So I tried to post this 3 or 4 times to the G4 Books list and it never showed up. Also that list appears to be abandoned so I will try it here with hope of success in getting some more advice.
Back in March I was copying some large files from my 15" G4 PB 1.67 model #A1138 to an external firewire HD and left my office for a couple hours. Upon returning I noticed that the computer was not running. I know I didn't shut it off and there was no power outage, as my digital clock was still set correctly on my desk. I also noticed that the AC cord that is normally lit up in a green color when plugged into the PB was not lit up. Upon trying to start the computer, there was no response at all. The battery indicator showed a full charge. I tried another AC adapter to no avail. I tested both AC adapters with my other 12" PB and they worked fine. I posted on here and tried these things based on the following advice: Reset of the power manager: <http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431> Which was recommended by Bruce Johnson and it still did nothing. Take the battery out, unplug the adapter and press the power button and wait 10 minutes. Then reconnect power and hit the power button, then insert the battery. This should drain any capacitors that may be holding enough charge to keep some circuits powered and in a "confused" state. This was recommended by Clark Martin and also did not do anything. Kris Tilford suggested: Broken power button? I am not sure how to test this....does this sound possible? Bruce then replied: If the battery shows a full charge, and the system won't boot off of just the battery, I'd say that the DC board on it died. Kinda fiddly to replace : <http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+PowerBook+G4+Aluminum+15-Inch+1.67+GHz+DC+%26+Sound+Card/651/1> but not terrible. Then John Carmonne sent this: I have repaired a lot of G4 Power Books and for me the most troublesome DC board have been the 1.67 A1138 models, some are the jack from abuse and some are the board, a mutimeter will tell you which it is. There are two 1.67's so be sure if you have to buy one that you get the correct unit:-) So I bought a DC board off of ebay, had it shipped overseas to me and installed it and it still does nothing. Crap! Frustrated and busy I stuck the thing in my closet. Now I am wanting to fix it if possible because I really love this machine, so I was hoping to get some more advice if possible. Here is what I noticed as I played around with things. After taking out the old DC input board and installing the new one, I plugged in the old one that was out of the system and noticed that the AC power cord would light up in the orange color that it usually would do when the battery was not fully charged. I disassembled the laptop again and found that if I unplugged the little wired cable that connects from the DC input board to the motherboard and plugged the AC power cord back in, it would light up orange, just as the old board did that was removed from the laptop. When I plug this cable back into the motherboard and re-install the AC power cord, it does not light up, thus it will not charge the battery and certainly will not start up the computer. I am wondering now if this is a sign of a bad motherboard? If so, any advance warnings, suggestions, etc. or should I just keep it as an attractive paperweight or bookend? Any other thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and thanks also to all of you who responded previously to me! Tom -- -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "G-Group" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
