01-15-2010, 10:54 PM
What Black said. The G3 iBooks had a problem with the solder joints between the video chip and the motherboard. Over time, the heat/cool cycles of the computer warming up during use and cooling off when not in use would crack the solder.
Some people have been able to resurrect these by heating the graphics chip using a variety of methods. This "reflows" the solder joints. An industrial heat gun (paint removal heat gun) has probably been the most popular. But it's not for the faint of heart. iBooks are a pain to take apart. Not unusually hard, but a huge number of tiny screws which have to be put back in in the right order. Then you have to get the right amount of heat for the right amount of time without damaging anything else. A little googling will find you several how-two sites.
When I priced getting a replacement motherboard for my G3 iBook with bad video it was $250 installed. Probably not worth it. It's a shame, because otherwise the G3 iBooks were really nice.
Good luck.
- Winston
Some people have been able to resurrect these by heating the graphics chip using a variety of methods. This "reflows" the solder joints. An industrial heat gun (paint removal heat gun) has probably been the most popular. But it's not for the faint of heart. iBooks are a pain to take apart. Not unusually hard, but a huge number of tiny screws which have to be put back in in the right order. Then you have to get the right amount of heat for the right amount of time without damaging anything else. A little googling will find you several how-two sites.
When I priced getting a replacement motherboard for my G3 iBook with bad video it was $250 installed. Probably not worth it. It's a shame, because otherwise the G3 iBooks were really nice.
Good luck.
- Winston