[redandwhites]

Hi there,

A G3 Pismo powerbook "sound out" port has failed, and needs to be replaced.

The port on the Pismo that the male-pin plug goes into is loose. Sound comes out but you have to "jiggle" the cable...

Can you replace just the "port", or is there a whole card that this port sits on - ?? - that needs replacing

Thanks anyone!

[seanyepez]

You'll have to replace your PowerBook's entire sound board. You can get them for $229 at www.pbparts.com.

[milhous]

I had the very same problem you did, and you'll have to replace the board.

I got my replacement from Pre-Owned Electronic (www.preowned.com) and you can get the sound board for $199 and if you return the core (your old board) so they can fix it, it'll only cost $99.

800-274-5343, part number 18822

If you find the apple service manual for the pismo and you can fix, give it a shot.

[jtbowden]

If you are adventurous, you could open it up and look at the connector. There are 3 or 4 connections to most phono jacks. R/L channels plus ground and then a connection that is made when the plug is put in (usually on headphone jack to tell the computer to mute when you are using the headphones). Anyway, you could see if you can just bend these pins back.

But, most likely it is a worse problem. But if you are going to replace it anyway, you could give it a shot.

[redandwhites]

Thank you - looks like the whole board needs to be replaced.

Best regards

[jasong]

I had the same problem on my Pismo. My original thought was to try and replace it myself, and if you search on the web you will find detailed instructions on how to do it. But be warned, the sound card is the last piece removed from the case. I kid you not, you need to disasemble everything.

Due to work, I couldn't send the laptop away to be fixed, so I got a Griffin iMate, which worked great for me. Given the age of your Pismo and it's declining useful lifespan (let's be real here), I would recommend this. It is only about $25.00 and works great. No drivers under OS X.

I eventually decided to get it fixed in case I wanted to sell it. I brought it to an Apple Authorized Repair Center. They had two tries at it, both of which comepletely killed the sound out. Turns out that there is a different revision motherboard, and you need to get a soundcard specific to the motherboard revision you have in your Pismo. I ended up sending it to Apple for repairs. $300 bucks and they replaced my soundcard, motherboard, and SCREEN! (It had wear marks from the keyboard). So it was worth it to me.

Anyway, that is my long winded version of my Pismo sound card saga. The Griffin iMate is a great way to go.

-- Jason

[fisherKing]

this must be a typical failure, i just did this as well!
found a soundboard on ebay ($90),
installed it with a friend (not recommended).

put 512ram in the lower slot since i was there!
(and a faster hd as well)

otherwise, the imic is great...

[redandwhites]

Ummmm.........What is the part number for the board?

[fisherKing]

start here