Powerbook g4/400 power on porblems

Ok, ive got a g4/4oo pb, it recently had its monitors power cable short and burn. So last night i used a guide to replace the monitor on my own wih a new one from my spare parts (from another powerbook g4/400 mind you) i put it all the way back together and hit the button, it worked. so i went to do a clean install of panther, and my dvd rom drive started to mess up (cd not going in right ect) so i ejected the disc took off the bottom and tried to adjust it, i put it back to gether and IT DOSENT BOOT, no gong sound, nothing, the light on the caps lock key will go on, but no more, so i take it apart again (completely) and after a slight fight with the logic board (it didnt want to go back in) it went back together, still nothing. i have a spare of almost every part (extra ram, another pmu ect.
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.

Similar Messages

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.

My Powerbook will not power up, but I can hear the fan running...

Please help!! My Powerbook will not power up, but I can hear the fan running when I press the power button to attempt to power it up. I just received a new power adapter because it wasn't working properly and it was doing this before and then it worked for a week and now it will not power up at all. It just starts the fan but nothing else turns on. When I plug the adapter, with the battery still connected, it will look as if it is charging but then the light on the plug turns from green to orange then off and doesn't power up at all. If I take the battery out and plug in the adapter, the light stays on but it does not power up except for the fan noise. Does anyone have any suggestions? I also followed the two articles listed online in regards to resetting the power setting and the command + alt + P + R as well. Nothing works. Thanks in advance.....

Same here. If I start up with the power adapter attached, it starts up fine. If I try to start up from battery only, the fan comes on, the sleep light comes on but nothing else happens. I tried letting it sit that way for about 15 minutes and nothing changed. I tried attaching the power cord while in this mode and nothing changed. I tried the PMU reset a couple of times but nothing helps.
This computer is just over 1 year old and I have not had any problems with the power cord (3rd party), the battery, or any problem like this before. It started after a proper shutdown last night and attempt to start without the power cord this afternoon.
Any answers to this yet? I think I'll call on this and report any success to this discussion.
15" PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8) 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 100 GB HD

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

G4 powerbook Titanium 400

i have got a second hand G4 powerbook Titanium 400, but i think the hard drive was wiped by the last owner. how do i install an OS, as i think the cd drive is playing up, help.

if the CD drive is not working properly, you'd need to use external FireWire
optical drive or install from another Mac with FireWre port by using "target mode":
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
put another Mac in target mode and insert OS install CD/DVD, connect it to the PowerBook
then turn on the PowerBook and select OS disc as startup drive by holding
"option" key, then select PowerBook's hard drive as a destination drive in the OS installer (be sue not to install on target Mac's hard drive)
try at your own risk though

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.

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.

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 12" power charger

My laptop charger has been acting up, and I noticed the chargers have different numbers (45, 60,) and I think mine is 45W. Which one do I need to purchase to replace mine?

The Apple 45Watt or 65Watt charger will both work with your Powerbook. The 12" models shipped with a lower rated charger than other Powerbooks because of the lower power consumption (smaller screen, slower processor, smaller battery etc). The 65Watt adapter will cause no problems if used with your powerbook, there is no risk of damage from the higher rating.
Apple sell the 65Watt adapter as an accessory, but it is quite expensive compared to other 3rd party adapters. Have a look on Amazon or search this forum for people' views on 3rd party units. I replaced my adapter with a McAlly unit and I'm very happy with the quality and appreciated saving lots of money.

Powerbook won't power on---please help!

Left Powerbook on overnight. This morning couldn't wake it up. Blue light at latch pulsing but nothing would wake it. Also noticed no color at battery charge input where it is usually green or orange, there was no color.
Finally took off the battery, left it off for the internal to run down, and when the pulsing light finally went off, I put the battery back. And now I still can't get it to power on.
I would appreciate any advice on what to do next.
Thanks!

Try a PMU reset:
1) If the computer is on, turn it off.
2) Reset the power manager by simultaneously pressing and then releasing Shift-Control-Option-Power on the keyboard. Do not press the fn (Function) key while using this combination of keystrokes.
3) Wait 5 seconds.
$) Press the Power button to restart the computer.
from this Apple article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431

Help!!!! Where to buy travelsound 400 power adaptor

I recently brought a Creative travelsound 400 portable speaker system but was unable to find a power adapter for use with the speakers, as I use the speakers frequently and eat through stacks of batteries. Does anyone know where to buy this accessory, I have tried shops like harvey norman and **bleep** smiths (where i brought it) and many others but to no avil. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Well, you can get them at Creativex at jurong east.

Firewire 400 power but no signal

Yesterday my powerbook firewire stopped working, won't work for ext hds or dvds. The internal cd/dvd drive packed up some time ago so I have since then used the external firewire connection for creating hd backups and reinstalling/ rebooting from externals. I get a light and a whirr but no folder. I think I might have stuck a usb cable into the ethernet socket by mistake. Could that have cuased a fry up?
Any sugestions. Could I run an external HD through a FW pc card in the pc card slot instead. Any help much appreciated.
Jim.

Got the new PCMCIA Card for Firewire/USB - not so great. I can at least access the internal drive for back-ups and cloning now, but I hadn't realised you cannot boot a PB from an Ext HD via the card, you can only boot-up through the original FW socket. So that's the end of that unless I choose to replace the interior board.
Fortunately, bought a card which comes with the AC power adapter, though it is not high enough voltage to run the ext dvd drive.
So, runing from pcmcia card is only a partial solution.

Old PowerBook 1400 charger power iBook G3 Dual USB?

I ordered an iBook G3 Dual USB (the white one, not the clamshell iBook) but I only have a 45W PowerBook 1400 power adapter. Will this power the 500MHz system?

It would, except the adapter tip won't fit in the power socket of the iBook. You will need a newer adapter with a smaller tip to fit the iBook G3 (Dual USB).
If it doesn't come with an adapter, here are some possible sources for the right adapter, including some less expensive third-party adapters:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/M8943LL/A
http://www.powerbookmedic.com/White-Brick-Style-45W-Power-Adapter-M8482-NEW-p-16 185.html
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001YXWVO/104-2129172-0414319?v=glance&n=17228 2
http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Item.cfm?ID=6432&Item=MICACADPTG4
http://macwizards.com/store/productinfo.php?products_id=19&gclid=CNbEujkwZkCFSbxDAodXDaotQ
http://www.teksale.com/laptops/laptopparts/listings/apple-ac-adapter-g4.htm
It doesn't matter whether it's a 45 or 65 watt adapter; either will work. (The 65 watt is needed for newer PowerBooks. It won't hurt an iBook to use a 65 watt adapter with it, even though they originally came with a 45 watt model.)

Powerbook G4 400 DVDrw

Will a Pioneer DVR-K04 K04PB work in Powerbook Ti g4 400?

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.

My PowerBook will not power on

I restarted my PowerBook, and it makes a loud noise like the HD is working hard, then 1/4 of the bar shows loading- then it just shuts down.

You can use your PowerBook in FireWire target disk mode to transfer data to another machine, but I'm afraid it'll still need to be powered on...here is a description from Apple's support pages on how to use Target Disk Mode;
To use FireWire target disk mode:
Make sure that the target computer is turned off. If you are using a PowerBook or iBook as the target computer, you should also plug in its AC power adapter.
Use a FireWire cable (6-pin to 6-pin) to connect the target computer to a host computer. The host computer does not need to be turned off.
Start up the target computer and immediately press and hold down the T key until the FireWire icon appears. The hard disk of the target computer should become available to the host computer and will likely appear on desktop.
When you are finished copying files, drag the target computer's hard disk icon to the Trash or select Put Away from the File menu (Mac OS 9) or Eject from the File menu (Mac OS X).
Press the target computer's power button to turn it off.
Unplug the FireWire cable.
I know you said you tried everything, but have you tried Resetting the PMU on your PowerBook in attemt to get it to turn on?
Good Luck,
Geo

Powerbook G3 series power adapter

I was just given an Powerbook G3 series computer that is missing the adapter. I have been looking on eBay but it is confusing because I really don't know what I'm looking for. I assume it needs the yoyo am I correct?
All I can tell about this laptop is the info on the back 14.1tft 233mhz 512k can't turn it on till I get it charged up. Can anyone help me out?
Thanks Mary
P.S my other computer is an iBook with OSX 10 on different adapter
iBook Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Mary,
Welcome to the Discussions.
You have the Powerbook G3 Series M4753 a.k.a. "Wallstreet". The PB 1400, 3400, any black G3, and clamshell iBook all use the same output adapter (45 watts) and the same size power port plug. I believe it was sometime during 2000>2001 time frame that Apple moved from the rectangular black adapter to the so-called yo-yo or saucer adapter; these are also 45 watt output. Then Apple moved to the slimmer powerbooks and iBooks which required a smaller power port plug.
The yo-yo adapters are suseptible to wire failures at the power port plug and also where the DC wire enters the saucer; I would avoid that adapter unless new.
I would perform a search on Google for 'Apple 45w power adapter'. You will not only get eBay hits, but also other sites that sell new and used replacements.

Powerbook g4/400 power on porblems

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for