My PB G4 17" starts 1 time of 10 but not fully

Question

My PB G4 17" starts 1 time of 10 but not fully

I still use this old machine for some purposes, especially as a digital TV recorder (EyeTV) and have films I want to keep on it.

One day I came home seeing it was still recording after 24 hours with the fan running heavily and the computer very hot, although I had only booked a two hour recording.

The screen couldn't be made visible, the recording could therefore not be stopped and the computer itself couldn't be stopped. I had to do it with the start button held down ten seconds.

Since then the computer seems dead. I have tried starting with cmd-R, with cmd-alt-P-R and with alt but have succeded to get a chime very few times. Once the alt alternative worked - but with no reaction or cursor from the track pad, three times it opened totally, only after having had the computer disconnected from electricity for some hours (the battery is since long ago out).

Every time it froze after a while, like with the old MacOS. And then it is even more impossible to get any life.

I tried with the Leopard installation record, but that didn't help (the machine didn't boot), and it took me some days to get it out. And not by my hand. It was just a coincidence, that it came out. Now there is another dvd in there, and I don't get it out with any means.

Sometimes when I try to start, the fan suddenly starts, sometimes the dvd burner - but doesn't let me eject the dvd. There is no logical explanation to why this happens.

PowerBook

Posted on May 27, 2019 10:54 AM

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Answer 1

K Shaffer

Level 8

36,022 points

May 27, 2019 6:39 PM in response to Giron-Kiruna__

The vintage hardware & difficult/impossible to locate expendables (main battery,

PRAM clock battery, ATA/IDE HDD, AC power supply, etc) + OEM software on DVD

makes these harder to keep on the road; as modern upgrades by-pass them.

• Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU) - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT1431

If you could match the power output of original replacement PRAM/clock battery

for this series, something similar may be found of approximate size to fit inside.

Used ones of no significant value (expired) sometimes are offered online for sale.

(newertech/owc used to offer replacements until about 5 years ago, but no longer.)

Upgrades for ATA/IDE hard/storage drives include owc Mercury Legacy SSD these

do not require any connection adapters. Note: PPC rules to use FireWire enclosures

with correct chipset, to allow boot-capability with external system/drives is valid.

• Verified Upgrades for your Mac - macsales/owc

https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/

https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/apple-powerbook-g4-15-inch-1-67ghz-january-2005

https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/apple-powerbook-g4-17-inch-1-67ghz-january-2005

https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/apple-powerbook-g4-17-inch-1-5ghz-april-2004

An external (self-powered) hard drive enclosure with oxford-type chipset or equivalent

should be used with clones or full system installation, to sustain boot-capability/testing.

OWC used to/still sells these, for use with PPC hardware as external startup hard drives.

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Answer 2

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,386 points

May 28, 2019 8:12 AM in response to Giron-Kiruna__

Good Morning, Björn!

K Shaffer wisely mentions the dead internal backup battery , or "PRAM"battery. That has been the ongoing "thorn is my paw" with our 2003 17-inch PBG4. What I've found about living with a used-up PRAM battery is that I cannot start the computer even on the A/C charger if the primary battery is drained. I hit the power button and nothing happens,. After about 5-10 minutes the primary battery gets enough charge and I hear the start up chimes and the PowerBook starts normally.

What I learned is that in the presence of a dead PRAM battery (and they are are dead today), I must have a working primary battery installed and with a bit of charge on it to get our old veteran PBG4 to start.

A trick from "of olde": PRAM batteries in most PowerBooks were supposed to be rechargeable. The old trick that worked for me a few times is to remove the primary battery, place the computer on the charger for 12-24 hours, then reinstall the primary battery and immediately try a a start. Sometimes the PRAM battery gets just enought

The secret is a strong primary battery and they are getting hard to find.

Oh, nearly forgot: HWTech thought there is a reset button on the logic board. I couldn't remember either but located this archived Apple article on resetting the PMU on a PowerBook: Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU) - Apple Support

Allan in the NW USA; 47°N and a comfortable 55°F on a glorious spring morning.

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Answer 3

HWTech

Level 9

69,446 points

May 27, 2019 3:46 PM in response to Giron-Kiruna__

I believe the PBG4 had a micro switch on the Logic Board for a PMU reset. I may be wrong since it has been ages since I've worked on a PB. If it has this PMU reset button, it will likely be located beneath the Keyboard.

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Answer 4

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,386 points

May 28, 2019 8:21 AM in response to HWTech

Hi HWTech,

You wrote: I believe the PBG4 had a micro switch on the Logic Board for a PMU reset.

I recalled the same thing about the PMU reset on the PowerBooks but found this archived Apple article:

Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU) - Apple Support

On the 17-inch models it's all done with the keyboard as with newer Macs.

Your memory is good, though--the older PowerBooks indeed have a reset button under the keyboard or on the back panel.

Thanks for helping!

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Answer 5

May 29, 2019 10:24 AM in response to BDAqua

I would probably have done that, hadn't it been for the heat. Now it has been plugged half the day and a yellow light shines - but it gets hotter and hotter without the fans starting. They seem to start at all startup tests, but not when the computer is totally off.

A notice: although the plug is in, I get no electricity out of the two USB ports (I have got a radio without battery connected, that's why I know).

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Answer 6

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

May 29, 2019 9:23 AM in response to Giron-Kiruna__

I'd let it charge a couple of days before you try again.

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Answer 7

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

May 27, 2019 1:41 PM in response to Giron-Kiruna__

Hi, Kevin asked to take a look in here. :)

cmd-R doesn't do anything on old PPC Macs.

It sounds like it's overheating, possibly needing redoing of the Thermal Paste on the GPU.

https://www.ifixit.com/Device/PowerBook_G4_Aluminum_17%22_1-1.67_GHz

Especially ...

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/PowerBook+G4+Aluminum+17-Inch+1-1.67+GHz+Heat+Sink+&+Fan+Assembly+Replacement/259

It's a great old machine, you might also join my site & see if there's any old timers there with better info...

https://x704.net/bbs/

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Answer 8

May 28, 2019 12:48 AM in response to K Shaffer

What marvellous people you are, Aqua, Tech and Shaffer!

Your suggestions might be necessary to follow, when I have time. They seem to take some.

But for the moment I can say, that having noticed, that a long rest without electrical connection makes it possible to start. This morning I managed to start from the original install DVD. But - as at all the other times when I have got in - the cursor freezes at a point. This time when the install DVD was the booter. I had opened the Disc repair, but when I wanted to start Repair, the cursor had frozen.

Once a few days ago I had booted from the computor HD itself, and for an extremely long time it seemed possible to rescue films by burning them one by one. I had almost finished burning the first on a DVD, when I found everything frozen. There was a notice on the screen about the small rest of space on the HD - that might have trigged it to freeze.

(I have space on my main partition, buy unfortunately it hade started on a secondary partition with very little.)

So, something makes the computer freeze sooner or later, like the old MacOS did. Then there is nothing else to do than to unplug and wait for a couple of hours. NOTE: the fans start working, as soon as I do get in.

Björn

PS

Shaffer seems to live on a similar latitude as I. Kiruna is at 67 degrees north.

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Answer 9

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

May 28, 2019 7:40 AM in response to Giron-Kiruna__

Wow Björn,

Kiruna is the northernmost town in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland.

Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode?

Safe mode attempts Disk Repair, uses smaller Safe Drivers, & Leaves a bit more Free Space on the Boot drive.

Looks like Thur through Sun will be the coolest in the next 15 days & the best time to try booting it...

THU MAY 30 AM Light Rain 44°33°

FRI MAY 31 Cloudy 44°34°

SAT JUN 1 Partly Cloudy 45°35°

JUN 2 Mostly Cloudy 48°35°

Where's that -35° when you need it? ;)

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Answer 10

May 29, 2019 2:00 AM in response to Allan Jones

You all seem to use Fahrenheit. We have around +10° C, which should be some 50° F, a fairly warm temperature for the season here in the city.

The Resetting PowerBook … PMU link was helpful. For a while. This morning, after having had the troublesome machine without electrical connection (and with its dead battery) over night, I plugged it in and started the normal way. It started, and I could with the C key have the install DVD start. But it froze even earlier this time - see picture enclosed.

I left it there now. The electrical connector shines orange, not yellow. Could I kick it going again? I don't think the screen likes to stay like that. A fan is quietly working. I pulled out the AC connector completely for a second and then reinserted it. The screen didn't react, so there is something in that battery, after all.

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Answer 11

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

May 29, 2019 10:48 AM in response to Giron-Kiruna__

May have to Charge it in stages, hours at a time?

Maybe ask these people about a Battery?

https://www.equipit.se/#

They don't ship by air, but...

http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Aluminum-G4-17-Li-Ion-Rechargeable-Battery-p-16667.html

Whew, expensive New...

https://www.ebay.com/b/Laptop-Batteries-for-Apple-PowerBook-G4/14295/bn_2766578

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My PB G4 17" starts 1 time of 10 but not fully

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