My Problem

Battery would not charge. I bought a new one but same problem. I made sure the power pack worked so after much reading thought it was the DC board.

My Fix

Repair went fine. Great online "how to". But he problem seams to be the logic board and the computer is not worth the cost of that part.

My Advice

I would not know what to give for advice. I went through what I thought was the problem by trial and error. Look for the small things first.

My Problem

Kicked the power cord and thanks to the non-mag-release cord, the computer failed to charge when plugged in. Using a multi-meter, it was determined that the power supply was functioning properly but the DC-in board was not.

My Fix

Removing the plastic shell from the laptop was by far the most difficult step. Carefully working around the edge, prying outwards as I went, the case was often reluctant to release from the rest of the shell. I broke one clip above the CD drive where the plastic was at its thinnest. Replacing the shell was very easy; a snap, even.

My Advice

Removing the shell should be done slowly and carefully. As the plastic ages, it will become more brittle. This is problematic, as I had to bend the plastic outwards more than I was comfortable with. You might find it helpful to heat the shell with a blow-dryer to help alleviate this some. Be careful over the CD drive, the locks for the shell here are very thin and fragile.

Don't tell girlfriend's mom about fixing the girlfriend's old computer for $33 if the old computer has already been replaced with a new $1600 computer.

My Problem

Battery on G4 had failed, and would only hold a charge for 5-15 minutes. After using it this way for around a year (keeping it plugged in to the wall) it finally stopped powering up/charging unless i had the plug on the laptop positioned in the perfect position. This required a delicate balancing act of placing the plug on a book etc. and leaving the laptop hanging off in order for the charging light on the plug to go green. Eventually it stopped charging/working all together. After removing the bottom cover and metal shield I noticed a small spot on the chip of the DC inboard (though at the time I wasn't aware that this part was called the DC Inboard) that appeared burnt or darker in color than the rest - see attached photos. It also had a faint smell of burnt wiring. A google search landed me on the ifixit.com page where I found the exact part i was looking for. I wasn't sure if this would fix it or not, but figured for $30.00 it was worth a shot.

My Fix

The repair was very straightforward and easy. I left my laptop partially apart until the part arrived. After receiving the part, the repair took only 10-12 minutes. The computer came back to life after 3 or 4 months of sitting dead.

My Advice

Attached pictures are of the old DC Inboard for reference. Hopefully they help in your diagnosis. Notice the very small dark circle above-left of the TEST/OK sticker.

My Problem

The ibookG4 would not turn on nor would it charge. MY cousin took the ibook to many repair shops and was told they charge for just finding the problem, battery, adapter, dc-board and then they will charge for the repair. Just when she lost all hope i found this website and decided found find a solution and i did.

My Fix

Easy and difficult, just finding the tools took longer then the fix it self.

My Advice

Don't lost faith, i love technology and i took a shot in fixing my cousin laptop and in the end i was able to.

My Problem

To save info and pics not backed up.

Let the kids use this computer so they do not use mine.

My Fix

The repair guide is the bomb.

You guys are the best.

My Advice

I used a phillips head screw driver from my eyeglass repair kit to extract the smallest screws.

My Problem

My 5 year old ibook would only boot up and stay on on for a couple of minutes, and then automatically turn itself off.

I took it to a commercial computer store with a Mac service dept and they wanted a $55 "bench charge" to determine whether the problem was the power board or the logic board, saying it would be $95 for a new powerboard, and several hundred if it was the logic board.

They recommended I just junk my old "obsolete" ibook, and get a new one, of course...but that is not presently an option for me.

Rather than spend $55 just to find out what was wrong, and then another $95 plus to fix it, if I was lucky, I decided to follow up on a comment I saw in a chat thread about "computer problems" and searched up ifixit online on the public access computer at the local library.

A little study there convinced me it was probably the power board, and I discovered that it would cost me less than $50 for a replacement part and a couple of tools...and the instructions looked simple enough to try doing it myself.

This seemed like a better gamble, heh, so I sprung for the parts and tools from ifixit.

My Fix

Got the parts and tools from ifixit in just 2-3 days via first class mail, and followed the illustrated tutorial I had printed out at the library for the installation, and was back online in no time at all.

It was a little tricky getting the cover off, to expose the guts and get at the power board, but I managed to do it without breaking anything.

After that, it was nothing to replace the power board and put the whole thing back together...and now it's all good.

Took less than an hour, from start to finish.

Needless to say, I'm very pleased.

My Advice

The tutorial (and tips and encouragement from the ifixit staff over the phone) were excellent, especially on the trickier aspect of removing the back cover without breaking the little plastic tabs that hold it together.

It turned out to be pretty easy though, especially with that handy little spudger goodie.

I had looked around some on ifixit, but could not find any information on actually testing or diagnosing, for sure, in advance, whether the initial problem was really the power board, or the logic board.

That was the only sketchy part of the operation, really.

I would have felt a little more comfortable about ordering the part, if I had known for sure...but since it would have cost me more to get that diagnosis from the shop than to just go ahead and actually replace the power board, I took a chance, since the problem did seem pretty consistent (if not identical) with other peoples' descriptions on ifixit, of the various symptoms of a bad power board.

Perhaps I could have gotten some tips on this over the phone, but I didn't pursue that, so, oh well...

If there is some means of more precisely diagnosing whether it's really the power board or the logic board that is faulty, for sure, that should probably be more prominently featured, I think.

My Problem

My son's computer was fine except for the power. I was so happy that I didn't need to spend more than $30 to fix it.

My Fix

It took a while and a lot of patience. The screws were hard to unscrew without stripping them. Otherwise, it was fine and I was proud of myself.

My Advice

If you have tiny screwdrivers and a tiny allen wrench (hex), you don't need any other tools.- so grateful.

My Problem

I recently bought a new battery and power supply for my iBook G4. But shortly after using the new equipment, the battery stopped recharging and I had to hold the power supply connector at an angle to the computer (or the DC-in board).

My Fix

I replaced the DC-in board using the guide. Went very smoothly.

My Advice

I don't open up my computers too often...Usually there aren't too many problems. I don't know much about the tape that is used inside these laptops. A friend said to use non conductive tape. I used some artist tape that I have...it isn't supposed to leave any gunk behind. Beats me if that is right or not but it made sense to me.

My Problem

I inherited a roughed-up iBook G4 which had served as both my sister's first college laptop and, later, my mom's primary internet terminal; mom kicked it my way when she got tired of fidgeting with the DC input to maintain a charge. It didn't take long for me to reach the same frustration, but where do you go when you're not an experienced computer-tinkerer and every Genius at a Bar just tells you "well, have you considered an iPad?"

My Fix

A coworker knew about ifixit.com and, after a two-minute search and a two-day turnaround, I had my new DC input, all the tools for installation, and the tutorial ready to go (seriously, including the "required tools" list on the product pages in the webstore? With the add-all-to-cart button? It's the little things that make you fall in love). The repair itself was as effortless as the shopping and shipping experience: from the clarity of the repair guide's instructions to the convenience of having all the right tools included with the replacement part, ifixit made this one of the easiest jobs I've ever undertaken. From start to finish, barely 35 minutes had peeled off the clock before I found myself the owner of an iBook G4 with a rock-solid DC input.

My Advice

My only suggestion has been echoed in a few other places: I found that the center-most screw on the outside of the iBook case's bottom responded better to an Allen-style wrench than it did the Torx driver. Otherwise, the manual was letter-perfect. Just be mindful to sort/label your screws and you'll be fine!

My Problem

dc-inboard was damaged and the ac charger wouldn't work properly

My Fix

super fine

My Advice

just follow the guide, step by step!

and divide the tons of screws accurately ;)