Help me fix my iBook!

March 19, 2006 10:12 AM

Sick iBook: Can I fix this myself?

My trusty old iBook (dual USB, 800Mhz) developed this gap between the LCD and the frame. Looks like this and this. I was wondering if anybody out there has seen something like this, or even better, knows how to fix it.

posted by Finder to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

I just noticed that my iBook has almost this exact same issue. It doesn't bug me much except that crumbs collect in there and I worry that something bad will hapen to the rest of the screen as a result. This problem seems like it's not specific to either you or I. So, this answers the "has anyone seen this" part of your question, but sadly I don't have an idea about the other part.
posted by jessamyn at 11:40 AM on March 19, 2006

Best answer: I had (and manually fixed) this problem with my iBook. The metal frame that connects. The metal frame inside the screen has cracked and is only held together by the plastic casing around it.

I ordered a "screen hinge and frame assembly" for $60 from these people. One problem is the part spans both the screen and computer halves of the iBook, so you have take both apart to install it. It goes something like this:

- Remove the top and bottom casing and shielding from the main part of the computer so that you can disconnect the entire hinge and screen section.
- Take the back off the screen, undo a load of screws, remove the old frame, screw the new one back in place, and put everything back together.

None of it's difficult, it's just there's a lot of steps and screws involved. You'll also need a service manual and a 1/16 inch allen key. Good luck.
posted by cillit bang at 12:54 PM on March 19, 2006

When you push on the bottom corners of the lcd, does it make a popping noise and have some give? If it does on either side, it means that your hinge is broken and I highly recommend not attempting the repair yourself. It's the most difficult repair you can do.
posted by machaus at 12:55 PM on March 19, 2006

Ouch. Yes on the 'looks familiar' point. And I fixed it, but I may well have no idea how, generally, one would fix it. (This, in case you're wondering, is what we Minnesotans do for sanity's sake on "Oh look, no sunshine for the fourteenth day in a row..." days. More particularly, I bought what I needed via eBay—though I wish I'd bought the stuff from Tech Restore instead.)

The eBay thing seemed like a good idea at the time... there was a run of iBooks whose logic boards were messed up; I found someone who didn't want a replacement iBook, nor an Apple anything-book, and so was left with an expensive paperweight. With a screen in nearly-perfect condition.)

If I were to do it all again, I would find scrap enough to harvest a compatible 'lid' component (hinges optional, I guess, if that makes any difference)—probably from someone who has cracked their screen, scratched it, etc. Then, I'd buy a new screen from anywhere you please. Just don't get a screen that may have been remanufactured, 'saved' from scrap, or has, say, been at the mercy of a twitchy flow of amperage. The backlight on a screen that's been harvested, seemingly in good condition, will last for exactly 2 weeks, 1 day, plus however many hours will put the screen's dramatic, pop-fizzle-fizzle death impossibly close to a midterm paper's drop-dead due date. :-)
posted by Yeomans at 1:06 PM on March 19, 2006

Could try to glue it down. Use a coarse-needle syringe to get some Shoe Goo in there, then weight the strip down with a book or somesuch (prop the iBook up so it rests flat on the lid.)
posted by five fresh fish at 8:50 PM on March 19, 2006

Might be very wise to mask the screen, the screen frame front, and the first row of keys with painters' tape!
posted by five fresh fish at 8:51 PM on March 19, 2006