Skip to main content

My A1342 MacBook is much worse than yours

I am now using a really bad Mac for everyday use!  It's bad because a lot of its parts are broken - but it still soldiers on.

It's a late 2009 vintage A1342 white polycarbonate model.

Full disclosure:  I have repaired many A1342 MacBooks, and so I have a bunch of mediocre spare parts laying around.  I would never put mediocre parts into a customers' machine, but I don't want to throw them into the recycle bin.  So I took the parts that somewhat work and assembled a "good-enough" Macbook out of them.

Before jumping into the bad, here are the positive highlights:

1. 8 GB of RAM installed
2. 1 TB SSD drive installed
3. It all works for my use

Saved from the Recycle Bin

Yes, my MacBook is made from many bad parts saved from the recycle bin.  So I guess I am REUSING D-grade components instead of RECYCLING them - at least for the next few years.

Here's what's been saved from the recycling mill:

Battery
The battery is a weak, cheap aftermarket device in "service battery" mode.  Normally I'd recycle this battery, but instead I am using it.  (Like many MacBooks, the A1342 operates very slowly without a battery, so it is usually far better to have a weak battery than no battery.)

LCD & Display Housing
The display LCD freezes up when tilted the "wrong" way. I replaced the cable, and it turns out the the problem isn't with the cable - the problem is with the display electronics immediately below the LCD.  The LCD screen sports a 30mm scratch on the right side of the screen.  I put the LCD into a display housing that has exceptionally long and ugly hinge cracks.
Keyboard
The keyboard was from a water damaged MacBook.  It has four non-functional keys: ENTER ,  ], \, and EJECT.  Since I need these keys, I installed and use the Karabiner utility to remap the keyboard.  I miss the ENTER key the most.  I have the right-OPTION key act as ENTER.  Left-OPTION + / is backslash, and left-OPTION + [ is close-bracket.  The re-mappings can take a while to get used to.

Magsafe Adapter
The Magsafe adapter came from a MacBook Pro that wasn't charging properly.  The LED on the MagSafe cable does not work.  The magsafe adapter only powers and trickle-charges the Mac.  It does not charge the battery like a normal charger.  This is due to bad electronics within the magsafe end of the cable.

Bottom
The bottom was from the ugliest, most disgusting MacBook I've ever seen.  I cleaned off the remaining peeling rubber, and so now it's just an aluminum plate with holes.  Now it has floor felt protectors to prevent it from scratching up my desktop.

Assembly
Several screws are "wrong" or "missing", but I didn't want to worry about minor details.  It's good enough.

Conclusion

Now before you get all upset and question me about how much effort I put into assembling this sad MacBook  - the answer is "something like 15 minutes" - I am very experienced dealing with the internals of these Macs.  And in the time since then, I have a computer that I'm am likely to use for at least 18 months, if not much longer.

You got to love these oldie Macs - they keep on running until Apple abandons them, and then you can run Windows or Linux on them.  Once I decide to replace this old Mac, I'll likely repurpose it as a media server.

Things that I have *never* seen broken on an A1342:
  • Fan
  • iSight Camera
  • Hinge cable
  • Antennas 
Things that I have seen wonky on an A1342:
  • Wifi card (spotty behavior (rare))
  • Trackpad (spotty behavior, water ingress?)
  • Keyboard (always water ingress, pretty common)
  • Top case damage (due to battery swelling)
  • Logic board (always water ingress)
  • DVD (usually due to user-inserted debris; often repairable)
  • RAM (usually aftermarket garbage)
  • Batteries (usually aftermarket garbage)
  • Bottom rubber failure (common, was a recall repair at one point)
  • Hinge cracks (very common, but usually harmless)
  • MagSafe burn-out (due to using a fake adapter) 
  • Damage due to poor repair/upgrade attempts 
  • Damage due to hard drops or abuse (usually plastic damage)

Popular posts from this blog

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, part 1: Disassembly Guide

I've had my SodaStream Jet for years, and once in a while something has gone wrong. Disassembly is the first step to repair.  Start with this article to see how to disassemble the SodaStream, and then once you have that down, scroll through my other articles to see how I repaired specfic SodaStream problems. SodaStream Jet Disassembly Guide Tools Required Flat head screwdriver Phillips head screwdriver 1. Remove the Carbonator.  Duh. 2. Remove the black panel lever The front big black tilt lever needs to be removed first. Removing this panel is tricky, but it isn't impossible. Looking up at the bottom of the black panel, there are two tabs, one on the left and one on the right. These tabs fully secure the panel in place. The trick is to use a flat-head screwdriver under the plastic to gently lever the tabs out of the way.  Note in the pictures how I approach these tabs with my screwdriver.  I usually release the left side first, and then I release ...

Fixing my Wahl 9918 Groomsman Beard and Mustache Trimmer

Not everyone would bother repairing a $25 beard trimmer, but why not fix something for under $5 instead of spending another $25? My  Wahl 9918 Groomsman Beard and Mustache Trimmer  has admirably performed its beauty duty for many years, but the time came when the battery just wasn't holding a charge any more.  Most people would just put the trimmer in the trash and buy a new one, but I figured I could repair my otherwise excellent Wahl and save some money. In fact, even high priced trimmer and rotary shaver brands, like Norelco and Remington, can be easily repaired using a process similar to the one I used to fix my Wahl.  Read on to find out how. I opened up the Wahl by popping off the black plastic faceplate with a tiny flathead screwdriver, which revealed two screws.  By removing the two screws I was able to easily open up the unit, revealing the guts of the device. Backplate off, Revealing the screws The internals are rather simple: a motor, a...

Trendnet TEW-652BRP and DD-WRT Success!

I recently visited my dad while on a business trip when I coincidentally discovered that DD-WRT is now available for his TEW-652. The TEW-652BRP has been a great router for my father, but it isn't what I'd call "feature rich". An upgrade to DD-WRT is a big bonus. I live 2500 miles away from my non-technical father, and so a well-specified router that helps me manage his network remotely is important to both of us. This article will explain what I did to finally get DD-WRT working on my TEW-652BRP v1.0R. About the TEW-652brp It's a nice looking little black 802.11n, 2.5 GHz router. It was amazingly inexpensive (usually way under $30), and  the TEW-652brp is available through Amazon. Mine is a version 1.0R, you'll likely want the same version. Out of the box, it works quite well - it has been stable, and I was fairly happy with the stock firmware. But it was short on features - I like having VPN, SSH, and flexible DHCP services on the home netwo...

Fixing a SodaStream Jet, Repair #2 - Broken Fill Button

My Soda Stream Jet's fill button broke, which means I can not longer carbonate water by pressing the pushbutton. This caused all sorts of grief in my household. Here is how I managed to repair my Jet to give it another 10 years of life (hopefully). First, a look at the button The fill button on the top of the SodaStream is actually a simple lever. Pressing down on the button moves a pin that does the actual work of pressing open the Carbonator's valve. Unfortunately, the axis point is fairly thin and can see a lot of stress. That's where my Soda Stream button cracked. [ I think the usage tip here is "don't over-press the button like a gorilla, it doesn't do anything but put high stress on the button."] Cracked levering point of the button The Pesky Lever Retaining Pin The Fix It was pretty easy for me to replace the button: Take off the back of the Soda Stream and remove the carbonator. Push out the the button lever's steel retaining pin. This takes qu...

Sodastream Carbonator Leakage, Usage, and Weight

SodaStream 60L "Carbonator" CO2 cylinders have a specific weight when empty, plus about 410 or so grams for the CO2 they should have when they're "full".  A little while ago I went to buy a replacement Carbonator from my local hardware store. The dealer pulled a new Carbonator out of the box and sensed it was lighter than usual.  He put the "light" Carbonator in the "empty" pile and sold me a different one.  At that moment I concluded that it would be smart of me to weigh both new and empty SodaStream carbonators.  Here are the results. Weighing a SodaStream Carbonator - for both Science and Consumer Protection.       The dealer told me that sometimes the carbonators leak after they leave the SodaStream filling facility.  That means there could be an opportunity for customers like me to get ripped off! The SodaStream cylinders I buy claim to have a net product weight of 410 grams - and that means that a full Soda Stream Carbonator shou...

Fix a Lightning Cable with Heat Shrink Tubing

We've all seen a Lightning cable that has started to fall apart.  They get used every day, and after enough tugs and yanks on your iPhone, they start to fray. I've seen a lot of these frayed cables, so I've started to fix them before they break with heat shrink tube.  I get my heat shrink on Amazon, like this handy and inexpensive pack.   I prefer the heat shrink tubes without internal glue - it has higher flexibility and a smaller outside diameter once shrunk. Heat Shrink Tubing on an Old, Frayed Lightning Cable In the photo here, you'll see that I slid on a 1.25 inch length of heat shrink over the lighting connector, and then shrunk it into place.  I chose a diameter that just barely fits over the lightning connector.  In all, it took about 60 seconds to perform this repair. Warning: the white plastic of the lightning cable has a pretty low melting point.  It seems to start to melt at about 125°C (or about 250°F), which is the same temperatur...

Other Posts

Show more