cox

Hello Chris,

You may have broken the screen by cracking the tube behind it during transit. But to be sure for sure, take it to an apple store and have a Genius open it up, and they will be able to tell you definitively. You may have also just managed to knock a power or data cable loose, which would be a relatively quick repair. Finally, you could have pinched your video cable, making it essentially useless and necessitating repair.

As an afterthought: Have you reset the PRAM and NVRAM as well, as they store monitor depth, as well as settings that may affect your monitor.
Reseting PRAM:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238

Hope this helps,
Trev

Message was edited by: PowerbookG4er
Reason: Afterthought

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Answer 2

Chris Cox Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 15, 2007 2:04 AM in response to PowerbookG4er

thank you.. shall give them a try and take it to a mac store tomorrow if they don't work.

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Answer 3

Oct 25, 2007 6:30 AM in response to Chris Cox

From time to time, my PowerBook G4 15" blacks out for a few seconds. I'm using it with the AC adapter plugged in. This is NOT the screen dimming feature set in the Energy Savings preference pane, but a total black out. At the moment, it's not a big problem, but I'm concerned that it might be a symptom of something worse.

I should mention that we live in Mexico, and that the power supply here is quite variable. I have my AC adaptor plugged into a decent, consumer-grade surge suppressor.

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Answer 4

Chris Cox Author

Level 1

5 points

Nov 11, 2007 4:26 PM in response to Michael Warshauer

The problem turned out to be a broken inverter board which was fixed. However now the screens blacklight keeps going out and flashing on and off when the screen is opened to everything but a certain angle. Any tips on this?

Basically when it goes blank I need to wiggle and move the right hand bottom of the screen (near where the power goes in) and it'll work again!?

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Answer 5

Nov 25, 2007 3:33 AM in response to Michael Warshauer

The problem still occurs, even though I've set the Energy Saver Pref Pane to "Never Sleep" and "Put display to sleep when inactive -15 minutes."

In July, I should also mention, I bought a third-part AC power adpter. However, when I was using it here at home, there was a continuous faint crackling sound coming from the power brick. I found that disquieting, so I switched back to the Apple original equipment AC Adapter.
I wonder if this is related to my screen blackouts

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