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iBook G3 won't start-up

Hi all,

I'm having a frustrating problem with my G3 iBook - as with many other posters, it won't start-up at all. I have tried the shift-ctrl-option-power sequence, without any luck.

Some history - this is not the first time I have had the problem. The first time was about 2 months ago, whilst I was playing a game, having booted in MacOS9. The game froze during a loading operation, and I had to shutdown the computer. Having done a forced shutdown (power for 10 secs), the computer would not restart. I tried all of the usual fixes listed in article 14449, without any luck. Eventually, after having left the iBook unplugged for about a month, I tried to restart it, and it started just fine, except that the pram had been reset (date reset to 1904 etc...). The computer ran fine for about a week, in both OS X and OS 9, but the, I tried to run the game again, and once again it froze during a loading operation (not the same as previously...) Same result, nothing works to make the computer reboot.

The fact that the computer worked just fine again, and failed again doing the sme type of operation suggests to me that firstly there is a bug in the game, and that secondly there is probably nothing physically wrong with the computer, it's just that a pram setting has been scrambled so that the computer won't restart any more.

Is there any other way of resetting the power manager and/or pram on an iBook G3 800 MHz? Or is there another reset that might be applicable? Or is there something else that might be causing the problem?

Anyway, any help anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to have to wait a month for the charge to fade enough that whatever setting is scrambled resets...

iBook G3 800MHz, Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Posted on May 17, 2007 7:21 AM

20 replies

Oct 30, 2007 7:23 AM in response to demallien

+we really need notification of messages on threads that we originate!+

You have the option to subscribe to any thread of your choosing. Just click on the "Subscribe to this Topic" link (the little binoculars icon) at the top of the thread you want to subscribe to.

Dec 5, 2007 3:53 PM in response to demallien

OK - I have the G3 stripped down to the logic board - now what? What exactly does putting pressure on the graphics chip do? Is the chip soldered in, or pressed in? If it's soldered, I don't see what putting pressure on it would do. Or does it also put pressure on something else?

Dec 5, 2007 5:22 PM in response to darkprints

+I have the G3 stripped down to the logic board+

You've gone too far. You were only supposed to go as far as taking off the bottom case.

The graphics chip is soldered to the logic board, and the solder is prone to coming loose. Putting pressure on it with a shim allows the chip to make contact with the logic board again. If you haven't done it in entirely, put the bottom shield back on and place the shim according to this picture:

Good luck.

Dec 5, 2007 5:38 PM in response to Ronda Wilson

I'd done the shim thing before, and it worked for a short while. If it's a solder failure, then the only permanent fix is a re-solder. I don't see anything that looks like cracked solder (under a magnifier), and am wondering what the fix is when you send it out to be repaired - are they re-soldering?

I assume the graphics chip is the one with the one under the place where one puts the shim - is it possible that the other chip in the middle of the board is the problem, and gets fixed with the shim? I noticed that that chip had some "wet" stuff on it - stuff that didn't clean off with alcohol.

If in fact it really is a solder failure problem, I think Apple should have addressed it even after the 3 year "fix".

Dec 6, 2007 2:52 AM in response to darkprints

Some people have sent their boards off for a reflow of the solder.

If you want it repaired, I recommend that you send the iBook on a trip to DT & T Computer Services in Fremont, California (assuming that you are located in the United States). They offer the cheapest repair I've found. They have a six-month warranty on the repair. While they may do the solder reflow if that will fix it, they will replace the logic board if that is necessary. Unlike when you send the board to a reflow service, DT & T will make sure that the iBook works when they return it to you.

On the other hand, you may consider that the cost of the repair would be better spent on a newer computer. I bought my MacBook back in September, and I absolutely love it.

Apple has decided, evidently, that three years was a reasonable amount of time to cover the repair. It's against the Terms of Use here to question that policy. They can't cover them forever, and even if the time limit was four years, most would be past that now.

Good luck.

iBook G3 won't start-up