Comments on: The iBook’s Dirty Little Secret

By: Cody Peveto

Cody Peveto — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 23:15:33 +0000

Hi, I have a ibook G3 and it has a problem with the resolution. Mainly when you look at pictures, and also half the screen will go to black and white but if i restart the computer it is fine. what should i do?

By: Eric Schwarz

Eric Schwarz — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:42:42 +0000

villager, actually what you had happen is on the later iBooks where the GPU actually did become unsoldered from the logic board…there are various fixes out there, and Apple has even acknowledged this problem.

By: villager

villager — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:16:31 +0000

Hi,
I bought an iBook with the same problem…. it’s wierd how this happens !! does the GPU get melted ?! lol… anyways, after I put the iBook togehter before I put the white plastic bottom cover, I put a quarter on top of the square above the GPU, I put some thermal paste under the quarter so it stays in place and then closed it… it’s running fine now, the screen might go a lil dimm but a very small push fix it and it stays on!!

By: tester99

tester99 — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 23:04:45 +0000

Hate to say it but it is not an actual fix it is mearly a patch and like the 5 my company sent to First Phase only one still works, my advise drop the ibook and move on unless you like taking yours apart and getting it repaired over and over.

By: David

David — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 04:25:31 +0000

It’s not necessary to replace a logicboard with a faulty GPU chip. The problem is due to fractured solder joints. Re-flowing the joints will fix the problem, however this isn’t possible with a regular soldering iron due to the design of the video chip. A company by the name of First Phase Tech is well aware of this specific problem and they will repair the logic board for $50. However, they only accept the logic board, so you’ll need to disasseble the computer yourself. First Phase Tech has a presence on eBay. Search for “iBook video repair”. Since I last used there services, another company has also established a presence on ebay offering the same type of service. It’s a cheap and reliable fix which actually fixes the problem rather than replacing one faulty part with another faulty part.