[wirobins]

Hey there,

We've been having some odd issues with my wife's 900 Mhz G3 iBook, and I haven't really found any similar cases in searching through the archives. A little background first..

She bought it as an Apple refurb, and went through roughly 4 logic board replacements before apple replaced the machine (presumably with another refurb). We haven't had any of the typical logic board issues since that time, but over the last year it's become increasingly sensitive to being picked up.

Whenever it gets moved, especially when open, but also when it's in it's sleeve, the power just cuts out and upon restart the date is reset to 1970. This happens regardless of whether it is awake, asleep or shut down. This behavior is also present on both battery and AC power, so I presume it's not related to some battery connection.

It seems to me that some minor case flexing is unseating an internal component, resulting in a power loss.

Anyone have any ideas as to what in particular might be causing the issue?

Thanks in advance,

Will

[Tuoder]

Originally Posted by wirobins

Hey there,

We've been having some odd issues with my wife's 900 Mhz G3 iBook, and I haven't really found any similar cases in searching through the archives. A little background first..

She bought it as an Apple refurb, and went through roughly 4 logic board replacements before apple replaced the machine (presumably with another refurb). We haven't had any of the typical logic board issues since that time, but over the last year it's become increasingly sensitive to being picked up.

Whenever it gets moved, especially when open, but also when it's in it's sleeve, the power just cuts out and upon restart the date is reset to 1970. This happens regardless of whether it is awake, asleep or shut down. This behavior is also present on both battery and AC power, so I presume it's not related to some battery connection.

It seems to me that some minor case flexing is unseating an internal component, resulting in a power loss.

Anyone have any ideas as to what in particular might be causing the issue?

Thanks in advance,

Will

The date resetting sounds like pram battery is dead or disconnected. If that were loose, I'd bet the iBook wouldn't be very happy about it.

[wirobins]

Well, that's a possibility, but I was under the impression that the dual usb iBook's clock info was on a diode of the main board and did not have a PRAM battery. I've tried resetting the PRAM, but it doesn't really seem to have much effect. If there is a PRAM battery somewhere that I'm not aware of, please let me know where it's located.

It really does seem like it must be a loose connection somewhere though. The computer just dies instantly when picked up. When it first started happening it was just when the iBook was picked up from a corner, but at this point unless it's handled VERY delicately it dies.

I almost wish it was the logic board, but I hate to buy one on ebay just to have that not fix the problem.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Originally Posted by Tuoder

The date resetting sounds like pram battery is dead or disconnected. If that were loose, I'd bet the iBook wouldn't be very happy about it.