Powerless Powerbook

I am here for help due to the passing of a great Mac guru Michael Pierce of Moonmac in Portland OR. RIP Michael.

My 17" aluminum Powerbook won't start. This began when I opened it to find that the computer was off instead of asleep and the power cord was not lit at the jack. The power cord had been fussy and making whining noises when charging but now it is not working at all. So I got the power cord from my 12" Powerbook and plugged it in. It lit up white at the jack as if it was working and the battery was fully charged. But when I tried to start the computer here's what happened:

Things seem to start normally at first, there is the chime and the screen lights up the the apple icon appears and the turning circle starts turning. It turns for a long minute and then everything shuts off and goes dark. Then I take out the battery (which is still good, showing 5 green lights but appaarently uncharged) and try starting and nothing at all happens. Then I put in the battery and unplug the power cord and same thing as described first time, chimes apple logo and spinning circle and then turns off.

Please help. What is the problem and what can I do to fix it? I live in the country far from repair places and I am an artist with a tight budget. Thanks in advance, Jeannine

jedelblut said:

So I got the power cord from my 12" Powerbook and plugged it in. It lit up white at the jack as if it was working and the battery was fully charged. But when I tried to start the computer here's what happened:

Click to expand...

First thought is the wattage from a 12" Powerbook charger does to have enough wattage to run a 17" Powerbook. 17" Powerbook chargers have more wattage.

A second thought...do a PMU reset:

Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU)

HTH,

- Nick

Good one Nick!...the 12" is 45W not 65W like the 16 and 17". I didn't think of that. But happily I already ordered a new power cord for the 17" from Amazon. Should be here in a few days. When I hook that up it should tell us something;

For the PMU reset, I did try that ..found that info on other forum threads.

I sure miss being able to get this kind of help from Michael of Moonmac. I think he'd be happy to know that his allies on MacForum are offering help in his absence..

Many thanks.
Jeannine

oops.I meant to type 15" not 16".( I miss the lit up keys of my 17")

jedelblut said:

Good one Nick!...the 12" is 45W not 65W like the 16 and 17". I didn't think of that. But happily I already ordered a new power cord for the 17" from Amazon. Should be here in a few days. When I hook that up it should tell us something;

Click to expand...

Please let us know how things work out. Either way...we both learn something from the experience!

- Nick

If the 17in Powerbook isn't powered on, then the charger for the 12in PB can charge the battery, but it will charge slowly. It doesn't produce enough power to run and charge the computer though. I think it may be something slightly more serious than a power issue.

Yes Stretch, I am worried it may be something like the internal power card needs to be replaced for example, Is that what you were thinking?

If the DC input board is gone, a charged battery will still be able to run the machine. I had that go on my iBook once and I just traded batteries with a friend until I got a replacement. I'm thinking more like the logic board may have issues.

New Power supply/charger

Well, I received the new power cord and plugged it in...was surprised that this less expensive non-apple version doesn't light up at the connection, so in this case one can only guess it is functioning. I tried to start the Powerbook and the same thing, chime, apple logo, spinning wheel for 2 minutes and then turns off . black screen. I have had it plugged in now for 16 hours and still no change. When I feel underneath, the battety is warmer now than the rest of the computer which is cool.

For the record I did try booting from my backup LaCie external backup drive, holding down option when starting. I see the two boxes/windows for the existing backup drives on the Lacie, which have little green x's, and the arrow pointing right, I choose the 17" Powerbook, click the arrow then same thing happens, chime, apple logo, spinning wheel for 2 minutes and then turns off . black screen.

I should add that I have had no luck finding someone I know here who has a 17" Powerbook so that I could make sure my battery is charged to see if that makes a difference.