using iBook G3 without battery - power adapter only

Theoretically, it should work, yes. Have you tried resetting the PMU?

However, I strongly recommend against running with no battery for a couple of reasons.

First of all, even a mostly dead battery usually will hold enough of a charge to save your projects you're working on if the iBook is accidentally unplugged.

Next, if Apple had really intended using the iBook this way, they would have provided a battery hatch cover. As it is, using the iBook with no battery in place would subject the terminals to dust, lint, and debris. Needless to say, this is not good.

Apple has never really called its portables "laptops." They are not designed to run on your lap, but on a hard surface. I know most of us use them on our laps, but these days, I use one of these, which my son bought me for Mother's Day. I use it folded in half, and use the foot to prop up the back so that my iBook is kept cooler than it would be otherwise. It works great.

If the heat bothers you, it probably bothers your iBook, too. You may want to look into a similar solution. One long-time Apple user has suggested an inexpensive acrylic cutting board as a lap desk, and that would work fine, too. I don't recommend running without the battery, though, even if you could manage to do it.

Here are links to some of Apple's articles regarding the battery, and recommendations on ways to maximize your battery's life and lifespan:

http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=50666
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284

Be sure to calibrate it at the start.

Good luck!

Hi Annette,

In addition to Ronda's great advice, there are other issue regarding running without a battery, such as the machine's balance being different (the top half only weighs slightly less than the bottom half without a battery, which makes it easier to tip over) and issues due to the clock being incorrect at startup time causing very slow bootup.

If you still cannot run your system without a battery after resetting the PMU, you might want to have the system looked at by an Apple repair place.. sometimes a component known as the "DC in board" fails, and the machine will only charge the battery when shut down, and won't power the system without a battery in. Does your iBook have a dark grey or a white power connector? If it is white, the light may not work if the DC in board has failed.