Reed Switch repair

Question

Level 1

25 points

Reed Switch repair

Recently the screen on my iBook died and I took it to be repaired by an Apple authorised repairer. The problem turned out to be the reed switch, which has been replaced. However they don't seem to have done a very good job as if the screen gets pushed back a little then it goes off again....and as far as I can tell the iBook with it; pressing the button restarts the computer and the 'your computer did not shut down properly' sign comes on. The iBook seems to work fine otherwise (as long as its left in one place!) , except that every time this happens the date and time comes back wrong. Stranger; OS9 is now running an hour behind OSX!

Obviously I can take the iBook back to the repairer next time I am in my home city and have the time...thats at least a week away. In the meantime I need to use the thing a lot and while I'll be as careful as possible, it can easily get knocked as a lot of people will also be looking at it. Is there any serious damage being done to the iBook by these crashes or does the reed switch simply need to be installed properly and then everything should work fine?

iBook G3, Mac OS X (10.3.2)

Posted on May 8, 2006 8:38 AM

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Answer 1

May 8, 2006 9:09 AM in response to Tim Whelan2

The reed switch has nothing to do with the hard drive really. Its just something for the screen. So having the "Your computer didnt shut down" dialog come up is rather strange. Even stranger is the time issue. From my experience (I have fixed computers for 7 years) the time issue is related to the bios battery (at least with a PC). I can only guess its the same on a Mac.

You might want to be on the lookout for a logic board issue as well. I have seen a few problems be thrown in with the reed switch issue, but turn out to be a logic board. When you take your computer back, make sure you tell them about the other issues your having, and pray that you get someone who knows what they are talking about. I have been into numerous Apple retail stores "testing" the Apple Techs, and a good number of them are not too knowledgeable.

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Answer 2

May 9, 2006 1:07 AM in response to jessehogie

There is no backup battery in an iBook. The only battery is the main battery.

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Answer 3

May 9, 2006 1:13 AM in response to Tim Whelan2

Every time you have to do a forced shutdown instead of a normal one (which is what you are doing when you push the power button to shut down), there is a chance of hard drive damage and you should repair the hard drive, either by booting into Safe Mode or starting up from the Mac OS X Install Disc by inserting the disc and restarting your computer, holding down the C key at the end of the startup chime. Then choose Installer > Open Disk Utility (in Panther) or Utilities > Disk Utility (in Tiger) and select the hard drive in the left column. Choose the First Aid tab. Click Repair Disk to test and repair the hard drive. Once you have repaired the hard drive with either Safe Mode or the Install disc's Disk Utility, then start up normally and repair permissions from Disk Utility in the Utilities folder on your hard drive.

The forced shutdowns are not good for your drive, but if you repair it each time, there will, hopefully, not be serious or lasting problems.

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Answer 4

May 9, 2006 7:38 AM in response to Ronda Wilson

So there is nothing on the main board that keeps the time correct?

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Answer 5

May 9, 2006 3:36 PM in response to jessehogie

There is a small capacitor.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58445

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Answer 6

Tim Whelan2 Author

Level 1

25 points

May 17, 2006 8:57 AM in response to Tim Whelan2

Belated thanks for the above...I havent had the chance to check these boards for a while.

This is the first time Ive heard that the forced shut down damages the hard drive. The iBook's been forced to shut down so often it doesnt bear thinking about since it crashes regularly....always has....and I know plenty of people in the same situation with their Macs. I will warn them.

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Answer 7

May 17, 2006 9:58 AM in response to Tim Whelan2

It doesn't ALWAYS damage the hard drive; there is just the chance that it can. That's why it's always wise to do the repair procedures in order to keep things running smoothly.

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Answer 8

Tim Whelan2 Author

Level 1

25 points

May 19, 2006 8:36 AM in response to Ronda Wilson

Thanks....generally I run a repair procedure on it fairly regularly so I dont think that'll be the problem...not that anythings helping this date time and computer going on and off thing....all very weird.

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