My iBook went damn crazy.

March 19, 2005 10:46 AM

MacFilter: My iBook froze last night and displayed some very unusual colors, and now it won't boot up. Is it fried?

I was playing World of Warcraft, and all of a sudden the screen went all black. I could still hear the sound, but I couldn't see anything. Then the sound cut out. THEN things started getting really crazy. The screen went all red, then all green, then all blue. I rebooted the computer, and now it freezes on startup. I let it sit overnight, hoping that maybe time would heal it. Unfortunatly, this morning it still wouldn't boot up. I zapped the PRAM, and it didn't do anything. I can't even boot from a CD.

Has anybody ever had this happen?

posted by hughbot to computers & internet (7 comments total)

Your first step is to try to reset the iBook Power Management Unit (PMU).

If that doesn't help, you will want to read about the iBook logic board replacement program and/or contact AppleCare for service.
posted by AlexReynolds at 11:16 AM on March 19, 2005

Working for an authorised Apple Service Centre, and seeing a few of these every week, I wholeheartedly agree with AlexReynolds. Contact AppleCare about your logic board; but make sure you're within the serial number range of the boards affected.
posted by armoured-ant at 11:48 AM on March 19, 2005

Ditto the above. The logic board in my iBook has fried three times now. Apple has been good about repairing it every time, but I don't know if that holds for those who didn't buy the AppleCare Protection Program. It's worth giving them a call.
posted by makonan at 1:27 PM on March 19, 2005

It appears that the iBook logic board replacement program ended yesterday, unless you bought your iBook less than three years ago.
posted by mokujin at 1:55 PM on March 19, 2005

Well, based on what I'm hearing here, it would appear that it is indeed the logic board. I reset the PMU this morning and it didn't seem to do anything. The guy I called at Apple was less than helpful. He just told me to boot my laptop off the installation CDs, which I'd already been trying all morning.

I bought my iBook in October of this year, so it wouldn't have been covered under that program anyway. I dropped it off at the nearest service centre this afternoon, and they said they'd take a look at it and call me back. I've got three years of AppleCare, so hopefully it'll cover it.

I feel like I left a part of me at that service centre.
posted by hughbot at 2:36 PM on March 19, 2005

Bring in the iBook to an Apple Store IMMEDIATELY. With the expiration just barely having passed, you can at least make an argument that the logic board's death was under deadline therefore they should fix it. Make them at least document the date you brought it in and their observed symptoms/diagnosis. Before Apple publically admitted to the defect, I recall hearing of people who called a special dept at Apple HQ where the frontline support's decision (of nonrepair) got overridden. So document NOW, and then be persistent about going up the chain of supervisors until you get an acceptable response.

(And if I can remember where that phone number/dept got cited, I'll post it...)
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 3:20 PM on March 19, 2005

...or, um, what you already did... Sorry for missing your update on preview.

Still, don't take no for an answer if they try to claim it's not covered by your AppleCare. It's the classic logic board defect symptoms. It took a lot of public lobbying by affected users before Apple accepted responsibility for the dual USB models' flaw. So while Apple hasn't officially acknowledged a problem with the newer models, it doesn't mean they're defect-free.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 3:27 PM on March 19, 2005