PowerBook G4 17in 1.3ghz won't turn on

Question

Level 1

4 points

PowerBook G4 17in 1.3ghz won't turn on

My Powerbook won't turn on. Before that it was being slow waking up from sleep. I was using it and it frozed, had to force shut down, then it frozed while loading osx and I had to force shut down. After that it won't start. Sometimes I have been able to hear the chime, a couple of times it started up and gor frozed in the login window but most of the times it won't start at all. I changed the ram and nothing happened. The caps key light can be turn on/off. I read about leaving it charging without the battery to charge the backup battery and nothing. The power cord is in green light. Please help I need to work

Posted on Aug 24, 2012 5:08 PM

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Answer 1

Allan Jones

Level 9

68,948 points

Aug 24, 2012 6:23 PM in response to rickytitus

Is the main battery healthy? I have a 17-inch 1Ghz PBG4 with a good main battery but, like so many, has a near-useless backup battery. If I let the main battery run all the way down, it is hard to start on main power. I hit the power button and nothing, but it wil start on after 3-5 minutes its own after the main battery gets a little charge.

I've concluded you either need a strong main battery or a strong back-up battery for reliable starting.

However, slow to wake from sleep could be a symptom of a dying had drive. Those little notebook drives don't last as long as a 3.5-inch desktop drive. I maintain three older PowerBooks for a friend and one was very slow on startup and on wake from sleep. The hard drive died acompletely a few days after I installed and new drive and transferred the files from the old one.

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Answer 2

Aug 25, 2012 2:04 PM in response to rickytitus

it frozed while loading osx

What OS is on the PB and what OS were you trying to load? Was the OS installer a retail version or a gray disc from another model Mac?

 Cheers, Tom 😉

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Answer 3

rickytitus Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 25, 2012 10:16 PM in response to Allan Jones

@Allan: I use my PB with the outlet energy, the battery does not work and I´ve connected and use it from a outlet for many years. The battery only works for 5-10 minutes. I read about the backup battery being discharged. So far, I haven´t been able to get it to start. It´s weird, sometimes when I press the power button it sounds like waking up. The HD is kinda new, I replaced it in 2010

@Tom: I meant it froze when the apple logo appears, and the system loading is the one installed on the HD , I have the 10.5.8

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Answer 4

romko23

Level 2

408 points

Aug 26, 2012 9:34 PM in response to rickytitus

I think he is saying the PRAM battery might be dead. I would just get it replaced. The PRAM battery is not that expensive and should resolve the problem you are having. I am not sure of your PB G4 type, as most PB G4's pram batteries are silver lithium circular batteries.

Each PB G4 series' pram battery is different.

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Answer 5

Allan Jones

Level 9

68,948 points

Aug 27, 2012 9:36 AM in response to romko23

Hi n,

You wrote,

I would just get it replaced. The PRAM battery is not that expensive and should resolve the problem you are having.

The only new PRAM batts for PowerBooks are for the 1.67ghz 17-inch models:

Newer Technology Replacement PRAM/clock battery for PowerBook G4 17" Aluminum 1.67GHz systems

The OP has a 1.33Ghz

In addition, the battery installation takes a fairly deep teardown that's beyond the typical user. A casual recommendation to replace the battery is not always appropriate unless you probe enough to determine the OP's comfort of opening up a notebook full of tightly-packed tiny parts.

I think he is saying the PRAM battery might be dead.

I, like japamac, don't need a translator. Please don't do this. You did it in the past, were cautioned, and stopped; please stay with "stopped."

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Answer 6

rickytitus Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 28, 2012 10:14 PM in response to Allan Jones

Hi everybody, thank you for your responses. I was just able to get my PB to turn on and it loaded. However, when I got to the MAC OS X Login Window, as I typed my username it froze and got stuck. It's the second time i can get to this point and when I type something it gets stuck. I had to force shut down , waited a minute and then it did not start...

The other thing I noticed is that the "chime" sound , when it gets to sound, it sounds a little delayed as usual.

I really don´t know what is going on. The people at Genius Bar say they don´t take a look at this kind of model anymore...

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