Powerbook G4 1.3Ghz problems

I have a second hand 17" Powerbook 1.33GHz G4 with a couple of problems I hope someone here can help me with.
1. I can not get the internal speakers to function. I can get sound if I use headphones or external speakers. Also the "preferencepanes" is missing from the
the lbrary.
2. When using Quicktime, the video is very "jeky" (it does not run smoothly).
3. The system appears to take a long time to boot.
Other than these three things the notebook runs perfect.
As I said the system is 17" Powerbook 1.3GHz, with 1Gb RAM, running OS X (Version 10.5.8) . I don't want to purchase extra RAM or a new battery for it yet until I am sure I can get the notebook functioning correctly before I give it to my wife.
Hope someone can help.
Thanks.

1. If there's a red light inside the headphone port, the analog/digital switch in there is stuck in the digital position and needs to be unstuck by inserting a headphone plug and wiggling it around as you pull it out again. When the red light disappears, your speakers should work again. If there's no red light in the port now, there may be something wrong with the speakers.
2. Your seven-year-old Powerbook has a seven-year-old GPU in it that is primitive by current standards. It won't perform well with any streaming video from the web and may not perform very well even with video that is stored on its own hard drive.
3. How long is a long time? And have you checked to make sure the intenal hard drive is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences? If it isn't, select it and see whether that makes the machine start up faster.

Similar Messages

PowerBook G4 Start-up problem

Start-up problem ---
1. When I recently ran OnyX, I was told to run the Apple’s Disk Utility from the Start-up Disk.
2. However, before doing this, I ran the Disk Utility from the hard drive, but the program would not complete the “Repair” function. It just got “stuck” and I had to stop the repair.
3. While running the Disk Utility from the Start-up disk, I got the following message: “Disk Utility has lost its connection with the Disk Management Tool and cannot continue. Please quit and re-launch Disk Utility.”
4. I did quit and re-launch Disk Utility but received the same error message.
5. Took PowerBook to Apple store and technicians ran diagnostics (for several days), couldn’t identify problem even though computer wouldn’t start after they ran full set of diagnostics.
6. I reinstalled the OS 10.5 from scratch, reformatting my hard drive. Then, I re-installed all programs and documents, etc. Seemed to work OK.
7. Tried to run OnyX, but the computer froze. Ran Disk Utility from the start-up driver and it repair hundreds of permissions as well as “repair disk” function (hundreds of items).
8. While the PowerBook is running OK right now, am concerned about possible hardware failure.
Any thoughts/ideas?
Thanks.

Download Smart Utility from http://www.volitans-software.com/smart_utility.php . It will enable you to see the values of the SMART sensors, and can give you insight into the health of the drive.
When you ran repair disk from the OS X DVD, did it complete normally? No 'failure on exit' message?

PowerBook 12" magnetic latch problem

I have searched the discussion board for similar problems to mine and while some of them were close, none of them had any answers that I would find helpful. So here's my problem.
I've had my PowerBook for little over two weeks now, and the magnetic latch that is used to keep the display closed is giving me a bit of trouble. As we all know the little hook comes out of the top of the display when it is close enough to the bottom of the computer in order to latch in properly. Now when I try to close my laptop it all goes according to plan, but only if I move the display down into place in one fast swing. If I do it fast, the display goes down all the way and then I hear the hook come out and it clicks and then that's it. The problem is if I'm doing it slowly, the latch jumps out all the way too soon and prohibits the display from going all the way down. It pretty much just sticks out vertically and won't allow me to close it down properly.
Now I know that I am not in a bad situation here seeing as I can still close it fine unlike other people, but I paid a fair bit for this machine and I am a student and would like to take full advantage of my purchase. Is this typical for PowerBooks and should I just take it as a minor defect or make a stink about it? Any thoughts would be very welcome. Of course, it might very well be that when it does get stuck I just need to push down harder on it. I haven't done that because I wasn't sure if I'm supposed to and I didn't want to break it.
Cheers!
Powerbook G4 12" Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Back with an update and a question.
Before I go on, I will admit, yes, that I might love my computer a bit too much and maybe, just maybe I'm a bit too picky.
Anyways, the update concerns the lower part of the locking mechanism. Back when it wouldn't close properly, due to the hook repeatedly hitting the lock at an awkward angle that would prevent it from closing, I managed to get the top of said lock slightly scratched. It's actually more like a little dent on it's top at the right extremity. Now that's minor and I'm fine and dandy with that. My problem is that a couple of days ago, I had the PowerBook at a funny angle on my lap for a second and I caught a glimpse of the side of the lock (by lock I'm referring to the part that the hook catches on to, the same one that moves inward when you press the release button) and I saw a major scratch there.
On a closer look it turns out that it's not really scratch, but rahter a vertical line (shiny) that most likely resulted from the hook rubbing up against it. So I started freaking out, I mean is the hook going to dig a hole in the lock eventually? But what I don't know is whether the hook is doing this now or this was going down before I had the lock repositioned by the service guy. And further questions arise from the fact that I don't know if the rubbing and the scratching happen when it is being closed or when it's actually closed and there's a bit of play there. I checked the hook for any kind of wear signs and there aren't any. I would attribute that to the fact that the hook seems to be made of a denser alloy.
Now I know none of you guys can answer the question whether the rubbing goes down now or not anymore, only time will tell there (hopefully before the warranty is over), but it would really put my mind at ease if you guys had a look at your PowerBooks and told me how you stand in terms of wear marks on the side of the lock. So I'm talking about the little slanted part that the hook grabs on to when you close it, that is the same part that the release button pushes away from the user when pressed. It's the side the hook catches on that I'm talking about, that is the right side as you are facing the computer. You might need to tilt the notebook a bit and have light shining down onto the right side to see. I would really appreciate any comments for my peace of mind.
Sorry for being a geek!
P.S. Does anyone know if I can email someone at Apple and ask them about this. The service guy didn't really seem to interested in my being so careful about this issue, I just want to get some kind of confirmation that this is not going to get worse in time.

PowerBook 12" Hard Drive Problem

Dear Apple Discussion people,
I have a serious problem and I am hoping you may help me.
My PowerBook's hard drive is not functioning any more. I was uploading images via iPhoto when the computer crashed. After the crash, I restarted the machine but the boot-up process got stuck at the grey Apple screen with the spinning wheel. I was on a lenghty trip at that time and didn't have my OS CD's with me. I tried to restart several times, but to no avail.
I then went to the next Apple Store and after receiving permission, hooked up the PB in target disk mode to one of their machines, ran disk utility, which repaired some issues on the drive and upon running it a second time stated that no errors were there. I was happy, shut down my PB, and left the store. Outside, I rebooted and everything went fine. I intended to back the data up to my iPod later and closed the lid.
A couple of hours later, I opened the lid again when the PB chrashed once again. I then didn't touch it for about two weeks.
Upon my return from the trip today, I hooked the PB up to my office PowerMac (again in target disk mode). This time, the PB didn't even mount on the PowerMac. I used my Tiger DVD to boot from the DVD and then ran disk utility. I successfully located the hard drive in the PB, I clicked on repair disk, and Disk Utility went to work. It finished and stated that there were no errors. I ran it again, just to be sure, but again, no errors.
I did, however, notice that in the list of drives in disk utility, it appears that the hard drive did not mount.
So, I am really at a loss. Most of the data is not that important (I have backups), but my iPhoto library is vital - and my last backup is about 6 months old. I had more recent backups on my old iPod's hard drive, but it got stolen. So no luck retrieving those backups.
I really hope you guys can give me some light at the end of the tunnel. Also, does anyone know how much a data recovery by a professional would cost for a 60 GB hard drive? (Just in case that's my only option.)
Thanks in advance!
PB G4, 12" Mac OS X (10.4.3)
PB G4, 12" Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Welcome to Apple Discussions, macopoly.
Sorry, but it sounds like the hard drive in your PowerBook is either failing or has already failed. I'm not hopeful that you will be able to recover the drive (or data) without help from a professional data recovery service.
That said, have you tried running Disk Warrior or Data Rescue from their respective startup CDs (instead of using FireWire Target Disk Mode)?
15 1.25G/12 1G PBs, Mac minis, iBooks G3/G4, Mac OS X (10.4.3) Cube, TAMs, iPods 2G/4G, iPs, AEBS, AX

Powerbook G3 start up problems

I have a Powerbook G3 firewire 500, 512ram, OS X.2.8. The Power management unit is not working correctly. I have to press the reset button to get the screen to come on every time I turn it on. If it goes into sleep mode,the screen will not come back on and the computer needs to be shut down and restarted after resetting PM unit. Have been doing this for about a year now. I used to press PM unit, press power button, hear a tone and then it would start up. Now I hear a second tone a few seconds after the first tone and no start up, just a HD spinning sound. I would like to get it running and retrieve info for new Macbook. Any suggestions?

B Rob,
If you cannot get the Pismo up and running, you can always remove the HD and buy a very inexpensive ATA > USB cable assembly that allows you to connect a bare HD to a USB port on a host computer. You can also put the HD in a USB or FireWire HD enclosure and not only transfer data but use the drive as a backup device.
OWC Unversal Hard Drive (ATA/IDE) to USB 2.0 Adapter - Plug and Play your HD via USB.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/bargains/
OWC 2.5" USB 2.0 HD enclosure:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MOTGU2/
OWC 2.5 FireWire HD enclosure. I prefer FireWire; there seem to be fewer problems than with USB 2.0 but it is more expensive, especially if you stay with the desired Oxford 911 chipset:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MOTGFW400/
Any number of failures can cause your startup woes: Failed backside L2 cache; bad AirPort card; bad microprocessor; bad logic board; bad power supply card. I would try this:
-remove the optical drive;
-remove the main battery (make sure the display is upright so the 'book doesn't tip backwards);
-disconnect the power adapter;
-remove the AirPort card if present;
-make sure the microprocessor card is fully seated: lift off keyboard > remove heat shield > remove top memory module > press down VERY hard on the right side of the microprocessor card next to the HD and nearest the palm rest...this is where the connector to the logic board resides.
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/PowerBook-G3-Pismo/6/
Without any reassembly, connect just the power adapter and try starting; reset power manager if necessary.
If no start but you do hear the startup chime, are you sure the HD spins up?

Powerbook 1.67ghz big problem

Hi there,
I have a 15" powerbook aluminium 1.67GHz and when I turn it on I hear the dong but my screen stays black and my keyboard doesn't work anymore. I have tried to hook it up to an external monitor and it stays black aswel. Is there anybody out there that knows what the problem could be. Thanks in advance.

I had a similar problem with an ibook, It is either the video card or the logic board. though it doesn't really matter cause if it is under warranty, apple will just replace the entire logic board altogether. They do this cause the video card is soddered to the logic board and it is a much easier and faster repair to just replace the logic board.
However, when I had this problem with my ibook, I was told that apple cannot guarantee the safe keeping of my files, though the genius told me I shouldn't be too concerned cause my hard drive tested fine.
When I got it back, apple had not only replace the logic board, but the hard drive and the ram as well. Why? I do not know, but the problems persisted and upon my second visit to the genuis bar the told me that sometimes certain hardware components have a difficult communicating with others, i.e. my harddrive had a hard time communicating with the new logic board--I find this disgustingly absurd, but what was I to do.

Powerbook G3 Startup Volume problems

I am using a G3 Pismo Powerbook I bought off eBay. It's a 500 Mhz G3 and it's been upgraded to 1 gig of Ram and a 100 gig hard drive. It came with OS 9 and Tiger installed on it, but I wanted to do my own clean install and I ended up using XPostFacto to install Tiger on it. It runs okay, but the problem is it only boots if I press Option-Command-Shift-Delete during startup, which bypasses the primary startup volume. If I press and hold C to try and boot from a OS 9 CD nothing happends and if I hold Option it hangs on a screen with a refresh button my volume icon and a next button.
Any Ideas?

sean,
It sounds like the Pismo's DVD-ROM drive is at fault here. If the Tiger DVD has "Update" any place on the label, it will not install a fresh Tiger OS. The "Update" Tiger DVDs are used to update a previous version of OSX to Tiger, i.e Panther/10.3.x to Tiger/10.4 (not sure if it will update Panther/10.2). The bottom line...you must have the previous version on the HD in order to run the Update DVD.
The Pismo with a PowerPC CPU can boot 9.x from the USB port but NOT OSX; this only became available the new Intel Macs. See if you can get 9.x to boot from the USB external DVD-ROM. Power on the USB drive with the 9.x CD in place, then restart while pressing the 'option' key. If the USB drive is available as a boot drive along with the internal HD, give it a try. However, don't erase the HD or install 9.x until you have a solution for OSX.
Do you have another Mac with a PowerPC CPU (G3, G4 or G5) that is compatible with Tiger and also running Tiger? If so, there is a way to install Tiger from this computer...please post back with details.

Hi, please help me. my powerbook G4 has serious probleme

the screen of my Powerbook G4 15 "is damaged and I connected to an IBM screen. But after two days he goes to sleep when I work. I check my screensaver settings everything is normal. I even try to disconnect the IBM screen but it continues. Sometimes he goes out and goes back to sleep immediately. I don't understand. Really if someone can help me because I have not enoughmoney to buy me another. And the temperature in a room is very cool . Thanks in advance you save me.
Message was edited by: Djipsy5

you cna try PMU reset - it resets power management chip on logic board:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1431
if it does not help, could be a problem with hardware

Powerbook G4 and Leopard Problems

I've had Leopard for over a month on my Powerbook G4. I went so far as to make a post here saying how smoothly the install went and that all was well. I spoke too soon. Yes, I rather like many things about Leopard and most things work. But little problems keep cropping up. I would guess that Apple did MUCH more testing with newer Intel machines before releasing Leopard, and much less with legacy machines like mine. Makes sense to put their resources where their new computers are.
Just tonight I found that iDVD does not work. It appears to load and I can create a new project, but nothing works beyond that.
Final Cut Pro works in almost all ways, thankfully, but Log and Capture will not work with HDV devices. Works fine with DV.
Leopard is very erratic about recognizing older Windows computers on my small office network. Does work perfectly with other Macs on 10.4 or later.
Before installing Leopard, I did backup all my data, of course. Should have done a mirror image so I could have gone back to very stable 10.3.9, but I did not. Going back is intimidating, especially since I cannot seem to find many of the old updater downloads on the Apple website now.
Are others having problems with Leopard on G4 machines?

Thomas,
I installed Leopard on my PowerBookG4 about a month ago. So far, so good.
All of my Adobe apps work fine; Office 2004 works just fine; mail is ok. For a while, I thought the chronic Airport problems had gone away but I still have to work with some of my network express units from time to time. (Unplug & replug="work with"...then they reestablish their respective connections). Dropouts with iTunes (AirTunes) have not happened with Airport under Leopard. This is huge!
My printer drivers acted up at first but seemed to have mysteriously worked out the 'bugs' on their own.
If I had to criticize Leopard at all, I would say the only real disappointment so far is with repairing permissions. It takes far longer than it should. Finder is not as snappy as it was in Tiger...connecting to the .Mac servers is a little slow. (iDisk)
But all in all, I really like the new OS. I rebooted a few times to my Tiger clone (Thank you *_a brody_* for all your advice on cloning drives) when I had some issues with the printer drivers, but those issues are now gone.
iDVD works ok for me as well.
Stick with it...Leopard is good stuff!
-Mark

Powerbook G4 Apple mail problem with exchange server?

Hello all,
I am new to the group. I just picked up a older PowerBook G4 at a pawnshop for cheap I've got it running really well now with the exception of my email.
I am running OS X 10.5.8
When trying to set it up with my exchange server email it does not seem to want to work with me.
I get an ALERT
(There may be a problem with the mail server or network. Check the settings for account "Exchange" or try again.)
I know i am online fine. Internet works, streams music etc...
and
(The server error encountered was: The connection to the server (mail.mycompany.com) on port "X" timed out.)
I have tried port numbers:
465
143
443
25
993
995
with no success.
I have pinged my mail.mycompany.com and it is communicating fine there 10 sent 10 recieved.
I am sending emails fine, however I cannot recieve emails.
Anybody know what the problem might be?
THANKS!

Hi,
This might have to do with your outgoing mail server(smtp).. For example, if you use hotmail as your mail client, then your smtp would be: smtp.live.com while the incoming mail server would be: pop.live.com.
In your case, try smtp.mycompany.com or smtp.mail.mycompany.com
See if that resolves the problem.

Powerbook to PC video problems - iSight

My Macbooks (one tiger, one leopard) connect to my PC pal (XP) and videochat no problem.
My Powerbooks (12 & 17", both tiger, iSight) connect and videochat with my Macbooks no problem.
When I attempt to connect to my PC pal with my Powerbooks, the request hangs, then fails with error message. A couple of times I have clicked thru to see a message suggesting inadequate bandwidth. (from the same connection that works with the Macbooks). I have checked my band speed and it appears fine.
I have cable running thru Airport Extreme 11g.
Any ideas?

I take the ports are allowed in any routing device using UPnP judging by the number of computers.
Is System Preferences > Quicktime > Streaming set at 1.5Bps on all computers.
This is more important for Tiger that it is for Leopard.
9:02 PM Tuesday; July 1, 2008

Powerbook G4 Sleep mode problem

Hi everyone,for some days my friend's Powerbook g4 is going to sleep mode every 2-3 mins. I removed the AC Adapter to try the powerbook only with the battery, the powerbook going to sleep mode after 2-3 mins... I removed the battery and connected the AC Adapter, same bug appened. So i read about how to reset the Power Management Unit.
Well, when I reseted the PMU, the powerbook worked well for about 1 hour, and after... Sleep mode again and again...
Is the powerbook dead ?? Or some internal battery dead ?
Thx for reading and helping, and sorry for my bad english...
- Philip

Sadly my Apple Care has expired for this product.
I followed their instructions to reset the power module, but it still did not work.
Then I tried booting under the TechTool disk that came with the AppleCare kit and the display fucntioned just fine - so I assumed as they say on the site, the system is corrupted (which it likely is due to a faulty heat sensor or some code that may be easily replaced)
ONLY PROBLEM - My computer is now in 'system load' mode, and I cannot get back to any sort of directory to remove the necessary files:
1) go to HD-Library-preferences-SystemConfig and trash com.apple.powermanagement.plist. Empty Trash
2) shutdown and then reset power management unit by holding Opt-Ctrl-Shft-Power for 5 sec.
3) restart
Detailed info at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449
How can get the system to reinstall if it is going to sleep every 15 seconds? Is there some code I can override prior to boot up?

Powerbook Harddisk or CPU problem?

Hello,
Now and then I experience problems with my Powerbook 12". Even with the smallest tasks, it seems to need an awful lot of time to process it. For example with minimizing a window, it sometimes takes 20 seconds till it respons. It stays in this state for some time, and then my music doesn't play correctly, and applications will not open or quit. The CPU-meter doesn't show any unusual activities, and doesn't even report the CPU is used 100%, far from it.
The odd thing is, when I lift the screenside of my Powerbook, in a corner of 45degrees, it starts responding again.
The Hardware-test doesn't report any errors.

From your description, it sounds like you have a hard drive problem - it may be failing. I recommend that you should backup your important data immediately.
Once your data is safe then get the PowerBook checked at either an Apple service provider or Apple retail store (if there is one where you are located).
15 1.25G/12 1G PBs, Mac minis, iBooks G3/G4, Mac OS X (10.4.3) Cube, TAMs, iPods 2G/4G, iPs, AEBS, AX

Powerbook hi-lighting/freezing problem in Safari

Hi, I've got a Powerbook OS 10.4.11, old I know!
Recently a problem has started when after a few minutes of start up in Safari the cursor will hi-light the whole page then either freeze for a few minutes and the image or graphic code will appear by whatever you click on. The image or type moves around wherever the cursor goes. After a few minutes it then unfreezes but happens again.
Is it the end of my Powerbook or can it be fixed????
Any suggestions....Please!

Hello Anthony,
One way to test is to Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, Test for problem in Safe Mode...
PS. Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive
Reboot, test again.
If it only does it in Regular Boot, then it could be some hardware problem like Video card, (Quartz is turned off in Safe Mode), or Airport, or 3rd party add-on, Check System Preferences>Accounts>Login Items window to see if it or something relevant is listed.
Check the System Preferences>Other Row, for 3rd party Pref Panes.
Also look in these if they exist, some are invisible...
/private/var/run/StartupItems
/Library/StartupItems
/System/Library/StartupItems
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Open Activity Monitor, Show:>All Processes, sort on CPU%, see if anything using too much CPU% when this happens, click on Memory tab, do you have many Pageouts? Click on the Disk Usage tab, how much free space?
Open Console in Utilities & see if there are any clues or repeating messages when this happens.

Powerbook 15" battery/waking problems.

Hi. My 15" powerbook is from 2007, and uses the barrel-type charger. I can't say anything else specific about it right now because it won't wake up.
The battery is fully charged, but even that only means about 10 minutes (which is basically the reserve amount) off the charger. I think the problem is that it wont wake up because the battery doesn't hold enough power anymore...but i could be wrong.
So i need to buy a new battery so that it can wake up? At the very least, i need it to wake so i can take all the files off of the HD.
Why isn't it waking up or shutting off when i hold the power button? Is there a simple fix for this?

It could be that the battery has keeled over. However, you might try a PMU/SMU reset with the information at the link.
You can also get specific information from the underbelly of the computer, such as the A### model number and the serial number on the configuration label in the battery well. From the serial number, you can get more information from Chipmunk's lookup site and even more specific model specifications here.
Not sure what you mean by "barrel-type charger? though, as opposed to the standard rectangular puck that the Apple laptops have been shipping with. What color does the charge indicator light on the connector show when connected to the laptop?
There is also a possibility that the backup battery has failed, but that is way down on the list of things to worry about at this point.

Powerbook G4 1.3Ghz problems

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