[kymacman]

I have just had the logic board replaced in my 4th Gen. 15" Powerbook. Symptoms were three beeps at startup and flashing white light. There are a couple of threads concerning this problem at the "Apple Discussions." It seems I am not alone.

To Apple's credit, their service provider in Louisville (MacTown) handled the repair promptly and professionally at no expense to me (still under warranty). However, I am now worried about the long-term life of my PB. Anyone else with logic board problems?

[CatOne]

No. Haven't heard of widespread issues.

[eleazar]

I had my logic board replaced because of a faulty lower ram slot. I have seen countless discussions about this problem.

[jettyboy]

This appears to be a real issue with Al 15" PB. The Apple discussion board has close to 100 posts on it. Mine failed a couple of days ago, so I've been reduced to 512, and it's a hassle doing video and audio editing. Anyone know what the cost of replacement is? My warranty expired last month and no I couldn't afford Applecare. I have a feeling I'll be running with only the top memory slot for a while.

[kymacman]

Originally Posted by jettyboy

This appears to be a real issue with Al 15" PB. The Apple discussion board has close to 100 posts on it. Mine failed a couple of days ago, so I've been reduced to 512, and it's a hassle doing video and audio editing. Anyone know what the cost of replacement is? My warranty expired last month and no I couldn't afford Applecare. I have a feeling I'll be running with only the top memory slot for a while.

Although my PB was repaired under warranty, the folks at MacTown advised me that w/o warranty, the cost of a new logic board was $900+! A good reason for applecare, I suppose.

Steve

[bighead]

A new logic board, as an individual part, generally runs between $800 and $900 depending on the generation of the machine. If you take the PowerBook to an Apple Store or other provider who will mail in the unit to the Houston repair center, it should be a flat-rate fee, which is around $325. That is a much better deal for things like logic boards, not such a good deal with things like hard drives. In this case, though, I'd suggest the mail-in repair.

[voicebox]

Originally Posted by kymacman

I have just had the logic board replaced in my 4th Gen. 15" Powerbook. Symptoms were three beeps at startup and flashing white light. There are a couple of threads concerning this problem at the "Apple Discussions." It seems I am not alone.

To Apple's credit, their service provider in Louisville (MacTown) handled the repair promptly and professionally at no expense to me (still under warranty). However, I am now worried about the long-term life of my PB. Anyone else with logic board problems?

Hi there kymacman,
I have the same problem, although I also lost the use of the lower memory bay (first sign of problem) - then three beeps at start up and flashing white light .... The techie at CanCom Uk first advised me to buy more Ram - I have two 512 modules and a single 1GB module costs £170 - and only use the upper bay ..thereby limiting my PB to 1GB Ram for the rest of its life!
Not at all satisfactory considering my otherwise healthy machine has the potential to take up to 2GB Ram .. I am told that the lower bay cannot be fixed. Although from reading other posts on this subject, lower memory bay failure seems to be the most popular cause of failed logic boards.
My PowerBook is 18 months old and sadly out of warranty, so I have to have a new logic board at a cost of £614 inc VAT and fitting! I cannot upgrade to a 1.5GHz or 1.25GHz board because although the architecture remains the same as a 1GHz, Apple have changed the connection points for main cable and other wires. Hey ho - t'was ever thus!
Best
voicebox

[Skyhoper]

Originally Posted by eleazar

I had my logic board replaced because of a faulty lower ram slot. I have seen countless discussions about this problem.

I had my logic board replaced on my 15 inch powerbook 4 months after I got it because of a faulty lower ram slot.

[voicebox]

Originally Posted by Skyhoper

I had my logic board replaced on my 15 inch powerbook 4 months after I got it because of a faulty lower ram slot.

Hi Skyhoper,
Sorry to read your news ... but you are fortunate - you obviously still have warranty ...I am out of warranty and I am paying £600 +VAT for a new board because of a failed lower ram slot.

You know, I cant help thinking that the faulty lower ram slot problem which leads therefore to logic board failure on 15' Powerbooks is akin to the screen 'White Spot Syndrome' that affected the screens of so many 15' Powerbooks in 2004 ... (which were replaced by Apple) .. I cannot understand why, after paying over £1500 (in November 2003 and always more expensive in the UK) my PB needs a new logic board, other than because of a spillage accident maybe ...
Always a faulty lower ram slot ... mmm Why should it fail?? What price quality control ..??

Is there anyone else out there having similar problems ...?? Or am I becoming paranoid ...??
voicebox

[Love Calm Quiet]

Kymacman...
You say yours is a 4th gen PB. Does that mean the models that are CURRENTLY being sold? I need to replace my TiBook and am wondering about Apple's quality control.

Anybody out there with current 15" PB (1.5 or 1.67 MHz) who's had this problem?

[kymacman]

Originally Posted by Love Calm Quiet

Kymacman...
You say yours is a 4th gen PB. Does that mean the models that are CURRENTLY being sold? I need to replace my TiBook and am wondering about Apple's quality control.

Anybody out there with current 15" PB (1.5 or 1.67 MHz) who's had this problem?

Yes, unfortunately. I bought my PB in late February of this year. It is the current model being offered for sale. Mine is a 15" 1.5 Mhz, with 1gig ram (one slot used, one slot empty). Since the repair, it seems to be working perfectly.

[Love Calm Quiet]

Thanks. I appreciate the heads up. Please re-post if you have any trouble with the new logic board. Guess I may have to fork out for the AppleCare.

[ryushe]

Hi there,

I have had my 15" G4 powerbook now for almost 4 1/2 months. It's the new version currently for sale (1.5Ghz etc etc.).
My memory slot also died after only month of use. As I am very dependant on this machine, I only had it fixed 2 weeks ago, in the meantime living with only 512mb of memory in the upper slot. Now that it's fixed, I can use both slots again. The fix was a complete logic board replacement, provided under warranty.

Which brings me to my next problem. Since the new logic board was fitted, I have had massive problems with my audio for some reason. The sound is perfect, until it either starts creaking, or dies alltogether. I can restart the application providing the sound, such as iTunes, and it will still be broken. The wierd thing however is that the notification sound for new mail does come thru very clearly. Midi files also fail completely after 1 second of play time.
Also whenever I remote login to my powerbook via SSH, I sometimes now get disconnected by my powerbook, with a message stating "Corrupted MAC on input".

I never had these problems before the logic board "fix". Anyone else had these kind of audio problems?

The bad part is that as I stated I'm pretty dependant on this machine. I went back to the apple store over here, and explained the audio problems. They claim they have never heard of this before. They said I would lose my PB for at least 3 weeks while they investigate what the problem is and if it actually is the result of the logic board replacement. On a side note, they also claimed my powerbook was the first one they ever saw with a dead memory slot.

Via some strange coincidence, a collegue of mine, who got his 15" PB 3 weeks later, also had his memery slot die on him. Then again, this was only recently.

Besides all the problems I'm having with this machine I really like my powerbook tho, don't get me wrong

[voicebox]

Originally Posted by Skyhoper

I had my logic board replaced on my 15 inch powerbook 4 months after I got it because of a faulty lower ram slot.

Hi Skyhopper,
Have you had any problems with the new logic board these last 4months ...? How long is the warranty on it? Was it a new board or a refurb?
I ask these questions because I should get my 15" PB back today - having had the 1GHz l/board replaced. I asked the techie at the repair center if it would be a new or refurbished board, he told me he wouldn't know until he unwrapped it from Apple this morning ...! Also the warranty on it is only three (3) months ..! Pretty standard I guess
Thanks for your time,
best
voicebox.

[Skyhoper]

Originally Posted by voicebox

Hi Skyhopper,
Have you had any problems with the new logic board these last 4months ...? How long is the warranty on it? Was it a new board or a refurb?
I ask these questions because I should get my 15" PB back today - having had the 1GHz l/board replaced. I asked the techie at the repair center if it would be a new or refurbished board, he told me he wouldn't know until he unwrapped it from Apple this morning ...! Also the warranty on it is only three (3) months ..! Pretty standard I guess
Thanks for your time,
best
voicebox.

No problems yet, but I still am under my 1 year warranty plus 2 years of applecare. The amazing thing was when I got my powerbook back that they didn't reformat my hard drive which was nice.

[voicebox]

Originally Posted by Skyhoper

No problems yet, but I still am under my 1 year warranty plus 2 years of applecare. The amazing thing was when I got my powerbook back that they didn't reformat my hard drive which was nice.

Hi Skyhoper,
Got my PowerBook back two days ago (Friday) complete with new logic board. I have to report no problems at all so far,(three months warranty) although having to part with just over £600 brought a pain to my left arm and a tear to my eye!!
I immediately upgraded to 10.4.2 along with the Airport 4.2 upgrade and everything is working smoothly, in fact the whole system is running a lot faster!
All in all, I have learned a rather painfull lesson - I should have renewed my Applecare just before it expired eight months ago.
On the other hand, Professor Hindsight is a remarkable character and so knowledgeable don't you think ..?
I certainly will react in a more positive manner when I take delivery of my new PB later this
year ... or maybe early next year ... or ...
best
voicebox.

[houstonmacbro]

have any of these slot failures started to occur in the mbps or the mb?

[tintin220]

no. the ram slot problems are isolated to the powerbooks (i think they might predate the latest revision... it doesnt affect my serial #)