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My first Mac repair; Or; "why I hate macs"
Topic Started: Dec 30 2008, 02:05 PM (1,514 Views)
Rockman
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hoighty-toighty

So I would consider myself an accomplished computer repair technician. But nothing has prepared me for the Mac Powerbook G4 12" Aluminum.
This laptop was dropped at about 3 feet on tile. There isn't an extreme amount of damage, but the computer doesn't get passed the initial loading screen, and the display bevel seems to be loose open.
I took this laptop in because Apple said they'd fix it for 1200$. I'm of course cheaper.

My initial thoughts are that the Hard drive needs to be replaced.

So I begin. Well actually, i'm already 3 hours into the repair.
The first thing I usually begin with if the computer turns on is a hardware scan. I have a CD that boots it's own OS and runs programs.
Problem 1: There is a CD in the cd drive and the system won't eject.
Solution 1: time for manual removal.

Well see it's not that simple. I originally couldn't figure out how to remove the cd drive, so I looked up some instructions. 43 pages worth to be exact.
After 2 hours of work, I wound up with this.
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You are required to remove ALL of this in order to simply remove the Optical Drive.
Optical drive removal successful. To my luck, it's an Apple Hardware test CD apparently left in by a Tech. (i'm keeping it.)

So I removed the CD, however there is a small bracket in the way of inserting another disk. I figure that hopefully when I put everything back together, it will auto reset. Or I find some special key to force it.

Problem 2: The display lid is open at the seam, and needs to be reseated and/ or bent back in place.
Solution 2: Still in process.
When I removed the back lid to the lcd, I found 4 screws loose. As if someone was working on it previously and decided to not secure the screen back, threw the screws in the lid and closed it.
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Well, as I was about to reseat it and put it all back together, The allen wrench screw holder that is attached to the lid came loose, which was originally Hap-hazardly connected by loose solder.
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Which leads me to...
Problem 3: Lid Attachment came loose
Solution 3: Off to the store to get some super glue.

I'll update later as this Cluster-F continues. And I'll keep posting pictures too. Makes it more fun.

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JAke is a copyright of Spazo and Pickle Flavored Fudge Pops inc.
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Meowth
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=._.=

Hey man, I can't wait for the next update, I am considering moving this to fan fiction, it's entertaining.
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Rockman
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hoighty-toighty

Ok so I super glued the connection point back on and managed to make the display look somewhat like it didn't get dropped.

Now to assemble everything back together. So Basically another 2 hours in the opposite direction.
Assuming I didn't forget to connect something, We should be up and running soon.

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JAke is a copyright of Spazo and Pickle Flavored Fudge Pops inc.
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nomnomliekdis
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I agree with Kyonko, this is entertaining. Too bad it's at your expense.
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Rockman
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hoighty-toighty

Ok so I pulled it apart, and put it back together to find out that the Optical drive was functioning correctly, and believe it or not, You can eject the cd by holding down the mouse button....
So most of my labor today has been concentrated on pulling it apart and putting it back together with little to no solution in sight.

I will be turning to boot leg repair cd's soon. I find it very unappealing that companies would make a repair utility you have to pay for, on top of the outrageous price of the PC itself.
This goes to also show that the people who can afford these things must also be able to afford the 100$ repair software that is sold.
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JAke is a copyright of Spazo and Pickle Flavored Fudge Pops inc.
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Meowth
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=._.=

Where does the keyboard fit?
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+ Green
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Flashy Thing!

no more updates? Did you fix it?
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Don't you ever worry that you're on the Devil's side without even knowing it? - DCI John Luther
Black power ranger; I do not belong... B.o.B - Mr. Mister
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Rockman
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hoighty-toighty

No no more updates. I figured out what was wrong, but it turns out I won't be fixing it all the way.

When the Laptop was dropped, the needled in the hard drive scratched the plates making multiple bad sectors.
This was an indication when I was pulling the data off the hard drive.

Speaking of which, I was able to pull data off a mac to a windows pc. There's a program called, Transmac that allows you to view the different file format NTFS instead of FAT32 like windows is. Works great but it's a trial.

So end result is that it needs a new HD and a clean OS reboot.
Kyonko
Dec 31 2008, 08:42 AM
Where does the keyboard fit?
If I put all of those boards back in, there is a lid that sits on top of all of it, and on top of that is where the keyboard fits.
Edited by Rockman, Oct 26 2009, 01:09 AM.
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JAke is a copyright of Spazo and Pickle Flavored Fudge Pops inc.
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sunate
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I hate hardware repaier my disk driver just went bad and is making horible noises. Ima have to pull it out and get another one. I have to say for a mac to fall and get damaged that badly from 3 feet kinda doumb founds me.
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DSXIII
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Nice job, takes a lot of patience to work with that stuff. Those laptops are garbage though. They overheat the first 2 minutes you use them.
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Rockman
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hoighty-toighty

Thanks. I had to go and buy a part to pull the data off the hard drive. An external 2.5" hard drive enclosure. It was only 8$.
I'm just glad I already had a 500gb backup drive to store all that data on. I had to keep skipping over every 20th file in a folder because that's where the bad sector was.

Such a shame.
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JAke is a copyright of Spazo and Pickle Flavored Fudge Pops inc.
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+ Rebel X
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Well hey first, Congrats on getting the job done like a good person. Next, I totally agree with Kyon and Holly lol, this ***** was funny. I hope the person appreciates what you did. Macs are hard to adjust to and when your fixing them I see they can be difficult in more ways than one. At least you can put these sort of things on your resume.

You should totally make this an annual thing where you take on a job and just post event by event what the problem was and how you tried solving it. I mean first off it'd be seriously entertaining (might get dull if you do the same thing over and over but still) and next it might actually help some of us in the future if we have problems.

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sunate
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I loved the part where does the keyboard go lmao!
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Frankie
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Brian, you have alot of determination, doing what you did. I wouldn't have the concentration or skills to rebuild a computer, especially an apple. Good work, sucks that the needle scratched the hard drive. You should be proud, just for working so hard. :) Good job, it was an interesting topic to read.

Hopefully next time, you have better luck and more of a chance. Least you got to pull the data.
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sunate
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don't get how a disk driver needle was able to scratch the hard drive in the first place. That's kinda weird.
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