macfan7
Level 1 (4 points)
Desktops

Q: White (Light Grey) Screen

A friend has asked me to investigate a G4 PowerBook - DVI model which he thought was dead. On startup, the normal chime sounds but then all you get is a white (or possibly very light grey) screen i.e. no Apple logo and no spinning cog. Having tried resetting PRAM/PMU with no success, I connected an external monitor and that displays the desktop and the computer can be used normally - it's just the laptop screen which refuses to display although the brightness control works.

 

Clearly it's not worth spending money on a ten-year-old machine but any suggestions as to what I could try? I wanted to check the screen connection but can't easily find the connector.

Posted on Oct 28, 2012 2:40 AM

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macfan7

Q: White (Light Grey) Screen

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Texas Mac Man,Helpful

    Texas Mac Man Texas Mac Man Oct 30, 2012 6:18 AM in response to macfan7
    Level 8 (46,611 points)
    Oct 30, 2012 6:18 AM in response to macfan7

    You can use this site to locate the connector. http://www.ifixit.com/Device/PowerBook_G4_Titanium_DVI

     

     Cheers, Tom

  • by Texas Mac Man,

    Texas Mac Man Texas Mac Man Oct 30, 2012 6:24 AM in response to macfan7
    Level 8 (46,611 points)
    Oct 30, 2012 6:24 AM in response to macfan7

    Could be a bad inverter board which causes no backlight. If you shine a flashlight on the screen do you see anything?

     

     Cheers, Tom

  • by macfan7,

    macfan7 macfan7 Oct 31, 2012 3:55 AM in response to Texas Mac Man
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 31, 2012 3:55 AM in response to Texas Mac Man

    Thanks for the suggestion but a flashlight didn't show anything.

     

    Thanks too for the link to iFixit. I've looked at the process and decided that if the cable is damaged where it goes through the hinges, it's not worth a repair but if I can (easily!) check the security of the connection, then it's worth a go. As this is all I want to do, I think I can get to the connectors shown in step 29 without removing lots of the stuff which precedes that step. However, it says to "remove the five connectors from the logic board" but doesn't say which one is the screen. Of course, I could disconnect and reconnect all five (or any I can get at without all the removals) but my guess would be the second from the left in the picture.