re: iBook Logic Board Failure
From Brian Hugh Warren
Charles,
My wife's iBook (700 MHz CD)
had a really rocky start when we got it. Just *zip!* it would shut
itself off, often never really able to start itself back up. We sent
it in three times! The first two, they replaced the logic board and
the hard drive. The third time we did, we brought it into the Apple
Store (we were in the process of moving from Arkansas to Alaska and
happened to be in the Denver area). We showed the guy what we were
talking about, and he saw the problem first hand. He and another
genius looked it over thoroughly and ended up sending it in for us,
with explicit instructions to replace the "Power Card" (or something
like that - basically the power manager that regulates the power
going to the logic board).
They fixed it and sent it to my father in Seattle. We picked it up
there on our way to Alaska. It has worked great ever since.
Basically, as I understand it, the power regulator was sending just a
wee bit too much power to the logic board. So it would work fine for
a week or two - and eventually fry itself. The logic board was dead,
so they would replace that, but never replace the power thingy.
So, that's just a word to anybody else who might have had that
problem.
Brian
- Thanks Brian,
That may be helpful to others plagued with similar failures.
Charles
Time for an update?
From dxtr
Hi Charles,
Wandering around the net today and came across this...
"Low End Mac is pleased to publish Charles W. Moore 's
Miscellaneous Ramblings. Moore has been a freelance journalist since
1987 and writing for Mac websites since May 1998. His Road
Warrior column is a regular feature on Mac
Opinion, and he is a news editor and columnist at Applelinks.com.
"Charles lives and works in Port Hilford, Nova Scotia, on the
shore of Indian Harbour Lake and in sight of the Atlantic Ocean. His
newspaper columns are syndicated across Canada, and he writes
regularly for several magazines, as well as doing Mac website
journalism. Charles has also contributed to MacToday magazine.
"His current stable of Macs includes a Mac
Plus, an LC 520, a PowerBook
5300, and a recently deceased PowerBook
G3 Series II/233, a PowerBook G3
(Pismo), and a 700 MHz
iBook, as well as a Umax
SuperMac S900. You can read more about his old WallStreet in
Charles Moore's WallStreet
PowerBook.
Time for an update maybe?
seeya
dxtr
- Hi dxtr,
Sounds like the current fleet to me, except that Dan got the clock
speed wrong on the iBook - it's a 700 MHz unit, and he hasn't
mentioned the PowerBook 1400 that I've been using for drafting
stories for the past six months [updated! ed]. The old
WallStreet is sitting not five feet from me, and I hope to revive
it soon with a processor transplant.
What did you think was missing?
Charles
Re: Update time
From dxtr
Hi Charles.
Maybe I misunderstand the purpose of the pages. When you click on
the WallStreet link you go to what was your production machine of a
little more than a year ago. There is an article with this in the
pages
" ...recently obtained a 500 MHz Pismo PowerBook; that will be the
subject of a subsequent Tools of the Trade article. "
So while the stable is current the use is not. I'm not sure that
anyone else but me is interested in your Tools
of the Trade, but I tend to enjoy stories of how people are using
their computers and what they have done to them to make them more
useful. I also think you should add another page for the iBook!
As an avid reader of all things Moore, I am aware of most of the
articles about the Pismo and the iBook elsewhere, but thought an
update might be in order for the Tools of the Trade section. I notice
that none of the other columnists have done so in a couple of years
either. Maybe it's a dead forum.
seeya
dxtr
P.S. I now have six different email address' in my address book
for you! A record by far!
"DOS Computers manufactured by companies such as IBM, Compaq,
Tandy, and millions of others are by far the most popular, with about
70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans, on the other
hand, may note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans,
and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form." - New York
Times, November 26, 1991. Still true today!
- Hi dxtr,
Sounds like that blurb was written in late 2001, so perhaps it
could stand updating. Dan's department.
I have written about my Pismo and iBook from time to time on The
Road Warrior and OS X Odyssey. Should perhaps get around to
doing "Tools of the Trade" pieces on them. I hope it's note a dead
forum. :-)
Email addresses; only six? ;-) I have over twenty.
Great email signature quote!
Charles
re: Quest for a Replacement PowerBook Battery
From Anonymous By Request
Hi Charles:
As you know, batteries are notoriously finicky. My 5300 battery
died within a year, a replacement died within a couple of years, but
my original Wallstreet battery (five years old now) is still going
strong - go figure.
IMHO it's not so much the chemistry of the battery that determines
its lifetime, it's how the battery is used and where it is stored. A
battery has a certain number of charge/discharge cycles (usually
around 1,000), and a battery past or close to its limit will behave
erratically. Also, the biggest enemy of a battery is - you guessed
it - heat. Coincidentally in most notebooks these days, the
processor spits out a lot of heat, and it's usually placed close to
the battery - not a good thing.
Again IMHO, I would be extremely wary of used/tested batteries -
after researching this market extensively (I had amassed a dozen dead
Wallstreet batteries and wanted to get them reconditioned/rebuilt), I
found that you really roll the dice depending on a company's testing
procedures. Simply put, there is no simple test that can be done to
determine a used battery's potential life span (i.e., plug it in,
fully charge it/discharge it, charge it up, and use it for two hours
= good). To fully work like new, a battery must be rebuilt with new
cells. Unfortunately, the companies that perform this service are
sharks who jealously guard their market/secrets with lots of
technical mumbo jumbo and specialized equipment.
If you've ever cracked open a dead battery, you'd probably find a
bunch of smaller batteries - and that one or two are toasted, but
the rest may be "okay." However, it's not as simple as replacing the
offending cells and sealing the unit back up (well, it almost is) -
the offending cells need to be removed, the others removed as well,
tested, replaced, and the whole pack balanced/tested under load -
there is special equipment in the tens of thousands of dollars range
that performs this function.
If you remember your elementary school physics, batteries in
series have more voltage than a single battery, and batteries in
parallel have more current reserve. So if you have a pack of thirty
12V, 100 mAh cells in parallel, you essentially have one large 12V
battery with thirty times the capacity (3000 mAh). Where the problem
comes in is that each of those 30 cells must be identical
(matched). If there is an imbalance, it will cause one or more cells
to drain faster or slower than the others, which will ruin the
battery over time. This is something that cannot be done by the
average Joe with a voltmeter (what the pros use is essentially a
"cell life predicting machine"). Then you have the ultrasonic welding
machine that is in the same price range (tens of thousands of
dollars), and with such a huge market out there, you can see why they
jealously guard the market.
Rebuilding a dead battery properly (checking each cell and only
replacing the bad ones) takes an inordinate amount of time; it's far
easier to stuff the battery case with new cells, which is why
rebuilding a battery is often more expensive than buying new. And, of
course, there are literally a handful of companies in any given area
that have the equipment and are able to perform this service.
Which brings me to my "shark" story - armed with this
information, I had a dozen Lombard batteries from a client that were
dead, and they wanted an estimate on the rebuilding cost before
buying new ones. I brought them to a place that manufactures and
sells new batteries, as well as advertising a "rebuilding" service.
The manager's eyes literally lit up when I walked in with all the
batteries. I was told the batteries were dead and useless, and to
rebuild each one would cost $300 CAN each - or I could buy new ones
for $200 CAN each including a $20 CAN credit on each "dead" battery.
I'm sure you can do the math, and you can see where the eye lighting
came from:
- high price for a new battery, plus
- getting those Lombard battery shells, which are gold, for next
to nothing, sticking new cells in them (which is trivial for them
to do - they have the right equipment) and selling them at ten
times the price
Needless to say, I did not buy the batteries and did not
return.
Personally, since I know new batteries are marginally more
expensive than used but carry far less risk, I'm more inclined to go
the new route (especially from a reputable manufacturer).
A.
PowerBook battery
From Scott
Charles,
In
the past when I still had my PB 165,
I found www.powerbookguy.com
a good resource for batteries, hard drives, networking items,
etc.
Cheers,
-Scott-
- Hi Scott,
Yes, I checked their page and they do have Pismo batteries.
Charles
Battery Quest
From Mary Ann
Hi,
Noticed your article on your battery problems. My husband just
purchased a replacement battery for his early white dual USB 700 MHz
iBook 60 days ago, and it died last week - the second to die in a
year and a half.
Might do an article based on some research - good start is the
Apple Support, iBook Discussions, Battery area - seems widespread
and no one knows what is going on - nothing formal from Apple.
Might be connected with the Logic Board failures. Year of the
Laptop has turned into Year of the tethered AC for our family - our
quest has been for the longest power cord we can find - a cheaper
alternative than $129 plus batteries - our cord is only 75 feet long
- it can reach almost all around our house. PS: Long power cords can
be purchased at Home Depot or Lowe's.
In all seriousness, seems like it is a serious problem that should
be fixed. We and others, including schools, purchased our laptops in
good faith - that they would be laptops for more than a year, not
ultra small desktops. If a hardware flaw, Apple should do a recall
regardless of the AppleCare Service.
Just thought you might be interested in a future article, MA
- Hi Mary Ann,
The iBook battery does seem to have a higher than average failure
rate, although, like the logic board failures, the incidence seems
to be spotty and erratic. I doubt that the logic board and battery
failures are connected, other than that heat may play a
contributory role in both. The former seems to be caused by the
video circuitry, while the batteries are a discrete unit.
It is very difficult to get a statistical picture of how
widespread these problems are - what percentage of iBooks are
affected.
Charles
Pismo battery
From Matt Schultz
Between $30 and $90, many Pismo batteries to choose from on
eBay.
Buy 2, 3, or 4 instead of one $120-150 retail unit.
I bought 2 Titanium PBook batteries off of eBay about a year ago,
and they worked great. Paid a total of $80 for the pair. My trusty
old 400 MHz model still keeps chugging away. My daughter drives the
Pismo to school, and I asked her if she wanted one of the new 12"
versions but she said no because Carrie on Sex in the City
uses a Pismo, and so now it's a very cool machine to lug around
:-)
Best Regards,
Matt Schultz
- Thanks for the lead, Matt.
Charles
Laptop batteries
From SuperProz
You might want to see if there's a local Batteries
Plus nearby; they might be able to get a decent price for
you. When I worked there, we basically viewed both LiIon and NiMH
batteries as lasting around 1.5 years.
Anything beyond that we figured it was borrowed time. It's the
discharging and recharging that wears them down quickly, you're
right, but the materials will only stay active for so long before
running down on their own.
Heh, complaining about three years? That's pretty amazing
considering what seems to be the average life span of said batteries.
Customers had come in complaining about their batteries regularly
running out after six months. Your habits might be ideal for
the batteries you use, but I don't think your results are very
typical.
The discharge characteristics of LiIon are prized because these
batteries will generally provide peak voltage right up until they
die; then they lose charge very quickly (talking about
charge/discharge, not totally dead). NiMH and NiCD, in contrast,
start at a high peak voltage and then gradually drop off below the
threshold needed to power a device. I guess if you were looking at a
graph, the LiIon would be a straight line and then a sharp drop when
it's expended and the other batteries would be a gentle curve.
Now this relates to the regular power you get from the battery,
not to the overall life span - I'm not saying that LiIon will drop
off after X amount of years but will be fine before then. Heck, you
can say that about any battery. But I'm saying that I'm not surprised
that when the LiIon dies, it really dies. Those things give it
their all, and then there's nothin' left.
Proz
- Hi Proz,
Thanks for the info. Sounds like what my Pismo battery did. It
also started getting warm a few weeks before it failed. I don't
cycle my batteries much, but my daughter does, and the PowerBook
5300 I bought new in 1996 and she's owned since 1998 still has its
original NiMH battery going strong.
Thanks also for the Batteries Plus tip. However, where I live
there's nothing nearby except trees and water. The nearest
computer store (PC only) is 50 miles away, and the nearest Apple
dealer 150 miles. ;-)
Charles
Re: Quest for a Replacement PowerBook
Battery
From Andrew Main
Charles,
See the
MacInTouch thread on batteries, especially some users'
experience of bringing them back to life.
For info about batteries, see the excellent Batteries
in a Portable World (a Canadian site, btw).
Somewhere in here I think it was I remember reading that Li-Ion
batteries have a more-or-less fixed life span, regardless of how
they're used, charging cycles, etc. Even sitting on a shelf unused
they'll die in about three years, I think.
Andrew Main
- Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the links. I discovered the Buchmann site some time
ago. A ton of useful info there.
Charles
USB cards in PowerMacs
From Niels Vølund
Hi,
I read about the guy seeking advice for USB on PCI Macs. Here's
what I've experienced.
I've been using a Logitech cordless mouse for about a year now.
Maybe it's just my machine, but USB isn't very stable running through
a PCI card as far as I have experienced. Sometimes after a reboot the
right button isn't working, sometimes (though more seldom under
9.2.2) the mouse doesn't work at all.
I've had some hard times connecting a MIDI device through USB; it
just isn't stable enough when the Macs are not born with USB, but it
works flawlessly on my G4. I have been using an Epson USB printer as
well, and I can't count how many prints have stopped halfway through
- this also works without a problem on the G4.
I tried a USB 2 card once but couldn't get it to function on my
machines, not meaning to say it won't work on another one.
My advice: Don't get disappointed if it isn't stable, especially
since you are going to use it on older OS. I've tried copying USB
extensions to 8.1 systems and had it working for a day or two, but it
was very unstable. Since I upgraded to 9.2.2, the mouse (only USB
device on my office machine, 8500
with G3/400) has been very stable and only failed to work one or two
times. The higher the OS, the more stable your USB will perform
(that's what I've experienced, others may tell you different).
Zapping the PRAM works most of the time if the right button or the
mouse is not working, sometimes it can be more resistant - try
shutting everything down, wait a few minutes, and try again. Pulling
the power cord helps sometimes as well.
If you plan for a USB printer, consider a serial one instead.
Since I got my used Epson 740 I have had no stops or errors when
printing. What a relief (It is the one with serial USB and PC
connector on the back)
Good luck, and consider looking out for a cheap G4; it's a good
time right now.
Niels
- Thanks for the report and info, Neils.
Charles
Location Manager in OS X?
From Wade
Hi Charles,
Because I travel extensively, I've come to rely on Location
Manager, because most of the places I go are repeat locations (i.e.,
different offices, hotels, etc.). Using Location Manager effectively
makes such a difference when you stagger into a hotel room late at
night and need to get connected without wrestling with different
settings, invariably forgetting one and wasting time. As a result,
I've been traveling with a trusty FireWire Pismo running 9.2.2
because my beloved 2400 had to be
retired. I'm going to get one of the new PowerBooks, probably the
15".
Is OS X going to have a replacement for Location Manager?
Thanks,
Wade
- Hi Wade,
The Location Manager is no longer with us in OS X. However,
in System Preferences > Network, you can save various dialing
and networking settings using the Location popup menu. Once the
settings are entered there, you can access them from the Locations
submenu in the Apple Menu.
Charles
Hughes Network Systems
From Ryan Coleman
Charles,
As a former employee of HNS, I have one thing to say about this
support for the Mac: They finally got their heads out of their
digital asses. I brought up to my supervisor (I was on the Level II
tech support team in the Minneapolis, MN hub) about support for the
Mac. They said "Look around you - our hardware runs on 286s" and
that settled it. It's nice to see the company has stopped spending
time and money supporting older hardware that limits throughput and
gone to something more stable and understandable.
I'll put it into a little better perspective: They still had
nearly a ton (weight, not numbers) of serial cables under the floor.
Although I am relatively tall (nearly 6') I was assigned the position
of floor rat because I was the only one with enough guts to try
it.
And for the record: They fired me days after I graduated from
college [and I started the LEMLists.com
and LowEndMac.net services with
Dan soon after].
Ryan Coleman
VTBook Card
From IamTehMonkay
I can't find any tech information on it except that it's a Trident
chip. Does anyone who reads or writes at Low End Mac know if it will
be possible to use the VTBook
as the primary video chip through ZV? Or even which Trident chip it
is? If it's able to, it would be great for PowerBook users with RAGE
chips
- Beats me ITM.
Perhaps someone reading this can fill us in.
Charles
6400 wireless?
From Chucky Moody
I have a 6400 with a with a 300
MHz G3 upgrade. I was wondering if there is a PCI wireless card that
will work in it? I have a D-Link DL614+ router that my iBook and iMac
are connected to, and I'd love to get the old work horse on the
wireless network without it costing me a fortune!
It's still a great machine; it's run day and night for years with
hardly a glitch.
Thanks,
Chucky Moody
- Hi Chucky,
See this Mac
OS X Hints article, which notes:
"I found that my local CompUSA had the card (a Buffalo
WLI-PCI-G54) in stock for $80.00 and it's 802.11a/g to boot."
But, sadly:
"The only caveat is that you must be running the latest AirPort
software (and probably 10.2.6 as well) or it won't recognize the
card."
Doesn't look promising for a 6400.
Charles
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