Q: PowerBook G3 won't boot
I have a PowerBook G3 (M4753) that boots to a black screen. The battery is dead so the only way to power it on is with the charging cable. The fan spins at maximum speed and the hard drive sounds like it's spinning as well. Pressing the power button won't turn the PowerBook off, not until I pull the charging cable or when I press the PMU reset key combination. When I reset the PMU, I can't power it on again until I take the computer off the charging cable and plug it back in. I've removed the PRAM battery, replaced a faulty DC/Sound card, and I've tried switching the RAM modules but I get the same result. From what I've managed to find out so far, the PowerBook should at least manage to play a startup sound or show something on the screen, but I can't find anything about spinning fans that won't stop when booting to a black screen. Does anyone have an idea of what might be wrong with this computer?
PowerBook
Posted on Jun 10, 2015 12:25 PM
The M4753 "Wallstreet", unlike the later G3 PowerBooks, needs the PRAM battery, the trick of disconnecting the PRAM battery to get a boot that works on Lombards and Pismos doesn't work on the Wallstreet.
I've replaced PRM batts in three Wallstreets for a friend over the last 7-8 years but there is a problem today: the trusted sources for new Wallstreet PRAM batteries--Other World Computing and iFixit--no longer sells them. You'll have a quite a search ahead of you, and will probably find that most such replacement batteries offered are used/pulled and are probably deader than Napoleon.
Posted on Jun 11, 2015 6:13 PM