Work Blog

ipod nano 2nd gen

2010-01-22T15:00:00.000-08:00

I recently fixed my 2nd gen ipod nano, from the dreaded white screen of death which basically means your screen on you nano is dead or poss slightly become disconnected from the logic board.

I thought what the hell I will try and fix it, so purchased the ipod opening tools and a replacement 2nd gen nano screen just incase i needed it. Total cost including tools and screen was £10 and after an hour or so taking the nano to bits and putting it back together again I now have working 2nd gen ipod nano again.

B

Happy New year and all that

2010-01-06T13:38:00.000-08:00

Just wishing everyone a happy new year and just to let everyone know I am still here
if anyone needs any help with anything related apple!

Powerbook 15" 1.33ghz Repaired

2009-11-17T04:35:00.000-08:00

Recently repaired powerbook 1.33ghz machine,
it had recently been upgraded with os x 10.5 and whilst it was being updated via apple updates the system crashed and basically made the system hardly run any programs/apps on its system.

I basically thought it was best to do clean install (achive & install) after a disk utilities failed
to fixed the problems that existed after the failed apple update. It turned out the hard drive
was failing hence why the update could't finish its update and screwed the whole system in the process.

I only found out the hard drive was dying after i did the Archive and Install of 10.5 and at the end
of the install it mentioned user files and network prefs could be transfered over from previous system.
Then I restarted and i suddenly got the missing system folder icon, did a quick boot up via DVD and saw the hard drive was't showing anymore. (the drive was almost 5 or 6 years old so it had done pretty well and was making alsorts of noises before it died)

Strangly enough smart status always said the disk was Verified in system profiler.

I replaced the 60gb hard drive with a brand new samsung 160gb drive, everything is now working
a treat with os x 10.5.

Powerbooks

2009-11-10T01:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry did't realise I had't posted anything on here for over an year.

I've recently had alot of calls regarding powerbooks, mostly ones that
have stopped working and appear to be totally dead.

Also have powerbook in that was acting strangly after a failed 10.5 apple update,
turns out once I tried to reinstall a new 10.5 system the hard drive died.
Mind you it was the original 60gb hard drive, so it had done well to last that long.

Update to site to follow shortly, to see if I can find some more clients!!!!
Advertising again on freeads and gumtree (kent).

It's been a while!

2008-11-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

Yep it's been a while since I last posted a blog via the site, but better late then never.
Since the move to Dartford I've had afew jobs one being a ibook G4 that needed a new
DC-in board replacing which was a pretty straightforward job once I located the part for it.

The other job being a upgrade of 10.3 to 10.4 tiger on ibook which was needed to run one
a 3G usb wireless internet device.

Also just thought I'd mention macrevitalise.co.uk is now top on google if you search
for mac repairs dartford or apple mac repairs dartford. So hopefully more people can find me locally to dartford for there mac repairs.

Relocation, Relocation

2008-08-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

Not posted for months, still getting various jobs in regarding replacement hard drives for mostly powerbooks at the moment. It also seems like lots of powerbooks invertor boards are packing up at the moment too.

Am in the process of relocating to Kent and will then only be operating my apple mac repair services within the Gravesend, Greenhithe, Dartford, Darenth, Bluewater, Crayford, Bexley & Bexleyheath areas.

Intel Core 2 Duo Imac's for SALE

2008-05-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

Not blogged for a while, just thought I'd let anyone visiting my site if anyone is
after a 17" white imac see specs below I know someone selling a couple for a good price.

Spec for imac:
1.83 Intel core 2 Duo, 160 HDD, 2GB ram, combo drive, and all usually extras.
(Includes keyboard & mouse)

Price £325

Drop me an email for further details
benn@macrevitalise.co.uk

Macs 4 Sale page added to site

2008-03-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

I've actually got round to adding the macs 4 sale page to my site http://www.macrevitalise.co.uk/Apple_mac_parts_4sale.html
it's basically to sell on various apple computers & parts I no longer need or have the space for.

Hopefully I will slowly be adding the 2nd hand apple mac computer guide, which I feel will increase the traffic on my website and give people abit more insight at the current hand 2nd hand apple computer market within the UK.

Hopefully will post again soon regarding any other site updates!
B

Revitalised 500mhz G3 iBook

2008-02-12T13:06:00.000-08:00

I've not posted for well over a month now, plus I still have't got around to updating my site! There will be at some stage in the next couple of weeks a 2nd hand mac guide via my site and also a section on my site of various apple mac computers and parts I currently have for sale.

I fitted a new combo CD/DVD drive plus also an new internal 80GB hard drive into an old 500mhz iBook G3 machine the other week, it must of been the first iBook I've worked on that has't got any signs of a logic board problem.

I'm gonna try and keep my blog updated as and when I do repairs now.

As for OS X 10.5, I'm slowly getting into it but is taking time to get use too!

Happy New Year and all that!

2008-01-03T14:23:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a good Xmas & New Year!

I never got around to posting a blog in dec, I've been fairly busy coming up to the xmas period.
All of sudden I've had surge of imac LCD machines come in with problems or upgrades, the usual problem with them seems to be with the LCD screens (lampshade type imac's).

Also did my first strip down of an powerbook 12" to fit a new DC-in-board, I'll know next time if I ever fit another DC-in-board to charge a hell of alot more then I actually did. But all worked out fine in the end and powerbook burst back into life after being in a million pieces.

Had few easy upgrades of G4 towers just before xmas also, plus I've just started using OS X Leopard on a G5 Tower. As of yet am still not sure I like the feel of the new system, but time will see. OS X 10.5 seems bit more tricky with connecting to PC servers for some reason.

Oh one last thing I know someone selling an G5 Imac 20" see spec below:
-1.8ghz powerpc G5,
-dual processor,-20 " monitor
-2gb ram
-160gb memory
-Microsoft Office 2004
-Adobe Acobat 8 Professional

Also included is a apple keyboard
The machine has no dead pixels
Comes with a bundle of legal software
Apple Care Plan

Contact me if your interested in the imac and can pass on the details of person selling it.

Oh by the way the second hand mac guide will be up on my website soon.

Brand new boxed Apple Mac Pro for SALE

2007-11-13T12:45:00.000-08:00

I know someone selling spanking new Apple Mac Pro see details below:

Brand new boxed Apple Mac Pro - £2000

Spec
3.0 Ghz Quad Xeon processor
2gig of RAM
Radeon ATI X1900 graphics card
250 gig hard drive
Super drive
Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard

What's in the box
• Mac Pro
• Power cord
• Apple Keyboard
• Mighty Mouse
• DVI to VGA adapter
• USB keyboard extension cable
• Install/restore DVDs
• Printed and electronic documentation

Comes with full apple care warranty.
If you have any questions give shout Neil a call on 07985 22 11 75.

Busy Busy

2007-11-06T15:21:00.000-08:00

It's been abit hectic have been getting so many calls & mails in Oct/Nov for
various mac problems/enquiries see list of enquires below:

1. Logic board probs with iBooks
2. Logic board/screen probs with white imac's
3. White imac's superdrives not working
4. Powerbook with poss invertor board problem, stopping
brightness to work on screen
5. Old imac colour repairs
6. Tons of powerbook/ibook screen repair equiries
7. G4 tower upgrades
8. New Macbook setup
9. New Alu Imac setup
10. White imac with apple recall serial number

Am going to be updating my website soon, to include a 2nd hand apple mac
buying guide plus also a few other things.

8th Oct 2007, I'm a DAD!

2007-10-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

8th Oct 2007, I'm a DAD!
Yes am proud father to stunning baby girl named Tyla.

More updates in a week or so.

Busy Busy Mac Repairs

2007-10-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

First of all I've all of sudden got very busy, all down to my website being listed in google if you type in Apple Mac Repair SE London (I'm shown 5th on the google listings)

Over the last few weeks I've seen a good few imac lcd machines with problems, strange as hardly ever touched an imac lcd before last week. (Usual problems are PSU dead or hard drive failure) Also lcd imacs can be a bit strange with tiger upgrades from 10.3, its seems to be better to a totally clean install if you upgrading your lcd imac.

I've also had a few more iBooks with logic board problems as always and am looking into trying to find someone who can help me make perm fixes to these logic board problems. (Anyone know a good electrical soldier who can reball certain logic boards please contact me)

Another job was getting an epson scanner to work with CS3 on imac 24",
known problem with the intel macs (see epson website for work around)

Also I'm about to become a dad by the end of Monday 8th Oct, so if I don't pick up my fone just leave a message or email me and I will get back to as soon as I can regarding any mac help or repairs you may need.

iBook HD replacement

2007-09-23T09:52:00.001-07:00

Workwise has been abit up & down over the last few weeks, I installed a new hard drive in the G4 ibook 1.2ghz machine which was quite a straight forward job.

Also did a temp fix on another G4 ibook which had a very strange logic board problem, it was coming up with some very strange errors and restart messeages. Not sure how long it was gonna last down to the logic board and how much use the ibook was gonna get. Am starting to see alot more G4 iBook logic board problems now, seem to get loads of calls regarding G4 logic boards aswell.

Apple Mac Repair Wars!!

2007-08-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

Had a few clients over the last week, a powerbook that needed a replacement hard drive
and also an ibook with a hard drive that needed replacing.

But I've had alot of trouble via gumtree.com where advertise my services, as your see from the link on my homepage I've added a copy of my current gumtree advert. This is all down to the fact someone visiting gumtree site keeps reporting my adverts I place for my services as misuse of the gumtree site resulting in my advert being taken offline for sometime.

I've contacted gumtree regarding this and they are totally ok with my current advert,
but have to follow up any report of misuse or abuse that's reported via the site, hence why
my adverts are taken offline for a day or longer sometimes.

I'm pretty sure I know who's behind my adverts getting reported, but I won't be naming
the company who also repair apple mac's and obviously don't like competition!

This & that in July

2007-08-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

It's been ages since I last posted, I've fixed fair few logic board problems
all being on iBooks over the last month. I've found a few different methods now regarding temp fixing the logic board problem, mainly due to the fact I actually own a iBook 900mhz I picked up the other week with a minor logic board problem.

Please see below a few logic board links I came across:
http://www.emiratesmac.com/forums/blog/2256-coin-saves-ibook.html
http://www.powerbook-fr.com/ibook/bricolage/repair_g3_video_en_article797.html
http://www.joshoakhurst.com/?p=231

Also had in old iMac DV 500mhz (blue), that somehow had a corrupt system and needed some major diskwarrior fixing and techtool fixing. Till the imac was willing to let me reinstall a new OS X 10.4 system on to it.

Along with the iMac and the logic boards jobs, I've also have quite an increase in failing or dead internal hard drives going on powerbooks & ibooks. Have replaced 4 drives in various ibooks & powerbooks in the last 3
weeks now.

Various iMac, Powerbook & iBook

2007-07-02T04:55:00.000-07:00

Not posted for a while had loads on, I've upgraded a orange ibook clampshell in perfect condition the other week, I did't want to risk putting on OS X on to it as feel it would run too slow. Added in 256mb of ram and it runs pretty smooth on the 9.2.1 system I installed from new, client only wants to use the machine for microsoft word and few other things.

Had a pretty old imac G3 333mhz machine in for extra ram to be added, had bit of prob with the imac not fully registering the 256mb module of ram. The imac for some reason only showed up it had 128mb of ram in it, but is a known problem with some of the older G3 imacs.

Along with the imac I have a Alu G4 Powerbook 15" which i only upgraded other week, come back to me due to the original hard drive dying on it. Will be changing the dead hard drive for the normal seagate momentus drives I always use for replacement internal drives in powerbooks or ibooks.

Finally have G3 ibook coming to me today, with a logic board problem that just needs a fix to keep it going for as long as poss.

Screen for powerbooks & macbooks

2007-06-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

Had few calls this week regarding either fixing powerbook/macbook screens,
I can't as such fix these myself but have added a few links below of certain companies
who specialise in replacement apple laptop screens.

http://www.justmac.co.uk/ Place up in Scotland who repair Apple laptop screens
http://www.thebookyard.com/ Various Apple parts
http://www.applemacparts.co.uk/ Massive selection of Apple parts

Bits & Bobs

2007-06-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

Had few things on over the weekend, looked at a fairly new imac 20" which seemed to have
totally dead hard drive pretty strange for such new machine. Its been taken to apple since and they are replacing with new drive under the warranty.

Also found out the imac i looked at few weeks back which i said showed symptoms of it all being down to the known apple recall on certain imac's was correct and has now been repaired by apple.

Cube help

2007-06-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

Its been a pretty busy week with fone calls, helped a guy out this week regarding a non starting G4 Cube machine and found a pretty nice apple cube site in the process for all things related to the the G4 Cubes. I've added the site to the links page on my site, click on the link if you want to check it out http://cubeowner.com/

I've also got an iBook clampshell to sort out over the weekend, it needs a system update and some extra ram installed so it can run microsoft word ok.

Another logic board problem on G3 iBook

2007-06-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

Had a iBook 800mhz brought over to for repair, all signs basically told me it was a logic board problem. The iBook seemed to start up fine but the screen never came to life once started up and I could hear the hard drive working etc and also tried starting up from CD which it also seemed to work judging from the noise of the CD drive.

Anyway screws permitting I went about trying to fix the logic board with the method as mentioned on my website for the first time on a iBook 800Mhz machine, the logic board is slightly different to machines I have opened up in the past see the photo to right. (Problem chip highlight in blue).

All screws came undone fine with no hassles, but it took me three attempts to get a enough pressure using different types of shims etc. Plus I also taped a few cut up business cards to the side of the heat shield directly above the postion of the logic board chip that was causing the problem with the machine. Third time lucky the shims seemed to push enough pressure to the problem chip and the iBook came back to life and was running fine for over
an hour when I reinstalled a new version of OS X 10.4.

Bank hol weekend x 2 Jobs

2007-05-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

Had two jobs over the weekend, first one was G4 tower 450mhz it just needed a system reinstall of OS X after it had a very bad crash and would't startup again. Installed new version of OS X 10.4.9 with all updates.

Second one was more of a tricky one to figure out, it was looking like a logic board problem on a two & half year old G5 1.8Ghz imac which I have't heard of before. Did abit more checking around and found out it was this: http://www.apple.com/support/imac/repairextensionprogram/

Basically the imac had very bad video problems eg scrambled and distorted video see photo. Advised client to take the imac to apple and get repaired asap. Also backed up whole contents of hard drive, just incase the drive is wiped when with apple.

Site up & running

2007-05-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

New website up & running at last, finally I had time to sort everything out over the wet bank hol monday. Keep checking back for new added info, hopefully coming soon I will add a guide on buying 2nd hand apple macs.

Traffic has trebled with people visiting the new site, but am pretty sure it's down to the guide on how to fix the apple logic board problem on the apple powerbooks and ibooks.