[wonilsson]

While attempting the dreaded reed switch cable replacement (my first time opening up my iBook G3 dual USB - but it seems to be going fine) the wires from the power button to the plug that goes into the logic board came out.

The metal contacts appear to be intact so I assume I can just put them back into the plug, but I don't know which wire goes in which hole. There is a blue wire and a white wire. The plug has a blue dot that appears to be slightly to the left, but I can't tell if that's supposed to indicate something. Anyone had one of these open recently? My faint memory is that the blue wire goes closer to the back of the iBook and the white one goes closer to the front.

I looked into replacing the power button and wires, but can't find the part anywhere on line. Looks like my only option for replacement would be to do the whoe upper case, which comes with speaker assembly, track pad, power button, etc. so it's pricey. Any help would be appreciated.

[Camera God]

It really doesn't matter which one goes where. The power button just completes a circuit. I've turned on an ibook by jumping it with a paperclip.

[wonilsson]

Originally Posted by Camera God

It really doesn't matter which one goes where. The power button just completes a circuit. I've turned on an ibook by jumping it with a paperclip.

Great! Thanks a lot. The truth is I'm in way over my head on this one, but kind of enjoying it nonetheless. My poor iBook will never be the same, but wil hopefully be functional when it's all back together. Appreciate the help.

[seanc]

I hope you're using a guide to take it apart like the ones at www.pbfixit.com

They make things so much easier and they even have a screw guide so you know which screws go where.

[wonilsson]

Originally Posted by seanc

I hope you're using a guide to take it apart like the ones at www.pbfixit.com

They make things so much easier and they even have a screw guide so you know which screws go where.

Yep, I've been using that one and several others. Seeing what to do hasn't been a problem. (And I've managed to keep the screws coherently organized.) It's just all the mechanical manipulations with which I am inexperienced, unskilled, and not naturally gifted, e.g., separating the case parts, pulling plugs off the logic board (hence the loose wires), etc. Frankly, though I've been as careful as I could, and I'm starting to get better (re-assembling it now and everything seems to be going smoothly), I'll be in a bit of shock if the thing still works and in even more shock if I can open it all the way without the dim screen. Anyway, thanks a lot.

[seanc]

It should be fine if it's all assembled correctly.

I don't know where you got your cable from or what it's like but I think the one I got was meant for the iBook G4 as it was a lot thinner.
I also got an iBook G4 hinge as the gaps for the cables etc is bigger.

Good Luck.

[wonilsson]

Originally Posted by seanc

It should be fine if it's all assembled correctly.

I don't know where you got your cable from or what it's like but I think the one I got was meant for the iBook G4 as it was a lot thinner.
I also got an iBook G4 hinge as the gaps for the cables etc is bigger.

Good Luck.

I got mine from Small Dog. Didn't notice any size difference.

And amazingly, the computer is now working fine, accept that I screwed the actual reed switch in backwards (I can see that now from some online pictures), so when i first booted up the iBook it just started going to sleep as soon as the desktop came up. I could wake it up for few seconds, but it would go right back to sleep. I decided (before I realized I had put it in backwards) that maybe the reed switch itself was bad - and since what I was really after was the cable to the inverter that's part of that same harness (I think I'm talking about the right thing), I disabled the reed switch by pulling the two wires that go to it out of the plug on the logic board. Now the display works great, I can push it back to any angle, and I just have to manually put it to sleep before I close it.

I may open it back up to reposition the reed switch and reconnect the wires, but I don't really care about the reed switch function, so I'm not sure. The only other thing that went wrong is that I've lost some range and stability on my airport connection - I assume I squeezed or distrubed the antenna somehow. That would be worth opening it back up for, if I know what I was looking for. Anyway, I'm much happier now since I don't have to look at a dim screen from a strange angle, and since my poor iBook survived my complete lack of knowledge about what I was doing.

[seanc]

Congratulations!

It would be wise to fix the reed switch cable as it may cause problems later down the line.

Make sure the connector on the airport card is pushed in firmly.
If this still doesn't help then open up the iBook and look for damage to the cable, I think it's black.
Also check in the display that you haven't damaged the connectors/anntennas as that's where they live.

Good luck

Sean