Just bought a used ibook G4 from ebay for my sister and was giving it the once-over. did a software update and installed 10.5.3 (no backup first!). It installed ok, but after restarting it just sits on a black screen and goes nowhere. It plays the on chimes and churns the DVD drive, but then nothing. BTW, the computer didn't come with any installation discs
My iBook will not display anything on its screen. Rather, it just remains black. One time, the screen did come on, but then shortly after booting, it flickered a lot and then went black again. A year ago, something similiar happened and when I took it to be serviced (when I had AppleCare), they had to send it away and have a new logic board installed. Now this machine is out of warrenty and and I am not sure what to do, or even if it is the same problem. Any suggestions?? Thanks!
My wife has a three-year old iBook G4 and yesterday while she was doing some work, the screen just went black. By the time she brought it to me the machine was shut down. I hit the power button and it started to boot up, but about five seconds later it shut itself down again.
I kept playing with it and I was able to get back in to OS X and I played with it for a few minutes and all seemed fine. I then shut the screen and put it to sleep, then when I tried to wake it back up it shut itself down once again.
After a few more tries of getting it back in to the OS I was able to get all her files off the hard drive, but the problem is still there.
My guess is that it's the logic board, but that's just a guess.
I was using my ibook just now, when suddenly, the screen went black, as if it were sleeping. I don't know if it was sleeping, but it would not wake up. I turned it off, and tried to turn it back on. But when it comes on, I just hear the fan. The apple logo does not light up. I'm not sure what's wrong.
A friend of mine has an ibook clamshell with black marks on the screen. He sent me a picture but I really can't tell if it is a broken screen or pixels or something else.
Everytime I turn it on I get a black box asking to shut down or restart the mac. I have managed to get it to turn on to powersave and managed to update the software. Thought it might help but just made it worse - it won't boot up at all now past an apple symbol with a little swirly thingy underneath (I apologise now for my lack of intelligence when it comes to computers/knowledge/names of things!) The first time I managed to boot the computer up it came up with the grey screen and a little folder flashing between a face and a question mark which I assume meant it couldn't find anything but that appears to have gone away now. I bought this computer new from Apple about 2 - 3 years ago and no disks were provided with it.
bought old 12-in. ibook A1005/2002 (I assume G3) at yard sale today. screen is black, but hard drive mounts in target disk mode on my eMac, working well! how can i get system info for the ibook in target disk mode? all i see is the it's running 10.4.11, hard drive size and used/free space. i'd like to know RAM, CPU speed, etc. secondly, what could be wrong? boots up with chime, no fan/other noise, stays on and keyboard lights work, but screen is black.
Circa early January 2004 12" iBook, 800mhz running 10.4.?? (my daughter uses it - i think i upgraded it last month when i put iWork on it). She's been having issues with it turning on - can take awhile. But once it's on, it runs and runs (gee the battery is better than my MBP). She just went to turn it on, and there was this NOISE. Not a normal "problem chime" - i've heard those before, unless they don't chime like they did in the old days, it wasn't that. It then turned on, made the normal power up chime and she is now moving some files she wants to save to the Time Capsule Disk. It could have been another noise that got stretched out. She says sometimes if she plugs it in as it's booting it will freeze. Could she not tell me these things when they happen? I don't want to sink any money into it for repair - but dang, the budget needs to squeeze ME a new computer for recording school classes, not her a new laptop. So basically, could it just be a random noise? She said it's never done it before, here is hoping it doesn't do it again.
I have a macbook pro retina display mid 2012 model. When i boot up i hear a chime but screen is black. I wait a few min to allow it to finish booting up with a black screen. I close the mac book for a few minutes to let it fall asleep. When i open it , screen works and im on login screen.
My friend gave me his ibook 900mzh that was not displaying because he did not know how to fix it so I took a stab at it. I am not new to fixing computers as it is my profession but I'm new to Apples. Anyway, the first time I turned on the laptop the lcd displayed without any problems, every time after that it turns on randomly. After taking it apart about 3 times for various reasons and mistakes the laptop now displays every time I turn it on, but if I apply any type of pressure to the lower left side if the laptop the screen either goes black or gets small lines running through it. From what I have learned the only possible conclusion that I could come up with is the magnet that tells the ibook if it is open or closed has something wrong with it. It feels almost as if whenever there is any pressure around the hard drive the screen goes black. Any ideas, or tests I could do to fully determine the problem?
two days ago my iBook G4 decided that it no longer wanted to work. Basically it wont move passed the start up screen (the apple logo with the pinwheel underneath) but the problem that I am having that no one else seems to have is that my computer will shut back down after about 20 seconds of the load screen?
My ibook G4 turned itself off and when I tried to power it up the fan turns vigorously while the screen stays black. Thats it.
Prior to this I was doing some pretty heavy music importing and during that time the fan was going nuts (I then stopped importing)...also while it was charging it the past few nights the light on the connector would go out and it stopped charging while it was still plugged in. This was the first time it happened and it happened 2-3 times.
Like for most people my entire life is on that computer along with a very important document that I need to access ASAP. What could be the issue...not the logic board!
I just had a quick power interruption for about a second while I was using my laptop. The laptop shut down and will not boot up. The screen is black. Any ideas on what is the problem?
I have an apple iBook that I bought in 2001 (yeah, its old but then Mac's are suppose to be immortal!). Lately, I have started to have a particular problem as in the screen goes black when I switch on the machine. It's not completely blank as I can see the back ground but not enough to use the computer. I have to manually adjust the screen by getting is back and forth close to the keyboard till I see the screen brightly. When I let go the screen it again turns black.
More recently even this has stopped working and when I wake my my computer first thing in the morning it refuses to show a bright screen. And I have to wait for a couple of hours for the machine to warm up and then after fiddling with the screen it finally allows me to watch a normal looking bright monitor. I am quite fed up. Am planning to show it to an Apple authorized service provider.
I'll keep it brief as possible. My iBook was crashing alot with the black screen saying "you need to restart your computer". I did a disc utillity permissions verify and repair and erased the hard drive. Next I started to reboot Tiger with the discs that came with the machine. It seemed to load everything up fine until the little movie came on about Mac OSX. The black screen came back on. When I rebooted I got the grey screen ( I think it's called the single user screen) where it says "Welcome to Open Frimware, the system time and date is:.... When i type "mac-boot" it flashes once and goes to an all blue screen with a folder in the center with a question mark on it. One more detail: on the very top of the firmware screen it says: Illegal instruction at %SRR0: ff85e778 %SRR1: 0008 1000
1st time posting to this forum. My iBook G4's (1.2 Ghz) screen flashes grey/white for a brief second upon startup and then remains black. No ghosting at all... simply black screen though computer is running fine. Later, I decided to connect it to my desktop Mac and restart it in Target mode, and was surprised to see the standard blue screen with moving Firewire logo screensaver on my iBook's screen - no different than anytime before when I've booted in Target Mode.
I ran Diskwarrior on my iBook's HD from my Mac desktop and all was clean so not a HD problem. Btw, I used SuperDuper to copy my iBook's HD to Disk Image for backup.
With some semi-calculated guessing on my part, I had come to the conclusion - prior to seeing the Target Mode screensaver on my laptop's screen - that the LCD screen had gone bad. As a result of what may have been flawed reasoning on my part, I purchased a used replacement screen off eBay from a reputable seller. I will be getting that replacement screen in a few days (including working inverter board).
My question here is can the LCD screen actually be bad and need replacing IF the Target Mode screensaver works beautifully on it? And the follow-up question is if it's not a bad LCD screen, what might the more likely problem be? It doesn't seem like it would be a backlight problem because moving yellow/orange Firewire logo of the screensaver looks fine.
A couple of things probably worth noting here:
Earlier before first experiencing my black screen issue, the power cord was accidentally jerked by a passing foot when laptop was on floor. It was enough of a jerking motion to move the laptop's position on the carpet but I didn't think it was that bad at the time... now wondering if something may have been pulled loose inside.
As those familiar with the iBook will know, the power connector light is orange when computer is turned off and it's also orange when laptop is in Target Mode (with the screen seeming to work correctly). However, when not in Target Mode and turned on with screen black, the power connector light is green as it normally would be. Is it possible the screen is powered via Firewire port when in Target Mode and therefore bypassing some screen power situation via the power connector? Obviously the power connector must be working if i'm able to power up the iBook without the battery installed.
Now for the other bit of info which seems important to me and I'm embarrassed to even admit to here.. Just prior to experiencing my black screen problem, i was plugging my power connector into an electrical outlet near where I was going to use my iBook... In the past, I have always done that PRIOR to plugging the power cord into my iBook. Regrettably, that time I already had the power connector plugged into my iBook. While attempting to plug the connector into the electrical outlet, the prongs did not easily slide into the outlet and I heard some popping sounds which didn't seem too bad at the time. But it was immediately after that when my iBook's screen failed to start up.
Thanking anyone in advance who may be able to offer up some expertise regarding my situation. Also I should say that I am running OS 10.5.8 on my iBook. I realize the easiest thing for me to do to get this matter resolved would be to simply take the unit into a local service center for repair... but the value of the iBook at this point wouldn't be worth spending a large sum of money for repairs I likely can do on my on. Over the years, I've learned how to follow direction pretty well when it comes to replacing defective items inside my desktop computers, so I'm not terrified of doing same with my iBook.
I am looking at purchasing an Ibook G4 but the description of the item includes this:"When you switch it on it begins to load up i.e. the blue screen with the Apple logo, but then the screen goes black or flickers. Said friend has kindly wiped the hard drive for me so now when you switch it on it makes the �opening� noise then you get a blue screen with alternating �?� and the Finder logo."
I have a feeling this may have been a temporary fault with the screen connector being loose and possibly damaged.But i assume the alternating "?" and the "finder logo" is simply a lack of OS?
just installed 10.5.6 on their last gen. iBook.She left the iBook plugged in to the mains and came back to find that the iBook was alternating between the grey Apple screen and a light blue desktop screen where she could see the cursor. Sometimes it would also switch to a blue screen without a cursor.
I've tried holding shift during startup - no effect. I've tried rebooting NVRAM - no effect.
Ever since I sold it here on MR and got it back, there has been a problem with my 12" Dual USB iBook G3 500MHz's screen (lord, that's a long name). Whenever the screen is tilted back farther than 45 degrees or so, the backlight shuts off. I can open the casing and fix it if it's possible. Does anyone know what the problem with it is? I'm trying to get it fixed up and ready to sell back to my friend as his first Mac, and I'm trying to get every problem resolved
I recently have been having start up problems, when I would hit the power button I would sometimes hear a healthy startup and everything would boot up and then I just get a black screen and you can still tell it has power. I would start and restart untill it would boot. Now the only way the machine will start is if I unplug the moniter cord and plug it back in then it will start.
I've got an older 15" powerbook running Mac OS X 10.3.9 (i think). Lately my computer screen randomly turns itself off, the whole think going black, like it was asleep or off, but the computer keeps running just fine. Like i might have itunes playing or be burning a disc and that goes on just fine. The computer itself stays running. What I've been doing is putting the computer to sleep by closing the notebook, letting it rest for a few seconds and turning it back on by opening it back out. This fixes the problem for anywhere from 5 seconds to indefinitely, until it happens again. Lately its been happening more. The computer is 4 years old, but the model itself, probably 5.
I just bought a PowerBook G4 off of craigslist today. 1.67GHz G4 processor, 15" screen, etc etc. The battery shows 99%, and when I unplug it I can count one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, four.. oops, it's dead. In the menu bar I can see it recognizing that it's switched to battery a split second before the screen goes black.
An excerpt from System Profiler, leading me to believe the battery is fine: Battery Installed: Yes First low level warning: No Full Charge Capacity (mWh): 3615 Remaining Capacity (mWh): 3587 Amperage (mA): 0 Voltage (mV): 12494 Cycle Count: 274
i bought a ibook G4 off of a friend and knowning it needed some repairs it needed a new Harddrive. He had a 100Gig Seagate replaced in it before me and I tried a new 60Gig when I got it.either one of us couldnt boot either HD, we can not find the new Internal HD with the Mac. I can boot off a External HD holding down ALT. And i already tried clearing the P-ram many times.
Also when i go to load a 10.3 OSX disk it loads and either gives me a red circle X or like sorta artfacts and shifts the apple screen to the side of the page. Ive spent hours trying to fix this and have no luck. do i need a 10.4 or 10.5 disk? i did add 256MB ram to it so heres the specs. I have no clue what to do. ALSO! when i boot the external under the specs it wont show the HD under disk utilty or the about my pc info...
It's a PowerBook G4, 15" model A1046, and this is what's going on.
Powers on, checks combo drive, gongs, no flickering or lighting on screen, period.
Tried a PRAM reset several times but it NEVER gongs a second time. I tried booting to Open Firmware and typing mac-boot, blind, but nothing. The keyboard clearly works, as the caps lock light works.
The hard drive spins up, the fans run at normal speeds, so everything else is clearly functional.
I have a 15" Powerbook G4 that is about 4.5 years old. Last night the screen started to flash for about a second and then went to almost black. (there is a very very faint image remaining of the screen)... from surfing some forums, it sounds like this could have something to do with the backlight or the inverter (whatever that is?).
The powerbook seems to be working fine otherwise, I was able to connect it to my 30" (which was amusing) to archive all data off of it, so nothing was lost. Techtool diagnostics all ran fine (nothing in there to repair a display).
I suppose the basic question is if anyone knows much about what the problem is - and if its worth investigating repair vs just diving in and buying a new one...some additional info found on Apples boards, but still curious if anyone has opinions/insight towards the cost and trouble of this repair:My screen looks black, but I can see very faint graphics on it
Symptoms of this are a dark screen, but everything else seems to be running. If you get in close with a flashlight, you can usually see the image faintly. Backlight
If your backlight isn't working, the inverter may be bad. Other parts that may be bad are the display or the logic board. If your backlight fails intermittently while moving the display, the problem is with the inverter cables. Otherwise it is impossible to test for damaged parts without replacing them one by one. If you are comfortable taking apart the display assembly, replace the display inverter first, then replace the LCD. If you are not comfortable with this, you can replace both parts at once by replacing the display assembly (which contains both components). If this still doesn't solve your problem, you need a new logic board.
...as the color green becomes dominant. The background on the browser is a faded greenish color, and the desktop image is degraded. Got some dandy streaks too! Searches say maybe logic board, but the guy I bought it from said it had a new logic board installed. Cables was a thought, but rotating iBook does not effect changes. I've shut it down for the moment, but am anxious to pinpoint the problem?