05-15-2006, 02:50 PM

Ok I have now encountered many issues with my powerbook.

1. The keyboard is useless and no one would reply to my other post I made about it being broken

2. Everytime I switch it on I am faced with something that looks like a folder and a flashing question mark and mac face logo.

3. My slot-load drive wont take discs in.

Any help would be highly appreciated, I am really hoping to get my powerbook working ASAP as I'm gonna need it!

05-15-2006, 04:02 PM

The folder with the flashing question mark, means that you can not find a valid system (OS) on start up. Does your system eventually boots up?

As for slot drive, is it a problem with all disks or only certain type of disks?

05-15-2006, 04:09 PM

Try booting up holding down Command-Option-P-R which will reset the PRAM. HOLD DOWN those keys and you will hear one chime, then keep holding till you hear another chime. Then you can let go. That might take care of the flashing question mark problem. I take it the system eventually gets into OSX? Either it's looking for another boot device, or the Hard Drive is staring to have problems. Try the resetting of the PRAM.

The Drive could be getting old and dying.

The Keyboard, does it work at all? Can you plug in an external keyboard and does that work? If your internal keyboard does nothing, it could be the thin ribbon cable came out of it's jack on the mainboard.

05-16-2006, 03:47 AM

Originally Posted by dtravis7

The Keyboard, does it work at all? Can you plug in an external keyboard and does that work? If your internal keyboard does nothing, it could be the thin ribbon cable came out of it's jack on the mainboard.

Well the thin ribbon cable has completely been torn out of the jack that plugs it into the mainboard, I can use my iBook keyboard in there but of course it doesnt fit in properly, but at least it works...

I have been looking around and keyboards cost around £70/$112.

05-16-2006, 04:14 AM

Originally Posted by dtravis7

Try booting up holding down Command-Option-P-R which will reset the PRAM. HOLD DOWN those keys and you will hear one chime, then keep holding till you hear another chime. Then you can let go. That might take care of the flashing question mark problem. I take it the system eventually gets into OSX? Either it's looking for another boot device, or the Hard Drive is staring to have problems. Try the resetting of the PRAM.

The Drive could be getting old and dying.

The Keyboard, does it work at all? Can you plug in an external keyboard and does that work? If your internal keyboard does nothing, it could be the thin ribbon cable came out of it's jack on the mainboard.

I take it the chime is the startup noise, I hear the start up noise first time then I press the buttons im told (i hold them) I hear the start up noise again twice then let go and..... nothing just the same problem, also my disc drive wont accept any disc.

I cant see any problem with the hard drive since it is quite new and is not the the original, The original was a **** of a lot smaller in size, this one is a 40 gig one

05-16-2006, 06:52 AM

can you take it to an apple store im pretty sure keyboards arent that much

05-16-2006, 12:30 PM

Therefore I would have to go to london to get to my nearest one.

05-16-2006, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by makwanad

Therefore I would have to go to london to get to my nearest one.

I think I gave around $15 including shipping off ebay for the last ibook keyboard I bought. Just watch for deals - there are tons of powerbook keyboards on there for similar prices, you just have to actively watch them and jump in at the last moment or find a buy-it-now.

Your flashing folder icon means no OS boot files found. Just insert the startup OSX cd and let it boot then reinstall your OS. Of course you probably need a keyboard to do that successfully but you could use your ibook one like you said you have been doing.

05-16-2006, 01:32 PM

Yes but then of course there is the problem of getting the slot loading drive to work... which of course it doesnt, I have tried resetting the PRAM but it hasnt worked.

05-18-2006, 06:17 AM

Well after taking apart my powerbook it turns out that the cable that connects the drive to the motherboard is on the wrong side of the disk drive, this of course means the drive is not for my powerbook and I have to buy a new disk drive. Unless i can use the cable from my ibook which connect the disk drive to the hard drive which then goes into the mainboard. Any suggestions?