The connector piece for the wire connecting the AirPort Extreme Card has separated. Is there any way to re-attch this? Or is there another possibility? I have seen a splice and re-attachments of wires in some other units. Below is a picture.
iBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 1.2 GHz G4
There may be a way to splice a new connector on the end or perform other
micro-surgery on the wire, or perhaps obtain another wire like that from a
different portable model G4 iBook or PowerBook where the airport card
was a separate component, to use to replace the one defective one...
https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Mac_Laptop
Not sure if there are any DIY fixit pages posted online; and have not checked
the http://ifixit.com repair guides for portable Apple computers, to see if they
happen to have a reference to fixing just the cable. The full cable replacement
may be rather involved, if you choose to actually install a complete new wire.
A company such as powerbookmedic may have replacement cables. Or a call
to wegenermedia could also be helpful, if you were considering other upgrade
services and sought to include this repair in the mix, whilst the repair center
had the iBook open. These things cost less in conjunction with other repairs
since once an iBookG4 is open, most of access problems are out of the way.
The later iBook G4 has the wi-fi and BT card attached to the bottom of the
logic board, though replaceable much more takeapart is required for access.
Hopefully you can replace or splice the wire to fix this problem.
An authorized service provider may have ideas, too.
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂
Obtaining a wire is easy enough - installing is another matter. The whole thing would have to be taken apart again, which caused this problem in the first place - constantly re-attaching the Airport Extreme Card. The machine is so delicate - the "skeleton" metal going around the battery compartment separated, and every time I place the battery in, it does not want to come out without some serious prying. There must be some way to re-attach and still route the signal.
Overall, I should be grateful. The 1.2 GHz model had developed a display problem that had one of two solutions - soldering the video card that could possibly have gotten loose or getting a new display cable. I had a spare and non-working 1.07 GHz iBook from a friend - we had moved most of the hardware over and all seems to work, even the trackpad after going through some grief to re-attach it.
I will see what may be possible from your suggestions. Thanks, K Shaffer.
>The whole thing would have to be taken apart again, which caused this problem in the first place - constantly re-attaching the Airport Extreme Card.<
So this is the model where the Airport Extreme card comes out of that bay under the keyboard. It's hard to see where the connection came off of that card. More magnified picture? I had a bunch of Airport Extreme cards but I just moved and left them behind. Can't just replace the card? In looking at it again I can't tell what's going on. Is it that greenish rectangular piece that detached? That looks more like the Wi-Fi/Blluetooth connector from the later model.
>The machine is so delicate - the "skeleton" metal going argnal.<
Right and a better picture would help me see if it can be done.
>The 1.2 GHz model had developed a display problem that had one of two solutions - soldering the video card that could possibly have gotten loose or getting a new display cable.
Often the LVDS cable would fray at the hinge point. The reball problem had a relatively easy solution but it was difficult to find a reliable person to do the reball. The 2011 15" MBP and the 2009 MBA have the same reball problem. I just sent a MBA to a place in Florida. It beeps once at startup which is a RAM problem. The guy I sent it to says it's the "Southbridge chip" and I'm waiting to see if he's successful in the reball.
ound the battery compartment separated, and every time I place the battery in, it does not want to come out without some serious prying. <
As I recall that frame was Magnesium, very light and easily damaged. I don't actually remember ever working on a G4 without the frame being broken. I actually had an intact from but never got around to putting it in anything because it was such a massive job.
> There must be some way to re-attach and still route the si
Yep... Airport Extreme. There is a gray outer plastic coating and the wire itself is white - appearing almost like "fiber optic." Too much hassle to take apart again - perhaps a solder would go right where the connector meets the wire? Or USB thumb antenna? Are there any that work with Tiger? I have some expensive legacy programs that are not so Leopard friendly.
You can't run a Cat-5 cable?
>Too much hassle to take apart again - perhaps a solder would go right where the connector meets the wire? <
So this would be a coaxial type connector. The conductor runs inside an outer shield. It might work if you put it all back together, plug in the Airport Extreme card and gently tease the cable back into the plug. If that center conductor makes contact it might work if you don't disturb it.
Not sure if some electronics supply company has replacement new connectors
in stock, but that may be a way to attempt a correct repair. However to lengthen
the wire to original size so you have extra length after the repair, is a problem.
For the cost of a repaired iBook G4 (about $144. with limited in-house guaranty)
you could get a working spare model of similar 1.2GHz iBook G4, when in stock:
•iBook G4 - wegenermedia link - check with them directly for other ideas...
This company also has parts, performs most if not all repairs, & isn't too big.
To be set up to perform these small micro repairs with electronic solder tools
and magnifier optics, could be helpful for other projects; & to cover tool costs.
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂
iBook G4 - connector with the Airport Extreme Card separation - help
