14" iBook G4 shuts off when I open it up

Question

I just started having this problem two days ago with my iBook. When I close it everything looks fine, the little light in the front is lit showing that it is still on but when I open up the computer, instead of waking up, it just shuts off and then won't turn on forever. It seems like I have to hit the power button just right for it to come back on. It does not shut off at any other time, only when I open up the computer. Other than this I have no problems. It does not appear to be the battery and it does not shut down at any other time. Why is it shutting off when I try to open it and why will it not turn on again? I hope this question makes sense!

Answer 1

nerone,
but when I open up the computer, instead of waking up, it just shuts off and then won't turn on forever. It seems like I have to hit the power button just right for it to come back on. It does not shut off at any other time, only when I open up the computer. Why is it shutting off when I try to open it and why will it not turn on again? I hope this question makes sense!
I tried to put it to sleep through the Apple menu and it also shuts down then.
OK that last step eliminated the cable, reed/cable and inverter problems.
So that makes it a PMU problem. The PMU is actually a tiny computer within the computer. It's official designation is PMU99.
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Hardware/DeveloperNotes/Macintosh_CPUs-G4/12inchPowerBookG4/2_Architecture/chapter_3_section4.html
"Power Control IC
The power manager IC in the 12-inch PowerBook G4 is a Mitsubishi M16C/62F microprocessor, also called the PMU99. It operates with its own RAM and ROM. The functions of the PMU99 include:
*controlling the sleep and power on and off sequences
*real time clock
*controlling power to the other ICs
*monitoring the battery charge level
*controlling battery charging
*supporting the interface to the built-in keyboard
The 12-inch PowerBook G4 can operate from a 15-volt power outlet on an airliner, however for safety reasons the computer will not allow battery charging. In order for the computer to detect the connection to airline power, the airline power cable should have a sense resistor of 24.3K ohms connected between the power plug's shell and ground.
The PMU99 also provides the hardware interface to the keyboard. Software in the PMU99 IC scans the keyboard, then sends the data to the system in packets like those from the ADB. To the system, the keyboard behaves as if they were ADB devices"
Try resetting it:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449
If that doesn't work try what I call a deep PMU reset.
Pull all power including the battery, push the power button to remove residual charge in soft start capacitors.
Then walk away from it for at least 10 hours.
Try it again in the morning. Stuff like this has happened and people have left things alone and come back days, weeks and months later and their Macs are fine.
Richard