[angelmb]

Hello all,

I know about some G3 iBooks having logic board issues but I have no real knowledge about the G4 model suffering this until today that a friend of mine told me that his G4 iBook is dead cause the logic board. Anybody here has experimented this failure with a G4 iBook model?

Thanks.

[turtle777]

Nope, only G3.

-t

[mainframe.ai]

Well… I am that friend of angelmb … :-) And I called this morning a Repair Service for Apple Computers here in Germany. The friendly service manager confirmed to me, that there are 2-3 ibooks right now arriving daily(!) for repairs of logic board defects.

It started 1-2 months ago… as far as I can see…

I don't know if this is a mass phenomenon, but I would like to get some info about the number of ibooks g4 (especially the 800MHZ 12") with dead logic boards… if that should become a standard issue on ibook g4s, too… we should inform Apple on that…

Cheers,
Martin

[toneloco28]

Just wanted to chime in here and state, my sister had a logic board failure on her g4 ibook
(933mhz), right before the one year warranty was up. It's starting to display weird scan lines across the monitor, so im not sure if this is another logic board failure or what?

[pat++]

My iBook G4 had ramdom video glitch on screen after wake from sleep. I got the logic board changed for this issue. Then the memory on the new logic board was not recognized, and my iBook had other problems they said couldn't be repaired, so they replaced my 800mhz G4 with a new 1.2ghz. So far, no problems with the logic board, although it seems that the disk is doing some strange noise sometimes...

[mainframe.ai]

Gentlemen,

http://www.macworld.com/forums/ubbth...o=&fpart=1

Obviously we are not alone… 

I have emailed the person who likes to organize a petition… to extend the repair program… :-)

We will see… what will happen.

Cheers,
Martin

[sixandout]

Apple shipped it for repairs on a monday, and I got it back the next day. The service was really good. At first I thought I'd be without my ibook for a week. Well the logic board problems slowly crept up on me. Then the display died so I had to take it in for repairs

[jmoonb]

Yep. Mine died 2 months ago (G4 800). Had a apple tech guy replace every part to figure out why the screen was dead. Turns out it was the logic board.
From the things I've been reading on the web, this seems likes its becoming a big problem.
I would advise all potential iBook buyers to buy something else. This seems to be happening just after the warranty expires.

[imago dei]

I have owned an iBook G4 since March of 2004.

In October 2004, I experienced problems with the backlight going dead on the iBook which escalated to the machine not booting. The boot cycle got "stuck", the screen never came on, and the iBook's fan came on full blast. The only way to stop the fan was to remove the battery.

It was within AppleCare, I sent it in, and Apple replaced the logic board.

In April of 2005, I experienced the same symptoms again with the iBook; stuck boot cycle, fan on full bore, etc. I was out of my one year of AppleCare and the 90 day repair on the iBook. Apple quoted me 600-800 to replace the logic board again, with no guarantee that it wouldn't happen again.

I suppose I should have bought AppleCare for the machine, but I'm frustrated that a $1000 machine is being quoted at $800 to repair something they've already replaced once. I'm trying to work with a third party repair center now to get it fixed for significantly cheaper (~$400) but they are having a hard time finding parts. I can't really afford a machine to replace the iBook and am limping along on an older iBook G3.

If you're buying a new iBook, factor AppleCare into the price, or look at something else.
-imago dei

[amiesue]

I *think* I am having the same problem with my 1.2 G4 iBook. It would randomly not boot, a few times showing that there was no Operating System (wasn't detecting the hard drive) others, just kicking the fans on and then sitting at a gray screen, no chimes, never making it to the gray Apple. Other times it would boot fine and run for a couple of weeks at a time and then freeze (typically while the screen saver was running) and then exhibit the same problems at reboot. I got around this for awhile by using an external drive with a backup of the hard drive but now it won't even get that far (stuck at gray screen) so it is completely non functional. I sent it in to Apple, but they said something was spilled on it (not the case to my knowledge, however I bought it open box - was told it wasn't used at all, maybe I was duped there) and that they wanted to charge the full 750 bucks for a Logic Board replacement. Seeing as I only payed about 100 bucks more for the iBook I am having a really tough time coughing up the money to have it fixed.
Are these the same symptoms others are seeing with their bad logic boards, or was something wrong with the iBook when I received it....

[mainframe.ai]

I have set up a small site on the-set.com fro documentation purposes.
If there are enough people who complain and describe their specific problems with the apple iBook g4, we could re-instate or extend the apple repair program for ibook g4's as well.

Feel free to stop by and to describe your case in the comments. I will wait some time and then sendn a letter to apple computers.

Cheers,
Martin

[EmmEff]

My case probably doesn't count, but the logic board on my iBook G4 1GHz was dead from the start. I had it in for logic board replacement less than 2 weeks after I bought it.

I was getting random lockups (although the mouse cursor would still move).

[sixandout]

my g4 was only a month old when mine died. Should have just returned it and gotten a powerbook

[imago dei]

Originally Posted by amiesue

I *think* I am having the same problem with my 1.2 G4 iBook. It would randomly not boot, a few times showing that there was no Operating System (wasn't detecting the hard drive) others, just kicking the fans on and then sitting at a gray screen, no chimes, never making it to the gray Apple. <snip> I sent it in to Apple, but they said something was spilled on it (not the case to my knowledge, however I bought it open box - was told it wasn't used at all, maybe I was duped there) and that they wanted to charge the full 750 bucks for a Logic Board replacement.

I also had the "not detecting hard drive" problem. The tech I spoke with at Wegener media also asked if anything had been spilled. (Nope! I've owned it and babied it since the beginning.) He thought it could possibly be an issue with the power adapter "overcharging" the iBook. My iBook was NOT in the serial number range of those affected by the battery recall. If/when I get it back from Wegener, I'm going to buy another power adapter and cross my fingers.

I'll check out that petition on The Set.

-imago dei

[angelmb]

I'll check out that petition on The Set.

Fixed™ (url was wrong) Keep them coming, the more the better.

[mystikchick17]

my logic board has apparently died, although my computer does apparently appear to be working behind that black screen. mine locked up and died w/ no previous problems...iBook G4 14", bought a year ago...looks to be a growing issue, but thankfully i have applecare. on the same note of sudden waves of problems, my brother's year-old ipod has recently begun to crash frequently and he reports a wave of that happening too...i'm disappointed with apple.

[bradbissell]

My ibook G4 800mhz (Oct 2003) experienced systematic failures of the combo drive, 2 logic boards, reed switch, and 2 powerboards. This all happened within the last 4 weeks. Needless to say I'm glad that I had AppleCare, but in the end after 4 return visits in those 4 weeks to the repair shop I called customer relations because AppleCare was returning my ibook with more problems than when it left my possession. Seems as if Flextronix, the company that does repairs for Apple, is having some serious quality control issues. However, Apple has rectified the entire situation for me and I can't say enough good things about Apple's customer relations department.

I wish everyone who sends their machines to AppleCare the best of luck. If you keep having issues over and over again, call customer relations, they'll make it right. I'll definitely be purchasing AppleCare for my next machine.

[irishmafia4life@mac.com]

The same thing happened to my new eMac G4. The logic board needed to be replaced after less than a year. Constant freezes and then startup crashes for no apparent reason (other than shoddy production of product). What a nightmare.

Originally Posted by angelmb

Hello all,

I know about some G3 iBooks having logic board issues but I have no real knowledge about the G4 model suffering this until today that a friend of mine told me that his G4 iBook is dead cause the logic board. Anybody here has experimented this failure with a G4 iBook model?

Thanks.

[irishmafia4life@mac.com]

I have had an eMac G4 for a little over a year. Same exact problem with logic board. Four months after purchase it just started freezing. I called Apple phone support but they don't offer free tech phone service after three months from date of purchase. The freezing persisted until it just refused to startup at all at approximately--I kid you not--one month after one year warranty had expired. I took it in to an Apple store where they informed me that the Logic Board wasfried and needed to be replaced if I ever wanted to use it again. Oh, and it would cost only $600.00 which I would have to pay since it was technically out of warranty. Yeah, right. I called Applecare, explained that this problem originated while under warranty and they they should take ownership of the poor craftsmanship of the product. After much perseverance they finally agreed to cover the cost of the logic board only because the phone tech support request had been documented. First time mac user extremely disappointed but at least they acknowledged the error and took appropriate action.

Originally Posted by amiesue

I *think* I am having the same problem with my 1.2 G4 iBook. It would randomly not boot, a few times showing that there was no Operating System (wasn't detecting the hard drive) others, just kicking the fans on and then sitting at a gray screen, no chimes, never making it to the gray Apple. Other times it would boot fine and run for a couple of weeks at a time and then freeze (typically while the screen saver was running) and then exhibit the same problems at reboot. I got around this for awhile by using an external drive with a backup of the hard drive but now it won't even get that far (stuck at gray screen) so it is completely non functional. I sent it in to Apple, but they said something was spilled on it (not the case to my knowledge, however I bought it open box - was told it wasn't used at all, maybe I was duped there) and that they wanted to charge the full 750 bucks for a Logic Board replacement. Seeing as I only payed about 100 bucks more for the iBook I am having a really tough time coughing up the money to have it fixed.
Are these the same symptoms others are seeing with their bad logic boards, or was something wrong with the iBook when I received it....

[GSixZero]

Hey guys, logic boards fail on ALL macs. iMac, eMacs, PowerMacs, Powerbooks, iPods, etc etc etc. Even one of my G5 XServes has gotten a new logic board and a new proc.

Apple ships millions of computers every year, effectively meaning that there are probably 5-10 million macs in use regularly that are less than a few years old. Apple doesn't make perfect machines by any means.

[Kyros]

Originally Posted by irishmafia4life@mac.com

I have had an eMac G4 for a little over a year. Same exact problem with logic board. Four months after purchase it just started freezing. I called Apple phone support but they don't offer free tech phone service after three months from date of purchase. The freezing persisted until it just refused to startup at all at approximately--I kid you not--one month after one year warranty had expired. I took it in to an Apple store where they informed me that the Logic Board wasfried and needed to be replaced if I ever wanted to use it again. Oh, and it would cost only $600.00 which I would have to pay since it was technically out of warranty. Yeah, right. I called Applecare, explained that this problem originated while under warranty and they they should take ownership of the poor craftsmanship of the product. After much perseverance they finally agreed to cover the cost of the logic board only because the phone tech support request had been documented. First time mac user extremely disappointed but at least they acknowledged the error and took appropriate action.

Why did you wait until after the warranty was up to get it checked on even though it had been having problems for 9 months? You should be very happy Apple still gave you the warranty, after that period of inaction you can't really be disappointed anymore.

[Clive]

I've just seen another iBook G4 with similar problems: nothing on the screen (no image, no backlight), when power button is pressed you just hear the fan spinning at full revs. Machine is two or three months past the end of its warrantee.

[Mandi]

I'm really sad that my first post here has to be a rant My ibook g4 is only 15 months old and I've just been told that my logic board is fried.

My ibook G4 died 15 months after I bought it in April 2004. For me dying also means it would randomly not boot. Other times it would boot fine and run for a couple of days at a time and then freez, than these periodes got shorter and shorter. Now it’s hardly not booting any more and if, it freezes within secondes or minutes. I find it unacceptable that Apple is aware of this problem and does not accept any responsibility. I was quoted over $800 to replace the logic board. What’s the point – I’ll probably have to do it again in a few months. I’m angry and upset that this machine that cost me over $2000 is now just a heap of junk sitting on my desk.

Can anyone offer any words of advice?

Thank you.
Mandi

[iSwitched2]

I purchased a Rev. A IBook G4 and my logic board died. I just got it back today and wanted to check if anyone else is having problems. It cost 300+ (and Apple Care is not legally sold in Florida - poo).

[ahisma]

My stepmom sent in her 1 Ghz G4 iBook for logic board replacement 2 weeks ago. She got it back in three days,with a new battery as well (hers was on the list) but a few days later she started having the same problems (black screen, grey lines, etc) and had to send it right back in.

I'm more than a bit concerned, having just upgraded from a G3 iBook that gave me all sorts of problems (3 logic boards!). My husband and I each have a 1 Ghz G4 iBook, and I dread the thought of going through the logic board hassles again.

[CrusaderSean]

i just went on apple's site and looked up logic board failure description. sounds awfully similar to problems i'm having w/ a 1.2GHz G4 ibook (Nov 04). i've been getting distorted images in preview and extra lines in dvd player. i don't have applecare but the ibook is less than 10 months old. i'm gonna call apple and find out what can be done.

edit: i sent the ibook back to apple for repair today. guess i'll find out if it's logic board failure in 2 weeks.

[artaxerxes]

My iBook failed (12" G4 1GHz March '04) - first the hard drive, at 14 months after purchase. This was swiftly repaired under my extended applecare. The weekend after return of the unit the logic board failed. It was again swiftly repaired and returned to me.

[ministerofmusic]

Originally Posted by angelmb

Hello all,

I know about some G3 iBooks having logic board issues but I have no real knowledge about the G4 model suffering this until today that a friend of mine told me that his G4 iBook is dead cause the logic board. Anybody here has experimented this failure with a G4 iBook model?

Thanks.

I have the same problem with my G4 it is 2 months out of warranty but started acting strange 3 months ago

Ricky

[Erwan]

Originally Posted by angelmb

Hello all,

I know about some G3 iBooks having logic board issues but I have no real knowledge about the G4 model suffering this until today that a friend of mine told me that his G4 iBook is dead cause the logic board. Anybody here has experimented this failure with a G4 iBook model?

Thanks.

I had the same problem after 18 months. During the start-up procedure, after the grey screen with apple, I get a blue screen, and then...nothing. The computer was 6 months out of warranty...



Erwan

[sgb]

my wifes nov04 12' G4 ibook died a couple of weeks ago. after replacing the logic board, everything is ok again....