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myxomatosis · Jan 26, 2005, 11:18 PM

I've finally narrowed down my audio probs enough to know that my headphone jack is screwed. The crappy part is that it's attached to my logic board....go figure! My question is can I simply get a headphone jack from a trashed PB logic board ( and if so are is all the headphone hardware standard on all recent PB models?), remove it and replace mine with it?..... or do I have to try and find a working 1ghz LB and a way to make money grow out of my ass? Know of any good PB specialists with a good/cheap selection of parts and knowledge? Any advice would make my day!

urrl78 · Jan 27, 2005, 07:15 AM

How do you know it is your earphone jack? Does it temporarily resume connection if you insert and wiggle the plug inside it?

myxomatosis · Jan 27, 2005, 09:05 AM

No....it's never been an intermittent problem....just all of a sudden, the left channel conked out. I've completely overhauled my software....no change. I've taken the unit apart and looked closely at the headphone jack which is tucked super tightly inside. There seems to be a small crack in the headphone jack casing. I'm assuming that due to this, the contacts have shifted out of position or are not held against the plug tightly enough.

tooki · Jan 27, 2005, 05:26 PM

A small USB audio output device would be a cheap, if slightly less convenient, workaround.

tooki

myxomatosis · Jan 27, 2005, 06:12 PM

Tookster....I have a Roland UA-30 which is fine for me as far as listening to tunes etc....but I'd like to sell this baby off and so far all the interested buyers have declined upon knowing the headphone prob. So I've taken on the task of trying to find a busted Logic board that I can steal the headphone jack off.

spathi · Jan 28, 2005, 10:39 PM

we have the same problem here, except the laptop was in a bag, headphones still plugged in and it fell off a chair, and landed straight on the headphone jack, now the jack is all loose and no sound comes out of the speakers..

myxomatosis - you said you've opened yours up, does it look like it would be a simple solder job, or is the board multi layered? just wondering as I will have to do something simmilar with this PB..

myxomatosis · Jan 29, 2005, 02:29 PM

Spathi,
This sure is a bugger of a problem considering every mac official (or unofficial) I've spoken to has told me that I would have to replace the entire logic board. I've got a titanium g4 1ghz ....so that meant for my headphones to work, I'd have to fork out $800-1000 for a working logic board. Ridiculous....seems all these comp techs know how to do now a days is replace.....gone is the time of practical solutions and fixing something. So I've gone the route of finding a busted logic board that I can pillage a jack off of. Found a titanium G4 500mhz logic board (broken) for $10.00 (Buy it Now) on eBay after a tip off from a seller on powerbookcentral.com. Should be here in a week and from the looks of it, it should be that hard a fix....no double layers...little hard to get the old logic board out but if you have a very fine touch as far as soldering, you could probably do it yourself. Although I've spent years resoldering old analog synths...I still think I'm going to find a pro to do the actual switch. So ...$10 for a logic board, $10 to get it here, maybe $50-80 for a pro replacement and bang-o a perfect PB once again...PRICELESS! It doesn't pay to fix things yourself ....it saves!!!!
Cheers and hope this helps.
Myxomatosis

spathi · Jan 30, 2005, 08:49 PM

thanks for the reply!

I took a deep breath and pulled apart our 12" Powerbook, and its now sitting around me in pieces. it doesnt look to hard to solder, although i do have a friend at university doing a course on this kind of stuff so i might get him to solder in a new socket. problem is, i cant find a socket the same size

I done know how lucky ill go to find any Alu logic boards for cheap.. im asking around at current.

mintcake · Feb 5, 2005, 03:28 PM

This has happened to me now too. Right channel dropped out a couple of weeks ago, an no amount of wiggling can bring it back for anything more than a split second. The thing is, the powerbook is only just over a year old, and I use the headphones fairly often, but not beyond what'd I'd call normal use. I'm not a happy bunny. So now I'm going to have to lug around a Griffin iMic am I?

myxomatosis · Feb 5, 2005, 04:06 PM

Sounds sh*tty....
I haven't gotten my logic board replacement yet but I'll let you know what the entire repair will run me when she's all back to normal. Check your software right off the bat as others have recommended...could be a cheap fix....if it is the headphone jack itself, I can't see too many other options....peripheral devices just don't cut it. Cheers and good luck! Keeps us posted.

mintcake · Feb 5, 2005, 07:00 PM

Thanks. When you say check the software... which software should I be checking?? Sorry for the idiot question.

myxomatosis · Feb 8, 2005, 02:39 PM

Headphone jack fixed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the boys at Apple can kiss my arse! Bought a broken logic board off ebay from an older titanium model. The headphones jacks do seem to come standard, at least as far as 15' titanium models go. Anyodd the jack itself is held by 5 soldered posts to the logic board....it's a very tight squeeze and I'd recommend letting someone very familiar with small electronic repair to take on the actual swap job. Also removing your motherboard can be a little tricky. I was able to replace mine without removing the entire board and hook-ups. Simply take out all the support screws and gingerly (and I mean gingerly!!!) lift the board enough to take out the jack. If you do a good job removing the solder from the old piece, and corresponding slots, you shouldn't have too tough a time getting the new one in there. It seems that the fault lied in a cracked jack case....made of plastic and not the best design especially considering it's attached to the motherboard. I took this unit to an Apple repair shop twice and the only option they gave me was to replace my entire logic board. Grassroots repairs have been completely cut out of the equation......but when applicable, it can mean the difference between $1500 or $40. ....that's just about what it cost me for replacement, shipping and labor! Anyodd guys, if you have the gusto, try an alternative means. Drop me a note if you need any more specifics. Cheers....Myxo. PS Mintman....check your Audio/midi set-up in system prefs...probably won't change a thing....you can also Archieve and reinstall OSX to see if that makes a diff. To narrow your prob down further, try a buddy's (or a store's) external sound device...if it's fine then it's probably your jack....especially considering the design. Hope this helps!