Hello! Recently my garage door started closing immediately after being opened via the remote or the button inside the garage....

Hi! My early 2008 Mac Pro won't wake up from sleep mode now that it has Mountain Lion. I have found it asleep a few times now...

Hello! I've come across a large quantity of G4 12" 1.33GHZ machines. Usually about 1 in 30 has the Airport card socket issue ...

Hi All! Sorry I've been away for a while. I've got a weird one: I have a couple 8-core 2008 2.8GHZ Mac Pros. I started with s...

Hi! I've got an A1211 that works fine after it's been sitting for about 30 minutes without AC or battery, and with the PRAM b...

Hi All! Another wacky 15" PowerBook question: I've got a machine that works 100%, except when you move a window or an applica...

Hi! I've got an odd 15" aluminum that will not show video on its own screen unless it is connected to external video, in whic...

Hi! My car's clutch makes a high-pitched squeaking noise when depressed. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not that it st...

Hi! I've got a 15" aluminum Pro that is not behaving. Typically when powered on, the optical makes its startup noise, the scr...

Hi Everyone! I don't get many A1342s, but I have one now that gets a green light but won't power on, so I'd like to try jumpi...

I've never been aware of a "backlight fuse" on A1181s. It's primarily the unibody machines that have those. You mentioned the inverter cable "appears" to be fine...have you witnessed it working? Don't assume -- seeing it function is the only way to be sure it's good. If you've seen it working, and you've also seen the screen working in another machine (inverters themselves almost never go bad), it's probably the board itself. Again, I've never known an 1181 backlight fuse to exist...I'm not saying there isn't one, but if there is, it's been awfully well hidden from the repair community. So you'll probably need a replacement board. Just as a rule of thumb, when A1181s have no backlight, it's usually the screen, then next most common is the inverter cable, then the board. I've never run into a bad A1181 inverter.

Strange! The symptoms your computer is showing would tend to indicate you've got a bad RAM slot, but it doesn't make sense that it would show those symptoms only when the battery is in place. But just to rule it out, I would test the RAM slots by trying to power on with only one slot populated, and then the other. A bad slot causes the symptoms you describe when it has RAM in the slot, and the symptoms usually go away when the slot is empty. If that does not cause any kind of difference, I would probably try to re-seat the battery connector to the board, and make sure it's pressed firmly in place, since they need to be plugged in more securely than many people recognize. I don't think disconnecting the PRAM battery will do much for you. In any case, I would solve the battery issue first, and then see if the time problem is still present. Once your computer recognizes the battery, it should be able to use the battery to keep time, and it's probably losing time now because it does not have either the battery or...

Did you take off the memory compartment cover on the underside of the computer and remove the black screw inside it which holds the keyboard in place? It sounds as if this screw is still in place, and it's preventing the keyboard from coming out.

I'd guess your video cable on the back of the screen is loose. The good news is that it appears the inverter system is working, i.e. you now have light on the screen. I wouldn't suspect the inverter system (board, inverter, inverter cable) of video defects, so it would seem you now have a problem with the video system (board, video cable, screen). The most obvious thing is that the video cable is not firmly connected. I'd open it up, re-seat the cable, and power it on while still opened up and with the hinge cover off. If that doesn't work, another thought is that you may have crimped the video cable putting the machine back together. I would normally suspect the screen before the video cable in this situation, but you said the new screen behaved exactly as the old one did before you swapped the inverter cable. Still though, if you run out of options, and the video cable is not loose, I'd switch back to the old screen just to re-verify they are still acting 100% identically, even after the inverter swap.

Chances are 99.9% it's a bad screen. Screen issues that affect only part of the screen tend to be a flaw with the screen itself.

No, sorry, they are completely different machines, and there is no upgrade path to turn a PPC of any type into an Intel. On the bright side, used low-end Intel iMacs are a lot less expensive these days, so I bet you could sell your PPC and buy an Intel, and only end up spending around $300.

You should probably clean off the corrosion with a toothbrush and 90% alcohol, and see if that resolves the issue before trying to come to conclusions.

I'd reset the PMU also, since you didn't mention that. You've ruled out the Airport itself as the problem, which is good. Take out the Airport, and with a flashlight, look down into the socket the card goes into. You will need to tilt the laptop upward so that you can see down into the slot, and it will still be difficult to see. What you are looking for are the two rows of metal pins...you want to make sure that all the pins are still straight, and that none of them have been smashed or bent (which can easily cause the problem you are describing). If you see any that are bent (usually on the ends), you will need to remove the top shielding in order to gain enough access to straighten them with tweezers. You can also just cut the visible section of the shielding off, although that is sloppier way to do it. Also -- and this should actually be tried first -- as you know the Airport card plugs horizontally into a slot, and that slot itself is on a small card that plugs vertically down into the board. I've run in...

The trackpad itself is part of the topcase assembly and can't be replaced without replacing the entire topcase. Underneath the keyboard is the trackpad connector, and the first step should be to disconnect the connector, re-connect it, and see if that helps. There are different connectors for the different models, but the concept is the same, and you can find instructions for disconnecting the trackpad connector in the guides for replacing the topcase on this site. Please note, you don't have to take off the entire topcase in order to disconnect and re-connect the trackpad connector -- you just need to remove the keyboard, Airport (in most cases), and memory cover. Contact cleaner will most likely not help. It's possible you had a bad topcase and will need to replace it, or that the socket on the board is coming loose, in which case it's not likely a fixable problem. Let me know what speed iBook G4 you have, and whether it's 12" or 14" -- the 1.33GHZ 12" and 1.42GHZ 14" have multi-touch trackpads, and sometim...

Make sure to reset the PRAM and PMU/SMC. Also, these machines are prone to bad RAM slots, so power on with one slot empty, and then with the other empty, to see if you can identify a bad slot. Make sure all the cables are connected and not loose. You mentioned you didn't remove the heatsync, but you did remove the board...the heatsync is on the bottom of the casing, so if you took the board out then you did break the seal between the heatsync and processor/video chip, and really you should re-apply the thermal paste. If you just stuck it back in there without cleaning/re-applying paste, that could cause overheating. Although even if it is running really hot, the machine would typically power up, at least for a while, so it would seem odd that that would be the entire problem. I'd also remove the topcase completely and jump the power-on pads on the board in order to turn the computer on without the topcase. This will rule out the topcase as the issue, and also rule out the possibility that you put the machine ...