Return of the Mac..

I do love to take things apart to see how they work, of course this is difficult now days with circuit boards, chips and processors. However, this doesn't put me off, I have managed a few repairs now, using the Internet as a guide I might add.

My finest achievement (so far) has to be repairing a Macbook Pro 15" 2006.
It had the graphics problem where the ATI graphics chip loses contact to the logic board. The problem this creates is lots of square blocks covering the screen after boot-up. Mine would only boot in safe mode but the squares/blocks made using the Mac impossible.

Oh No!

Dismantling the case is quite easy, though the front edge was a bit tricky. this is clipped in place and my clips were very stubborn, I did not want to damage or bend the ally case for obvious reasons, so I used a small screwdriver to pop each one apart. No damage!

With the top section and keyboard removed, you see the daunting task ahead, but it's not too bad once you get stuck in. I took a few pictures before I started. Taking pictures is very helpful if you can't quite remember what goes where, I did refer to them a couple of times.

Basically the whole logic board has to be removed. All wires, drives, fans and more screws, these are very tiny screws too. I did try and keep them all organised and I did mostly succeed.

Logic board, ATI chip 3rd right.

With the logic board removed you need to locate the ATI graphics chip. Cleaning the heatsink compound off of all three chips will reveal the 'ATI' logo printed on one of them.

Next was a heat shield, a few layers of kitchen foil is perfect. Wrapping it around the whole board (3/4 layers) until it's completely covered. Then press the area to locate the ATI chip and cut out round the edge to reveal it.

TaDa!

Now the scary part, I needed to heat the chip so hot it would melt the solder underneath which connects it to the board. This heating process is done using a heat gun, mine had a variable temperature control and temperature gauge, very useful. I started at a low temperature and warmed the whole board, this help stops any distortion. Warming the chip in gradual and slow steps all the way up to 450 Celsius! This took me about 15 minutes in total.

IMPORTANT! The board, chip or anything else close by must not be moved for around 10 minutes or more, it needs to cool down. If the chip is touched in any way, with the solder melted, the Mac is scrap!

I used new heatsink compound on all three chips, then refitted in reverse order.

The Macbook booted perfectly and is still working, OK, only been six weeks ;-)

Take a look at this link for more info..

Who is beardyman?

Beardyman is a musician from London, a two-time beatbox champion and a genius with using music technology to sample and loop his own sounds from his mic. He creates a full DJ set doing this, with amazing effect.

You'll find plenty of beardyman on YouTube, I can watch and listen for hours.

Inventive, spontaneous and a clever git! (I hate him)

Beardy Wiki

Kick-Ass

Okay, I know this film has been out for a while now, so don't go and see it.. go and get it!

Love this film..

Software I like..

King Chrome: 

I think Google Chrome internet browser is king of all browsers. I know there are many, and I have not tried them all. Most are skinned and modified versions of the 'main bunch',
Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla/Firefox, Safari and Opera. More..

Chrome is fast, simple, easy to use and looks great, with lots of themes available to personalise. It is available on all major operating systems too. But one very cool feature is 'sync'! If you use Chrome on more than one computer then 'sync' is a must!
Once set-up (by using your Gmail account) you will see all the Chrome browses on all your computers will be identical all the time. All bookmarks, theme, passwords, form filling and more, all synced.

Don't worry if you don't want it all synced, you can choose what to sync!


Take a peek..Google Chrome.

VMware Player, a PC within a PC..

I came across an interesting piece of software the other day. 'VMware player' lets you install a 'virtual machine' on to your computer. Then it enables you to install other operating systems like, Windows XP, any Linux distro, and many others. These are installed on to your new 'virtual machine' (just looks like a window on your desktop).

I found this gem whilst looking for a way to run  Windows XP IN Windows7! Microsoft only provide this luxury if you've splashed out on Win7 Ultimate, Pro or Enterprise! I have the 'Home Premium' version, Grrr.

This really is quite easy to set up and it works and it's FREE!

Check it out... VMware Player

I should mention that there was a practical reason for me wanting such a thing, I needed to run and old XP program that wouldn't work in Win7... problem solved!