Dead Powerbook G3 FW

[Eidorian]

I just saved an old Powerbook G3 FW from the Windoze drones here at work. The AC adapter has been plugged into an outlet but not the laptop for at least 1-2 years. I brought the laptop back up to my office and I plugged it into the outlet here. It won't turn on. The battery indicator won't even light up.

Here are the specs that I could gather

Powerbook G3 FW 400 Mhz
OS X 10.1
6 GB IBM Travelstar HD
100 MB Zip Drive (In Bay)

 

[Daveway]

Thanks for saving it.....but what's the point of this thread?

If you want to try getting it to work, you could try buying an AC adapter from eBay and seeing if that works.

 

[seamuskrat]

There is a board that connects to the power swicth that maybe bad. There is also an internal battery that has died for sure and it will need to be replacved/charged depending on the model.

Look it up on Apple.com and reset the PMU (Power management Unit) and see if that and an overnight 24 hour charge helps.

I just saved an old Powerbook G3 FW from the Windoze drones here at work. The AC adapter has been plugged into an outlet but not the laptop for at least 1-2 years. I brought the laptop back up to my office and I plugged it into the outlet here. It won't turn on. The battery indicator won't even light up.

Here are the specs that I could gather

Powerbook G3 FW 400 Mhz
OS X 10.1
6 GB IBM Travelstar HD
100 MB Zip Drive (In Bay)

 

[Eidorian]

I found a second battery in the carrying bag they gave me. It had a second battery and one light lit up. I swapped it with the other battery and it powered up. I guess that other battery had a short in it. I boots up and it has 192 MB of RAM and OS 9.04. I'm thinking about wiping it and trying out the 10.1 disc that I have with the laptop. I know it needs more RAM and a bigger HD but I'm going to try it out on 10.1 first. Is Tiger worth this old laptop? I can get a copy with my education discount and I can probably get the laptop donated to me since no one wants it.

One big question, how do you turn off the Mac in Classic? I've never used it before. ^_^

 

[ITASOR]

Special-->Shutdown.

 

[Eidorian]

Special-->Shutdown.

I just found that, but thanks anyways. 10.1 installation is now under way! This laptop just needs internet and the ability to play DVD's.

 

[James Philp]

I have almost this exact same laptop.
The adaptors (yoyo) are notoriously bad - they overheat and break a lot (i'm on my 3rd) It's most likely this is the problem (unless the second battery is charging??).
You should be able to squeeze Tiger onto this, but will need over 256MB RAM.
There is a RAM slot under the silver heat-sink under the keyboard (the one with 2 screws on) and so that isn't a problem.

 

[Eidorian]

I have almost this exact same laptop.
The adaptors (yoyo) are notoriously bad - they overheat and break a lot (i'm on my 3rd) It's most likely this is the problem (unless the second battery is charging??).
You should be able to squeeze Tiger onto this, but will need over 256MB RAM.
There is a RAM slot under the silver heat-sink under the keyboard (the one with 2 screws on) and so that isn't a problem.

I have all of the original manuals. I've never owned a Mac but I've learned OS X and the Apple hardware. I plan on getting 512 MB of RAM. I'm not sure about the hard drive though. It's a 6 GB one and 10.1 slides in at 1.3 GB without every language pack on it. I've also noticed that the AC adapter does get hot too. I've already read the manuals that came with and I think I can get an Airport Card for free from my boss's iBook. He's a musician and uses some music software that's free for Classic. This Powerbook is much easier to upgrade than his iBook.

 

[kmarketing]

Hi,

If your has firewire then I have the 500mhz version of yours. This is probably my favorite laptop ever made, except for maybe the 17" powerbook that I have.

I was able to get mine for $200, and I upgraded the hard drive to 80gb 5400 rpm, the memory to 1gb, and I have even added a dvd burner to it. I have 2 batteries for it coming out to about 7 hours of battery life. The range with an airport card is a TON better than the titanium powerbooks and many of the aluminum.

You can upgrade the processor even to a g4 550 or a 1ghz g3. There is no question that this is the most upgradeable apple laptop ever. If you are like me, taking apart this powerbook is so easy and fun. It runs panther great, and I hear tiger runs better.

Congrats on this one. Try to hold on to it. It should last forever!!

 

[Eidorian]

I had it running just fine with 192 MB in 10.1. I was even browsing this board on it. Then decided to look at the RAM and took it apart. I accidentally pulled the tab off the processor board because I didn't remove the screw on the heat sink first. I got the processor board off and reattached the tab. I'm not sure if I can get the processor board reattached to the logic board now. It's a dead, dead laptop now.

 

[drison]

I had it running just fine with 192 MB in 10.1. I was even browsing this board on it. Then decided to look at the RAM and took it apart. I accidentally pulled the tab off the processor board because I didn't remove the screw on the heat sink first. I got the processor board off and reattached the tab. I'm not sure if I can get the processor board reattached to the logic board now. It's a dead, dead laptop now.

Umm.. You killed it. How could you?

 

[kmarketing]

NOOOO!! That's horrible. Are you sure you can't just reseat the processor board and push it in? Otherwise that completely sucks. If you want to invest some money into it, you can probably pick up a processor on ebay for $50-$75. Hopefully that will get it running again. Being so upgradeable may be your saving grace on this machine.

Good Luck, and be careful!!