PowerBook G3 400 Mhz Lombard (2001) won't power up, no sign of life

Problem fixed now but I want to share this (rather scary) experience with anyone facing a similar problem.
All of a sudden the Powerbook G3 Lombard wouldn't turn on. I knew it wasn't the power supply as it worked fine on my other powerbook Clamshell. I'd press the power button and nothing. Not a sign of life anywhere. Suspecting a problem with the connection I went through the hassle of opening up the computer to check the connection (not a fun or necessary job, as it turned out).
Frustrated and running out of ideas I turned to this forum for help. The very first post I saw was from a user with a similar machine having the exact same problem, following a power outage at his house. It pointed to one small and often ignored little battery, the PRAM battery.
I didn't think it would make a difference but I followed the steps described by another user responding to that thread and sure enough my machine powers up again! Total time to fix: less than a minute.
So I want to share these findings in hopes that it helps someone with a similar problem. It really is easy:
1- Remove the battery, CD/DVD drive and unplug the power supply.
2- Remove the keyboard by pulling back the two tabs just above the 1 and zero keys (top row), then tilt up the keyboard and it will come off (careful, it connects via a wire so be gentle).
3- Disconnect the PRAM battery connector. The battery is located just below the DVD drive, so as you remove the drive in step 1, you can see it. It's a brown plastic casing with 3 wires coming out of it, being red, black and white. The connector itself is white. Just gently ply it upwards. This step is critical.
4- This may not be necessary but do try: press and hold the reset button at the back of the computer for a few seconds (use the end of a ball point pen, button is located beside the Ethernet port.
5- Plug in your power supply and power that sucker up!
Note that if your PRAM battery is dead as is the case with mine, the computer will still work fine but it won't save certain things, such as the current time. This is why you'll get a message that says: your computer clock is out of date, etc. Or sometimes something such as a power failure may confuse this battery, so this drill may be useful.
To test to see if your pram batt is dead, try this: power off the system and connect the pram batt back. Try to restart the Mac. if it starts then the batt probably just needed a flush. If it still won't start, then you need to replace the Pram batt.
Now I need to go buy a new PRAM battery. But I'm just so relieved that my old machine is still going strong. For a while there I thought I had lost the Powerbook but we all know that these Macs run forever.

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Leopard PowerBook G4 400 mhz ATI Rage 128 Hack

I successfully installed Leopard on a PowerBook G4 400 mhz machine via Firewire Disk Mode. Of course there are no video drivers for the ATI Rage 128 graphics card used in the PowerBook G4. I tried using an ATIRage128 kext file from Jaguar (10.2) and installing it in the /System/Library/Extensions folder in Leopard under root by dragging it over top the extensions folder, but an error came up saying it was improperly installed. I did refresh the kext file via root and restarted the computer, but the same error message came up saying the kext file cannot be used as it was improperly installed.
Anybody want to try and take a crack at this? It would really help put some juice back in these older G4 PowerBooks, because there is no video card support to speak of Leopard. With some video support, it will be just fine, because the G4 chip rocks in Leopard. Right now videos are completely choppy.
Message was edited by: Ryan Vetter1

Hello Ryan,
After reading your post, I posted a question on the Pismo G3 forum about whether anyone had tried to install Leopard on a Pismo with a G4 upgraded processor.
The Pismo has the same video card as the 400 Titanium.
I received a response form JPL that might interest you:
I looked at the version number of the ATIRage128.kext from 10.2.8 and it is version 1.2.26; the same kext is version 1.4.4 (created 3/26/05) in my 10.4.11. I don't know if a newer version may be compatible but it might be worth a try.
jpl
Posts: 3,302
Registered: Jul 27, 2000
I hope this might help you! PB

400 Mhz Pismo + 2x512MB PC133 modules = yes?

Hello,
Can I install two 512MB PC133 modules into my PowerBook G3 400 Mhz Pismo? Will it work and run with the upgrade or can it only handle 512MB in one slot? Thanks!

needsomeihelp:
I can't remove the whole thing and replace both slots and snap it back into place?
Yes, you can. Sorry if my post seemed to indicate otherwise. My suggestion was that you first remove the processor card, then install the RAM in the lower slot. Snap the processor card back in place then install the top RAM module. The reason for this route is that it enables you the freedom to put more pressure in reseating the processor card. You can try reseating it with both modules in place, and if you don't get a proper seating, remove the top module, reseat and then replace the top module before closing up.
cornelius
Message was edited by: cornelius

Early '09 mini won't power on

Sigh, this past week I tried to turn on my early '09 Mini and it wouldn't do anything. I tried resetting the PRAM, replacing the PRAM battery, and finally gave up. Took it to an Apple certified local shop (not sure if I can mention the name here) and they said it was a dead logic board and would be cheaper to replace the Mini. It bothers me if that is the case. My MacBook is still going strong and takes far more abuse than this thing ever saw. Is there any way I can personally verify it is the logic board? I really have no desire to buy a new Mac currently or buy a logic board that's almost as expensive as a new Mini...

I wouldn't get too hung up comparing the mini to your MacBook, as the portables have a different design point.
The easiest way to confirm a logic board issue is to take it to another shop. The mini is pretty straightforward ... if it won't startup, showing no signs of life, it almost has to be the logic board (assuming of course that the power brick is working). Since you have an Intel mini, did you do an SMU reset:
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord.
Wait fifteen seconds.
Attach the computer's power cord.
Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.
You may have effectively done that when you took it to the local shop.
When you bought the mini, did you use a credit card that offers warranty extension coverage as a benefit?
You could look to buy a used logic board, but even that may be pricey.

Security Update 2007-5 damaged Powerbook G3-400 Lombard hard drive

Reporting unfortunate, possibly expensive, very time-consuming crash of my Powerbook G3-400 (Lombard) when I installed Apple's Security Update 2007-5 a couple of days ago:
• Logged on as admin user, no other app running (that I remember), but still had USB cables in (they were for iPod - not connected, and for external USB jump drive, connected). OS was 10.3.9, with all updates up to that date. Connected to broadband by Ethernet to switch to cable modem, NOT wireless.
Downloaded, installed, but then during optimization phase got spinning beachball with no progress for over 2 hrs.
• Side comment: HD has 3 partitions: OS X, OS9, and Storage for Users folders. Symlink from OS X's Users folder to actual user folders on the 3rd partition.
• Forced warm boot (Ctrl-Cmd-Pwr), then got nowhere - no OS load.
• Restarted with OS9 CD (no longer have OS X CD, only DVD that does Lombard won't read under OS X): OS X system partition flaky, unable to select it as Startup partition.
• Opened computer, removed hard drive, put it into external case with FW & USB, inspected HD with another FW computer: while OS X partition could be read (at first), running Disk Util showed it was a bad partition, and had to be re-initialized. Lucky I had backed up all non-OS X applications first!
• Re-installed OS X from DVD to the external HD case, applied updates.
• Moved HD back from external case to the PowerBook: now booted OK.
• Disk Util on HD now shows 3rd partition ("Storage") bad.
• However - when went to tighten screws of HD carrier and close Powerbook, lost the HD all over again. Best I can figure out now, somewhere in that process, the orange power/data cable connecting the HD to the IDE/Motherboard quit working (broke?), so I now have a dead Powerbook, until the hardware issue is fixed.
Bottom line: Applying this Security Update led to massive frustrations, frittering of humongous gobs of time (waiting for OS9 to load from CD whenever I tried to test and see if it recognized the internal HDD), and now a dead Powerbook G3. Hopefully a replacement ribbon cable will do the job; although if it's downstream from it (i.e., motherboard connector pins or IDE controller), that's going to be VERY expensive.
Reading this forum and others, perhaps I should have removed the attached USB devices (cable for iPod but without iPod attached, and USB thumbdrive). Also read somewhere that others have had problems with moving Users folders to separate partitions and symlinking to those cause problems with Security Update.
However: wish Apple's Security Updates were better behaved, this experience is making me much more scared of applying any updates in future…
12" iBookG4, iMacG3-400, 15" PowerBook G3-400 Mac OS X (10.3.9) Toying at OSX Server networking

I hear what you are saying.
Let's talk about failure probabilities over large populations. These trends may not apply to your specific case, since you do not have a large sample, you have one.
Of the components you mention, the ones least likely to fail are those that consist only of wires, such as the Hard drive cable. As I recall, it is a flex cable, which is even less likely to die in normal use unless you manage to stretch or pinch it -- it is made to be flexed.
Next least likely to fail is the motherboard electronics. Those drivers and connectors are meant to be plugged and unplugged a few times, but admittedly are not intended for harsh service, and are sometimes subject to zapping by static.
Most likely of all these components to fail is the spinning metal disk whose moveable heads fly much closer to the rapidly spinning surface than a smoke particle, a fingerprint, or a human hair. One good shock, or a few dozen smaller ones, and the head could crash onto the surface of the disk, scrubbing off some of the oxide and spraying it over the inside of the drive to cause more problems later.
If this is the original drive, it was manufactured in about 1999. The manufacturer probably sold the same drive at retail with a one-year warranty. Eight years later it has failed. Even if it is a replacement, it is the most likely the Drives that will fail. Thats why you were wise enough to make a backup.
I expect that the trouble you are having with multiple partitions is an indication that the disk is dying. The way to determine this is to re-write it with known patterns, and read back all those patterns and note which sectors require hardware error correction (to check for errors). A working drive has a number of spare sectors that can be low-level substituted for ones that are found to be bad during this test.
The way to accomplish this feat under Mac OS X is to initialize the drive with the "Zero All Data" option. It will take several hours to complete. If it passes, your disk has all good sectors. If it fails, running the test again sometimes does a second level of substitution and allows the drive to initialize OK.
I do not know your exact situation, but over a large sample, it is more likely that your drive died, and more likely that it is mostly a coincidence that it happened during this update, except that the optimize is known to read and write a lot of data in different parts of the disk.

PowerBook G3 Pismo 400 Mhz Mega Max Upgrade Ideas?

Hi guys,
I have a PowerBook G3 Pismo (400 Mhz) and I would like to know what the best possible upgrade would be for a machine of this age? HD, RAM, Batt. Thanks!

needsomeihelp:
You will find popular brands of RAM with comparative prices at ramseeker. I have also purchased RAM, with good results from Kahlon. Note that some of these vendors offer free shipping. In addition, their RAM is guaranteed for life. If you buy at eBay you buy at your own risk, so be sure to ask questions.
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• Pull up on the tab on the right side of the board to release it from its connector. The connector is along the bottom, right side of the board. If the tab is missing bend a paper clip and hook it in the hole from the underside and lift.
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Good luck.
cornelius
PS: Thank you for leaving feedback in Apple Discussions by marking "helpful" and "solved" posts.
Cheers
cornelius

What OS can I upgrade my 400 MHz DVD G3 iMac to?

I have a 400 MHz DVD G3 iMac currently running OS 10.2.8. I have 640 MBs of RAM. What is the most current OS I can upgrade to? Thanks for the help!

The posting proceedure can be a little confusing if you are not used to the forum.
In the future if you go to the top of the page and click on > Using your iMac (CRT), for example and post there, more folks will see your question. (Some responders here could move posts in the past - 'not sure if that still applies).
To install Tiger on your machine you will need 256MB RAM minimum (I'd double that). Be sure you use a "Universal" install disk. Don't try to use a "Machine-Specific grey disk. It won't work.
Although external drives are useful, you don't need one to install Tiger.
David

Lombard PMU Won't Reset

I picked up a used Lombard a few weeks ago, and I just got a new battery for it. When the battery arrived, it showed a nearly full charge and the Lombard seemingly charged it to full.
However, now it doesn't seem to want to charge - it reads as having a zero charge, even though I've been able to run it off the battery (and am doing so right now).
I figure I need a PMU reset, but for some reason the instructions on the Apple site won't work.
Any ideas?

Adam,
Do any of the LEDs on the battery light when you press the test button? One blinking LED means the battery charge is too low to run the 'book, while a solid 1-4 LEDs indicate the level of charge.
In the menu, does the battery icon show an AC plug (powerbook recognizes a power adapter is connected) or a lightning bolt (battery is charging)?
Remove the optical drive and place the battery in the right media bay. Still the same?
Here is the power manager reset for the Lombard:
PowerBook G3 Series (Bronze Keyboard) (M5343)
1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Press and release the reset button on the rear of the computer. The reset button is located between the external video and modem (RJ-11) ports.
3. Wait 5 seconds.
4. Press the Power button to restart the PowerBook computer.
Note: When you reset the Power Manager, wait at least 5 seconds before pressing the Power button to start up the computer. If you do not wait at least 5 seconds, the reset procedure may fail. (If you suspect that the reset procedure has failed, press and release the reset button again and wait 5 seconds before pressing the Power button.)
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449
Message was edited by: jpl

Any hope for Powermac G4 400 mhz?

I have GB running on a Powermac G4 400 mhz and, not surprisingly, it gives me the "disk too slow" message after more than 3 or 4 tracks. Without investing too much $, is there any hope for upgrading this to a more workable solution for GB, or would I be better off going to a mini w/1.42 Ghz? I'm concerned that the mini might not work that much better.

I'll offer an opinion...
If you can slip a Mini and an external FireWire drive into your budget, that's the way I would go (If you're willing to turn a screwdriver and shop around online for a few weeks, a nice sized FW drive and enclosure can be purchased separately for a total under $100. For some more money a very nice sized drive can be had)
The weakest link in the Mini is the very slow HD it has. Add the FW drive and you'll have a lot more machine than I use as my recording machine in the studio (800Mc iBook)
Naturally it depends how far/hard you plan to go/push.
Effects and software instruments are very processor intensive. Audio is mostly HD intensive.

Should I install iPhoto 5 on my 400 MHz G3?

I have a slot-loading iMac, G3, 400 MHz, with 576K RAM. I've just installed Tiger (10.4.3) on it and it's running well.
I use iPhoto 2 extensively but its sluggishness when the library reaches 2000 photos or so is an annoyance.
I've been led to believe that a later version will give us better performance in iPhoto. I don't care about the other apps in iLife.
I can't go all the way to iLife '06 because it requires a G4.
I've read that some of the photo-editing capabilities in iPhoto 5 require a G4.
My questions:
(1) Would iPhoto 5 work acceptably on my machine?
(2) What advantages would it have over iPhoto 4?
(3) Would iPhoto 4 be a better choice for this machine?
iMac DV (slot-loading) 400 Mhz Mac OS X (10.4.3)

You might want to try iPhoto Buddy to make smaller libraries first. I don't remember 2 all that well and went straight to the 5 series. The editing is a bit stronger in 5 and there's some smart sorting features that make life a bit easier.
It's a tough call. I use Photoshop Elements on my G3.

Can I install Tiger on 400 MHz G3?

My daughter has a 400 MHz G3 (10 GB drive, 1 GB RAM, Firewire, slot-loading DVD) currently running OS X 10.3. We are finding that she does not have access to all web content, because of outdated Flash player. In order to upgrade Flash player, she needs OS X 10.4.
Checking Apple's specs, it seems like 10.4 should be okay on her machine, but I've seen some comments implying that it may not be. Does anyone have a certain answer on this?
I have a Mac mini, which came with 10.4.7. Can I use my system disks to install on her computer?
I know this is not the G4 forum, but just as long as I'm typing, I have the same questions about my other daughter's G4 (466 MHz, 1 GB RAM, running 10.3.9 now)

Michele Braun wrote:
My daughter has a 400 MHz G3 (10 GB drive, 1 GB RAM, Firewire, slot-loading DVD) currently running OS X 10.3. We are finding that she does not have access to all web content, because of outdated Flash player. In order to upgrade Flash player, she needs OS X 10.4.
Checking Apple's specs, it seems like 10.4 should be okay on her machine, but I've seen some comments implying that it may not be.
Does anyone have a certain answer on this?
I would rely on Apple.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1514
It will run. Some people may feel it will be too slow.
I have a Mac mini, which came with 10.4.7. Can I use my system disks to install on her computer?
doubtful.
I know this is not the G4 forum, but just as long as I'm typing, I have the same questions about my other daughter's G4 (466 MHz, 1 GB RAM, running 10.3.9 now)
For tiger, you need 256meg of memory.
There is no need to partition. You can save hard drive space by doing a custom install. Leave out the print drivers you do not need and the languages you do not need. Doing so you will need about three gigabytes of space.
outoforderorder explains how...
By the way, here it is how you find the terminal application.
Macintosh-HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal
From: san francisco,ca
Registered: Apr 27, 2007
Re: Do the widgets drain system resources and power?
Posted: Apr 28, 2007 2:51 PM
I tend to think dashboard is neat, but not neccesary for my everyday workflow.
it is possible to enable and disable it as needed,
by entering the following commands into the terminal:
#To turn Dashboard off:
defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES
#To turn Dashboard on:
defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean NO
#*You have to restart the Dock after making either change for it to take effect:
killall Dock
Bye Bye Dashbaord
http://www.kainjow.com/kermitsoft/downloads.html
Disable Spotlight, Bonjour and Dashboard:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8749558#8749558
If you have a second Mac computer, you may be able to use target disk mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
http://lowendmac.com/misc/06/0710.html

Help! PowerBook Won't Power On and Start Up!!!

Hi All,
I’m hoping someone out there can help! My PowerBook G4 15 Inch (Original model) won’t start at all. When I push the power button, nothing happens. Nothing at all. No lights, no sounds, no fan, nothing. It was working fine when I put it away on a shelf in my closet about a year ago, but when I took it out to look up a document, I found that I couldn’t turn it on. It hasn’t been dropped, knocked, exposed to water, etc. It’s literally just been sitting on a shelf for about a year. Some information which may help:
1. It appears that the battery does not hold a charge anymore, because I left the laptop plugged in overnight and the indicator lights on the battery still do not light at all when the power status button on the battery is pressed. However, I don’t think this should affect startup when the AC adapter is plugged in – the PowerBook should start up regardless of the power status of the battery. (By the way, I know that the AC adapter is good because I tried it on a friend’s PowerBook and it works fine.)
2. I’ve already reset the PMU (several times) by pushing the little button on the rear of the PowerBook with the end of a paper clip. That doesn’t change anything either.
3. I’ve removed the battery and left the laptop plugged in for approximately 15 hours just in case the internal PRAM battery needed a charge after having been stored for so long. No luck there, either.
I can’t understand what could have happened to it just sitting on a shelf! I had another Mac laptop sitting right next to it for the same amount of time, and that one started up just fine. Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem could be and a potential solution(s)?
Many many thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

Appler5 wrote:
it seems fairly cheap and easy to fix
Yes, which is why I'd tackle that first. My first suggestion would have been to try the power adapter with a meter or on another Mac or check, but you're a step ahead of me on that, so aside from a possible, but highly improbable death while resting on the shelf, the b.u./PRAM batt is the obvious issue.
I do hope that's what this turns out to be
Me too. It'd be worth it for your time and money, whereas other, major, components would likely not be cost effective, given the PB's age.
I'll update with a post when I know more.
Please do, and good luck!

Powerbook g4/400 power on porblems

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ANY IDEAS?

Hi, Martha. After you've taken the entire machine apart and put it back together again multiple times, and without any assurance that your optical drive works or that there's a good OS installation on the hard drive, there is just no way for anyone to guess what might be wrong. It could be anything at all. You're going to have to start with a known-good AC adapter, optical drive and hard drive (ideally with a known-good OS for your PB installed on the latter) and then work your way very systematically through all the hardware assembly steps, checking for errors, loose connections and visible signs of damage every step of the way, until you either isolate the hardware fault or give up. Good luck — you're going to need it.

15" Studio Flat ADC Display PowerMac G4 400 MHz Radeon 7500 no video

Purchased a video card - Radeon 7500
ATI Radeon 7500 32MB ADC VGA MAC Edition video card
Computer is PowerMac G4 AGP Graphics (CPU type 2.7) 1 MB Level 2 cache
VGA works fine.
ADC is not operational. 15 inch (clear case) display not getting a signal, Profiler not showing any display connected to the ATY,Bluestone_B
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (VIDEO CARD)
Power Mac™ G4 with AGP 2X or AGP 2X/4X universal slot
DVD playback requires DVD drive
!!!!!!!!! WHATS WRONG?
PowerMac G4 400 MHz Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Hi Gary,
The G4 AGP graphics model is pre-ADC and its motherboard will not support a video card with a native ADC port. The ADC ports on such cards draw their power and USB feed via an extra leg on the card that fits into an extra slot at one end of the AGP slot on the computer motherboard. Your computer does not have this extra slot.
To run an ADC display off your computer, you can run a video card with a DVI output, then use a DVI to ADC adaptor such as this one:
http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?code=0111-DVAD
You can use VGA to ADC adaptors, but they are much more expensive (than a DVI to ADC adaptor plus another video card), and don't give as good a result.
Cheers!
Karl

Can a KT4V-L Board support a 400 mhz FSB?

Just curious. I am anxiously awaiting the new Athlon XP Bartons with 400 mhz FSBs. Juts wondering if a BIOS update is all that's needed?

out of luck ,chipsets got no 1/6 divider
nforce 2 ,via k8 if you must

PowerBook G3 400 Mhz Lombard (2001) won't power up, no sign of life

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