Basic Mac Hardware Problem - Need Help

C

coldsuper

Registered
Hi everyone, i am a new mac user, would glady appreciate help on some basic technical questions

Questions.

1) What is the use of an inverter board?
2) What is the inverter board relation to the logic board
3) If a powerbook is low on power and is connected to a working battery adapter but does not charge, what could be the main reason. incompatible battery adaptor?
4) what is the best way to damage the LCD of a powerbook permantely, rub the LCD or set the brightness to highest?
5) In component isolation troubleshooting, what is not included in it, backup battery or power adaptor?
6) If my powerbook has distorted sounds, what could be faulty, the DC board, the sound board, the logic board or the inverter board?
7) Whats are the hardware parts difference in powerbook aluminium and titianium series?
9) What is the best way to ground a ESD mat, connect it to a grounded power outlet or connect it to the equipment itself?
10) If the powerbook does not power up after a PMU reset, what hardware could be fauly, the DC board, the logic board or the invertor board?
 
01. No specific 'Basic Mac Hardware Problem' was listed.
02. No specific PowerBook model and MacOS X version were provided.

'What is the use of an inverter board?' - most likely to generate the high voltage for the LCD's backlight bulb.

'What is the inverter board relation to the logic board?' - the inverter board is (typically) connected to the logic board. Therefore, the inverter board is a sister board or child board (and thus the logic board is the parent) of the logic board; depending on who you ask.

'If a powerbook is low on power and is connected to a working battery adapter but does not charge, what could be the main reason?', - since the problem can be anything from the 'power adapter', the 'power adapter's connector, the PowerBook's DC connector, the DC / DC converter board, the battery, ...

'... incompatible battery adaptor?' - possibly. Any thing is possible.

'What is the best way to damage the LCD of a powerbook permantely, rub the LCD or set the brightness to highest?' - probably, a sledgehammer. Considering the 'one or the other' type of question - setting the brighenss to highest. That is unless one is rubbing the LCD screen with a ball point pen, ...

'In component isolation troubleshooting, what is not included in it, backup battery or power adaptor?' - since the actual 'Basic Mac Hardware Problem' was not listed ...

'If my powerbook has distorted sounds, what could be faulty, the DC board, the sound board, the logic board or the inverter board?' - the DC / DC converter board, if it does not provided the needed voltage(s) and / or supply current(s); the sound board, if a component of the board is damaged; the logic board, if a component of the board (related to sound) is damaged. Most likely the inverter board is not involved with sound; but then ...

'Whats (?) are the hardware parts difference in powerbook aluminium and titianium series?' - obtain the respective models 'aluminium' and 'titianitum' series part lists, and start comparing.

'What is the best way to ground a ESD mat, connect it to a grounded power outlet or connect it to the equipment itself?' - well, the Electostatic Discharge' mat, must be itself grounded - thus, provide a 'good' earth ground to the mat. By the way, is this a 'floor' ESD mat or a 'workbench' ESD mat? Either way, the person working on the PowerBook must also be grounded, to a 'good' earth ground.

'If the powerbook does not power up after a PMU reset, what hardware could be fauly, the DC board, the logic board or the invertor board?' - the DC / DC converter board, the logic board, and / or any related connector(s).
 
ElDiabloConCaca said:
These sound eerily similar to questions asked on my Apple Certification exam. You're not trying to cheat, are you? j/k ;)
Click to expand...

I just passed my Apple Certification, just passed only, close to the passing score, these questions still remain a doubt to me

I am just a new user of Mac and have not received any training or course, i just took the exams bindly so would appreciate if someone could answer my doubts

:eek:
 
barhar said:
01. No specific 'Basic Mac Hardware Problem' was listed.
02. No specific PowerBook model and MacOS X version were provided.

'What is the use of an inverter board?' - most likely to generate the high voltage for the LCD's backlight bulb.

'What is the inverter board relation to the logic board?' - the inverter board is (typically) connected to the logic board. Therefore, the inverter board is a sister board or child board (and thus the logic board is the parent) of the logic board; depending on who you ask.

'If a powerbook is low on power and is connected to a working battery adapter but does not charge, what could be the main reason?', - since the problem can be anything from the 'power adapter', the 'power adapter's connector, the PowerBook's DC connector, the DC / DC converter board, the battery, ...

'... incompatible battery adaptor?' - possibly. Any thing is possible.

'What is the best way to damage the LCD of a powerbook permantely, rub the LCD or set the brightness to highest?' - probably, a sledgehammer. Considering the 'one or the other' type of question - setting the brighenss to highest. That is unless one is rubbing the LCD screen with a ball point pen, ...

'In component isolation troubleshooting, what is not included in it, backup battery or power adaptor?' - since the actual 'Basic Mac Hardware Problem' was not listed ...

'If my powerbook has distorted sounds, what could be faulty, the DC board, the sound board, the logic board or the inverter board?' - the DC / DC converter board, if it does not provided the needed voltage(s) and / or supply current(s); the sound board, if a component of the board is damaged; the logic board, if a component of the board (related to sound) is damaged. Most likely the inverter board is not involved with sound; but then ...

'Whats (?) are the hardware parts difference in powerbook aluminium and titianium series?' - obtain the respective models 'aluminium' and 'titianitum' series part lists, and start comparing.

'What is the best way to ground a ESD mat, connect it to a grounded power outlet or connect it to the equipment itself?' - well, the Electostatic Discharge' mat, must be itself grounded - thus, provide a 'good' earth ground to the mat. By the way, is this a 'floor' ESD mat or a 'workbench' ESD mat? Either way, the person working on the PowerBook must also be grounded, to a 'good' earth ground.

'If the powerbook does not power up after a PMU reset, what hardware could be fauly, the DC board, the logic board or the invertor board?' - the DC / DC converter board, the logic board, and / or any related connector(s).
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot. I know that some of the questions are still very gray.
I am grounding a workbench mat
Does the inverter board provides power to generate up the logic board or only the logic board controls the power to the inverter?
 
'Does the inverter board provides power to generate up the logic board or only the logic board controls the power to the inverter?' - neither.
 
barhar said:
'Does the inverter board provides power to generate up the logic board or only the logic board controls the power to the inverter?' - neither.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for your help!!!!!!!

I wonder if you could help to answer some more of my doubts, i feel that you are a very good technical person

what is called a basic airport connection? can two airport clients connect without a airport base station or that the basic requires an airport client and a base station

what is a suggested tool to seperate the plastic components inside a ibook? a nose piler??
 
You can connect two Airport-enabled computers without a base station.

nose-picker ? ? LOL
Apple usually refers to the suggested tool for separating plastic components as a black stick, which is a non-conductive, nylon or plastic tool similar to a soldering aid.
 
1)The inverter board converts DC voltage back to AC voltage to power the cold fluorescent light (CFL or CCFL) tubes which provide bright white light at the back of the LCD.

2)The inverter board is one of the 3 components in most Apple laptops responsible for the video display. The other two being the LCD screen and the logic board.

3) Possibly. There are 2 power converters in the iBook and PowerBook line that look very similar. One is 45W the other is 65W. If you try to use a 45W power converter on a machine that needs the 65W (usually a Powerbook), it will provide power to run, but not enough to charge the battery too.

4) Rubbing the LCD panel hard enough will most certainly damage it.

5) The backup battery should be left out as it does not usually prevent a machine from working, where as a bad power converter would affect whether a machine works or not.

6) The sound board.

7) The outer shell of the Powerbook.

9) You ground the mat by connecting to the ground of an electrical outlet, not the equipment you're working on.

10) The DC Board would be your first suspect.

I would highly recommend picking up a book (Apple Training Series : Desktop and Portable Systems) and really learning the information. You can find a great deal on Amazon here. Just scroll down to the Better Together section.
 
What is your name?
What is your favorite color?
What . . . is the windspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

;)
 
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