Erraneous Display (iBook G4 12")

There is a possibility the graphic processor may have issues;

in some model builds iBook white G3 and G4, there were a

few solder joint problems and a re-flow or reball fixed them.

What happens if you go through the PMU reset sequence?

•Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU)

There also is a PRAM/NVRAM reset; this page changed recently

to show Mavericks info, but the instructions should be the same:

•OS X Mavericks: Reset your computer’s PRAM

However, to see if the internal display is at fault, you could

test the graphic processor with an external display via an

adapter; if you have one or can find the correct one for this.

The display is the last link in the chain, so it may not be defective

if the backlight and liquid crystal panel both appear to be OK.

The data getting there appears to be corrupted due to some

defect, that may be more involved to troubleshoot than repair.

For a modest fee, there still are companies who do most repairs

on almost all Apple portables with rarer models an exception due

to parts and systems availability issues. wegenermedia and

maybe powerbookmedic, among others. However, for sake of

more practical usefulness, the MacBook series 2006-2010, is a

better investment if one has no need to run Legacy Mac OS apps.

The sites powerbookmedic and ifixit.com have guides to look into

the complexity of most repairs in these tightly-packed portables;

a problem with a repair, is the possibility of further damage that

results from attempting to solve the first known problem...

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

Good to hear there is a hopeful outlook to that situation.

Would not hurt to reset the PMU, or the PRAM.

With older portables, the cable to the display from the

body of the computer can become weak, so the inverter

cable and/or inverter (or reed switch/cable, on some)

can contribute to some issues. Usually winking out.

The display would usually go black or lose data and

stay white, a result of flexing the display lid, if so.

So there could likely be a weak item somewhere in the

graphics circuitry to consider in the future. A specialist

such as wegenermedia can repair most issues in-house

but they are in the state of SC. Worth a flat-rate box and

padding, or whatever their suggested method, if shipped.

Hopefully you can get fair use, and back up all content

before having the unit serviced. Perhaps a full clone.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

These blue links to Apple Support articles cover those topics,

per my previous post above where first mentioned...

What happens if you go through the PMU reset sequence?

•Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU)

There also is a PRAM/NVRAM reset; this page changed recently

to show Mavericks info, but the instructions should be the same:

•OS X Mavericks: Reset your computer’s PRAM

Hopefully these can help, or maybe further diagnose the issue.

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂