On Mar 12, 2010, at 9:26 AM, Simon Royal wrote: > > I was talking to a Mac friend of mine - a very knowledgeable and well > respected individual - and he said, that personally if it hasn't > failed by now that it isn't going to. That not all of them suffered > the failure and after such a long time of this one being ok that he > thought it unlikely it would fail now. > > <snip>
> What do others think of the 'if it was going to fail it would have > done by now' theory. Really I am asking because I don't want to be > without my Mac again and I would rather look out for different Mac > portable - something like a Pismo or early TiBook - before this one > fails, if it is going to. There is some merit to your friend's comment about your "new" iBook G3 500. I personally know of several G3 500 models and one 700 model -- all 12-inchers -- that are still running strong and have never had a video chip problem. But I know of many more that have long since expired. I also know of quite a few iBook G4s and some PowerBook G4s that have the video graphics chip problem. And original versions of Microsoft's X-Box also had that problem. The common thread here is that all of these devices used a soldering technique known as ball grid array (BGA) to affix the video/graphics chip(s) to the logic board. It's a technique that's still being used widely today. Yet few if any recent devices seem to have the problem that has affected so many G3 iBooks and original X-Boxes. The usual culprits suspected of causing the G3 iBook video chip looseness include logic board/case flex, improper soldering, and faulty solder. Apple may know the real truth, but it isn't going to confirm or deny, for obvious reasons. Right now, I'm looking at an ATI Mobility Radeon chip that came off very easily with not too much coaxing from an iBook G3/700 14" logic board. The approximately 1.25-inch-square chip has a total of 484 solder joints that affix it to the logic board. There also are a bunch of thin wires that run from various of these joints to other connections on the logic board. All it takes is for one or more of these joints, which are about the diameter of a period in this e-mail, to come loose to cause video problems. Since all it took to pop this chip off the logic board was a single edge razor blade wedged under the edge of the chip with upward finger pressure applied, these joints aren't all that strong. So, while the empirical evidence I've gathered is that the vast majority of iBook G3 logic boards sooner or later suffer the "dreaded graphics problem" -- including those that have been successfully restored via either a professional or a homemade solder reflow, or a complete pro reball -- there also are a handful of originals that are still running perfectly with no video chip problems. While this lends some credence to your friend's comment, "if it hasn't failed by now that it isn't going to," that doesn't mean it won't. I've worked on several G3 iBooks recently that had never had a graphics chip problem then suddenly developed one. For that reason, my belief and expectation is that sooner or later *all* G3 iBooks, if not all G4 iBooks and PowerBooks, will suffer the broken BGA solder joint graphics problem. Heck, I've even seen evidence of the problem on a couple of G5 iMacs. Bottom line: believe what you want, but be prepared to be disappointed. Jim Scott -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Books, a group for those using G3 iBooks and PowerBooks (we run a separate list for G4 'Books). The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To leave this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g-books Support for older Macs: http://lowendmac.com/services/
