3400c will not boot/ green power light remains on

Question

3400c will not boot/ green power light remains on

Strange thing happened. We lost power while I was away and when I came back my 3400c was on (the green power light was lit) but it will not boot, shut down or power up. Will not respond to the power button or force quit keys. I tried removing the cd drive, the battery and unplugging but when I reconnect the power all that I get is the green light. No internal noise, won't boot. Also, I tried pressing the reset "button" in the back and the green light will flash but nothing else happens. It hasn't been my main computer for awhile and I no longer have it connected to the internet but it is nice for the kids to run their cd games on it. Anyone have any idea on how I can go about troubleshooting this laptop.

Powerbook 3400c, Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier

Posted on Oct 24, 2009 3:57 PM

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Answer 1

jrash

Level 1

0 points

Jan 2, 2010 6:45 AM in response to jrash

I left mine in the back of my car on battery power with the green light illuminated, when I got it out the next day the battery had run down and when I plugged it in it booted right up.

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Answer 2

jrash

Level 1

0 points

Dec 30, 2009 9:31 AM in response to jonnyappleseed

Did you ever fix your 3400c? I have one that has the same problem, It was asleep and I accidentally unplugged it, now I can't get it to boot. I have completely disassembled it and reseated everything with no avail.

Thanks!

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Answer 3

Jan 29, 2010 4:42 PM in response to jrash

I've done a ton of tinkering with my 3400c, and currently am having fun installing Linux on it. Through my adventures with this thing, I've occasionally seen the stationary green light.

I'd recommend removing what's in the media bay, and any PCMCIA cards, unplugging all components and removing the battery.

Disconnect the unit from power and press the PMU reset button on the back, and hold it for several seconds.

Let the unit sit for about 10 minutes, just to be on the thorough side. Then reconnect the power cable (no battery/media bay necessary). What SHOULD happen is an immediate boot chime.

If the issue persists, you might try booting into open firmware:
Hold down Option + Apple + O + F, and press the power key on upper right of keyboard while holding these keys. Hold them down until you (hopefully) see a grayish-white screen.

If so, type these lines, return after each one:

init-nvram
set-defaults
reset-all

If all goes well, should reboot normally. If not, you may have a hardware issue on your hands. I'd try disassembling it and removing debris, looking for loose components or any point of failure, but if not you may require a new logic board. Luckily, either a 3400c or Kanga G3 board will work with these models if that's the case. (Only caviat is that the ram that originally came with some 3400c models will not work on the Kanga logic boards).

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