[loutzy]

I have an 8 yr. old iBook with a bad display. It goes dark and if I whack it like an old TV, it will brighten up a bit. I've been told that it is too hard to fix this due to the iBook's age.

Everything else is in top working order and I would like to hook it to an external monitor to continue to use it. Mirroring with the adapter that came with the iBook won't work since the mirrored image is just as dark as the original display.

Any help is appreciated.

[Simon]

If just your screen is bad the external image should be fine. If the external image is as dark as the internal screen, your problem is not the screen, but the iBook itself.

How about looking at getting a cheap Mac mini or iMac? Used or refurb maybe. It sounds like you do not care about portability.

[Big Mac]

Agreed.

[loutzy]

So as I understand it, hooking up the monitor with the adapter to mirror the iBook should have given me a bright screen and not one just as dark as the original. That is mirroring does not mirror what is actually visible on the internal screen but what is supposed to be visible on the internal screen onto the external screen.

Any ideas then on what the iBook's problem is? It did something similar a few years ago and it was the logic board, I think.

I am looking into a refurbished Mac Mini (any suggestions).

[SSharon]

Correct. The mirrored display shouldn't be dark just because the backlight on the built in lcd is dead.

A free test you can try would be to hack the ibook to allow an extended desktop rather than a mirrored display. I did this hack to my 1.2ghz ibook a year ago and have never had any problems because of it. I'm not 100% sure, but I think this was the site I used. Extended Desktop

[loutzy]

The site is good. My iBook is one of the ones it won't work on. Thanks for the info.

[shifuimam]

It sounds like your GPU is going out. This is technically fixable. What's happening is that the solder connections between the GPU and the motherboard are going bad, which is likely why thwacking it can temporarily fix it. You can reflow the solder by directing strong heat at the GPU (using something like a heat gun or a blowtorch). There's information online about doing this, but if you're uncomfortable trying it, sell the iBook on eBay (or here in the marketplace, once you get 100 posts) and buy something else.

[amazing]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

It sounds like your GPU is going out. This is technically fixable. What's happening is that the solder connections between the GPU and the motherboard are going bad, which is likely why thwacking it can temporarily fix it. You can reflow the solder by directing strong heat at the GPU (using something like a heat gun or a blowtorch). There's information online about doing this, but if you're uncomfortable trying it, sell the iBook on eBay (or here in the marketplace, once you get 100 posts) and buy something else.

This is exactly what it sounds like. You didn't give any details as to which model and size iBook you have, but an enormous range of models was affected. You can google the problem and you'll find a range of suggestions. Best suggestion is to disassemble the iBook, cover the logic board around the GPU with several layers of aluminum foil and reflow the solder with a heat gun.

If you're not comfortable with a complex disassembly and reassembly, you're best off selling it. You're not likely to get a significant price since you're selling it for parts (or for someone else to fix) so you might want to try fixing it--or enlisting the help of a techie buddy to fix it.

Basically, you download the appropriate disassembly manual with pictures from ifixit.com. You print out 2 copies. As you disassemble you scotch tape the tiny screws to the exact location on one of the copies, while following directions on the other copy. Reassembly goes in the exact reverse order.

Catch is you won't know if the reflow worked until to can turn it on. However, the reflow has been well documented online, and it's worked hundreds, if not thousands of times.

[Mic-B]

It definitely sounds like the legendary GPU problem. I don't know if your still considering this, but here's the thread on the reflow....

http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-noteb...b-logic-board/



Good Luck!