According To Jim Warholic

I had to get the lead out when it comes to repairing the Apple iMac G5 PPC motherboard problems. Beware, don't try this repair yourself, unless you have help or experience with all types of handy tools at your disposal. Also, beware of the time commitment involved with this Apple computer repair. "Be prepared," is the old Boy Scout motto, and that is no lie when it comes to tackling this Apple product repair yourself.

Before Apple iMac G5 PowerPC Motherboard Repairs Picture



This is a close up view of the Apple iMac G5 Motherboard with the bulging, leaking, and exploding capacitors problem. This Apple G5 PPC motherboard is three years and two months old. The symptoms of the problem were: video shaking, video disappearing, video lockup, system lockup, intermittently could not power down, intermittently powering up problems, and strange program lockups. Here is a YouTube Video from someone else that shows a very similar Apple iMac G5 startup problem with the video display. Note the vertical lines in the video display.

After Apple iMac G5 Motherboard Repairs Picture



Apple iMac G5 Motherboard PowerPC capacitors replaced. This picture shows the locations of the new capacitors installed. Note: Heights and Diameters of new capacitors are slightly bigger than the originals. Upgraded to 1,800 uf 10 volts from the original 1,800 uf 6.3 volts. Cover still clears all components. Important notes are as follows. It appears as though lead free solder was used and a polymer was coated on the assembled motherboard on the bottom. A very hot soldering iron is required. Doing it yourself is not for the faint at heart.

Everything has to be disassembled in order to get to the bottom of the motherboard. The cover is easy to take off by simply turning the three screws completely counter clockwise on the bottom of the computer's lower edge and then lifting up the rear cover. See this YouTube Video for what is inside the iMac G5 Computer. However once the cover is removed, the rest of the computer disassembly is an enormous task for most non technical people and requires special tools. Apple never intended for the end user to remove everything that I removed in order to get to the root of the matter. Spline or Torx are not necessarily needed, though it would be helpful. I had some precision screwdrivers that fit somewhat precisely in the fasteners. Some additional notes: Not only do you need a super hot soldering iron, but you also need to grind off some of the polymer resin that is on the bottom of the circuit board to get to the lead free solder in the first place. While removing the 20 capacitors I experienced broken leads from capacitors that were falling apart and leads that pulled out of the capacitors themselves because of the extra heat that is required to melt the lead free solder in the first place. I had to use a Dremel in various ways. Prior to removal it was first necessary to grind off the polymer resin and some of the excessive lead lengths from the old capacitors with a small grinder tool attached to the Dremel, and then drilling out some holes with a number 72 carbide drill, when the leads broke off in the holes of the printed circuit board. When replacing the capacitors it is important to note which are the positive and which are the negative leads when installing in the board. New capacitors generally have a long and short lead (short lead is usually the negative lead) along with a negative indicator written on the side of the cap itself. Do not install capacitors in backwards or you will blow up the new caps and possibly damage the circuit board. The circuit board has the positive hole marked on the printed circuit board itself. Here is a how-to demonstration of how to replace capacitors.

Believe it or not, I have to say the finished project has worked like a champ. As a matter of fact, I have used the same iMac G5 here to do the pictures with a program called Skitch, and posting this article using Firefox running on the iMac too.

Note: I inspected my work a couple of weeks later, and decided to replace the five other capacitors also. I found some evidence online that these other capacitors go bad too. The 20 capacitors that I first replaced all looked good. Upgraded these five additional caps from the original factory installed 1,000 ufd, 16 vdc caps, to 1,000 ufd, 25 volts DC, operating temperature range: -55º to 105ºC. I picked up both sets of capacitors at Halted Electronics a surplus store in Santa Clara, CA. They also have some new electronic components available at the store too. Generally speaking, it is usually OK, and advisable, to increase the DC voltage rating of the capacitors while maintaining the same MFD, microfarad rating. Don't cut corners. As a suggestion, if you see any of the capacitors that have problems, it is highly advisable to replace the entire group of caps at the same time. If one or two of the caps are in the failure mode now, they would more than likely all be destined to fail in a very short time.

Another interesting bit of information regarding noisy iMac G5 fans and internal temperatures that I discovered after the G5 motherboard repair, it became apparent, the computer fans were running a lot quieter. No more Hoover Vacuum cleaner sounds. Also, the overall temperature of the computer is operating at lower temperatures in my opinion. I found this free Temperature Monitor program for keeping track both instantaneously and in a graph chart form, of what the CPU, Hard Drive, and Smart Disk drive temperatures are operating at. I did not have the program installed prior to the problem, but after I repaired the printed circuit board, I installed the temperature recorder and discovered that the CPU temperature does not get much above 65 degrees C, even with a warm ambient room temperature. The average temperature of the CPU is somewhere in the 58 degree C range (136 degrees Fahrenheit). Note: I keep my computer running for days and weeks on end.

I am still a bit ticked off that I had to go and do this myself. I had the Apple extended care warranty, but I missed out on the free repair by two months. If I had the problem occur two months earlier, Apple would have covered it free of charge. Apple never sent a message concerning the problem. It took some investigative work to find out that they had issues with the capacitors leaking, but they downplayed the severity of the problem.

This should not happen with a product three years old. In Apple's defense I can tell you that I found evidence that many other computer manufacturers also had the capacitor problems from buying low cost capacitors from a stolen electrolytic capacitor recipe from Taiwan. See this video showing computer circuit boards with bulging, leaking, and exploded capacitors on board from a variety of computer manufacturers. While I am a fan of Apple products, I just have to say this is not one of their stellar computer products moments. I'm sure it was a business decision to not have a product recall, but I think they should have had one. Of course, I guess you could say, I'm a little biased on this issue.

Yes, Apple was nice enough to take a look inside the iMac at the local Mac Genius Bar, and give me a heads up on what the problem was, though it only took a five second look inside for the Apple guy to tell me that I need a new motherboard, and oh by the way, the cost was going to be two thirds the cost of a brand new computer. The Apple guys suggested I buy a new Apple desktop computer, one that is faster and better.

I said, "not today."



Here's what you get inside the Apple iMac G5 Desktop computer. CD/DVD in the upper left, two fans in the top center, hard drive top right, two memory slots available for up to 2 GB of two 1 GB DDR PC 3200 memory sticks, power supply in the lower section, and the mother board in the middle. Look closely, and you can see the on board battery for the motherboard.

Printout this PDF file of the Apple iMac G5 Motherboard Repair article for reference before you take a bite of your Apple apart. O pun the back door.

As one last thought before the night is over, lead free solder is a pain in the rear. Repairing all types of electronics is going to become increasingly difficult with these high temperatures required to remove and install new components in their place. We are becoming more and more, a disposable society.

Also, I think it is quite comical reading the Apple repair extension program especially the section about not fixing the desktop computer yourself, now that I have fixed it myself. And, the one that says if you don't have any of these problems there is no need to do anything, "just wait for it to break after warranty," my two cents added.

Read it for yourself. I guess I am breaking all the rules here.

And for those that want to check out their iMac G5 for the extended service, here is the quoted information from Apple support.

iMac G5 Repair Extension Program for Video and Power Issues

The iMac G5 Repair Extension Program for Video and Power Issues applies to first generation iMac G5 computers that have video or power-related issues as a result of a specific component failure. If your iMac G5 is exhibiting any of the symptoms listed below and your computer's serial number is within the noted ranges, your computer may be eligible for repair, free of charge. If Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) determines that your iMac G5 computer is eligible as part of the program, the repair will be covered by Apple for up to three years from the original date of purchase even if your iMac G5 is out of warranty.

This is a worldwide Apple program.

Affected systems will exhibit one of the following video- or power-related symptoms:

• Scrambled or distorted video
  


• No video
  


• No power
  

Note: If your iMac G5 is not experiencing any of these symptoms, you do not have to contact Apple or any Apple Authorized Service Provider.

Which iMac G5 computers are affected by the iMac G5 Repair Extension Program for Video and Power Issues?

The program is available for certain first generation iMac G5 models that were sold between approximately September 2004 and June 2005 featuring 17- and 20-inch displays with 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz G5 processors.

The affected iMac G5 computers have serial numbers where the first 5 digits fall into the ranges noted below.

Serial Number ranges:

• W8435xxxxxx - W8522xxxxxx
  


• QP435xxxxxx - QP522xxxxxx
  


• CK435xxxxxx - CK522xxxxxx
  


• YD435xxxxxx - YD522xxxxxx
  

Some second generation iMac G5 computers have serial numbers that fall within the upper band of the ranges listed below. Only first generation iMac G5 computers are affected by this program.

Where do I find the serial number of my iMac G5?

The 11-digit serial number is located on a label under the foot of the iMac G5. There is a bar code underneath the serial number.

To view the label, hold the sides of the iMac and gently lay the computer face down on a soft, clean towel or cloth.

Is the iMac G5 Repair Extension program available for other Apple computers?


This program applies only to the systems noted in this FAQ. Other versions of the iMac G5 line are not part of this program. Click here for more information on how to identify iMac G5 models.

How can I tell if my computer is affected by the component failure identified for the iMac G5 Repair Extension Program?


An Apple technical support representative or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) will need to physically examine your computer to determine if the component failure identified for the iMac G5 Repair Extension Program affects your computer and, if so, arrange for the repair.

How can I participate in the iMac G5 Repair Extension Program?

To participate in the program, please bring your iMac G5 to the Mac Genius Bar at your local Apple Retail store or Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP), or call your local Apple Contact Center.

Apple Retail Store

Apple Authorized Service Provider

Apple Support Contact information

What if my computer exhibits symptoms not caused by the component Apple has identified for the iMac G5 Repair Extension Program?

It is possible that your iMac G5 may exhibit video or power issues that are unrelated to the component failure identified by Apple as part of this program and are not covered under this program. Apple or an AASP can help you troubleshoot these issues. If your iMac G5 is not covered under warranty or an extended service agreement, such as the AppleCare Protection Plan, repairs for other issues will be made at your expense if you request that they be made.

I have a remanufactured iMac G5 that fits the description noted. How can I determine whether my iMac G5 qualifies for the program?

If your iMac G5 is one of the models listed and exhibits one or more of the symptoms above, please bring your iMac G5 to the Mac Genius Bar at your local Apple Retail store or Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP), or call your local Apple Contact Center. An Apple technical support representative or an AASP will examine your computer to determine if the component failure identified for the iMac G5 Repair Extension Program affects your computer and, if so, arrange for the repair.

Is there a cost for participating in the iMac G5 Repair Extension Program for Video and Power Issues?

If Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) determines that your iMac G5 computer is eligible as part of the program, the repair will be covered by Apple even if your iMac G5 is out of warranty. Customers are responsible for transportation costs to eligible ASPs/retail stores.

How long is the iMac G5 Repair Extension Program available?

The program covers affected iMac G5 computers for up to three years from the original date of purchase. Apple will continue to evaluate the repair data and will provide further repair extensions as needed.

Does the iMac G5 Repair Extension Program extend the warranty coverage on my iMac G5?

No. This program does not extend the standard warranty coverage.

Are there any known safety issues caused by this component failure?

No.

Can I determine if my iMac G5 has the component failure and fix it myself?

No. Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) must evaluate whether your iMac G5 computer is eligible as part of the program and then conduct the repair.

If my iMac G5 is still under warranty, how does this program affect me?

If your iMac G5 is eligible for the program and within its warranty period, you will have your system repaired at no cost to you. If your iMac G5 experiences the symptoms described above and is determined to be eligible under this program by Apple or an AASP after your Standard One Year Warranty expires, the program covers affected iMac G5 computers for up to three years from the original date of purchase.

Labels: Apple, Computers, Hardware

Back to the PowerBook.

The processor speed on this PowerBook is 266 MHz. This one has 128 MB of memory. Just enough to boot and do a few other things. Supposedly you can upgrade the memory to 512 MB with two memory cards, one 256 MB on the top and one 256 MB on the bottom of the CPU card. There is some doubt as to whether this really is the case for total memory. Apple states in their specs, depending on models, that some of the PowerBook models could go up to 512 MB. I don't know for sure on this one. See: the Apple PowerBook page for more information. User manuals can still be downloaded from the Apple website.

Over at PowerBook Medic you can download, for free, a number of legacy Apple repair manuals for taking apart and repairing many of the older Macs. These manuals are great to learn how to change a hard drive or simply add more memory.

Speaking of taking Macs apart; I think this particular PowerBook has a problem with the PRAM battery. It tends to freeze up unexpectedly.

What is the PRAM Battery for?

Your Mac has a microcontroller/memory chip which stores data that is important to its successful startup and operation. This data is maintained when you shutdown or unplug the Mac by a battery which provides power to the chip. This chip controls the Parameter RAM (PRAM), Non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), the real-time clock and Apple Desktop Bus (ADB). Also the chip sends a constant signal to the power supply, and if this signal is not within specifications, the Mac will either shutdown or freeze.

Read more from: Mac PRAM, NVRAM, CUDA/PMU & Battery Tutorial What, When & How?

Here is another website that has information on what to do if your Mac shuts down unexpectedly and how to zap the PRAM circuit if it becomes corrupted.

Now, on to another Mac note. This particular PowerBook model came with a UH276 Macally CardBus PCMCIA to USB adapter for Mac. The CardBus PCMCIA to USB adapter for Mac is no longer manufactured but We Love Macs website has the cardbus drivers available for downloading for OS X v 10.1, OS X v 10.2, and OS 9. The We Love Macs website also has the cardbus PCMCIA driver download available for the PC.

I have a number of internal hard drives just sitting around and thought I would see if this particular Mac could read and write to an external/internal drive. What I have is a $25.00 to $35.00 universal hard drive adapter from Apricorn that is designed for serial SATA or PATA parallel IDE hard drives to USB. You simply plug the universal adapter in the drive and then the USB cable into the computer. In this case, plugged it into the cardbus PCMCIA USB pigtail.

Once I installed the drivers for the cardbus, and rebooted the PowerBook, the external harddrive showed up on the desktop. See screen shot of the desktop with external drive on the display screen monitor. Cool; I was able to format the drive, and read and write to it. This particular drive was 120 GB in storage space.

So, now I had a fresh install of the operating system, and started playing around with it. I was able to browse the web and do a number of items. However, there are many limitations with this particular machine. It was at this time, I decided to try a different direction for the PowerBook.

Ubuntu - Xubuntu Linux for Old World Macs

Ubuntu is one of the easiest Linux distros to install. I have experience installing Linux on a PC, and thought it shouldn't be too difficult to install on a Mac PowerBook G3. Well, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the old world Macs. First off, you don't simply install the Linux with a click of the mouse. You can't just put a disk in and automatically go through the installation process. No, it requires doing a few things prior to even loading Linux. For example, you have to prepare the hard drive with the proper formating and partitioning. With only 4 GB of harddrive space, there is not much room for installation. The reason is, you need to have the Mac OS 9 operating system installed first on one partition, and set aside another section of the hard drive for Linux.

After downloading and burning a boatload of CDs with lots of Ubuntu versions and Xubuntu (which is a streamlined version of Ubuntu, designed for less memory and smaller hard drives) versions, I discovered that there were only a limited amount of the versions that could be installed. The one I had successfully installed, after a dozen attempts, was Ubuntu v 5.10 Breezy Badger. It only took me two days, working in some spare time, to get it to load. I had to learn a little bit of Linux commands along the way. I have to say, I found the Flyback Transformer website that was quite helpful for Installing Ubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger on an Old World Powerbook G3 Wallstreet.

I also have to say, this whole experience was an exercise for learning. There are even a few typos in the install procedure that are easily overlooked which were time killers. I suggest you read the entire procedure, including the comments from beginning to the end, before you try and tackle it yourself.

Here are a few important notes to be aware of:

Make sure you format the hard drive with hfs standard formating.

Make sure the filesystem for your os9 installation is hfs standard, and not hfs extended. It appears to make a difference; and the default file format for os9 is hfs extended.

If you don't do this to begin with; when you go to make new directories, and copy files from one location to another within the Linux OS area, you won't be able to do it, and you won't know why. This tripped me up for the longest time. Also, I partitioned the hard drive for 1.1 GB for OS 9 and approx. 3.0 GB set aside unformatted for Ubuntu Linux. Reason for 1.1 GB was the need for more software in the OS 9 installed side of things.

The video was a little buggy. I ended up adding this line of code to the special BootX software addon that allows you to boot either Mac OS or Ubuntu Linux.

video=atyfb:vmode:14,cmode:32

Note: That video command line is slightly different of what the Flyback Transformer website has.

Also, pay particular attention to typing details. For example the procedure calls out for copying and renaming the "initrd.gz" file to "image.ramdisk.gz." However, later on the file naming is accidentally reversed, with ramdisk first instead of image first.

Copy the “initrd.gz” file from the Breezy CD’s boot folder to the top level of the System Folder. Rename the file to “image.ramdisk.gz”.

cp boot/initrd.img hfs/System\ Folder/ramdisk.image.gz

note it should be:

cp boot/initrd.img hfs/System\ Folder/image.ramdisk.gz

Now for some additional feedback. Once I had finally figured out the installation procedure, I made another discovery that proved to be a little difficult to overcome. Remember I said the only installation that I could get to work was Ubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger. Well, this version is no longer supported for updates, and there seemed to be no easy way of updating to a newer version of 6.06 or 7.10 Ubuntu or even Xubuntu. With that being said, I once again wiped away the harddrive and reinstalled Mac OS 9.

Additionally, I could use this internal drive as the main drive and then add on an external harddrive with the USB cable. As the prices of solid state harddrives come down, or even the price of USB drives that do not require an external power cable, it would be very easy to add on for storage capacity. I saw an 80 GB hard drive at Newegg.com for $54.00. Memory upgrades would cost somewhere between $50.00 and $120.00 to max out the memory. I could install OS X, up to version 10.2 I believe. That would add another $50.00 dollars or so to the price. Add to that a new PRAM battery for $30.00, and you can see you could put a little bit of money into this machine. This places the total somewhere around $200.00 to outfit it. Yes, you can spend less, especially if you have an old hard drive just sitting around. Also, it is important to note that this Wallstreet PowerBook had the CardBus PCMCIA card for USB. That makes it much easier to add an external hard drive. If you have to replace the internal hard drive, the costs could be significantly higher. Also, bear in mind, the hard drive for the operating system needs to be no more than 8 GB in size. So if you install a new hard drive, make sure you are less than 8 GB for the partition for the operating system. You can have more than one partition, so storage can be increased.

So, is it worth doing something with this PowerBook G3 computer? It all depends on what you want to do with it. Good luck on your quest. From the Internet marketing business solution.

Labels: Apple, Linux

I gave Apple a second chance with Safari for Microsoft Windows environment.

Check out the screen shot of Safari with our Professional Web Services website.



Read the previous posting: Apple Safari For Windows Partial Menus For Many

I am pleased to report, that the partial menus problem is not the case anymore.

After seeing an update to fix the font issue in Safari for Windows was available to download from Apple, I downloaded the new installer program.

But, just to be on the safe side of getting this to work properly, I read on Grupenet to "please make sure the read-only option on your Fonts.plist file is unset."

I believe this is if you have previously installed Safari and used his fix on the previous version. See the comments below from Jared. His instruction is as follows: 'unset read-only on the "Fonts.plist" which is located in "C:\Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\Safari" on Windows XP and "C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\Safari" on Windows Vista.' See comments.

I personally like to have the status bar on at the bottom of the Safari program when running. The user can turn this on or off depending on their preferences. Go to the View menu and select Show Status Bar to have the bottom of the browser display information such as when your cursor is placed over a link, the status bar will display the link location. If you want to have the Tab bar always displayed, simply select view Tab. The tab bar is nice to have because you can right click on the existing tab and open a new tab for another website or a fresh Search Engine search.

I know Apple has a thing with their Silver Surfer brand image, but I would like to see some colors for the Safari browser. However, with that being said, the Safari browser is kind of cool looking, with their rounded slide scroll bars on the bottom and right side are quite elegant.

From a web developer's standpoint, it's good to know how your website displays on other browsers. Also, from an Internet marketing standpoint, you will want to know how your business website shows up on other computers, operating systems, and the various browsers online.

Jim Warholic, President Professional Web Services, Inc.

Labels: Apple, Software

Apple, if I were a teacher, and you turned in a term paper with no titles, I'd have to give you a failing grade.

This is how I felt when I decided to load Safari on my Windows XP computer. This week I read about Apple coming out with Safari for the Windows environment, and thought OK, I'll give it a try. Now, I understood that the software was in beta form, but I did not think it was at an alpha stage.

The installation went fairly smoothly, except I was given an option to Install Bonjour Service. Confusing to say the least since I was expecting to be installing Safari. The installation screen reads:

Bonjour for Windows enables Safari to detect shared devices on your local netwok and make them available to you. For example, you can view and configure shared printers available through Bonjour, without any complica...

Was that last word complications?

Well, let me tell you of complications with the Safari for Windows XP Pro.

After going through the install, I launched Safari, and the first impression was all the menus were missing. They had little dashes - present in place of the menu items. Not only were the menus missing in the tool bar area, but the Apple website was missing large amounts of information and data. See the Safari screen shots below.


Apple Safari Missing Menus


Apple Safari Screen Shot With Missing Support and Menus

FYI, I also have a Mac PowerPC G5 desktop computer, running Mac OS X, version 10.4.9 and did the install of the new Safari on that platform prior to installing it on my Windows platform. So, I knew what it was supposed to look like.

I tried a number of fixes for the problem. Tried downloading the complete package again, with QuickTime included and then uninstalled and reinstalled Safari. I still had the same problem. I hate spinning my wheels on something that should work, but at the same time I hate giving up. So, I placed the issue on the back burner until today. After doing some research online, it appears that many people are having the same no menus problem.

I went to the Apple forums area for Safari for Windows and there is quite a collection of talk going on about this problem.

See the threads: Safari 3 Public Beta for Windows

and all the various forum talk for missing menus:

Apple.com > Support > Discussions > Safari

There is a fix for the font issue. Fix font issue in Safari for Windows. However, I feel that it is a workaround solution at best. Apple, if 99.9% of all my Windows programs function properly, I should not have to use special treatment for Safari.

Letter to Apple

To be honest with you folks, I have not been a particular fan of Safari on the Mac for quite some time. Most people that have a Mac have switched to Firefox a long time ago, in order to have a better browsing experience. Pages that would not be displayed properly on Safari, would be displayed fine on Firefox. Safari has to be more forgiving, if you wish people to take up the use of it as their main browser.

As an Internet marketing marketer, I have had to verify different websites for various customers across a broad spectrum of industries. So, having more than one browser, and more than one computer system is a prerequisite for website development.

Don't dismiss this so lightly. If you say, that if website developers were to program their pages to certain standards, then everything would work properly in Safari. No, with so many people using the Windows environment, this argument is foolish indeed.

Now, you are trying to make the step into the Windows browser environment. I applaud your thinking, and think it will be good in the long term for both the Apple brand and giving the consumer more choices, but in the short term you are frustrating many individuals and not exactly helping your brand image.

So, for the moment Apple, I have to give you a failing mark. Go back and rewrite your code. Give me titles that I can read. Let me see the text in websites. Don't be afraid to use some color. I'll give you another chance, but don't short change yourself or your long time fans. Give me something that I can write home about.

Sincerely,

Jim Warholic
President of Professional Web Services, Inc.

Labels: Apple, Software