Is my powerbook fixable?

Hi,
I dropped my powerbook and now it won't boot up. I don't have applecare, who can i take it to to have it looked at? Can I walk into apple's store and have a genious look at it?

thanks fort the replies...The great news is the hd is not damaged, i was able to get in to the case, remove the hd and retrieve the data (all 45gb of it!!!). My employer now wants me to find out if its repairable..I'm a capable tech, but have dealt with mostly (don't scream at me now) wintel based machines. That's why i posted such a newbee question.
What the computer does upon hitting the power button is, it makes a sound which sounds to me like the cd rom drive powering up, but that's it. The screen doesn't lite up, the power button doesn't light up (amber or green) and nothing else happens. The machine just sits there as if it hadn't been turned on.

Similar Messages

Al PowerBook 1GHz - 4 Beeps at Startup - is it Fixable ?

i've got a Al PowerBook G4 1GHz, when i press the power button it will beep 4 times (and flash 5 times) - this should be a faulty boot rom - is thera any way to fix this?
i have some technical knowledge, repaired many cell phones (hardware and software issues), also did some logicboard repairs on imacs and macbooks
would be nice to save this great looking piece of technic

HI and Welcome to Apple Discussions...
should be a faulty boot rom
According to this link you are correct: Power On Self-Test Beep Definition - Part 2
According to that link contacting an Apple certified provider or taking it into an Apple store is probably your best bet.
would be nice to save this great looking piece of technic
Totally agree. PBG4 is a workhorse.
Carolyn

PowerBook Start Up & Wireless Issues

I have been an avid Mac person for quite some time. I'm getting concerned because I used to have a ThinkPad for work and never had this many hardware issues.
I have had this PowerBook 17" 1GHz for more than 2 years. When I try and start it the chime sounds, but the screen is blank. There are no sounds from the hard drive and once out of a couple starts and shutdowns I get the Firmware screen where the hard drive is not recognized. Also before this happened my Airport Card was not recognized. Is this a Logic Board issue or multiple hardware issues (Airport & Hard Drive)?
Are 17" PowerBooks notorious for their Logic Board, Hard Drive, & Airport problems? If you have the same problem and have fixed it please let me know.

MacMed,
The short answer is No. Macs - including the PBs - have a reputation for being reliable and trouble-free.
BUT (and it is a big but) that's no consolation if your unit is one of the relatively (relatively!) rare ones that does give trouble. I haven't been on this board long, but it seems from the pattern of posts that some units are problem-prone and tend to have multiple failures.
One of the more common problems seems to be a sound output failure that's related to the logic board. Mainboard problems could also account for a number of the symptoms you've described. I can't think of a simple way to diagnose this beside having an Apple tech look at the machine. You could run the Hardware Test from the CD, but from your description of the problems it seems clear something is wrong and it's probably not user-fixable.
I hope you have the AppleCare extended warranty.
Best of luck
G

Powerbook G4 won't boot after 10.4.10 update

Hi,
Looking for help with the following problem. Last week, I updated my Powerbook G4 to 10.4.10 and since then the system fails to boot. The failure may or may not be linked to the update, but the timing is suspicious.
When I attempt to book the system, it hangs with the spinning daisy wheel at the gray screen with the apple logo. It won't boot from the Tiger install DVD; doesn't seem to get as far as looking for the DVD.
If I boot into single user mode and run fsck -fy, the command reports a number of block count errors when checking the catalog file and then fails while a "disk0s3: I/O error. Invalid key length (4, 20821).
I don't want to lose the data in disk if at all possible and I'd like to know;
(a) can this be repaired using a more powerful disk utility such as DiskWarrior?
(b) is this worth taking to the Genuis Bar for further work?
Thanks.

*Invalid key length* indicates a disk directory problem that should be fixable with DiskWarrior. To boot with the install DVD, pop it in, restart, holding down the C key. If that doesn't boot the machine, leave it in, restart, holding down the OPTION key, and see if it shows up when the Startup Manager finishes loading. If so, click on the DVD icon and click the right-hand arrow. The left=hand arrow will search for bootable disks, which it already did.

Dropped My Powerbook

Hey everyone!
I recently dropped my Powerbook, a very clumsy and expensive move on my part. Accident aside, the laptop will turn on and that's about it. The screen and anything in the usb port will turn on, but currently it's just the grayish screen and it will not do anything else.
My question is, is this fixable and also, is it worth it to get it fixed? Keeping in mind this laptop was purchased in 2004.

Not necessarily. If it is something that is Powerbook compatible, it may not be MacBook or MacBook Pro compatible. See how Apple went about the migration to Mac OS X*:
http://www.macmaps.com/macosxnative.html
And if it appears you may have something not compatible, get a used or refurbished machine to replace it, if repairing it costs more. Repairs are less expensive from these vendors usually than Apple:
http://www.dttservice.com/
http://www.powerbookresq.com/
http://www.microdocusa.com/
http://www.macspecialist.com/
http://www.techrestore.com/
Your homeowners insurance may cover the drop if they don't drop you after submitting a claim on it. Ask them.
My FAQ* here discusses getting used and refurbished Macs:
http://www.macmaps.com/usedrefurbished.html
While your hard drive can usually be rescued and attached to a newer Mac with a USB or Firewire hard drive case for 2.5" ATA/EIDE drives (parallel ATA), it can't be used reliably with the Migration Assistant on a MacBook or MacBook Pro, and you'll want to use this tip:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=435350
Note, Target Disk Mode is not available to the newest MacBooks and an ethernet network works better or a USB hard drive case in event the old Powerbook is unusable.
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Emergency overtemp signal? powerbooking putting itself to sleep

Been having really constant sleep/crashing issues which can be as frequent as every few seconds, or spread out over the course of many minutes. I'm getting the below messages in my Console logs which i am assuming to indicate faulty hardware/logic board. but before i give up the ghost on this powerbook thought i would post here to see if there are any other solutions/remedies to this problem. could it also be a RAM issue? or something else that is fixable for a reasonable amount of money? or should i consider this machine toast. is it even worth bringing it in for a diagnostic? or is that $75 to tell me my logic board needs replacing?
"Dec 31 19:00:36 localhost kernel[0]: Power Management received emergency overtemp signal. Going to sleep.
Dec 31 19:00:37 localhost kernel[0]: Power Management received emergency overtemp signal. Going to sleep.ATY,Jasper_A: vram [b8000000:04000000]
Dec 31 19:00:38 localhost mDNSResponder: Adding browse domain local.
Dec 31 19:00:38 localhost kernel[0]: Power Management received emergency overtemp signal. Going to sleep.ATY,Jasper_B: vram [b8000000:04000000]
Dec 31 19:00:41 localhost kernel[0]: Power Management received emergency overtemp signal. Going to sleep.
Dec 31 19:00:42 localhost kernel[0]: Power Management received emergency overtemp signal. Going to sleep.
Dec 31 19:00:43 localhost kernel[0]: Power Management received emergency overtemp signal. Going to sleep.
Dec 31 19:00:44 localhost kernel[0]: Power Management received emergency overtemp signal. Going to sleep.
Dec 31 19:00:45 localhost kernel[0]: Power Management received emergency overtemp signal. Going to sleep.
Dec 31 19:00:46 localhost kernel[0]: Power Management received emergency overtemp signal. Going to sleep."
thanks!

Hey,
so the unsoldering was easier than i expected. Chip came right out, and after brushing off the solder particles and taping over the exposed solder points, the powerbook started up and was running for a few hours with no problems.
Maybe I was pressing my luck, but wanted to see what happened if i powered down and tried a reboot, at which point i am now faced with a non-starting computer. i get the chime, but then it never progresses past the black screen. I can feel and hear the components engaging, and i can force the power down by depressing the power button for a few seconds.
One problem solved another to now solve? Startup chime and black screen seems much less drastic than failing overtemp sensor. Any ideas what that could be? I tried a PMU resent already and getting the same thing.

Powerbook suddently beeps 3 times and wont startup

My older powerbook G4 was working fine, then as I went to start it up it beeped 3 times, then seemed like it went to sleep, the light now flashes 4 times at intervals.
What does it mean, is it fixable?
Thank you
V

The three beeps at startup means no good RAM is being detected.
Remove your RAM module(s) and then firmly reinsert it/them. Does that improve matters?

HELP NEEDED - failing Powerbook G4

I have a titanium powerbook G4 - about 5 years old.
Previous to this issue it had been running absolutely fine, with 10GB free space. As of last week, it begun operating very slowly, when safari was opened and a URL typed in, the colourful spinning circle would appear but stay there for ages. This was also the same when using applications like Word. Then the next day when I was going to sit down to sort the problem out, when I started up my laptop it took 5 or 6 attempts to get it to start up successfully, the last time taking about 2hours!!
Now when I press the on button it goes to the grey apple screen with the spinning 'processing' symbol to show it loading up but it doesn't move any further from there. I've tried holding down all manner of button combinations suggested in the manuals but nothing has worked. I've put the boot CD in (a friend's boot cd of the same spec powerbook g4) however when I held down 'C' it would say 'you need to restart your computer'. Then I held down 'alt' and it when to the startup option screen where it gives you a choice of selecting the CD or the HD. Now the HD had a little cross in the bottom left corner, but then so did the CD. When I selected the CD it would go back to the grey apple screen but then crash in the sense that the screen would go fuzzy in parts going across which pretty much suggested it had crashed to me.
I've been at this for days and about to pull my hair out!!
Can anyone help further than what I've done so far?
What options are there left? Also how can I get all my info. off my harddrive if its failed as I've got loads of music on there.

Hi
It does sound like the symptoms of a failing hard drive - whether it's a logical error (fixable) or a physical crash (not fixable) it's not really possible to say at this point.
Have you tried connecting your computer to your friend's, or to another Mac, in Firewire mode? (Shut down your Powerbook, connect the two Macs with a Firewire cable, then restart the Powerbook holding down the T key). If your hard drive is at least readable, it'll appear on the desktop of the other Mac, and you can then copy your files off to a backup.
If the hard drive appears this way, it's more likely to be a logical error, so I'd recommend you try DiskWarrior to repair the drive.
If the HD doesn't appear at all, it sounds more like a physical crash, and you're more likely to need professional data recovery advice.
Five years is not a bad age for a hard drive, so, in either case, you might want to think about upgrading to a larger internal drive.
Matt

HELP Installing osx 10.4 from retail disk onto Powerbook G4

My powerbook G4 is giving me trouble.
I am using a retail Tiger OSX 10.4 disk. I have used it before on a powerbook and I know it works. It's a retail disk.
The installation goes great, starts up fine, gets through the installer, verifies the disk is a good disk, and goes almost 100 percent through the installation until... it just says, "the installation was not successful" and tha's it! it gives me one option to "retry" and that's all.
So I retry. and that same thing happens (after 45 mins of acting like it's gonna work, right before completion it wimps out)
HELP!!!
what do i do?
The powerbook was given to me by a friend who said "someone's newphew's cousin's friend deleted everything and now it don't work, here ya go!"
Please Help

Boot from the install disk and find utilities in the menubar. Then run First Aid/ Verify Disk and then Repair disk if necessary. You can also do a safe boot which will do essentially the same check. It is likely you have a hard drive that is failing which is not fixable.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1782
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564?viewlocale=en_US

Wrong 'mini dvi to video' adapter for my 12" Powerbook 1.33

I recently bought the M9319 mini dvi - video adapter for my 12" Powerbook 1.33 to find that the mini dvi on the adapter is a different size to the one on the computer and the adapters supplied with the computer.
I've been doing a bit of research into this and it seems a bit of a grey area. Apple have not made it clear in advertising this product that it is only suitable for the newest 12" Powerbooks and even state that it will work with a 1.33 machine in their following article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86507
Has anyone had a similar experience, or suggest an alternative product that will work? Did Apple make an older version that works with the 1.33?
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, Graeme.

Just took the adapter to my local Apple store and they identified it as a mini VGA to video adapter - not what it said on the packaging!
I've noticed a few posts with this problem, so just double check before you leave the store that the packaging matches the product.

Airport Card no longer recognized by PowerBook

I always take my PowerBook G4 to class with me for the purpose of taking notes during class. I was connected to the internet there, over the wireless network (on campus) with no problem.
When I got back home, my PowerBook wasn't seeing the wireless network (at home, seperate from the wireless network on campus), but I knew it was working because my iMac is connected to it just fine, along with two other computers in my house. I tried restarting a couple of times, and actually typing the name of the network into the Airport drop-down menu. This all did nothing, as did repairing the disk permissions.
I find it very unlikely that the card is not seated correctly, because first of all, when I brought the PowerBook back from campus (when it was working properly) it was tranported in my TUMI bag, which has a dedicated padded holder for PowerBooks, and then immediately took it out and sat it on my desk next to my iMac only to find the PowerBook no longer seeing the wireless signal.
And at this point, I could still turn Airport on and off, and I restarted the computer a couple of times to see if it would pick up the signal, all the while Airport was still recognized by the system (I could still turn it off and on from the drop-down menu, but no wireless networks were present).
So, I popped in my OS X DVD to boot from it to use the Repair Disk feature. It came up with an error that said something to the tune of "incorrect number of threads." It repaired the disk without any probems, or so I thought (and so it thought).
Now, the computer wouldl not function because it runs into a kernal panic, forcing me to hard shut-down the computer. It happened everytime, sometimes during startup, sometimes not until I got into OS X, but always soon after the OS starts.
I then booted the computer as a "Safe boot" and this seemed to stop the kernal panics, and I shut down the computer and started it again with no panics. There was no longer any recognition of the Airport card, either. Not even through the Airport Setup Assistant. It keeps telling me there is no card installed.
I have tried two seperate cards, as I thought maybe the one went bad, but nothing came of this. I tried zapping the PRAM, booting into Open Firmware to reset to defaults, all leading to nothing. I even went so far as to completely erase the drive and do a clean install of OS X, which now drops my system down to 10.4. NOTHING.
Please, anyone willing to help that would be great, even if you would like to contact me through iChat and we can discuss this over iSight to get to the root of the problem. Screen name is CoreyAtMiamiU.
Sorry about the long post and thanks for taking the time to read it.

This is a user to user discussion area. So it is unpredictable as to when someone with a suggestion will respond to your post. An hour in the middle of a work day isn't a long time.
Since the card is recognized, there isn't anything wrong with that side of the card. If the card isn't receiving a signal, either the RF side of the card has failed, the antenna wire isn't connected properly, or the antenna in the PowerBook has failed.

Powerbook 520c no longer boots?

Hi,
I recently got hold of a PB520c (System 7.1 installed.) Everything booted fine to start with, but now something seems to have gone wrong. When I try to boot it I get the Mac logo for about half a second, then the screen flickers and an picture of a floppy disk with a question mark appears on the screen.
The last thing I installed before this happened was Apple's Intelligent Battery software (the battery seemed dead and I wanted to see if I could revive it.) However, I had rebooted several times since then.
THe problem first appeared when I restarted while running on battery power only (I don't know if this had anything to do with it.) As the OS shut down it came up a message about the Autoremounter preferences file not being found, but it had restarted itself before I had a chance to do anything about this.
Is there any way to revive the Powerbook? Unfortunately I don't have any install disks for it. Would I be able to create install disks from the System 7.5.3 disk images Apple has for download? (I don't have any Macs with floppy drives apart from the 520c unfortunately.)
In case this matters (I doubt it does) the Powerbook only boots from the AC adapter, once it's running it will work from batteries, but I have to boot from the mains.
Thanks in advance.
Matthew

maffoo
Intelligent Battery Recondition (IBR) and VST's EMMpathy can often do in tandem what neither can do alone to revivify the PB 500 series batteries. It is more than probable that not being able to charge your batteries yet has caused the internal (deep) 616-0021 rechargeable backup battery to drain to the point that:
1) it no longer buys the three minutes of time after the main batteries reach last gasp in which you can swap in a charged battery, or shut down gracefully, and
2) cannot maintain PRAM settings, such as 'where is the startup volume?', and
3) allows the Power Manager to get very confused indeed.
With batteries out and AC adapter disconnected, allow the PB to sit for 10min. Hold down the command-option-control-power keys together (the 500s lack the reset/interrupt switches of other PBs and desktops) for 20-odd sec. to reset the Power Manager. Reconnect the AC adapter, start up and immediately hold command-option-p-r to reset the PRAM (and point the PB at its hard drive). If the PB successfully boots from its hard drive, you can insert the batteries, but don't attempt to power the PB from them. Let them take what charge they will as you use the machine and after shutdown.
If they show no sign of charging after 24hr of opportunity to charge from the adapter, begin the head-banging exercise of resuscitation. EMMpathy gives more info. as it diagnoses battery condition, but it is not more successful by itself than is Apple's app. in overcoming the first hurdle: the microprocessor (EEPROM) in the battery. Start IBR with a battery half-inserted into the right bay. When IBR asks 'wheresabaddery', push the battery right in. With luck, IBR will then fast charge the battery to the point that the microprocessor will remember that it is intelligent, and perhaps continue to charge the battery. If IBR tells you to return the battery to Apple, resist the urge and repeat the process several times until ...
EMMpathy can be employed when this initial phase of reanimating the zombie is over. It will give you a dossier on the battery's present state, show the current proportion of full charge as the battery continues to charge, and install the Sleep Drain Bug Fix that supposedly supplies an antibiotic after the boil has been lanced. Above all, however, nil desperandum. Just leaving the PB on the AC adapter night and day may also help in the reanimation. In the meantime, the PB 500 will be a snappy performer on the adapter.
The backup battery reputedly recharges only as the main batteries reach full charge, but often much sooner, such that you may find that the PB remembers its hard drive's whereabouts at the next startup. While the batteries are reawakening (and permanent return to health is only about 50% likely at best) you can proceed to test the HDD with Disk First Aid, reinstall the HDD's driver with Drive Setup (both from a suitable '040-savvy Disk Tools diskette) and re-install or upgrade the OS. How far depends on your RAM complement, which is 36MB at maximum.

Networking powerbook to a new printer

i have a power book G4, this is my first mac and i have no idea what to do...
i just purchased the Dell Laser Pinter 3100cn and am trying to get my powerbook to connect to this networkable printer but don't know how.
i can print when my powerbook is connected to the printer by USB, but i want to be able to print from my powerbook from without having to be directly connected -- please help i am completely clueless as to what to do...
thanks...Song.

Song
It can be tricky I can't explain it clearly. But go to the mac help at top of your screen and enter windows printing in the search box and try this first.
It took me a while to get it working because of firewall problems.
sorry can't tell more
Dav

Powerbook G4 can't connect via ethernet but connects via airport

We have a small office network connected to an Efficient Networks DSL router that's managed by our isp. The router has 4 ports and a linksys 8 port switch is connected to one of those ports. Another D-Link wireless router/switch is connected to another port.
2 i-macs connect without problem via ethernet cable. They are set to DHCP and get 192.xx private addresses. Both run 10.4.5. Another older imac running 9.2.2. also has no problems.
I recently purchased a powerbook G4 and it will not connect via ethernet to the Efficient networks router. At first it was connected to the linksys, so decided to connect it direct to the Efficient Networks router. With DHCP, it acquires a 169. internet address which is self generated (i.e. no real connection). I tried to give it a static private address (talking to the isp provider). They could see the powerbook but saw all zero's (presumable mac address). By the way the Powerbook works perfectly at home connected via ethernet cable to a D-Link router connected to a cable modem so it's not a physical problem. I even checked the ethernet cable I used in the office with another computer - no problem.
When I switch to airport in the office, the powerbook connects to the network and the internet. I get some strange warning messages showing the server's and the router's private ip addresses. I click ok, and the powerbook finds an unassigned private ip address. It's the only way it will work, but it causes problems, because I can't connect to one of the network printers. Speed also isn't great.
Can anyone give me advise how to proceed. I am no expert on this stuff so keep it as simple as possible.
Tks

Tim,
Thanks for your help. Here's what I've done before reading your e-mail. The D-Link DI-524 wireless router is connected to the Effiicent Neworks DSL router as you mentioned. One ethernet port of the EFF.Net. router is connected to the WAN port of the DI-514.
Because I have a D-Link router at home which works flawlessly with my powerbook, I decided to connect the ethernet cable of the powerbook to the D-Link which has 4 ethernet ports. Lo and behold, the powerbook acquired a private ip address and connected to the LAN and internet!
When I connected the powerbook direct to the Efficient Networks router, it could not communicate. I believe that there must be some software incompatibility between the powerbook and the Efficient Networks router. By connecting to the D-Link, the D-Link assigned an ip address to the powerbook, and it could connect to the server, lan, etc..
Only problem is that I have a Brother network printer that cannot connect to the powerbook. My powerbook cannot find it on the network. Because there is a linksys switch connected to the efficient networks router's third ethernet port, maybe as you said, going through the D-Link via DHCP (when the Linksys is also acting as a DHCP server, might cause this type of problem. What do you think?
As a final note, other imac G5's connected to the linksys switch (which then connects to the Efficient Network's router) have no problem connecting to the lan or internet and have no problem connecting to any of the printers. When I put the powerbook on that switch, I could not connect to the internet - i.e. whether connecting via the lynksys switch or direct with the efficient networks router - same results: no internet connection whether manually or via DHCP.
So the imac G5 has no problem with the efficient networks router but the powerbook G4 hits a brick wall. The G4 likes the D-Link router. I am concerned (and I will have to check this) that if I turn off the dhcp server feature from the D-Link, that whatever software issue crops up between the powerbook and the Efficient Networks router, will rise up again, because the D-Link will act like a simple switch (just like my linksys switch), and we'll be back to square zero. In any case, no harm in trying. This may be the cause of the Powerbook not seeing that Brother printer (even though it sees another printer and other macs).
Having spent hours reading about network problems, I think it's safe to say that macs have problems with certain routers. Why a G5 works and a powerbook G4 doesn't is beyond me, but clearly software must play a role.

OS 10.2 / Powerbook G4 - install CD not recognised

Hi all,
I hope you can help. A colleague has brought in her Powerbook G4 to see if I can install 10.2 for her. The Install CD was stuck in the drive. At startup, the old Mac icon appears, as does the bouncing beachball of doom. Not much happens at all, although the drive spins.
I should point out at this point that this machine looks like it's been through a threshing machine - apparently at one point it was rolling around in the back of a car with a spare tyre whilst the car was being driven rather, er, enthusiasically. However, the machine itself has functioned just fine ofr several years before the attempted upgrade.
I've fsck'ed, reset the PRAM and tried target disk mode, and the HD appears to be fine. As far as I can tell, the OS itself is a bit of a state.
I've tried two different external USB CD drives, the internal drive and two different copies of 10.2, to no avail. Variously, I get a hang when booting with the option key down, the Prohibited sign and a few other variations. I've not been able to get the machine to boot into anything other than single user mode. Does anyone have any suggestions? As I said, I can view the filesystem when the machine is in target disk mode using my Macbook, and the install disks appear to be fine when tried in that system, too.

If this is an 867 MHz/1 GHz version it requires 10.2.1 or 10.2.3. Earlier models can use 10.1 or higher. If it's the first Gigabit model (500 and 667 MHz) then it requires a firmware update.
You cannot boot the computer from an external USB drive - only Firewire. Be sure you have a retail copy of Jaguar - the CD has the Jaguar "spotted pelt" label. If the disc you have has a gray OEM label then it's probably not going to be usable unless it's the disc that came originally with the computer. This would be unlikely inasmuch as you say the version you have is 10.2. If the disc has the word "Upgrade" on it you can only use it if a prior version of OS X is already installed.
The computer meets the minimum requirements for hardware. The hard drive must be formatted Mac OS Extended and Jaguar requires about 4 GBs of free space during installation.
It's possible the installer disc you have is defective, scratched, or dirty making it unreadable or the computer's optical drive is defective or out of alignment.

Is my powerbook fixable?

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