Serious boot issues with Powerbook G3 (Wallstreet II, OS 9.2.2)

Hello,
I have major issues with a Powerbook Wallstreet II I got recently. When it's finally running, it works just as well as Wallstreet Powerbooks usually do, no errors, no crashing, smooth performance, everything fine.
But booting it up is, to put it mildy, a bloody pain. First off, it does not power up, when it's only connected to batteries. I have two of them, both working fine for several hours when put in after bootup, but no matter if I place one or both of them in any bays, nothing happens when pressing or holding the power button (apart from screen flickering and speaker crackling). I'm always forced to connect the power adapter, which immediatly (without pressing the power button) causes the power LED to light and the cooling fan insanely spins up for a mere couple of split seconds until everything wents silent again.
Having reached this point, I can disconnect the power supply (if at least one battery is in) and usually hear a nice "BONG" when pressing the power button once again. Thereafter, nothing happens for a oppressive 30 seconds, then, the screen finally lits and shows the Mac OS 9.2.x splash screen on monochrome background. Sadly, this is already the end of most of my first boot up tries, because at this point, I usually get told by a dialogbox that a bus error has just happened. The box also has a nice "Reboot" button, which I cannot click as the trackpad hangs as well.
Pressing ShiftFn+CrtlPower works here in about one out of three time, so in most cases, I have to go through the same procedure. Pull out power sources, give a shot via PSU, have it iddling for 30 secs. In most cases, this second try lets me pass splash screen, loader, yes, it even lets me see the desktop, the taskbar, the HDD icon and... pouf. Success is so close but no, it has to suddenly drop into sleep mode and
a short press on power proves the apprehension true, that it won't be easy to wake it up again. Hrmph. But I don't give that easily. So pulling everthing out for the second time, connect PSU for the third time and look there, it fully boots.
Three tries to successfully boot is about average at first try series. Afterwards, it seems to be "warmed up" and things get easier. I made a log recently with 5 test series, made at very frequent intervals:
Series 1:
1. Bootup: Bus Failure (Hard reboot fails) (bays empty)
2. Bootup: Sleep Mode (bays empty)
3. Bootup: Sleep Mode (bays empty)
4. Bootup: Sleep Mode (both batteries)
5. Bootup: Bus Failure (Hard reboot successful)(both batteries)
6. Bootup: Success (left battery, right bay empty)
Series 2:
1. Bootup: Success(left battery, right bay empty)
Series 3:
1. Bootup: Bus Failure (!!!) (left battery, right bay empty)
2. Bootup: Success (bays empty)
Series 4:
1. Bootup Success (left bay empty, right battery)
Series 5:
1. Bootup Success (both batteries)
Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions.

jpl,
Thank you for continuative support.
If you plan on buying a 256MB memory module, the Wallstreet requires
a 256 specifically made for it (and the early iMac
and Lombard). Modules 128MB and smaller can be
generic if they meet the Wallstreet's specs.
Thanks for this information.
You might find it useful to disassemble the 'book to the PMU, carefully remove/reseat the PMU card, then test.
Well, to be honest, I don't have the time to perform this very labour-intensive work. However, I pulled out the large PMU connector (the one that can be reached by lifting the keyboard) and reseated it, without any results. Shouldn't that suffice? Or is there another connection that could need maintenance?
Regarding sleep: There is no display position sensor, only a simple magnet in the right display bezel approximately 4" from the bottom...you can stick a paperclip to it. When the display closes, it triggers a sleep switch located next to the delete key in the side rail.
Ah, okay.
According to Apple, if the powerbook will not run on battery, it could be the charge card or PMU board or power supply card or logic board. However, your 'book apparently runs on battery once started via power adapter.
Actually, it does not allow me to power up, if I attach the adapter right after an unsuccessful try to operate from battery. Even if I remove the batteries (after adapter connection).
It's like it is "crashed" before it's even running. Which means, I have to pull all power sources to be able to perform the resuscitating power up via adaptor.
A normal power manager reset on the Wallstreet is this:
1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Simultaneously press Shift-Fn (function)-Ctrl >(control)-Power.
3. Wait 5 seconds.
4. Press the Power button to restart the PowerBook >computer.
A successful reset will briefly flash the sleep light plus >spin up the fan for a second. If a reset does not solve the >startup and sleep issues, then you will have to look >elsewhere.
I can see the sleep LED and I do hear the fan, however, this didn't help in most cases. After perfoming this action (in a freeze situation), I usually only got rattling noises out of the speakers or screen flashes when trying to power up.
Be sure the powerbook only freezes when closing the display to sleep it.
Well, I noticed it sometimes also freezes when left idle directly after start up (and power save is activated). Later, it comes right back again.
- Is the sleep light blinking before you open the display?
Yes.
- When the display is opened, does the sleep light continue to blink? (It should.)
Yes.
- When you press the power button, do you hear a 'buzz' or some similar noise? If you do, you may have another issue to explore.
No. I usually only hear speaker noise when trying to power up from battery. But oddly enough, the lenght of the sleep light blinks changes when power button is hold down in "frozen sleep".
I would also go to the System Folder > Preferences folder and drag the Energy Saver Preferences to the Trash, close all windows, then restart...a new preference file will be created on restart. You can reset the Energy Saver to your like, then test sleep.
Done.
-Does sleep/wake always work when NOT closing the display? Try this after resetting the power manager and trashing the pref file mentioned below.
If I initiate sleep, yes. If it suspends automatically, well, usually. But not always (see above).

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If you have to resort to calling tech support, I'll bet you $10,000 that they're going to ask you to reset the PMU and/or the PRAM on your system. Your computer could have dirt on it, and they'd have you reset the PRAM and the PMU.

10.4.6 update issues with Powerbook G4

I have witnessed an error resulting from the 10.4.6 software update on two independent computers, and am stumped as to why I can't find any other references to it.
When I first installed the update (about a week or two after release), my computer's restart looked a bit odd: My wallpaper came up, along with the Spotlight icon in the upper right corner. The bar cut off after the icon, with the wallpaper behind it (as opposed to a blank bar). The screen remained frozen like this for a few minutes, before the OS finally came up looking normal. After that, the computer was not running so hot, so I ran disc utility, which seems to have helped a little, but not much.
Programs that once ran stable—text edit, safari, etc.—will freeze for no reason. When I try to force quit, the little "program running" triangle remains on the dock. If I pull up the "force quit" dialogue box rather than ctrl-clicking on the dock icon, it disappears from that boxes program list, but remains on the dock. My external harddrive, which I also repaired, isn't always recognized when plugged in, especially after the computer freezes and I have to restart.
I recently saw the similar problem arise in a Powerbook that is unrelated to mine—and more than a year newer than mine, from the last generation of G4 Powerbooks. The main difference is that after the installation of 10.4.6, this Powerbook had to go to to a repair shop and its owner had to pay $60 bucks (software problems aren't covered under Apple's lovely warranty) startup her computer, which now runs smoothly. When the computer powered on, the same wall-paper-and-spotlight-corner screen from my first restart appeared. I suspect that she might have given up and powered off too quickly after restarting, and somehow made the hang-up permanent.
The only bug description mildly close I have found to this issue is here:
http://www.macfixitforums.com/php/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=tiger&Number=759499&pa ge=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=31&fpart=1
The only similarity is that I use an external harddrive to hold most of my music. However, I haven't really made any major file moves, which is the main focus of this post. The PB that was repaired had been connected to my external harddrive, but several months before the 10.4.6 install (the computer was two time zones away when the error popped up.
Illegal names in the catalog file seem to be what disc utility said it was repairing on all three discs.
Any guesses as to what's wrong and/or recommendations on how to fix this myself would be appreciated. And did I do a bad job of searching, or am I just in contact with the only two computers that encountered this?
Thanks!

Hi Jeremy,
You may be able to repair this with the 10.4.6 Stand Alone Combo Updater.
This is a fuller install, as opposed to an incremental "delta" update so it should overwrite any files that are damaged or missing. It does not matter if you have applied it before. It has worked well for many.
Remember to Verify Disk before update and repair permissions before and after update from /applications/utilities/disk utility.
Additionally, if you are you running any Adobe CS 2 applications, there is a bug in the Adobe "Legal" folders (Photoshop) anyway that generates an "illegal name" error. If you're running CS 2, trash the legal folders in each application, including Adobe Bridge. Then run disk repair again, until it reports no errors.
-mj
[email protected]

Boot issues with Win98. Safe Mode Boot only. Not all drives detected...

Hello guys! This is a great source of information and I've learned a TON browsing this place (on company time, hehe), but I've hit a road block that I can't maneuver around.
System Config
Neo K8T Neo Fisr mobo
Athlon64 3200+ CPU
1 Gig Kingston RAM
Ti4200 64 MB video card
520 Watt Antec Power Supply (after getting schooled by Bas's great posts on the importance of PSUs, I found out my lame-o 350 watt (!!!!) PSU, errr, ain't gonna quite cut it.)
Problem:
Windows98 won't boot all the way to normal mode. It only boots to safe mode. Apparently a driver issue?
Symptoms/Clues:
- Only detects my Western Digital harddrive (and only after some finegling)
- Wierdness with my 1.44 3.5" floppy (A:) drive. At first the BIOS would tell me the A: drive was there, regardless of whether it was plugged in. Then I plugged in the A: drive and Win98 in safe mode couldn't read from it. Right now, I don't have my A: drive connected and it's not in my Boot Order sequence (hard drive only for now).
- BIOS doesn't detect my new CD-ROM (SONY) drive at all. Note, this is a brand new drive that was NOT on my old system.
- I disabled the S.ATA controller. (This was confusing because there's an option to disable some SATA thing under an "Integrated Peripherals" menu. However, there's another setting to disable s SATA thing under a PCI Controller's menu. Seemed vague to me,, but then it's been a while since I've done this sort of thing.)
- I cleared the CMOS earlier because of wierdness were the system would hang on bootup and would ask me about starting a "Flash Recovery" process, upon which it would just sit there ( I left it running overnight once).
Call for help
Unfortunately I have no boot floppies, so I was hoping this was something I could fix without one, perhaps by changing some BIOS settings. Maybe it's a RealTek Boot Agent thing?
Any help is appreciated!
BamaBoy

Im running win 98se with no real problems, and its doing so well that I still dont even feel like trying anything else..........
I'd say RE-clear your c-mos , using the jumper, and unplugging the power for 5 seconds..... then reset your bios settings.......Also, maybe just reinstall the via 4-in1 chipset drivers...... I remember fiddling with some bios setttings before, like the acpi by os or by bios etc.... that helped.....but its been awhile......The great thing about 98 is that you CAN tweak so much.......
You can reinstall over itself also, which can help redetect the hardware, yyou should always have the 98 files on the hard drive so you dont need the floppy or cd...... So many things you can try....... Resolve yourself to trying as many as possible , its fun when you get it right........... My prob. is that I never remember what I did to fix stuff heheheheh.......good luck
ps, the "flash recovery" thingy has to do with the realtek ethernet lan thingy....which you should disable in its bios.....I forgot how to get to it, I think F11 or something like that while it shows when you are booting....Then it will still ask when you boot, but wwont hang......

Serious boot issues with Powerbook G3 (Wallstreet II, OS 9.2.2)

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