Thanks for the suggestion, Caio. My clamshell (now my sister's) has been sitting unused for some time now, so I figured it would be safe to try what you recommended. I reset CUDA, reset PRAM (4 chimes), reset NVRAM, and booted. The power ring (amber light) said it was charging, OS 9 said it wasn't. Ran the battery reset. Same thing. At least now the amber light hasn't gone off yet. A good sign, perhaps? Well, I'll let you know in the morning. I'm having my sister let it sit and charge overnight. A little further description of the problem: Will not boot from battery. Boots and runs fine from AC. Light goes from amber to green in only a few minutes, still won't boot from battery. OS 9 shows that there is a battery (zilch charge), but it won't charge it.
This was such a good laptop while it was mobile. It survived 1.5 years in a house with growing children, the cold interior of a van in winter, the heat of a dark-colored van in summer, it was dropped from a foot off the ground onto carpet while running (still worked), and it won me, a long-time PC, over to Apple Mac. While I have a more powerful and adaptable laptop in the form of my Pismo G3, I still get a little sentimental over that iBook. I really want to get it mobile again (I don't like giving my sister my junk, but if I gave it to one of my brothers, it would be worse off, and I don't have space to keep it with me) and I'm trying to run through all my options. Once again, thanks for everything this far. I hope somebody knows for sure what's going on. On Dec 2, 9:52 pm, Caio Franco <[email protected]> wrote: > Austin, > > You may try this: > > http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60655 > > It's a battery reset software for clamshell and other g3 notebooks, please > read the instructions carefully - it seems that it do no runs on OSX... > > Regards, > > Caio > > 2009/12/1 Caio Franco <[email protected]> > > > Austin, > > > Try to put the battery away for at least one week, then put it in again and > > see what happens. Just before you put it at its place, reset CUDA (that > > little spot under an arrow close to the screen - to reset it, please > > remember to do it completely OFFLINE - no AC, no battery), reset PRAM > > (command+option+P+R when you turn on the computer - please hold it till you > > hear at least 4 chimes) and reset NVRAM (command+option+O+F, then, at the > > prompt, type reset-nvram (ENTER) and reset-all (ENTER). That method worked > > for my Blueberry, hope works for you too! > > > Best regards, > > > Caio > > > 2009/12/1 Austin Leeds <[email protected]> > > > Thanks for that information. I didn't know that a battery could just > >> die with no warning. That's about what it did, too—I was playing X- > >> Plane 5 on it, plugged in (supposedly—the AC port was bad at that > >> point and it might have been loose; I replaced it with a solid, > >> working one off the logic board I bought), and it just instantaneously > >> died. I should have thought it would have gone to sleep, but I suppose > >> if the charge was low enough (this was in late 2007 with an original > >> 1999 Tangerine iBook), the old battery might have just kicked the > >> bucket. A shame… it still gave 4 hours of life toward the end. > >> The symptoms of a logic board failure sound awfully close to a battery > >> failure, though. I need to get myself a voltmeter to test it. > >> In the meantime, would a battery that won't charge display as having a > >> low charge in OS 9? Or would that be an X over the icon? 'Cause I get > >> either one at different times. > > >> On Nov 30, 4:03 pm, "Dan Knight, LowEndMac.com" <[email protected]> > >> wrote: > >> > There is no PRAM battery in iBooks - they use the rechargeable battery > >> > for that. And it's possible for a battery to die "like that" with no > >> > warning. All it takes is for it to drain completely and a single cell > >> > inside it reverse polarity. Then it's time to rebuild or replace the > >> > thing. > > >> > Dan Knight, LowEndMac.com > > >> -- > >> You received this message because you are a member of G-Books, a group for > >> those using G3 iBooks and PowerBooks (we run a separate list for G4 > >> 'Books). > >> The list FAQ is athttp://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.htmland our > >> netiquette guide is athttp://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml > >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > >> To leave this group, send email to > >> [email protected]<g-books%[email protected]> > >> For more options, visit this group at > >>http://groups.google.com/group/g-books > > >> Support for older Macs:http://lowendmac.com/services/ -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Books, a group for those using G3 iBooks and PowerBooks (we run a separate list for G4 'Books). The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To leave this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g-books Support for older Macs: http://lowendmac.com/services/
