Help. PowerBook display gone crazy
 

My 15" AluBook 1.25 woke from sleep with the screen broken up into a mosaic of vertical and horizontal elements. Something like a fine checkerboard but displaced. I've rebooted, zapped PRAM, and booted from an external drive, but no change. Will try to boot with an external monitor, which I need to borrow. In the meantime, if this is something obvious, please enlighted me. (Hoping against hope that it isn't a hardware issue...)

I know for sure that there was no mechanical damage, since the machine and its lid were untouched before the problem occurred.

P.S. Ran with an external display, and the problem persists. So it's not the LCD screen. Either the video card, or the display driver software, right?

To eliminate a software issue, boot to your OS X Install CD. (Although booting from an external drive implies it is not a software problem, since it is unlikely that both the internal and the external drive would develop exactly the same software problem at exactly the same time.)

If you still have a problem, then it is hardware or firmware related. Have you reset Open Firmware? (directions)

Trevor

Can you post a photo of the screen? It sounds a little like something my PB does randomly on a restart. Never found a solution though, but it would be interesting to know that mine isn't the only one. It has happened with 10.3 and 10.4, even after a complete format and install.

My fix when it occurs is to open the display prefs, change something, then reboot. It always comes back correctly then.

Already tried booting from the install CD. No change.
Have since run fsck, reset PRAM, OF, PMU. No change. Carlos, your fix didn't work for me. For what it's worth, here's a screen grab, rather desperately optimised to fit the upload limit, squinting into an impenetrable screen!

Don't have AppleCare, and at this point, can't afford a new video card. :-(

There's some references to similar problems on macfixit, but I don't have a paid subscription...

P.S. I do now, and one of the fixes suggested is to switch the DIMM slots. Since I have only the one 1GB DIMM, I just switched it to the other slot. No help.

P.P.S. Figured out how and ran the extended Hardware Test. The VRAM test reported an error, though I couldn't decipher all of the error code! So should I take it that the video card is gone?

Well, it means that you have a hardware problem. Whether it is specifically the video card or something else is not yet clear.

I would advise you to take your computer in to an authorized Apple repair center.

Trevor

Thanks, Trevor. It appears that I'm out of inexpensive choices.

The problem seems to be unpredictable. I'm currently seeing my display rather clearly, without the blocky bits. Also, I finally deciphered the error code:

2ATI/1/4:113-xxxxx-117
(May be missing a space or two)
The number after the colon is the ROM revision, no idea about the rest.

Is there somewhere I can look this up? I'm trying very hard, since where I live, Apple can't do anything more complicated than replace the motherboard, since the Video card and VRAM are soldered onto it. That could be anything from $300-400

I can tell you right now, no one can do much beyond replacing the part. Unfortunately that is where you are at with that unit. If you don't have apple care it can cost you around 400 ish flat rate tier repair. That includes shipping, parts, and all labor. I've worked for an AASP for the last 6 years, so I am familiar with how much it costs to replace parts to an out of warranty macintosh.

That's a little different from what I see. If the hardware tests report an error, I don't think there's any chance that it's NOT a defective part.

Thanks, tlarkin, Carlos. It's clearly a defective part. However, since it's intermittent, I'm hoping that it isn't major.

I'm presently investigating if it is correlated to the machine running hot. In my (non-computer) experience, if that happens, there is a dodgy connector or solder spot. Any hope of my persuading an AASP tech to give it a shot, or does that absolutely defy Apple policy?

And does the error code tell us anything, please? Sorry to sound so desperate, but I'm now on a schoolteacher's means, the PowerBook being an expensive legacy from an earlier corporate avatar.

That error code isn't listed in the HW test document I downloaded somewhere.
But all of the display-related error codes that are in that document just say to replace the I/O logic board.

The only remaining "cheap" idea would be to find a nice guy with reworking solder-equipment to reflow the VRAM-chips solder and reseat any suspect connectors.

And the damn thing is tricky to take apart and get back together with not too much left over ;) .

Anyway, all the Best to you.

I'm in shock, but the closest AASP (here in India) has just told me that the replacement will run to $800! Surely they're making a mistake. At a little over that price, I could buy a Mini, run with it while I get someone to carry my PowerBook to the US, get repairs worth $400 done, and bring it back in a month or two. Will some of the Apple Techs on this board please check the price of a board replacement for my model and if it is indeed in the $400 region?

My serial no. is V73500HFNRX. I know this is a very specific request, but thanks for bearing me all this while.

your pb mlb takes part number 661-2925, and I don't have an up to date cost in my system atm, but I would guess at least 700ish, and thats at the least. That is because, every aasp, will mark up the price on the part. Just like every other service industry. I work for an aasp, and am apple certified. In the past its almost never cost effective to fix an out of warranty mac laptop.

Really, everyone who owns a mac laptop should have apple care, I can't stress how valuable it is to have.

What voldenuit is talking about is near impossible and would probably cost you more. those solder points on the mac power books are made by a machine, human hands wouldn't be able to resolder them, at least not very easily and it would take tons of man hours to do so.

If you really want me to try to update the parts cost, since I don't have one now (it says its 1200 in my system, but the date is from a ways back, probably when they first came out) I can try to do so. However, 800 dollars does not sound outrageous to me, it sounds about right.

Put it on eBay and buy another one. People pay silly prices for broken Macs on eBay, I don't know why. Then you just buy yourself another one. The price difference is much less than the repair cost.

Could you please, tlarkin. I'd like to have my facts straight when I speak to my local AASP. Many thanks for your interest and sharing.

Thanks for your tip, Carlos. The world moves in mysterious ways.

P.S. Right now, my display is working perfectly. I can't shake the niggling feeling that the problem is really something tiny.

P.P.S. I mirrored my disk last night, then, on a whim, left it up and running all night. In the morning, it's working fine. Haven't run AHT yet, but am catching up on an overdue Archive & Install. Will post if this happy state of affairs persists.

exchange price for part from apple is $850.00 USD. I would look into sending it to a tier rated repair shop, like preowned electronics or micro medics. Probably set you back near the 400 dollar range over having it fixed by an AASP.

Thanks, tlarkin. The problem appears from time to time, so I'm planning to do the following:

1. Buy a mini as standby, this time WITH APP. I already have a monitor, bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
2. Shop around for the best repair deal I can get for the PowerBook. Thanks for the leads.
3. Send my PowerBook across to the US for the needful
4. Pray that this doesn't happen again.

Thanks, tlarkin. I called Preowned. They didn't have the part in stock, but gave me a guesstimate of $300-400. How does this work? How do they turn a profit on a fee less than half of Apple's? They offer only a 30-day warranty, against an AASP's 90 days. Does this mean much?

I mean, you get what you pay for, so will I be springing $400 on refurbished parts?

Preowned electronics deals with new, used, and rebuilt parts. They remanufacture some of their parts themselves. My company has been using them for depot laptop repair for extended and out of warranty repairs for over a year now. In actuality I think you get more like a 90 to 180 day warranty, it just really depends on the part, so they always tell you its only 30 days. They also buy and take laptops with busted screens but have all other componets that are fine, and they part them out. They also sometimes just buy a laptop to part it out. If they can buy a laptop for under a $1,000.00 and part it out for 2,000 they can make profit off it.

Sometimes they do lose money on machines, but I have had pretty good experience with them in the last year or so. They are much better than micro medics IMHO. Some of my clients who come in with a 13 or 14 month old laptop and have a bad motherboard pay in the 300 to 400 dollar range to get it fixed instead of the 800 to 900 dollar range from a AASP, or any other repair and service company.

Its really funny how business works, you have one side of your company make lots of money, like a buisness sales, or dev team, or a law firm or whatever. Then you have your IT department which is a non profit business expense. Sometimes its really good for parts of your company to make no money, or even cost you money. But really its not costing you any money, its just shifting your profit margin from one department to another. Its crazy, and I never really got into it, but working IT I sometimes get to deal with it, and still don't fully understand some of the things companies do. So, I bet some other company probably owns preowned electronics. All I can say is, for the most part they do good work, and I would feel comfortable sending in my own personal laptop to them. They definately aren't perfect, I will admit we have gotten some machines back from them that were not fixed properly, but that happens with everyone, even apple. However, we definately get more back fixed properly than ones that are not fixed. We probably ship out over 50 laptops a month to them as well. Average turn time is about 7 to 10 days.

Closure
 

After much hair-pulling and pestering of the wonderful folk on this board, I've decided to buy a Mini as standby, soldier on with the PowerBook till the video dies on me, then get it to Preowned for repairs.

Thank you tlarkin. I can't tell you how valuable your voice and experience are for me, and for this group. Hardware tends to be a dark and mysterious area for many of us, and sane counsel makes the difference between response and panic. Thank you again, as also to Carlos, voldenuit, hayne, and trevor. I am forever in your debt.

My video is crazy too
 

I also have a similar video problem, and looking at your screenshot and described behavior, I think it is the same.

The problem has been intermittent for my Titanium PB G4 1Ghz, 64VRAM for about a year now and I think the problem is the VRAM. My evidence comes from the system profiler. After rebooting and rebooting, I can usually get a normal screen. When it is normal, and I look at the system profiler graphics section, it reports 32MB of total memory. This leads me to believe that half of my VRAM is bad. I wish there were some way to disable the defective VRAM.

When the display is in crazy mode (mangled blocks, lines etc.) profiler always reports 64MB VRAM.

From what I've read, since VRAM is soldered to the logic board, the only solution is to replace the devective board. The 1 Ghz is in short supply on Ebay, so they are pricey. A working board through a retailer will probably be double what you can find it for on Ebay.

software problem?
 

My Powerbook screen started to act weird with 10.4 from time to time as well. The center starts to get really bright and white or I see a login window on top of the actual desktop. The computer is not responding anymore in that mode. However it recovers for a few seconds when put to sleep - which is enough time to reboot. Rebooting usually makes the system stable for some time enough to correct prefrences and delete all caches. After that the Powerbook works fine for a few weeks/month.

So, the usual maintenance jobs seems to solve the problem - at least for some time.
t.

Display fixed, but may melt before I enjoy it!
 

Well, this had a happy ending, sort of. Preowned did the job for $369, which included a new battery and, since they misplaced my power supply, a new power brick.

So thank you, tlarkin, for pointing me to them. It was a logistics challenge to get the machine from Asia to the US, but since I travelled there myself, bringing it back was a cinch.

There's one problem I wish someone would help me with. The machine is running really hot since it came back. (Trust me to notice only when I am 10,000 miles away!) As I type, my wrist is hot to the touch, and Temperature Monitor is showing 68 celsius (154 fahrenheit). So do you think they forgot to connect the fan? :-(

Either that or they didn't install the heat-pipe properly.
You can hear the fan kick in when the temperature rises under load.

Hopefully you'll be able to get it fixed easily.

if you have the hardware test cd you can sometimes reset thermal calibration from that disk. If not reset the nvram and pram and the PMU and that may also recalibrate the fans/cooling.

If all else fails contact the repair center they are usually understanding people.

tlarkin, I tried the hardware test CD, but found no provision for thermal recalibration. However, I ran the ASD, and the fans as well as the heat figures ran okay (correction: they checked out okay, still no idea if the fans are actually running or if the test can miss this).

I can't hear the fan, though. But that could be simply because I have a noisy house, with two kids and two dogs. I'll listen really carefully tonight and report.

I'll eventually call Preowned, but there's no way I can send the machine back to them. I'll eventually have to ask Apple here to take a look. Sigh...

Seems like I had the same problem recently. It turned out to be the a broken logicboard, i.e. the end of my PowerBook 15"... :

http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=72580