adventures with my computer

My laptop is 5 years old. It's been holding up pretty well, and I'm very fond of it - not to mention I don't really feel like spending lots of money on a new one right now. So, when the airport started having problems, I was concerned. Very concerned. I looked on mac forums for a quick fix. I found a whole lot of people with the same problem and no sign of relief. I tried all the little things anyway, just in case, but to no avail. So I did something drastic - I switched my operating system to Linux. Those who know me can tell you I'm not particularly computer savvy, so I'm on a steep learning curve with my Ubuntu desktop. But! It seemed to be working! My airport hadn't randomly cut out for days! I had solved the problem!

Nope, not so much. This made me face the hard reality that my problem was not with software, but hardware.

Since I'm in England, and far away from any Mac store or Genius Bar, not to mention the age of my laptop puts it well past any warranty date, I had to find another solution.

So I decided to take it apart to see what was going on. It seemed like it wouldn't be that big a deal. Pull out the battery, peek inside. But to reach the airport card, I had to go a bit further. Well, a lot further. Next thing I know I'm carefully inspecting a teardown manual online (this would have been impossible without access to another computer and the internet), and triumphantly pulling out the set of tiny screwdrivers I bought in Japan Town in San Francisco, knowing, of course, that they would be well worth the $1.50 blanket price tag for every item in the store.

So I took it apart. Really, really apart. 

 

I pulled out the airport card, blew on it, and put it back. Snugly. I inspected the wires leading to the airport antenna hidden in the screen. I found a little kink. So I ordered a replacement antenna online, and spent two days casting nervous glances at the table full of tiny screws and fragile computer bits, just waiting to be knocked over or spilled on or otherwise destroyed. Fortunately, none of that happened.

When the mailman came yesterday, I nervously got to work. It's one thing to take all the pieces apart without visibly breaking one, it's quite another to put it back together so that it still works. There were some stumbles. There was a bit of cosmetic damage. At one point I accidentally stabbed the motherboard with my tiny screwdriver. But, in the end... I did it!

Not only does it look basically like it did before, it turns on! And the internet works! I'm writing these words on it right now! I had a (large) glass of celebratory wine and pondered the two tiny screws that somehow failed to make it back in and the now very mangled antenna that had (hopefully) been causing the problem the whole time. Thank you middle-school shop class.