jawtheshark's Journal: Poor silky is dead...

Subject formerly: My iBook gave me a big bad scare

I know my good old iBook G3 600Mhz is getting a bit old, bit I nearly got a heart attack today because of it. It froze while browsing: mouse wouldn't move anymore.
Okay, that's very odd and never happens to my iBook, but I can turn it off and reboot it again. Right? Right?

I turn it off, and wait for the startup sound... Yup, it's there... However the screen stays black. I leave it that way, because I know it can have long startup times after an unsuccessfull shutdown. Still, wait, wait, wait... nothing.

Hmmmm, remove battery, remove power, press the small reset button on the side. Nothing.... I'm starting to get anxious. It's not broken, is it???

Fearing that perhaps the backlight is broken, I plug it into the VGA adaptor and that adaptor goes right into my good old trusty 15" LCD screen. Nothing.

Strange... Now it doesn't even make a sound anymore. I try to turn it on once again, and luckily the startup sound is there and I get the Apple logo on my screen.

Phew.... I have no idea what exactly happened, but I can assure you that I was really scared.

As when I was writing this (was on my Windows laptop)... the iBook did it again. It froze. Uh-oh... If this is a recurring problem I have a big problem. Noo, it is sooo young... It can't die on me like that!!! :-(((

Updated 4/06/2005 14:36CET

Screen stays black. If I connect it to (wired) ethernet, I can ping the machine. Apparently the OS starts, but the screen is dead.
Not even sure if that's it. Managed to get screen on once, and it shows half a grey screen. Clearly a malfunction.

Updated 4/06/2005 15:29 CET

I changed the headline. I fear that poor silky is dead. Only get black screen... I tried removing the 512Meg stick I added to it in the beginning of this year and the Airport Classic card that I bought some time ago. Nothing helped... I currently do not have the money for a replacement with the upcoming wedding. I was planning to replace it with a G5 Powerbook when those would come out, so this is an untimely death. I bought it back in december 2001. Too bad for all the money I put in it this year. About 300€ down the drain.

That sucks.

[smittyoneeach]

But according to OSNews, you may soon get a Mac x86 unit: http://osnews.com/comment.php?news_id=10751 [osnews.com]

Re:That sucks.

[jawtheshark]

I know, I read that too. I don't if it's such a good idea. One of the appeals of Apple is that it isn't Intel based. Perhaps I can get a G4 iBook or Powerbook cheaper if that happens.

Re:That sucks.

[Oculus Habent]

Don't remember off the top of my head... does you iBook have video out capability? Might you be able to use it with an external monitor - much the way I use my PowerBook G3 with its shattered screen?

Re:That sucks.

[jawtheshark]

I tried immediately when I thought it was a bad backlight or video. See 4th paragraph of my JE. The external video screen stays blank. It seems to boot up just fine (except that I can't see squat). When I want to turn it off, I push the power button short and then press return. Then it seems to shut down correctly.