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timoots

Q: Powerbook 100

There seems to be a sudden interest in the PB100.

Well, I too, have one. For some reason, I decided to haul it out of the closet to try to get it working. It stopped about 10 years ago. After, a bit of tinkering -- took it apart, changed pram batteries,re-soldered the pwr connections, did the reset routine -- it started up and asked for a system drive. I just about fell over. As the hard disk had definitely failed years ago, I went about attaching the HD-30(?) connector and a jazz drive. Well I got the chime of death on that one. After that, it would not start up all the way. I replaced the batteries again, and after some time it started up again, and continued to start up for the whole evening while I went about devising a system disk solution. Then, suddenly, it would not begin start up again. It remains that way currently -- startup chime plus a click.

I believe it actually DOES begin to startup, but video is not working properly for me to see it ask for a startup drive and complete the process. I suspect a capacitor has gone bad somewhere -- finding it seems a bit daunting.

I should mention that, upon inserting the pwr adaptor plug, the screen backlight turns on. In this state, pressing any button on the keyboard will not begin the startup process. After the rest routine, the keyboard will initiate startup.

mac pro, Mac OS X (10.4.10), PB 100, 9650. G4, Mac Pro

Posted on May 2, 2008 1:45 PM

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Q: Powerbook 100

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  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 2, 2008 1:54 PM in response to timoots
    Level 9 (61,297 points)
    Desktops
    May 2, 2008 1:54 PM in response to timoots
    Conventional wisdom is that particular machine will not run (more than a moment) with a dead main battery, even with the power adapter supplying juice.
  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter May 22, 2008 9:43 PM in response to timoots
    Level 2 (454 points)
    May 22, 2008 9:43 PM in response to timoots
    I think your motherboard has gone bad. Apple had some issues with the 100, I have a couple with those issues. Here's link to one of my web pages on our 100's look at the part about the VLSI chip and see if your 100 was modified by Apple. Mine was and it doesn't have the video issue that most of the non modified 100's I have opened have.

    Also check out the part about fuses.

    http://www.kevinomura.com/powerbooks/powerbook100/

    The 100 will work with a dead battery, it will also work with the AC adaptor from the 165c which delievers a bit more power than the original. Also be aware of the power adaptor issue that resulted in a recall.

    What I would try is to gently shake the hard drive sort of in a flat side to side motion to see if the heads are stuck and not allowing the drive to spin up. Doing this will get it going but I wouldn't exactly call it reliable.

    Good luck.

    Kevin
  • by timoots,

    timoots timoots Jun 7, 2008 11:39 AM in response to Niteshooter
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Jun 7, 2008 11:39 AM in response to Niteshooter
    I did get it to work. As I suspected the PB was booting up - I just could not see it as the screen was dark. After a whole lot of trouble, I stumbled on the answer -- the ribbon connector to the inverter card had cracked ever so slightly. It would respond to touch - the screen is off, then on. I managed to solder on fine wire over the broken connection -- this was a bit intense -- and the problem was solved.

    The PB worked for a few weeks and the same thing happened -- dark screen, but booting up. I attempted to do the same repair again but ruined the ribbon with a little too much heat. I found a new cable that seemed to fit overall, and soldered directly to the inverter board, Sadly, the repair has not worked.

    I am not sure wether I have new problem, or I have ruined the inverter board. Interestingly, just as I boot up, there is briefly an image on the screen, but quickly goes dark. Dark means not black as in dead - there is some backlight.

    ?????????????
  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter Jun 7, 2008 2:15 PM in response to timoots
    Level 2 (454 points)
    Jun 7, 2008 2:15 PM in response to timoots
    Black screen but light from backlight around edges? Screen is good logic board has a problem.

    Wife's giving me the evil eye....aka go cook dinner.... so will reply later but I think the logic board is toast.

    Kevin
  • by Niteshooter,

    Niteshooter Niteshooter Jun 8, 2008 5:36 AM in response to Niteshooter
    Level 2 (454 points)
    Jun 8, 2008 5:36 AM in response to Niteshooter
    Hi Tim, I pulled out three of 100's over here. Discovered that only one now boots properly and two have what you describe. So I swapped screens between the good and 'black' screen versions. All the screens are good as they work on the one with the working screens motherboard. Swapping the screen from the good 100 produced black screen on the ones exhibiting the problem.

    I didn't have time to do major work other than to check the plugs for cracks (none) and swapped around the pram batteries and tried resetting prams. No luck.

    But I have a feeling this might be a PMU reset. So to do that this is what needs to be done.

    -remove the AC adaptor and battery.
    -let the PowerBook sit without any power for 4-5 minutes
    -hold down the control, command, option and power on keys for 5-10 seconds
    -reinstall battery and attach AC adaptor
    -restart

    Now I just tried this on one of the black screen 100's with no luck but I think it's pram batteries are weak.....

    Kevin
  • by timoots,

    timoots timoots Jun 8, 2008 2:45 PM in response to Niteshooter
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Jun 8, 2008 2:45 PM in response to Niteshooter
    OK...did all that (buttons on the side) -- and same old problem. It DOES try to boot up though because on restart (hard reset) I can see a 'flash' of the start up screen asking for a disk (hard drive is toast too). And in a blink it's dark screen again.

    FYI, there is no power on key on this PB100 -- it's 'any key ' power on. Also I have booted previously when it was working with no pram battery or main battery in it.
  • by timoots,

    timoots timoots Nov 18, 2008 9:08 PM in response to timoots
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Nov 18, 2008 9:08 PM in response to timoots
    Screen had an intermittent ribbon cable. Soldered in a pseudo replacement - works fine now.