Starting my self repair quest

[demonx]

Our of warranty by about 3 months Macbook Air Rev A
Failing HDD
No Audio output devices found
Case screws that have walked out

Apple cost for repair $980.00

Today I ordered
Macbook Case screw set $25.00 Shipped
Macbook Air Audio Flex Cable $22.00 shipped
Tomorrow will work on finding the proper Samsung HDD part number, looking online anywhere from $79-$129.00

Not that anyone cares, but maybe it will help someone that has an out of warranty air with problems, will let you know how it goes

 

[tsubikiddo]

Good luck and all the best in bringing your MBA back mate

 

[NewGenAdam]

I gave in my Air for repair after the audio failed.
Almost a month later, and after the technicians changing the logic board, the speakers, the audio cable, the sound is STILL not working. Luckily it remains under warranty and they may replace it. But in my case, broken audio has not been easy to solve.

Hope it's easier for you!
I assume you've ruled out software/OS issues by reinstalling.

 

[demonx]

Thanks guys, I'm hoping it's just the flex cable audio wise and not a deeper issue. I haven't bothered to reload the OS mainly because the drive is reporting errors so needs to be replaced anyways so I'll reload then.

I ordered the drive today, came to around $92.00 shipped for a Samsung HS082HB which from everywhere I read is the model used in the Air.

 

[demonx]

A warning to anyone doing a self repair, Apple must have choose the cheapest screws they could find in the world and then sunk them as deep as possible. They strip like crazy, so now I'm at a standstill because it's the HDD screws so I can't get to the hard drive or the audio flex cable until I got those out

Figuring I'm going to have to take a dremel to them and cut an area for a flathead to pry them out

 

[demonx]

Ok managed to get to the flex sound cable, installed the new audio cable, mac started up and SOUND!!!

Next step will be to replace the HDD and rear case screws. Screws will come in on Thursday, hard drive should be here Monday but these stripped screws are going to make that task harder than it should be. Not quite sure what I'm going to do yet but beats paying Apple almost a grand to do this

 

[stoconnell]

Ok managed to get to the flex sound cable, installed the new audio cable, mac started up and SOUND!!!

Next step will be to replace the HDD and rear case screws. Screws will come in on Thursday, hard drive should be here Monday but these stripped screws are going to make that task harder than it should be. Not quite sure what I'm going to do yet but beats paying Apple almost a grand to do this

Congrats on getting sound out I am glad it was simply a cabling issue and not a mobo issue. I haven't had the impetus (and guts) to crack open my MBA yet -- mostly afraid of stripping the screws.

 

[Scottsdale]

You can buy an end at Sears that goes on a power screwdriver that will turn out any stripped screw.

Where did you get the drive? Figured one with Apple's connector would cost more. But maybe the original MBA's drive connector isn't as impossible as newer SATA-II/LIF.

Good luck.

 

[demonx]

Congrats on getting sound out I am glad it was simply a cabling issue and not a mobo issue. I haven't had the impetus (and guts) to crack open my MBA yet -- mostly afraid of stripping the screws.

You can buy an end at Sears that goes on a power screwdriver that will turn out any stripped screw.

Where did you get the drive? Figured one with Apple's connector would cost more. But maybe the original MBA's drive connector isn't as impossible as newer SATA-II/LIF.

Good luck.

Yeah the screws are the worst, seriously I think Apple must have gotten them for free, they are terrible!

I'll have to run over to sears next week then, do you think they have an end small enough for the small screws in the air?

I got the drive from here, it's the exact model that comes with the air, hopefully with the proper connector, guess I'll know next week
http://www.getpartsonline.com/hs082hb.html

 

[demonx]

New HDD came in today, I managed to work around the strip screws by unscrewing some other components. Removed the old drive and stole it's rubber guard and put it on the new drive.

On a zif connector you need to slide the black bar up to open it and back down to close it, had no idea about this and I just pulled the ribbon out. Luckily it seems no damage was done but just a heads up

Dropped new drive in, screwed everything back in except for the back of the case for now, started her up and it booted to the Folder with a question mark which I guess is a good sign. My OSX disk is out my house and I'm at the g/fs and not driving an hour tonight just to get it so will see how the install goes tomorrow

Oh and I forgot to do a recent time machine backup, which sucks. Guess I'll need to find an external zif enclosure now

 

[Scottsdale]

Congratulations. I guess people can save money by doing this stuff themselves. The screw out bit I have would work as long as there is nothing around the screw.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[demonx]

The g/f came up with a brilliant idea, "Why don't you just use the disk that are in the drawer that came with the Macbook air you bought me??"

Doh!
So found the disk, booted off the usb superdrive, used disk utility to format the drive and OSX being installed as we speak

I'll probably end up swapping drives one more time just so I can do a time machine backup and preserve my photos and such

All in all it's not as bad as I thought and knowing what I know now I could easily do another one. The biggest pain in the butt are the screws, I can't say enough about what a pain in the arse they are!!!

I think that should be it for now, hope this all helps someone in the future

 

[demonx]

Congratulations. I guess people can save money by doing this stuff themselves. The screw out bit I have would work as long as there is nothing around the screw.

Thanks for sharing.

Yeah I think an extractor would have worked had I been able to find one small enough, I saw some size 0s online but my patience for waiting for stuff to ship in has run out at this point and time

 

[demonx]

Hit another hurdle last night, seems going from 10.5.3 to 10.5.7 via software update is not such a good idea. Macbook air restarted and then Kernal panicked on boot every time, reinstall OSX twice until I realized it was the update causing the issue.

Did a third reinstall (phew) and went 10.5.3 to 10.5.5 combo update, then went from 10.5.5 to 10.5.6, then finally went from 10.5.6 to 10.5.7 update and all is well.

Then I need to put back in my old HDD and backup my photos and music, should have done this first and saved myself some trouble

 

[Disavowed]

well done!

 

[calsci]

wow man you are my hero. how much money did you end up paying doing it yourself versus going with apple's ridiculous price for fixing things?

 

[demonx]

well done!

wow man you are my hero. how much money did you end up paying doing it yourself versus going with apple's ridiculous price for fixing things?

Thanks guys, just sealed her up and all is well again

Apple wanted $980.00 for the repair.

My cost for doing it myself
Macbook Case screw set $25.00 Shipped
Macbook Air Audio Flex Cable $22.00 shipped
Replacement HDD $92.00
Set of decent computer screw set from radio shack $14.00

So roughly $153.00 and my time, a savings of around $827.00

 

[uberamd]

Thanks guys, just sealed her up and all is well again

Apple wanted $980.00 for the repair.

My cost for doing it myself
Macbook Case screw set $25.00 Shipped
Macbook Air Audio Flex Cable $22.00 shipped
Replacement HDD $92.00
Set of decent computer screw set from radio shack $14.00

So roughly $153.00 and my time, a savings of around $827.00

Thats a very nice savings for sure. You can get a refurb macbook air for under $1000 direct from Apple. However if you don't know exactly what you are doing or get too excited, its very easy to dig yourself a repair hole by damaging more fragile parts. I did that with my 3G, now the earpiece speaker and proximity sensors are dead.

 

[Scottsdale]

Thanks guys, just sealed her up and all is well again

Apple wanted $980.00 for the repair.

My cost for doing it myself
Macbook Case screw set $25.00 Shipped
Macbook Air Audio Flex Cable $22.00 shipped
Replacement HDD $92.00
Set of decent computer screw set from radio shack $14.00

So roughly $153.00 and my time, a savings of around $827.00

Apple shouldn't charge $25 for $0.25 worth of screws; these things really make Apple seem worthless to me. We pay thousands for these MBAs, and Apple could be nice and just charge $1.99 for shipping these or should be free at an Apple store.

At least the big picture was a huge savings for you.

Cheers

 

[McGilli]

Very impressive - good work. Started at the beginning of this thread - and I was kind of expecting the worst.... especially when you mentioned not removing the zif connector properly!

Awesome it worked out!

We've all seen that $980 quote from Apple on this forum before... good to know it's a scam....

 

[demonx]

Thats a very nice savings for sure. You can get a refurb macbook air for under $1000 direct from Apple. However if you don't know exactly what you are doing or get too excited, its very easy to dig yourself a repair hole by damaging more fragile parts. I did that with my 3G, now the earpiece speaker and proximity sensors are dead.

Apple shouldn't charge $25 for $0.25 worth of screws; these things really make Apple seem worthless to me. We pay thousands for these MBAs, and Apple could be nice and just charge $1.99 for shipping these or should be free at an Apple store.

At least the big picture was a huge savings for you.

Cheers

Very impressive - good work. Started at the beginning of this thread - and I was kind of expecting the worst.... especially when you mentioned not removing the zif connector properly!

Awesome it worked out!

We've all seen that $980 quote from Apple on this forum before... good to know it's a scam....

Yep, I was a bit nervous at first that I was going end up making things worse, but I was out of warranty so at that point it didn't really matter.

Yeah the screws are a pain and in hindsight I could probably have went to the Apple store or called them and got the screws for cheaper or free, didn't think about that and just ordered them online from a reseller with the flex audio cable.

Yeah the zif connector is a tough little guy, I should have researched more before I went at it but it held up to the abuse thankfully

 

[demonx]

Replacment screws came in today, but they aren't right. Well ordered right just whoever made them must have never actually seen an air

Ah well may try asking for a pack from apple store once the 3GS hype dies down

 

[nagromme]

Thanks for the report, demonx! Hope the screws worked out for you.

How did the refurb HD work out?

My version A Air's HD died, and I like that price from getpartsonline.... but the idea of a refurb HD makes me a little nervous!