PowerBook Disassembly Guide

kwiens writes "We've been slaving away for months to create the FixIt Guide Series-- a set of Free-As-In-Beer step by step PowerBook disassembly instructions. Maybe waiting another 6-18 months for those PowerBook G5's will be easier if you fix your old PowerBook now (or just use the Guides as a starting point for that killer PowerBook case mod). Guides are up now for the PowerBook G3 Wallstreet, Lombard, Pismo and Titanium PowerBook G4 Mercury, Onyx, DVI."

Comments

Warranty?

[Marxist Commentary]

Will this void my warranty? I paid sooo much for my Powerbook, I'd like to keep the warranty intact.

Re:Warranty?

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you really have to ask?

Re:Warranty?

[zenrandom]

Yes, it will void your warranty. Also if you shelled out the $300 for apple care it will void that. Doing anything besides a RAM upgrade, or possibly an airport/ap extreme card voids your warranty. These are the only consumer supported upgrades apple will support on the powerbook.

Re:Warranty?

[Anonymous Coward]

do people who ask questions ever read them back to themselves?

this is obviously geared to those who are out of warranty, and want a possible alternative to expensive out of warranty repairs.

but go ahead and think yourself insightful.

Re:Warranty?

[sspenz]

Of course this will void your warranty; don't know exactly but I think they'll use some kind of seal system to check whether the case has been opened or not when aquiring warranty to the PB. So get your hands off those when you still got the warranty

Re:Warranty?

[caitsith01]

Good old Apple... 'yes you bought it, no you can't touch/open/look at it'.

Actually, in many countries/states, you *are* allowed to open/touch your own computer. It won't necessarily void your hardware warranty - you should check up on local laws, which will most likely override any bullshit Apple feed you in their warranty 'agreement'.

For example, I know that in Australia you have a statutory warranty that will NOT be voided by opening up your computer or laptop or indeed installing new parts or removing old ones. After all, if something is kaput it is kaput whether you open your computer after it breaks or not. In fact, computer stores are not supposed to put those little 'warranty void if removed' stickers across the back of computer cases any more - it is an offence to try to deny that a statutory warranty exists.

Of course, nothing you add to your computer will be covered by the manufacturer's warranty.

Re:Warranty?

[Anonymous Coward]

As an apple tech at an authorized service center/reseller... theoretically yes it will void your warranty (but in theory communism works). Usually we can tell if a customer has been in a system (screws in wrong place etc.). If there is no physical damage to the part, freyed wires or anything. We can usually exchange it under warranty. Of course why would you be going into your powerbook if it is under warranty. Just ship it out to get fixed. Ram and Airport cards are always customer installable. Minus maybe the older 15's where you have to pop the bottom off. Just be careful! I've had repairs cost over a $1k just because he let his "friend" replace the hard drive in his flat pannel imac

Re:Warranty?

[sspenz]

True, but what if you can't wait to get the PB fixed by Apple? Example: You have a broken presentation machine and you need the PB for the next day... so what you're going to do? Depends on the problem I'd say, so you'll open the book and look what's wrong (when you know what you're doing). Is there any kind of seal you break when opening the case? I would bet...

Re:Warranty?

[falcon5768]

We ARE talking about a laptop here. I dont know of ONE state that allows you to open up the case of a laptop when the contracts you agreed to buying it all say you cant (yep even though you didnt sign it, that warrente contract is something you agreed to by law, in your purchase of the item.

Let me make it a little more clear. The truth is, THERE IS NOT ONE PART ON MOST LAPTOP MOTHERBOARDS YOU THE USER COULD FIX ANYWAY! You need special gear, and even there I would rather work on a desktop system then poke and prod in a laptop given how tight everything is put together and how hard it is to put things back together unless you do this on a regular basis.

And before you ask, Yes I have been inside of a iBook, and even taking care and actually making foam board models for each layer of screws to make sure I got everything back together, I had a lot of trouble doing it and making it all fit. ITs honestly NOT a easy thign to do, they will nine times out of ten KNOW you where messing around in there and given the AppleCare service isnt much more expensive and they will replace everything for you for 3 years, INCULDING your LCD I would rather some guy in Tenn fix my computer than me potentially break it.

Re:Warranty?

[Anonymous Coward]

i been inside my rev.A ibook to put a new hd in it, had to take Everything apart, even had to take the lcd panel all the way off... shesh, but it went smoothly and has been working just fine ever since. ...you had to make a foam board lol ok maybe you shouldnt touch any laptops

Re:Warranty?

[skiflyer]

THERE IS NOT ONE PART ON MOST LAPTOP MOTHERBOARDS YOU THE USER COULD FIX ANYWAY!

BS... there are many parts inside of laptops that a certain subset of users can fix without difficulty. I definitely don't do it regularly, but I've been inside my laptop to resolder broken points. The only difficulty I had was keeping track of all the screws.

Additionally with more and more laptops coming with built in wireless cards, there's more reason for an individual to be inside their laptop.

Re:Warranty?

[falcon5768]

ahh but see your not a typical user, a normal user (ie 99% of the population) wouldnt go in to fix their laptop much less even know how to solder.

Likewise I dont know why you would want to do that, the risk of frying the board far outweighs any benifit you might get from soldering. Id rather have a laptop I needed to plug a wireless card into because the on board one fried, than a dead laptop cause i sslipped and made a unfixable boo boo. Especially when your Warranty would cover fixing broken parts thus they would do that for you.

Re:Warranty?

[skiflyer]

No, I'm not, but 99% of the population shouldn't be mucking in a desktop either. My point is, plenty of us can.

The card issue is a seperate one... soldering was required in my case for the power supply, fix it or trash it, cause if I can't recharge the battery it gets useless quickly. Many new laptops however come with a card which is plugged in containing the bluetooth or 802.11 cards. Replacing one is now more difficult than a RAM upgrade, with the noteable exception that the cards are sometimes hidden under keyboards and palmrests.

Re:Warranty?

[tgibbs]

The truth is, THERE IS NOT ONE PART ON MOST LAPTOP MOTHERBOARDS YOU THE USER COULD FIX ANYWAY!

The other day I dropped my laptop and the CD drive quit working. I opened it up, found and fixed one jarred-loose motherboard connection, and now it works fine.

Of course, if it was under warranty, I'd almost certainly have just taken it to my dealer for the fix.

Re:Warranty?

[jcr]

Good old Apple... 'yes you bought it, no you can't touch/open/look at it'.

Dude, this is not like swapping the power supply out of an ATX case..

If you'd ever tried to reassemble the display of a Titanium powerbook, you'd know why Apple doesn't want to deal with machines that have been dismantled by anyone who didn't get the laptop repair certification..

-jcr

Re:Warranty?

[Jason1729]

The only difficulty I had was keeping track of all the screws.

I took apart my wallstreet to fix the faulty power connector on the sound card (it's a common defect, apple's design flaw). My solution to keeping track of the screws was to use my digital camera and take lots of pictures. Usually I'd place the screws beside the laptop in the same relative positions they belong in.

Also, I found This site very useful as a disassembly guide. The site posted is hardly a great new idea.

Jason
ProfQuotes

Re:Warranty?

[Macgrrl]

Umm... I suspect that if an item is sold as a "sealed unit" item that you would find that warranty is voided if you open the case. It is not uncommon for certain items to be designated CRU (customer replaceable units) - for example in your laser printer, the toner cartridge is a CRU but the fuser assembly probably isn't. Pulling out the fuser and taking it to HP and saying you want it fixed under warranty is probably not going to get you very far.

Laptops are designed to very fine tolerances, even experienced computer technicians can have difficulty working with them. I used to be a laptop specialist in a Apple Gold Service Centre in Melbourne (Australia), and would frequently see units come in the had casing damage from being forced, or units that had been reassembled incorrectly. There is a world of difference between working on a desktop unti and a laptop. Desktop computers are designed to be pulled apart and upgraded by the end user, laptops typically aren't, and in some rare cases require special tools to open them or reseal them.

I would check you local statutory regulations regarding "sealed unit" items and warranty before you start pulling it apart and expecting to have warranty coverage.

Re:Warranty?

[caitsith01]

Well, I didn't say that if you disassembled it and broke it while you were doing so that that would be covered, only that hardware faults are still covered by the warranty if they occur independently from any disassembly. Obviously if you crack it open with a hammer Apple is not legally bound to replace the shattered case; on the other hand if there is a faulty memory module in there and you open it up, have a look, seal it again and send it to Apple, they are likely still bound to replace it if it's within the contractual or statutory warranty period.

I'm not advocating people opening up sensitive devices and tinkering around when they don't know what they're doing, I'm just pointing out that many of these 'don't touch it or your warranty's void' type provisions are actually invalid.

Re:Warranty?

[Psyborgue]

Perhaps I jump into things too quickly but i have worked on laptop motherboards and re-soldered certain loose battery connections on the motherboard. Perhaps it is risky, but when Dell wanted 450 to replace the MB and the old laptop only costed me 800, i figured i'd take the risk. If you pay attention and remember how things came apart, taking photos if necessary at times, there is really no reason you can't modify a laptop in the same manner as a desktop. I also yanked the winmodem out of the mini-pci slot. On the other hand, i have three laptops, one is a Powerbook 17inch g4 1.5ghz with 1GB ram and 128 mb video ram, the other two are fairly worthless. I will wait a year (warrenty to expire) or so before i crack that baby open.

Re:Warranty?

[Anonymous Coward]

No. There is no seal.

The only way a tech can tell if someone has been inside is if you screw something up.

But, there are some things inside Apple portables that are one-use items, and have to be replaced after you've opened them.

The heat sink pads, for example, are frequently a single-use thermal pad, and if you use grease to replace it, somebody's going to know that it's been opened and repaired incorrectly.

Also, many components are taped - it's not a seal, as such, but if you don't put new tape on, it'll be obvious that it has been removed and replaced. I suppose you could be extremely careful removing and replacing the tape, if you wanted to. But, unless something else is physically damaged (or you're an ass) most techs don't care. And you can always say it's been previously repaired by a certified tech, since unless parts have been replaced, Apple doesn't have records of repairs done at dealers - and they don't always even replace the tape at their own shops - if it's still sticky, it gets reused.

(posting anonymously because I am an Apple Certified Portable Technician)

You think this will get shut down?

[caffeineboy]

I think I remember a website that explained how to get to the second DIMM in a flatpanel iMac got shut down because apple didn't want people breaking their computers.

What do you think the odds are that this site will have the same kind of problems?

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[millahtime]

I don't think they can shut it down. You aren't trying to reverse engineer their technology. You aren't violating the DMCA. It would be like GM forcing down a website with instructions on how to mod your car. There is no grounds.

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[jap]

Maybe Apple has asked for this site to be placed on /. - why hire expensive lawyers sending c&d's if a herd of clicking nerds with bandwith will give the same result.

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure that Apple's crack team of lawyers can find something to pull it down for. People tend to forget how fierce Apple is when protecting its IP. (And now the apologists will start saying how important it is to protect their IP yada yada).

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[BK425]

Wow, what an amazing string of messages. This is the news for nerds site right? I would assume that people here have some historical sense about how the whole "user group" thing started, it wasn't about swapping elite warez... it was about -building- and -changing- computer hardware. Allen and Wozniak weren't concerned about their 'warranty" when they were playing with altairs and s100 systems in the parents basements. Not that there isn't room for both attitudes, but so far this is all about "ooh, you could break it". Well fsck yeah you could break it! You might also learn... life is how you decide the tradeoffs.

As far as "shut down"... whuh? We don't live in soviet russia (for those that missed it, there isn't one anymore). You -can- put any non obscene non copyrighted material you want on your web page. You -own- your website just like you own that laptop (presumably) why would you even ask if you're allowed to open it? bk425

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[falcon5768]

um not sure about this one... Since it is documented in Apples own repair documents and a lot of magazines have shown you how to get the second DIMM in there without a peep I have a feeling the "shut down website" is all bull, or if it did happen, there is much more to the story.

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[Anonymous Coward]

What IP *exactly* are they defending in this case?

Remember, IP is a vague term, and so you're using it like a spray gun.

Here are your tools:
Patents
Copyrights
Trademarks

That's it!

Now then, is there an apple *patent* on the assembly instructions?

Okay then, how about a copyright on the assembly instructions? Hmmm, not if he developed them hiself.

Okay, then a Trademark? Wow that would be a stretch.

So what would they be defending, exactly?

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[mbbac]

I don't get it. Here's one of the iMac's bullet-points: 256MB of PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SDRAM expandable to 1GB; one 184-pin DIMM and one open user-accessible SO-DIMM slot.

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[Anonymous Coward]

How did this end up at five? I think remember a website that proves caffeineboy is full of shit. Oh yeah it was slashdot.

Now mod me up.

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[caffeineboy]

Eat a dick - here it is:

http://www.ramjet.com/iMacFlatRAMInstall.html

I didn't really mean 'shut down', I just meant that they had to take down the information about getting to the 'non user-serviceable' slot. Like the earlier revision iMacs, the second SODIMM is on the logic board, buried in the guts of the machine. This page originally explained how to get to the other module, but this information was taken down at apple's request. I'm sure that there is plenty that will be published at this site that will be 'non user serviceable' type information.

I would have linked this site previously, but couldn't remember it off the top of my head.

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[DarkVader]

The site says that Apple requested they take down the pages.

It looks like in this case that was probably accurate - Apple asked them to. Unless they copied the pictures from Apple documentation, Apple likely didn't make them take the page down.

So unless you've got documentation as to the circumstances behind that information being removed, perhaps you shouldn't refer to it as "shut down" or say that they "had to take down" the page.

Apple may have just sent them a note saying "Hey - people are going to break their computers if you leave that up there - you might want to take it down".

Now, if you've got evidence of something more sinister, please post it. Apple certainly doesn't need to be allowed to get away with bullying people into removing material they have every right to post.

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[caffeineboy]

So you see the point that I was originally trying to make: Do you think that apple will have a problem with this?

If there is enough tech information to make it a genuinely useful site, there will also be enough information for someone who doesn't know what they are doing to totally break their computer.

So, do you think apple will kindly ask a site detailing procedures that could cause people to break their computers accidentally to take down all of the pages with 'risky' procedures, or do you think they will leave them alone.

I bet that they won't have a problem with it until they start hearing from people who have broken in-warranty computers while making mistakes on procedures documented on the site.

I never said that they would legally shut them down or that the DMCA was involved.

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[toni]

Sounds unlikely.
My iBook G4 came with detailed instructions for installing more memory myself. And adding an airport extreme card. It's about as open as any laptop. Don't see why they would prohibit memory upgrades on iMacs, either.

Re:You think this will get shut down?

[DarkVader]

And that's one I don't know. I'm sure Apple would rather not have to deal with people who have opened and screwed up their computers.

I haven't actually looked at the site - since I'm a certified portable tech, I've got the real service manuals. I don't know if the site owners will be responsive if Apple wants them to take anything down, either.

Urm

[BenBenBen]

a starting point for that killer PowerBook case mod

Metal case + mains electricity + "modders" = true in more ways than one?

Re:Urm

[Anonymous Coward]

Please explain how 24 volts coming out of my PowerBook's power brick is mains electricity. I may be a stupid USian, but isn't "mains electricity" referring to the 110~240VAC line voltage?

Sure 24VDC can kill you, but it's still not as dangerous as 110 or 220VAC, and therefore not a "killer" case mod.

Re:Urm

[BenBenBen]

a) It's 24.5V on the powerbook, for some reason. b) Comedic license.

Geez

[Anonymous Coward]

Dont know about anyone else, but these catch phrases are getting a bit old. Just say it's a free step by step guide.. Free as in beer, air whatever..

Re:Geez

[Anonymous Coward]

Dont know about anyone else, but these catch phrases are getting a bit old. Just say it's a free step by step guide.. Free as in beer, air whatever..

The reason for it is because there are two different kinds of free.

Free as in beer means that there is no cost.

Free as in speech means that you have a freedom with it, as in free to alter to your liking.

So to say the guide is free as in beer means that there is no cost, but does not mean that you are free to edit it and redistribute it. If the article were free as in speech, then you may be obligated to pay for it, but you can alter it as you wish, and do with it what you want (redistribute at no cost, if you wanted).

Re:Geez

[gkelman]

Free as in beer means that there is no cost.

Free as in speech means that you have a freedom with it, as in free to alter to your liking.

Free as in beer means I can't modify it? I'm pretty sure I can modify beer. Certainly do everytime I consume it. Also, can't I take the article and modify it and say "this article is based on this other article". Fair use and all that.

Re:Geez

[Anonymous Coward]

Free as in beer means I can't modify it? I'm pretty sure I can modify beer. Certainly do everytime I consume it. Also, can't I take the article and modify it and say "this article is based on this other article". Fair use and all that.

nice troll

but free as in beer and free as in speech are not mutually exclusive

Re:Geez

[merdark]

Yes we know that, but it's still lame. By the way, was your comment Free-as-in-beer or Free-as-in-freedom?

[sarcasm]
Please tell me becasue it *really really really* matters. Oh yes. I was to go modify your comment and redistribute it!! [/sarcasm]

I understand many people have some holy quest, but last I checked this site was "news for nerds" and not "gospels of GNU". Leave the preaching for relevant stories please.

Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[adzoox]

I'm all for people wanting to save money. These seem like great how to guides with clear instructions and great pictures.

That said, what i don't like is novices that "cheapskates" that buy these things, use them, screw up their computer while they are still under warranty, then take them to a service provider (me, others) and then have the units fixed for free - it's no less than fraud - because usually someone that messes their unit up after doing something like this doesn't disclose that information.

I have had many a customer tell me that NO ONE has ever opened their computer (including them) - I open it up and there are screws missing, the magnetic sheild has fingerprints on it, etc etc.

The funniest thing, I saw ALL of this on an iBook a while back. The customer said they hadn't touched it. There was a long blonde hair inside and one of "these manuals" on the hard drive.

Pssst: the customer has along haired blonde.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[millahtime]

The funniest thing, I saw ALL of this on an iBook a while back. The customer said they hadn't touched it. There was a long blonde hair inside and one of "these manuals" on the hard drive.

Pssst: the customer has along haired blonde.

Hey, it was the little blonde computer troll. He has gotten inside my computers too. He comes out when there's sunlight cause that's when i scurry away to hind.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to repair Mercedes/Blaupunkt CD changers, which regularly came in with golf tees stuck in the mechanism. One guy cut his CD cartridge out with a hacksaw, welded the chassis back together and then took us to the brink of court action because he swore blind no-one had touched his unit since the day it came from Germany.

I *heart* users.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[JayPee]

I get this shit all the time. I'm the sole Apple hardware guy at a laptop campus which currently has around 600 students with iBooks and 12" Powerbooks.

I've heard and seen just about everything.

Student: "I didn't spill anything on my iBook"

Me: "Oh yeah? What's this sticky shit that smells like a Gin and tonic?"

Then again, the guys that work on the HP/Compaq's have it worse. They've had two or three laptops that have been pissed on. I suspect it has something to do with lower customer satisfaction.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[FesterDaFelcher]

There was a long blonde hair inside and one of "these manuals" on the hard drive.

How can you try to take the high road about your customers, when you are reading the contents of their hard drive? Where are YOUR ethics?

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[adzoox]

How can you judge what is ethical and what is not?

The item I was to install was a new hard drive. I was told to drag and drop certain folders back onto the new one as soon as I installed a fresh version of panther.

Besides, EVERY TIME I get a unit in for warranty I type in "repair" "manual" "fix" and "how to"

These terms come up in sherlock. It's hardly snooping or unethical.

Are you defending customers who take advantage of warranties?

Mod the above down as troll!

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

Personally, I'm looking for a guide to laptop reassembly - the last time I dismantled one, it took hours to get everything back together again.

And there were still parts left over. Ooops!

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[FesterDaFelcher]

adzoox: How can you judge what is ethical and what is not?

If you have to ask that, then you obviously have never taken any classes on ethics, or really thought about it. It would really do your business (and your customers) a service. Here is a link to reading up on ethics. Creating a Code of Ethics for Your Organization

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

You, sir, are a troll. Getting upset about your tech seeing stuff on your hard drive is like getting upset with your accountant over them seeing your finances. sheesh...I used to work as a Mac tech and the shop I worked at had us check for child porn on all computers that came into our shop.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[FesterDaFelcher]

I'm not trolling, but I am sensitive to people overstepping their bounds.

Getting upset about your tech seeing stuff on your hard drive is like getting upset with your accountant over them seeing your finances.

No, it is more like your tech looking at your finances on your hard drive. Would you be OK with that? Then, what if your tech was looking at your passwords on your hard drive, would you be OK with that?

There was a tech working for a company I used to work for that had no reason to be in our SQL servers, and he copied our customer lists onto his hard drive. This was not found out until after he was fired (for other reasons), and they still have no idea what he did with that information.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[morcheeba]

I worked at a company that made sophisticated bouys. The last step in assembling them is to purge them with dry nitrogen (so that even with temperature changes, there will be no water vapor in the air to condense on the circuit boards inside) and then seal them up tight. We know they're sealed tight because we need to keep the nitrogen in and the water out - otherwise they'd sink.

So, some researchers using our bouy in hawaii had one wash ashore on the beach. It didn't work anymore, so they sent it back to us. They swore they never opened it... but when we got it back to the lab (well inland), we found the seals were still good, but there was sand in it. I guess they let the nitrogen out when they first got their new toy, it failed in service because of that, and then they tried to fix it but couldn't.

(p.s. you bet I have the apple disassembly manual on my hard drive, but I've never opened it -- I'm saving it for when my applecare runs out)

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

I need no classes - my business is quite successful on many levels and I pride myself in integrity and ethical issues.

You DON'T have the ability to judge - you have no insight into the situation. There are instances where ethics in one situation does apply to another.

Besides, this isn't an ethical issue. It is neither snooping, nor consequential as I have to honor the warranty based on customer input. That said, I can know so that I can "handle future sales" to that customer.

Your link is a bunch of diatribe that ANY smart business owner would take account. My success in business and the moderation of the post indicates your level of opinion.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[BK425]

So there are several techs here who don't follow their employers policies? Or is it that the employers have policies that they don't want followed? There's a lot of whining going on here about "users" what about the whiners? -My- laptop had warranty seals. I -owned- those seals and when I broke them I knew that I would not commit fraud (and didn't). Everybody makes their own decisions, let them.
BK425

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[adzoox]

having it on your hard drive doesn't indicate a wrong doing even under AppleCare - it is conclusive to a "warranty honoring issue" if you have it on there and the unit has been disassembled to repair "non user" installable parts.

If I were not an Apple Authorized technician I would disassemble my stuff in and out of warranty - but I wouldn't ask for warranty coverage if I screwed it up. It WOULD cross my mind, but be a devil on the shoulder, angel on the other scenario. Most people just have a devil on both shoulders - when it comes to this because of the expense.

(That was an interesting story by the way) - I wish Apple would do something similar with warranty void stcikers. You wouldn't believe how much of a problem this is - even by their most modest estimate.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

Besides, EVERY TIME I get a unit in for warranty I type in "repair" "manual" "fix" and "how to"

If you were working for my company and I found out that you were looking at a customers files without *really* good reason you would be fired. Immediately.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Lars T.]

Since Americans obviously have to be told things like "it's not okay to torture people, even when they are POWs"...

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

What company do you manage? I'll know to avoid it.

If you don't have anything offensive on there you shouldn't be worried. Handing over important files unlocked is customer stupidity.

There are exceptions to every rule and as the parent explained it doesn't appear he's snooping at all.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

"That said, what i don't like is novices that "cheapskates" that buy these things, use them, screw up their computer while they are still under warranty, then take them to a service provider"

Get over it. Its paid for. Suck it up. Besides maybe apple should make upgrades much easier. Even a crappy laptop like an HP has trivial to upgrade memory, HD, and optical drives.

Maybe apple ought to get a clue.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

The company you should avoid is the parent's. Apparently he doesn't understand that looking at someone's files is not OK without their express consent. I wonder what else he thinks is OK: checking out the websites the user has been to? looking up cookies? Maybe reading a little email here and there, as long as the body or the title of the email has "repair manual", "fix" etc. in it? It's a long short slippery slope, and he is boldly proclaiming that it is his righteous duty to take the first step.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

If you don't have anything offensive on there you shouldn't be worried.

That's straight out of the socialist's handbook. Hey, the cops should be able to walk right into your home, because if you're not doing anything wrong, you shouldn't be worried.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

"my business is quite successful on many levels"

But not on the ethical one, which is the question of the day.

"There are instances where ethics in one situation does apply to another."

Situational ethics? In other words, you do what you want when you want to.

I would never take my computer to your shop for repair because the price fo repair will be whatever you want depending on your mood after poking around my hard disk "Oh gee, this guy make $100K, I'll charge him double" or "this guy really likes looking at Porn. I'll tripple the price because that's just wrong".

Why don't you apologize to your customers for being a lying sack of you-know-what?

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[jeffasselin]

I've had a customer bring in his iMac G4 for repairs, and when we opened it we immediately noticed that the board screws (which require the calibrated torx driver to screw back in) were overtightened. This had forced the onboard video connector into the fixed video cable connector and consequently damaged it.

So we called Apple, and notified them. they immediately canceled the warranty on the computer's serial number, and we refused to do the repairs.

This doesn't happen very often, but it's happened two or three times in the 5 years I've been working here as an Apple Tech.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it is more like your tech looking at your finances on your hard drive. Would you be OK with that?

As a customer, I'm fully aware of that possibility. That's why I'm glad I know enough about computers to take the necessary steps to prevent it. When I sent in a PowerBook and an iBook for repairs, I wiped all potentially sensitive information with srm (secure remove). After making a full backup, of course. At this point, I don't give a crap what the techs see. While it may not be ethical for them to poke around the hard drive (unless possibly the problem is related to some software), I don't care. When I get the machine back, I restore the information I need and I'm on my way.

It's too bad that this process isn't more transparent to the average user, though. I'm sure repair techs see some crazy shit all the time, even if truly by accident.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Jason1729]

I have had many a customer tell me that NO ONE has ever opened their computer (including them) - I open it up and there are screws missing, the magnetic sheild has fingerprints on it, etc etc.

Interesting, because I bought my Wallstreet brand new, it never had been opened by anyone (including me), until I opened it a few months ago to replace the sound board. There were no missing screws, but there were fingerprints on the shield over the CPU.

I have enough pc and notebook repair experience that I don't allow "service providers" to touch my computer; they're primarily concerned with speed, not quality. I've seen machines come back from "authorized" service centers with stripped or missing screws and even broken plastic parts; the hinge cluth and upper case plastic on the Wallstreet, are a pain to take off for example, it's quite common for things like that to get broken at the service center.

Of course the service tech doesn't say anything, leaves the broken part in, and even charges full price. I hate taking my computers in for repair under warranty, I would prefer to just get the replacement part and install it myself, but of course they won't allow that.

If I've added an upgrade to my notebook, why should I lose the warranty when an unrelated part fails due to a manufacturing or design defect within the warranty period?

Jason
ProfQuotes

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's a stretch - a sherlock search for specific files that relate to the repair has nothing to do looking at any files.

Re:Saving money is great - fraud is not.

[Anonymous Coward]

Then how about if the cops just come in and look for drugs, illegal weapons or other signs of a crime. If they don't find any, they leave you alone.

get applecare extended warranty

[hype7]

without meaning to sound like your father, it's the best thing you can do, especially for a valuable investment like an Apple laptop.

They don't go wrong often, but when you pick the thing up and carry it round with you everywhere, inevitably some of the laptops develop issues. And portables can be expensive to fix.

It's what, a couple of hundred dollars? Trust me, you'll make that back many times over if a hinge goes, or a screen dies, or whatever...

-- james

Re:get applecare extended warranty

[AKnightCowboy]

They don't go wrong often,

Unless you were lucky enough to buy a G3 iBook in late 2002, in which case you're one of the lucky few to ever get Apple's failure-prone laptops in 10 years. Motherboard failure 6 months ago and now my backlight doesn't come on any more with the lid more than about 30 degrees open. Apple produces nothing but crap as far as I'm concerned. I'm going back to Dell (my 5 year old Inspiron is STILL going strong).

Re:get applecare extended warranty

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a 6 year old Wallstreet that works just fine too. Thats moronic to state that you get a bad machine and a bad run where the company actually admits it was a bad run, therefore it must all be crap. My 3 year old iBook is running strong and the only thing bad ever happened to it was while cleaning the screen and instead of spraying the fluid on the cloth first, I sprayed it on the screen (leaking down into the electronics...I know I know -- I yell at others for doing the same thing). Apple fixed it for free.

Having said that, my new Powerbook 12" just came with a bum superdrive. Gotta send it back and I've already given my iBook to a subordinate.

***GRRRR***

That doesn't mean I'm going to blame Apple for a bunch of crap -- especially since other than my laptops, my office is a pure Dell office. I'm on one right now. out of an office where there are 50 workstations, I've had to replace several memory chips and other cards, sent a few motherboards in for replacement (well actually the whole machine), and have replaced a number of the LCD panels that come with them these days (much higher rate than the old CRTs).

As far as I'm concerned, you buy anything and you might get a bad apple (or a bad Dell). Only a moron would take a single instance in his life an claim all is crap because of it.

Re:get applecare extended warranty

[Anonymous Coward]

Everyone has their disaster stories. You want to troll, I can too.

Let me say in my experience of Apple laptops vs other laptops, the Apples last a lot longer than the others. I'm writing this on a 3.5 year old PBG3. And that's nothing. The only thing to fail in this baby - the RAM.

Re:get applecare extended warranty

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless, of course, you live in Florida, where Applecare is not offered to individuals. Don't believe me? Take a look at this

Re:get applecare extended warranty

[danaris]

Unfortunately, they won't fix my 8-month-old TiBook with AppleCare and broken hinges.

The problem is, of course, that it wasn't a "defect" that caused them to break. It was...well, I don't know what it was. I jump up, 'cause I hear a bunch of stuff fall down in the next room, I try to put my computer down on the little table...and my aim is a fraction of an inch off, so it hits on its corner, rather than landing on its base. The screen bends backwards.

It's still a perfectly usable computer, it just needs its screen propped up on something. And to fix it would cost nearly $700.

I'm considering giving it to my fiancee in a few months when we get married, and getting myself a newer AlBook. And being a little more careful with it this time. :-/

So don't forget, AppleCare only covers things that break by themselves. I know, it's the standard way to do warranties, but it's still really annoying.

Dan Aris

Re:get applecare extended warranty

[Anonymous Coward]

Uhh, you do know about the free repair program, right? Ours had exactly the same issues, out of warranty, and we got it fixed for free. They also fixed a hinge problem that had developed after the warranty ran out. Not sure what there is to complain about.

Re:get applecare extended warranty

[negacao]

Gateway at least offers accidental damage protection.

As a test of this, at one point a friend and I 'accidentally' smashed a hammer through the LCD screen during a drunken question of how tough the screens are.

Next day someone came out and replaced it.

I grinned sheepishly when he asked and gave him a large tip saying "I don't remember." :-)

Hmmm..

[JayPee]

These guides are great and all but if you hang around Apple specific hardware hacking forums enough, you'll come across the official Apple repair manuals which feature complete dissasembly guides, exploded views, etc.

That said, I love being an Apple tech.. I get these goodies within a week of the product being released.

Re:Hmmm..

[millahtime]

That said, I love being an Apple tech.. I get these goodies within a week of the product being released.

So, your ipod mini broke before the rest of us even saw them?

That being said, I have a powerbook, ipod and more apple stuff.

Re:Hmmm..

[phrasebook]

if you hang around Apple specific hardware hacking forums enough, you'll come across the official Apple repair manuals

Is that really how you have to find them? I needed one for my ThinkPad recently and I just downloaded it from ibm.com. Came in handy too. Had to replace my noisy R50 fan with the quiet T41p type.

Re:Hmmm..

[94229a]

You mean like this

Or Worse

[mfh]

> That said, what i don't like is novices that "cheapskates" that buy these things, use them, screw up their computer while they are still under warranty, then take them to a service provider (me, others) and then have the units fixed for free.

Likely much worse when they sell them on Ebay after messing with them. Obviously not all powerbooks on Ebay have been modded, but some of them might have been. Caveat Emptor.

Re:Or Worse

[infochuck]

Likely much worse when they sell them on Ebay after messing with them.

What does a link to pages and pages of batteries and power adaptors have to do with fried failed-mod Powerbooks?

Why Disassembly?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is there any mainstream hardware that would work with it? I'm curious, because I was thinking about buying a Dell precisely for that reason: hardware.

Re:Why Disassembly?

[bhtooefr]

Mainstream hardware? Well, something tells me that if the addon is Mini-PCI, and there's a PCI version of it that works on a PowerMac running your OS, it'll work on a PowerBook, but (AFAIK) not an iBook. BTW, when will Apple get smart and release an eBook or something? I know it lowers the barrier to entry, but some of us are poor and would like to try a Mac for a change. For that matter, are there any VNC access accounts on a Mac? Something like Workspot, but connecting to an OS X Mac?

Re:Why Disassembly?

[ricosalomar]

G4 iBook / $1k. If you can find a better laptop than that, buy it.

Re:Why Disassembly?

[Slurms]

Your "eBook" is the 12 inch iBook with the CDROM and an educational discount. At $950 you can't beat the price/feature/size ratio. Well, ok, I can't beat the price for the performance.

You can buy a no-name notebook for $500-$700 but you get what you pay for. A friend who sells them says that he has sometimes had the experience of having to return 2 or 3 DOA no-name units before he finds one that will work.

I think the design on the iBooks is superior to the cheaper notebooks, although the build quality may vary.

Can't get to the site...

[jcostantino]

are these manuals better or worse than Apple's (or the same?)

Apple's manuals are generally OK if you need to disassemble stuff but their diagnosis flow charts SUCK.

Wow, I actually got a little nostalgic :) two months ago I was up to my elbows in broken Macintosh, now I'm sitting in front of a MDD and flanked by a bunch of PC's in my cushy corporate job :)

Re:Can't get to the site...

[Paulrothrock]

I have to use a PC at work, you insensitive clod!

Re:Can't get to the site...

[smcv]

I glanced through the one for the DVI Powerbook G4 before the database ran out of filehandles and died; their photos for access to the underside of the Powerbook show the it with the keyboard/other components removed and the screen closed over the top, which I'm not convinced is a good idea (if something falls through the gap where the keyboard should go and onto the screen, it'll get scratched).

The Apple manual for the same model suggests putting the keyboard/wrist rest area of the laptop flat on a desk (with a towel or similar underneath), with the screen open and extended off the desk into your lap; that strikes me as less likely to get the screen damaged.

wallstree pb g3

[zenrandom]

I've used one of the take apart manuals for my wallstreet g3. It had the infamous solder joint on the powerboard problem (solder and superglue fixed that) the hard drive was one of the 8gb ones that had a really low mtbf... which has been replaced with a 20gb 5400 rpm... the processor card wouldn't recognize memory in the top slot so it's been replaced with a sonnet g3/500 and 384 mb of ram now. The take apart guides are nice, common sense is good, patience for that first time you take it apart. Make sure you have all the screws out! The g3 books feel like you are going to break them that first time you pull them open. Fun though, to play around inside your apple.

Danke Danke Danke

[Daemonik CyCow]

Well, i can understand anyone in the service industry hating those "cheapskate" "unkowledgable" "freaky" people that can't even put a lightbulb in a socket, let alone install their own airport card. But, for us out there that at least think we know what we are doing, this is much appreciated. I know that I have questions though... I seem to have the most wonderful luck (NE Sarcasm) buying computer equipment just before it get's outmoded by another update to hardware. Case in point : The IIvx I bought many a year back. One of the worst Road Apples made. It perves me that Apple doesn't release this info, even for the older equipment. I can understand something that is as of yet still covered by them, but to have to dig extremely hard (usually) for the info, well, ERGH. I just hope that i can get some more ram in this baby. I can't wait for that nanograss (someone told me it was self rolling?)

I can't believe it!

[Stud1y]

in a room full of computer dorks, someone says things like "don't open your own case and fix your machine..." ! isn't this what helps to progress the technology? why does everyone need to stand around like they're our mommys (happy mothers-day btw..!) and hold our hand and tell us "no, don't open your 3k laptop you might break something No Shit! If you're dumb enough to open the case, and not know what you're doing its your fault. Most lame-ass n00bie computer users aren't going to be poppin' the case on their machines. argh, i just can't believe all the negitive 'don't do it!' posts Also, why the fuck do you need a guide to take screws out of a computer? I opened my powerbook two days after i bought it.

Re:I can't believe it!

[infochuck]

in a room full of computer dorks, someone says things like "don't open your own case and fix your machine..."

Mac people (the ones saying these things) aren't computer dorks. Just dorks.

Re:I can't believe it!

[Jeff DeMaagd]

Sadly, there are too many shits that tear stuff apart that had no business doing so. A lot of them are the kind of people that put tacky neon lights in their computer cases too.

Re:I can't believe it!

[Stud1y]

neon makes everything faster, hence fast & furious.

Re:I can't believe it!

[tokul]

> in a room full of computer dorks, someone
> says things like "don't open your own case
> and fix your machine..."

By opening the case you are breaking warranty of machine that cost more that GNP of some counties.

Laptops are not normal hardware and you may be unable to find spare parts in your computer store.

Yes, it is nice to see laptop internals. Not sure, if it is nice to flush 2-4 grands into the toilet.

Re:I can't believe it!

[Macgrrl]

While my first reaction to most new Apple hardware is :I can't wait to get the casing off that baby., I was until recently fully certified to do so.

There are plenty of people in this world who don't have the common sense to know that if they pull the thing apart and damage it they're not covered. My favourite to date was a guy who brought in a PB180 (long time ago) with it's power adaptor claiming repair under warranty. He had cut the transformer off the end of the cable and attached a standard 3-pin plug because "the big block was too difficult to plug in" and run 240V straight into his brand new powerbook.

Never underestimate the ability of people to overestimate their abilities

Re:I can't believe it!

[Psyborgue]

Amen. However, it is not the knowledge of the geeks here that is in question. It is rather the testicle size.

Re:I can't believe it!

[Dick Faze]

Opening the case doesn't void the warranty (in the US anyway).

Right...

[tomstdenis]

1600$ laptop + 400$ warranty + 0$ self-mod case == useless warranty.

This guide may be ok if you're past the manufacturers warranty and you didn't get an instore one...

But for me, I got a 3yr [practically useless] warranty from Futureshop. I'll let them [or their sub-contractors] fix problems with my laptop.

Though if I had todo it again I would probably a) not buy a laptop and b) not get an extended warranty. It's been nearly 60 days since I dropped of my laptop to have the hard drive replaced.

nearly 90% of the time Futureshop had my laptop it was sitting in their warehouse awaiting transport...Such a waste.

Tom

Re:Right...

[tomcio.s]

Well, see here's your problem, you got suckered intot the 'special' new type of Futureshop warranty deal. Should have headed to bMac.

They used to be so good (over the counter, no questions), then 30 day (my Sony DSC-717 is under this warranty) and now the 60 day fix or replace for refurb kit. It's just not worth it. Better save the pennies spent on that and use it for future upgrades.

Good luck with getting the laptop back tho. When my cam broke (flash stopped popping up, they 'fixed' it by breaking the whole shebang- the camera wouldn't turn on at all, and then tried to make me sign the pick-up slip so that they can take it back for another 30 days.)

Haven't bought anything from FutureShock since. Their parent company (BestBuy) is even worse.

I know this is slightly off topic, but good info for anyone in Canada.

Re:Right...

[HeghmoH]

Apple extended warranties are very nice. Apple has this nasty habit of using Airborne Express overnight service for everything; you call them with a problem, and a guy delivers a box the next morning. You put the computer in the box and off it goes. They fix it more or less instantly, and it comes back within two or three days. They're not always like this, of course, but very often. All the more reason not to rip open the innards of your Apple portable!

Re:Right...

[Anonymous Coward]

Ouch hey Tom I wonder if your laptop will even still be a laptop when it comes back

FS Guy: Here you go Mr St Denis [hands tom a keyboard]
Tom: What the hell is this were is my laptop?
FS Guy: What do you mean laptop?

On The news later that night

A local man bludgeoned a Future shop employee to death today using a keyboard he was apparently yelling "Where is my laptop!" He was described as a heavy set man who left a lingering odor of cheese.

Re:Right...

[minaguib]

Here's my horror story with FutureShop and my laptop:

http://www.topfx.com/futureshop.shtml

Re:Right...

[tomstdenis]

I dropped my laptop off [clicking harddisk that would lock up] March 19th.

When I called in mid april they told me the 60 days starts from when Compaq gets it [which was March 28th] cuz otherwise that wouldn't be fair for the store.

I told them to f off and read them the 400$ warranty claim I bought when I got my laptop. So in around 10 days I either get my laptop back or a brand new one.

But seriously, replacing the hardisk and testing takes all of an hour todo. Fuck if they just bought me a hard disk I could do it myself....

I'd take your sentiment further though. Laptops are nice to have when they work but they're useless [and expensive] when in the shop. I make money by writing software. Not having a laptop to work with when I'm at school sets me back [fortunately I have a desktop at home...].

My advice would be to lease not buy a laptop. That way when the laptop breaks you just don't pay the lease. Sure it may cost more [usual lease being 50-100$/mo] but considering I paid 2000$ for my laptop and only planned on keeping it for 3 years [max] not having it for two months is a pain.

Tom

Re:Right...

[tomstdenis]

I smell of a lot of things but not cheese ;-)

Anyways yeah that's about what I expect. This upcoming monday is the 60th day. Next tuesday if I don't have my laptop back I'm demanding a replacement laptop on the spot.

If they refuse I'm gonna see what 2000$ worth of electronic organizers look like under my feet ;-)

Tom

Re:Right...

[FredFnord]

I got an AlBook with the white-spots-on-screen problem. (I got it because they had it for $300 off at the Apple store, because of the screen... they told me I could send it in for repair but not bring it back for the money-back guarantee, which suited me fine.)

I called Apple up a couple months later and told them I had to send them my laptop to fix the screen, and it had also (a few times, maybe one time in ten) turned itself off when I unplugged the DVI cable. The next day I got the box. Two weeks later I got a call saying, 'Uh, we don't have your computer yet, are you sure you sent it?' Well, er, actually, I hadn't been able to live without it for long enough to send it in. But it was nice of them to call.

I eventually took a friday and a monday off. On thursday evening at 5:30 I dropped the box off at an Airborne Express location and went home. On monday at 10 AM I got a call from one of my coworkers asking if I wanted to come in and pick up my laptop. So they got it on Friday around noon (according to the tracking number) and sent it back out on Friday sometime later in the day. And not only was the screen flawless, but it has never turned itself off when disconnecting the DVI connector since.

Got to admit, as hard as I am to impress, that impressed me.

-fred

what about for ibooks?

[machacker]

I would love to find one to disasemble my 700 mhz g3 ibook.

Re:what about for ibooks?

[l0wland]

I did that once with my iBook/600Mhz, because the harddisk had died. Be prepared to the fact that de iBook is made up out of A LOT of plastic, and damage is done easily! Disassembling is very difficult compared to other laptops.

What I used was the iBook Upgrade website. But be aware that there is a lot of difference between the 12" and 14" versions, so screws are not always on the same location as shown on the pics!

Re:what about for ibooks?

[easter1916]

I can't second this enough... I messed up the edge of the base of my iBook case upgrading the same 14" model, G3/600, and I was extremely careful. It was nerve-wracking, ultimately worked, but the cosmetic damage to the iBook was irritating. Did the same on a 17" g4 just months later, and that was a piece of cake in comparison. However, just this weekend I dropped my Powerbook on the way into the house after a drunken Friday Happy Hour, and dented the corner even though it was in a padded case. Moral? Keep me away from laptops, especially when drunk.

or...

[Jon Proesel]

Or you could just go with CowboyNeal's method of disassembly. http://cowboyneal.org/ex-powerbook.jpg

Re:or...

[mattkime]

i'm not religious but...

dear god!!!!!!

Re:or...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, this is off-topic.
I often wonder where people get access to images on other peoples sites like this. Did you spider his site to get that, or did you get a link to it from somewhere else?

Re:free as in ...

[Anonymous Coward]

free as in beer means that it doesnt cost money. free as in speach is about freedom. freedom to copy the source code and modify it. freedom to redistribute it. those are just a few examples of free as in speech.

Compared to Dell

[Xenna]

Dell has clear instructions on taking their laptops apart (and putting back together again) on their website.

When I bought my current X300, I considered a 12" powerbook as well, but the 3 year warranty period on the Dell made the difference.

OTOH, when the hard disk died the on-site engineer that came to fix it was so clumsy that I had to do some of the taking apart myself (that included finding the howto's on the site).

So, what exactly am I trying to say here..? ;-)

Re:Compared to Dell

[Vloris]

So, what exactly am I trying to say here..? ;-)

Perhaps that Dell aims at users who can fix their laptop by them selves (by publishing complete (dis)assembly manuals on their official site) and Apple aims at the less technical people who want to send it back for every little problem?

Re:Compared to Dell

[nordicfrost]

So, what exactly am I trying to say here..?

I dunno, but I bought a Dell øaptop from a friend that does Dell service. He thre in a cracked screen spare laptop that "trust me, it'll bee needed", as he said. And sure enough. After one week, the notch that holds the screen to the casing (That thingy that locks the computer) broke. Dell sent a new one in metal, to replace the flimsy platic thing. B fixed it. Soon, the CD drive went, one from spare. The plastic aroud the screen cracked, replace. The keybaord went south, replaced. The battery was worse than a mistreated iPod, one half year of service fom that one. Replaced. The floppy chocked, el replaco! The spare laptop was functional to some degree, with an external screen, but the the logic baord went. And the the logic board went on the other one as well, and I bought an Apple.

Re:Compared to Dell

[murgee]

Dell has self-support programs. Guess where you get the disassembly instructions. :-)

RTFA SVP

[mfh]

> What does a link to pages and pages of batteries and power adaptors have to do with fried failed-mod Powerbooks?

The link is an Ebay search on the keyword powerbook! :-)

1800 items found for powerbook

Re:RTFA SVP

[infochuck]

If you'd read your own post, you might've been able to figure out I was joking. Ie:

"1800 items found for powerbook".

Taking it to extremes

[caitsith01]

My girlfriend once used my computer for an evening. The next day, when I tried to type, pressing a key would produce something like:

#$F|||||||||||#@#$SSSDGF

instead of, say 'a'. So I find my girlfriend, who has an innocent look of concern on her face, and I ask her: did you download any strange software yesterday? No. Did you scan your floppy disk? Yes, no viruses. Did anything else weird happen while you were using my computer? No, nothing weird.

Hmmm... so after tapping away in frustration and checking the cables I decide there must be something loose inside the keyboard that is producing crazy input signals every time I press a key. I decide to check it out, so I go and get the trusty phillips head and go over to my computer. I pick up the keyboard, and as I turn it on its side, liquid starts pouring out. Lots of liquid... lots and lots of liquid... in fact, an entire cup of tea pours out all over the desk.

Using my Sherlock Holmes-like powers of deduction, followed by an appropriately Holmesian denoument in which I made my accusations, I discovered the following. She'd knocked her tea over with her hand, and it had fallen neatly and poured directly into the keyboard body. Then, realising how terrible her crime was (it was a nice keyboard), she quietly logged off using the mouse to select Start->Shut Down->Yes, quickly packed up her stuff, and weaseled away into the night without saying a word.

Things I discovered from this incident:
- keyboards are remarkably water-tight
- darjeeling tea with one sugar is very bad for circuit boards and contact-based switches like the ones inside a keyboard
- there is no limit to the optimism and weaseliness of people when they want to get out of trouble
- it will cost you more than the price of a new Logitech keyboard if you call your partner an evil keyboard murdering wench to her face

Re:Taking it to extremes

[elmegil]

it will cost you more than the price of a new Logitech keyboard if you call your partner an evil keyboard murdering wench to her face

If she was going to try and hide it, you didn't need her anyway.

Re:Taking it to extremes

[caitsith01]

Ah, slashdot, where people will trade a potential lifetime of sex and companionship for a new keyboard... ;)

I'm not so touchy as to break up with someone over such a trivial thing. I just used the broken keyboard to beat her for a while, then drank myself to sleep.

Re:Taking it to extremes

[elmegil]

It's not the keyboard, it's the lying about it. If she's gonna be duplicitous about a reasonably cheap thing like a keyboard, imagine what it's going to be like when something REALLY important goes wrong when she's involved (not even necessarily her fault).

If you can't rely on someone to be up front on the small stuff, there's no way you should be trusting them with the big stuff. Like a relationship.

Re:Taking it to extremes

[nharmon]

I agree. However, the way people confront their significant others can often encourage this type of dishonesty.

Re:Taking it to extremes

[falcon5768]

Reminds me of my girlfriend.

I came over one day with her in a panic because she was working on her G3 (that I had overclocked, rebuilt, added USB2, ATA-133 the works and given to her because I had a iBook now and her compaq was dying a slow death) and accidentally spilled her ENTIRE CAN OF COKE into the B/W case.

What I learned.

Even two years later, you will find someplace where soda will hide in the case as I found last weekend putting a new PCI card in.

Coke that dries up has a very wierd sticky texture that can be molded.

Apple motherboards are suprisingly resiliant to coke

The motherboard actually DOESNT kernal panic now like it used to because I had a 400mhz G4 prossesor overclocked to 600mhz. Dont ask me why, I DONT KNOW. The only Kernal Panic I have had was one with the shitty D-Link USB wireless adapters that suck ass and I returned, other than that it runs better than before.

Wierd but true (she btw did what your did too a year later, I have gone through 4 keyboards because of her)

BTW I dont advocate dumping coke into your computer to control overclock heat

Re:Taking it to extremes

[Lars T.]

I hope nobody puts that tip into a How-To-Fix-Your-B&W-G3.

Re:Taking it to extremes

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe if you actually knew how to spell kernel it wouldn't panic...

Re:Taking it to extremes

[aonifer]

The motherboard actually DOESNT kernal panic now like it used to because I had a 400mhz G4 prossesor overclocked to 600mhz. Dont ask me why, I DONT KNOW.

It's the caffeine.

Re:Taking it to extremes

[falcon5768]

hell if it worked with beer and cereal!

this is apple's problem in a nutshell

[RMH101]

"I've had repairs cost over a $1k just because he let his "friend" replace the hard drive in his flat pannel imac"

Whereas in a desktop PC, the worst you can do is pop a sub 60 component or two.

Re:this is apple's problem in a nutshell

[falcon5768]

No offence but I know of many PCs where people have blown things and they cost a lot more than 60 bucks, I ALSO know of MANY mac parts that are sub 60.

The worst you can do in a desktop PC is NOT pop a sub 60 component. I have seen people blow 1000 dollar computers into the grave... infact I remeber a great TechTV Screensavers episode where they where building another version of the ultimate gaming machine and destroyed TWO 500 dollar prossesors in the construction.

Re:this is apple's problem in a nutshell

[outZider]

Changing out the hard drive in a FP iMac isn't too difficult. Something tells me his "friend" wasn't very competent, and could have just as easily fried a board on a regular desktop PC.

Re:this is apple's problem in a nutshell

[RMH101]

so i pop a motherboard in a pc? 60-80 UKP at the most. care to guess what the cost of a flat panel imac motherboard might be?
you'd have to *seriously* fvck it up to kill a PC or Mac stone dead (i.e. pop a lot of major components) but the cost of recovery is significantly lower with a pc.
i'm *not* knocking macs as such, just pointing out the pretty obvious point that generic hardware is cheaper.
for this i get modded flamebait.

Re:this is apple's problem in a nutshell

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, after converting from $US - it's about 200 UKP - but that includes the CPU, since it's soldered.

Re:this is apple's problem in a nutshell

[RMH101]

they solder the CPU in? wow, *that's* persuaded me that it's easier to work on Macs than PCs, then

Score -5: Anti-Apple

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't even bother...

More disassembly tricks for laptops, PDAs, ...

[wehe]

Here are some more links to free disassembly instructions for laptops and notebooks (also links to service manuals), dissectioning HOWTOs for PDAs and handheld PCs (including information and pictures of JTAG ports), take apart notes for mobile (cell) phones and dismantling guides for mobile MP3 music players.
-- Keep your mobile running ;-)

Re:More disassembly tricks for laptops, PDAs, ...

[NivenHuH]

Agh.. If I only had this site when I tried to replace my keyboard last time.. =( I missed the bottom screw on the bottom of the case and completely screwed up my keyboard trying to remove it..

To those who are ready to jump into dissecting their powerbooks, be sure you are extremely gentile and remove all of the screws..

i always thought...

[RMH101]

...that "free as in beer" meant you had a choice.
go down the shop/pub and buy it (at a reasonable cost), or brew it yourself for effectively nothing - pure choice, no monopolies, individual taste/requirements/money decides what you do...

Similar information for non-Apple products?

[caitsith01]

Is anyone aware of a repository of similar information for other (non-Apple) products? This kind of stuff is always so hard to find on the net - and not just computers, it seems to be pretty hard to find info about all kinds of electronic devices that should be reasonably easy to fix with the appropriate guidance.

Two recent examples I have had: a Panasonic VCR, for which I could not find anything at all, and the wiring in a 1990 Mitsubishi, which I did eventually locate on some acid-induced Japanese website.

this is because IBM do it *right*

[RMH101]

for laptops, if nothing else. bulletproof construction, freely available technical manuals, linux support, etc.

mind you, they make up for this by blowing goats when you start dealing with IBM Global Services...

Re:this is because IBM do it *right*

[falcon5768]

Well Apples thing is quality control, they want every single b roken computer to come back to be tested and re-tested to fix a problem if it exists. I honestly beleive them because when I was a campus rep I saw their repair facility myself, they put those repairs through a shit load of tests

That being said the iBook logic board problem has been a kick in the ass for them, because all their tests say it should be OK, but they are still comming back even with redesigned motherboards.

Re:this is because IBM do it *right*

[Anonymous Coward]

That being said the iBook logic board problem has been a kick in the ass for them, because all their tests say it should be OK, but they are still comming back even with redesigned motherboards.

That's because the "logic board problem" is really a design flaw in the display hinge; the cable that runs through the hinge gets worn until it starts shorting against the case, causing erratic display noise, lines, etc. At first, it's usually only when the display is being opened or shut (shorting intermittently as the hinge is moved through certain angles) but eventually the shorting damages the display driver circuits on the logic board, bricking the laptop.

Moral: use tougher insulation on the display cable and don't cut the clearances so tight on cable diameter through the hinge.

Re:this is because IBM do it *right*

[Anonymous Coward]

You're describing a different and comparatively rare failure. The LCD data cable that you mention hardly ever wears out, and when it does it's usually caused by incorrect reassembly rather than any kind of poor design.

The logic board failure, on the other hand, is a problem of poor design. I'm not sure, but I suspect that the chassis allows for excessive flexing on the board which gradually degrades the solder connecting the graphics chip to the logic board. The failure, externally, looks the same as a worn data cable, but it is a different point of failure all together.

I'm glad this exists

[azav]

The reason why is that in my g3 266 PB,G3 500 PB and G4 1G Ti, the hinges or clutches for the display lid have all snapped after the warrantee expired but through normal use. Apple fixed the two g3's free of cost but not the Ti. Makes you want to start a class action lawsuit. Refrigerator door hinges do not fail after a year of use, why should my laptop's?

With the replacement cost being out of my range, I've either got to live with it, fix it myself or find a good lawyer.

Any good lawyers out there?

Re:I'm glad this exists

[theMerovingian]

With the replacement cost being out of my range, I've either got to live with it, fix it myself or find a good lawyer.

And you think hinges are expensive?

Re:I'm glad this exists

[Anonymous Coward]

You've got a 3 year old 1Ghz Ti? Damn, I must have been really falling behind on laptop models.

I'm going to say that if you've managed to knacker 3 different models of laptops hinges that *maybe* you need to look at how you are using the hinges.

Or maybe splash out an extra $300 to get a three year guarentee.

That's why I like IBM....

[grape jelly]

...because you can find all their tech manuals online completely documenting proper assembly/disassembly instructions (step-by-step with pictures) along with all official part order numbers. And the best part is that it's pretty much guaranteed to be correct since it's from the manufacturer, as opposed to being the result of a third party reverse engineering the machine.

Manuals found here

Reassembling a PowerBook tip

[adzoox]

Actually that's more common than you think - to have a "reassembly surplus"

Here's a tip:

Draw 4 diagrams of the iBook or PowerBook. Make them neat pictures (maybe even use Photoshop.)

Print them out. Places the screws on the places on the picture where they go.

This is what I've done. When I get a PowerBook or iBook in for repair I just print out the four different sides of screw removal:

Outer shell bottom
Outer shell top/display
Inside logic board/magnetic sheild bottom
Inside logic board/ top

You can also draw places where cables go too.

Once you have it on your computer you can print them out again in the future.

Re:Reassembling a PowerBook tip

[Anonymous Coward]

Draw 4 diagrams of the iBook or PowerBook. Make them neat pictures (maybe even use Photoshop.)

That's cheating! :-)

Actually, I'm notorious for dismantling computers and electrical appliances, although while I have always managed to get them fully working again, I do tend to have the occasional spring or screw remaining. Or, in the case of an old answer-phone, roughly 75% of it remaining. But it still worked perfectly!

A good tip to anyone wanting to learn how to dismantle stuff - take your old computers to bits, and put them back together again. Figure out how it all works, and how different pieces fit. It can be great fun, and not unlike a giant three-dimensional jigsaw. Plus, you get to fix things too - I spent half an hour or so fixing a dead floppy drive, (a lever had got stuck in the wrong position), and also swapped an important broken key on my old Atari ST with an unimportant working one (which involved roughly three billion screws...) Hardly ground-breaking stuff, but it keeps my mountain of worthless prehistoric crap ticking over...

As soon as my iBook is out of warranty, I have a feeling it too might get dismantled, although I'll be figuring it all out myself. Diagrams and instructions are for wimps!

Although I think I will definitely heed the advice about the diagrams.

Re:Reassembling a PowerBook tip

[zenrandom]

Just remember to print the documentation before you disassemble your powerbook/ibook.

OK time to put it back together, I'll just print out that handy documentation I made ... aww crap...

Xserve

[iamthemoog]

Anyone got a guide to dismantling the Xserve? - I think pbfixit.com's just melted.

Re:Xserve

[94229a]

How 'bout this

A thought I had

[INeededALogin]

No disassemble!!!! G4... is alive!

Re:A thought I had

[harryjrsd]

FINALLY someone posted something like this.

/first post. by me anyway...

IBM/Dell et all service manuals

[tomcio.s]

Hey, to all you saying that Apple does not publish good howtos (CIP - customer install procedures) on their site: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=262 61 (for 12" Pbook, browse around for more) [Watch out for random space]

I don't believe you should be doing a full disassembly yourself anyways. Any parts you'd need you'd still have to order from manufacturer (Dell, IBM, Apple, no diff) and for everything else Apple has neat, clean and precise per model instructions for you..

Apple Service Manuals

[tlhIngan]

Since this is basically reverse-engineered service manuals, anyone know where one can find the *official* ones? I've Googled a few, but most aren't up-to-date, and the one I use doesn't have the new manuals yet. (It had the new manuals for the refresh before last... they move so quickly!)

Anyone got any good links (other than paying $$$ to become a Apple-certified repair tech?).

Re:Apple Service Manuals

[jcr]

anyone know where one can find the *official* ones?

Here you go..

Get the cert, and you can see all the manuals you want.

-jcr

Re:Apple Service Manuals

[TheBillGates]

Work for an authorized apple service provide and you can have access to all the service manuals you want via GSX.

Re:Apple Service Manuals

[Anonymous Coward]

Try here: http://home.wanadoo.nl/manual.man/manuals.html

or here: http://www.info.apple.com/support/manuals.html

Apple ain't so bad

[94229a]

Instructions are available here. Sometimes there are PDFs, sometimes HTML files sometimes quicktime movies.

Re:Apple ain't so bad

[grape jelly]

True, but the distinction if you look at the IBM manuals is that they cover replacement of *ALL* parts of the thinkpad from the hdd and RAM to the LCD display, wristrest and all non "user serviceable" parts. Also, it provides IBM's part numbers for *all* parts including those that are not user serviceable.

Don't do it under warranty

[Scott Richter]

in a room full of computer dorks, someone says things like "don't open your own case and fix your machine..." !

More like "Don't do it under warranty." Once your warranty period's up, it's your option. But presumably no one's dumb enough to void the Apple warranty, especially if you paid for Apple care. And he's also saying it's fraudulent to LIE about not opening the case.

Re:Don't do it under warranty

[Stud1y]

OMG, someone lying about something so that they don't have to pay for it?
that's never happened before in any type of company before!
who cares. It's not like it's not a tax write off.
Start making it like those cars who's bonnets are welded closed, if oyu don't want us in there, don't put screws in it.

Re:Don't do it under warranty

[Scott Richter]

OMG, someone lying about something so that they don't have to pay for it? that's never happened before in any type of company before! who cares. It's not like it's not a tax write off.

Lying's lying. Also, nice classical rationalization behavior. Whatever helps you sleep at night being a dirtball.

BTW, it's not a tax writeoff, but it's an actual loss, which is even worse.

Start making it like those cars who's bonnets are welded closed, if oyu don't want us in there, don't put screws in it.

Horseshit. Don't buy the proverbial car with the welded hood. If you do, and you lie when you fuck it up, then you are a lying scumbag.

Re:Don't do it under warranty

[Anonymous Coward]

"And he's also saying it's fraudulent to LIE about not opening the case"

That's okay. Apple (and every other customer) treats their customers like shit these days, only doing the right thing after massive bad publicity.

I think treating companies the same way is simple payback.

Yes, Yes... that is very nice but

[dexterpexter]

But I believe that it was Cowboyneal who found the most efficient way to disassemble a Powerbook.

He found this method of disassembling the powerbook after a long battle with his failing hardrive, and less than helpful Apple technicians.

Before the disassembly, Cowboyneal was heard to say:

"I got my PowerBook back today, but it's not nearly as nice as I'd hoped. The technician where I brought it failed to image the drive (like he said he would) before shipping it to Apple so now while the hard drive works perfectly again, I've lost all my files. The point of catching the hard drive failure early before losing any data has now been completely negated. Looking at my PowerBook which is now clean as a slate makes me just want to smash it, knowing the hours of work I've lost." (emphasis mine)

I asked pudge about it and his response was:
"It deserved it"

Re:Yes, Yes... that is very nice but

[Paulrothrock]

That picture made me cry...

Re:Yes, Yes... that is very nice but

[Anonymous Coward]

This whole story doesn't quite add up. First he says the machine worked in Firewire target mode so he was able pull important data off. When he finally gets it back, he complains of losing all his files because they didn't back it up for him.

Hmm. Which is it? Did he have his own backup or not? If he did, how did he lose hours of work? Was he too stupid to back it all up himself? He only picked a couple of important files?

Hard drive crashes can and do happen at any time. Any good slashdot reader (and especially editor) should be smart enough to take the steps necessary to minimize damage. Have a cron job copy your important files or current work over the network to another machine, if nothing else. Make backups to CD, DVD, an external Firewire drive, whatever. Or get more sophisticated and use real backup software. At least you won't lose everything, since hopefully it won't be too long since the most recent backup.

I have to say I feel no sympathy for him in this case. Especially if the thing worked in Firewire mode and he had the opportunity to get everything off of it then. And unfortunately his site doesn't seem to have anything more recent which might explain the horrible smashed picture. If he actually did that to a perfectly working machine just because he lost his data, he's an idiot.

Re:Yes, Yes... that is very nice but

[BCW2]

Ahhh a man after my own heart. When all else fails, get a bigger freakin hammer! I love it!

Works on PC's also.

Re:Slashdot Effect

[hawkeyeMI]

I have that same problem with mine, which is about to go out of warranty so I think it's time to get to work on it. My guess would be a shim + glue would be a great help. I was absentmindedly resting my head on my hand and my elbow on my TiBook (mercury) when *crack* there it went.

Re:Slashdot Effect

[fafaforza]

It's funny, cause that's the same way I cracked mine. I was on the phone at the time. Then I heard a noise that sounded like a CD jewelcase cracking.

Wish the site didn't get slashdotted so that I could see if they have a good guide of detaching the top half of the shell.

/. Effect Thwarted: Site Back Up

[kwiens]

Sorry for the initial downtime-- the site is back up. Emergency server upgrades give a new sense to the term 'hot-swapping' RAM. -Kyle Wiens CEO, PB FixIt -------- www.PBFixIt.com

Where's the information on screws?

[DarkRecluse]

I never see anything about what type of screw goes where. I was taking apart a Pismo 400 the other day and while I thought I could remember where each screw went I later realized that I could not. Of course now I can seeing as how I had to take it apart a few times to make sure everything was seated correctly.

Needless to say, when you feel resistance on a screw and you're not quite sure where it goes, don't keep screwing it in. That goes for laptops and women.

Re:Where's the information on screws?

[plastik55]

Yeah you think you will be able to remember what went where but you really won't. Just document everything.

So whenever you take out a screw or other part, tape it to a note saying where it went and number the notes according to what order you disassembled the parts in. Works for me at least.

Re:Where's the information on screws?

[keytoe]

I never see anything about what type of screw goes where.

Can you realistically tell the difference between them by sight? Some of the screws in their laptops differ by fractions of millimeters.

The trick I use (and is also mentioned in Apple's training manuals): grab an empty ice cube tray. For each step in disassembly, use a different ice cube slot. While this may not help much for a step that has a lot of screws (eg - taking the top plate off of an iBook), it's certainly better than nothing!

negative modding for sissies

[Anonymous Coward]

I hate it when people have multiple IDs that they use to mod their own comments up and those that disagree with them down!

Re:negative modding for sissies

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, and if you follow the thread, you can totally tell when adzoox started posting as AC, trying to sound like other people. Read the time stamps. It's because he links to his slashdot comments on his website Adzoox and he doesn't want people to see that he is snooping their hard drives. Nice javascript errors by the way.

So what? This isn't new at all

[EvilStein]

These guides have been out for a long time - they are usually called "Service Source"

I have piles of the old Service Source CDs that have take-apart guides for nearly everything that Apple has ever made.

Nothing new here, move along..

TWO mouse button mod for powerbook?

[bzzt]

heresy, i know, but if anyone knows of a shop that does a TWO mouse button mod for a powerbook, please let us know.

i really like apple's laptops but the single mouse button is the insurmountable barrier to entry. if i could get two mouse buttons a powerbook would be my next machine.

Re:TWO mouse button mod for powerbook?

[HeghmoH]

I believe uControl lets you set the 'tap' function on the trackpad to work as right-click instead of just duplicating the button. Depending on what you want, that might be close enough for you.

Re:TWO mouse button mod for powerbook?

[General Sherman]

What you might be looking for is something like SideTrack, which allows you to use the trackpad tap as a ctrl+click, or many other things. It also lets you use the side of the trackpad as a scroll wheel for both horizontal and vertical.

Re:TWO mouse button mod for powerbook?

[mbbac]

Here's a tip, holding the control key while clicking makes a right-click action.

Re:TWO mouse button mod for powerbook?

[bzzt]

...set the 'tap' function on the trackpad to work as right-click...

...allows you to use the trackpad tap as a ctrl+click...

Here's a tip, holding the control key while clicking makes a right-click action.

you're getting warmer! and not just because you have a laptop on your lap.

two button mouse - if you are unsure what i am referring to, look at a laptop not made by apple.

btw: the topic is powerbook case mods.

Free as in beer

[JUSTONEMORELATTE]

See, the disassembly guide is Free as in Beer
The reassembly guide is where they make their profit.

--

Incorrect.

[Anonymous Coward]

Upgrading hard drives on virtually every laptop is pretty easy and should not void your warranty. I upgraded the HD on my Pismo a few years back, and it takes a Torx and about 10 minutes.

Why should that void the warranty?

Re:Incorrect.

[falcon5768]

ever get into a Powerbook G4 or a Icebook?

not nearly as easy as you think.

I hope

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope she gave you some oral followed by anal for that little stunt.

Re:I hope

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope you enjoy yourself, but the rest of us would rather not be given anal, even from a hot "chick".

Re:I hope

[FredFnord]

Speak for yourself!

Personally, I quite like the sex toys once in a while.

-fred

Wow. You're a snoopy little shit, aren't you?

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless the customer asked you to look on the HD, you have no business doing it.

maybe they ought to put in a message for you that tell you to get fucked, you ethics-challenged sack ofshit.

free-as-in-beer

[Anonymous Coward]

how about free as in your mom?

WATCH OUT!

[Power Everywhere]

This voids your warranty!

NOOOOO!!!!

[ed1park]

G5 ALIVE! NO DISASSEMBLE!!!

How about reassembly?

[Anonymous Coward]

"a set of Free-As-In-Beer step by step PowerBook disassembly instructions."

Anyone can take something apart. Putting it back together is usually the tough part.

G4 Powerbook frustation story -- topper

[andy55]

I owned a first gen G4 Titanium powerbook and it got a lot of use...

Around the 2 year point, the top third of all the scan lines started to become intermittent. As the weeks went on, intermittent turned into off, and now the middle third started going intermittent. With the thing far out of warranty, knowing full well it'd make more sense to get a new one (vs. get it serviced), I decided to roll the dice and assume it was a (fixable) loose connection somewhere in the screen to the main board...

Weeelll... It turns out the back plate of the screen is *glued* and *snapped* to the front side, making disassembly of the screen a one-way process...

Unfortunately, firmly reconnecting everything has no effect, leaving me with the bad screen, and a mass of back-paneling that no longer can attach to the front side. Seeing there was no point in having the screen at this point (after a couple weeks, the middle third of the scanlines was off, and now the bottom third was intermittent), I simply removed the screen completely...

Thus, I now have a "headless" G4 TiBook w/ a monitor attached to serve stuff--it's not so portable anymore! :^)

My two cents

[Jon Abbott]

I recently had a hard drive fail on my Powerbook G4 550 (a 2.5 year old machine), and I found the PDF step-by-step guides on Apple's support pages to be more than adequate for the drive replacement. The guides on PB Fixit's site appear to be less detailed than Apple's guides, but then again, I don't think Apple documents how to remove the logic board. :^)

It was interesting to note how many people attributed my laptop's hard drive failure to the fact that it was a Mac. The Powerbook used an IBM Travelstar (or should that be IBM Travesty?) hard drive, which is also very common in PC laptops (as are Toshiba drives). These people just didn't realize that I was toting it back and forth to school every day, and waking it from sleep a LOT daily. Some days I would tote it on the back of my motorcycle, sitting in my backpack without a case of its own (admittedly not a smart thing to do). One day I accidentally dropped it three feet onto hard ground (thankfully while it was off). I can attest that any machine would die given what I put it through. Thankfully, it was just the hard drive, and it was easy to swap out. Otherwise, it's still chugging along, like a double decker bus packed into a sports car body.

This may come in handy

[qon]

Been thinking about upgrading that tiny, tiny 30gb hard drive in my G4 Powerbook for quite a while.

q

Want to buy some TiBook hinges?

[FredFnord]

I've got a set I'm not using.

I guarantee that they'll cost you a lot less than the Apple official part.

-fred

Re:Want to buy some TiBook hinges?

[azav]

Hey - that's something to consider.

Can you email me at zavpublic AT mac.com ??

Thanks

Re:Want to buy some TiBook hinges?

[azav]

How do I get in touch with you?

You mean...

[FredFnord]

> Otherwise, it's still chugging along, like a double decker bus packed into a sports car body. ...that big six-wheeler scarlet-painted London transport diesel-engined 97-horsepower omnibus?

(Hold very tight, ting-ting!)

(From Flanders & Swann's 'Transport of Delight')
http://www.iankitching.me.uk/humour/hip po/transp.h tml )

-fred

This topic is so old

[foidulus]

I can probably just make a random post with impunity to up my post count. Hall of fame here I come! And I only had to give up my career and love life to get it! (Who am I kidding, I never had any of these!)
Woot!
LP!
Last post.