[slapdash]

I'm the proud owner of a workhorse Powerbook G4 400. I've been using it solid for almost a year and a half for everything from development to gaming, and love the beast

Now I've got two serious problems that happened, painfully enough right after moving to the UK. Any advice is welcomed because quite frankly I'm tearing out my hair!

First, I was working away and the fan kicked in as usual, but I noticed after about twenty minutes it hadn't stopped. Thinking nothing of it I kept working...bad idea. The screen suddenly looked like an oil painting; colors faded in and out and saturated the screen before fading out to black. After letting it cool I rebooted and it worked fine again...for about ten minutes. Then the same thing. I can work with an external monitor but this sudden development for my PB's screen is a shock. Has anyone seen this or know what it is, and what type of price/repair has to be done to fix it?

Secondly, my cat knocked a flowerpot off a bookshelf and it landed on my keyboard... Anyhow no damage to the case or keyboard, but my DVD drive hasn't worked since for some reason. Great stuff eh?

Anyhow all this just happened after moving the Belfast (Northern Ireland/UK) and I have no idea what to do with it to fix these two problems, or if it's even worth it.

Any advice is most welcome folks.

[fulmer]

the impact may have damaged or knocked loose a mechanism/part or more on your DVD drive. It will need to be looked at by someone who is qualified to look at and diagnose these powerbook models.

[seanyepez]

Your first problem (the video fading in and out) is not a problem with the LCD screen. It's a problem with your video subsystem or processor overheating of some sort. I would use the hardware test CD that came with your computer to find out for sure, because bad video RAM is known to cause display artifacts or fading. Considering the machine only exhibits the problem while the fan is on, I can only think your heatsink might not be making good contact with the CPU. I'm not sure though. Have the thing looked at, and make sure there's ample airflow under the machine. It's only strange because my 500-megahertz Pismo's fan only turns on when on a carpet or bed.

The DVD-ROM drive can be looked at by anybody who understands notebook drives since they're pretty standard components. You won't need an Apple-specific technician specifically to diagnose a problem with your drive.

Good luck!

[slapdash]

Originally posted by seanyepez:
Your first problem (the video fading in and out) is not a problem with the LCD screen. It's a problem with your video subsystem or processor overheating of some sort. I would use the hardware test CD that came with your computer to find out for sure, because bad video RAM is known to cause display artifacts or fading. Considering the machine only exhibits the problem while the fan is on, I can only think your heatsink might not be making good contact with the CPU. I'm not sure though. Have the thing looked at, and make sure there's ample airflow under the machine. It's only strange because my 500-megahertz Pismo's fan only turns on when on a carpet or bed.

The DVD-ROM drive can be looked at by anybody who understands notebook drives since they're pretty standard components. You won't need an Apple-specific technician specifically to diagnose a problem with your drive.

Good luck!

The weird thing about the video is that though the first time it faded and went insane the fan was on full tilt, but now I only have about five to ten minutes after booting before the screen goes wild, with or without fan. Its definitely an oddity. I'm thinking that I somehow overheated something and damaged a component or two (video memory perhaps?). The worst thing is there is no Apple authorized crew in Belfast (believe it or not!) so I'm SOL.

I will take your advice and have a tech look over the drive for me, thanks. To be honest compared to my display this is the least of my concerns!

Thanks a million.

[tooki]

Originally posted by seanyepez:
The DVD-ROM drive can be looked at by anybody who understands notebook drives since they're pretty standard components. You won't need an Apple-specific technician specifically to diagnose a problem with your drive.

Not completely true: 400/500MHz TiBooks use very specialized drives that are not standard components -- the computer's case is part of the drive. If the flowerpot fell on the right-hand area of the case, it may have knocked some part of the intrinisically-fragile drive. If the drive is dead, I'd recommend not getting it fixed by Apple, but rather sending it to MCE and having a combo drive installed.

tooki

[seanyepez]

Ah. Sorry about that. I was thinking about the Pismo drives again. :o

[satyagrahanism]

whatever you do - just act as if it was a sudden failure and that you did *nothing* to it. that way apple will take care of it for you. i know many people who've dropped their apples and had them fixed when they played off that the "dent just appeared" (not kidding)

dee