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Mac Forum / General / Portable Macs / July 2004Please help with dying powerbook G3 (bronze)
Hello, I have a powerbook G3 (bronze model M5343) that has an odd problem. If I can get it to turn on, great, but once it's off, it won't turn on again for several weeks (sometimes months). I've noticed that when it doesn't turn on, the sleep led will be solid, even though the machine was shut down, and is off. If I press the reset button, the led will turn off, but I still can't boot. Pressing the reset button again causes the led to be solid again. If I then disconnect the power cable and battery (internal & external), and let it sit for a week or two, it may power on. When it does power on, the power button won't work at first. If I hit reset, the sleep led gives off one flash. If I wait a few seconds, the power button will work, and the powerbook will power up. Once it's off, repeat. Any ideas on what I can do to solve this problem? Thanks in advance! > Hello, > > I have a powerbook G3 (bronze model M5343) that has an odd problem. I have one of these - the 333 MHz variety. I it might help if you reset the PMU (power managenment unit) and possibly replace the backup battery. Googling will tell you how to do all of these things. also, you could have a look in macfixit: http://www.macfixitforums.com/ > > Hello, > > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > the PMU (power managenment unit) and possibly replace the backup > battery. Googling will tell you how to do all of these things. When he hits th reset button and then waits 5 seconds, he is resetting the PMU. Cathy  Signature"there's a dance or two in the old dame yet." - mehitabel C.Stevenson, M.D. cats1921@sonic.net > > I have one of these - the 333 MHz variety. I it might help if you reset > > the PMU (power managenment unit) and possibly replace the backup [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Cathy There's a switch inside the machine I think - possibly confusing this with G4 powerbook (which I also have) > > I have one of these - the 333 MHz variety. I it might help if you reset > > the PMU (power managenment unit) and possibly replace the backup [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Cathy Probably you're right, I might be confusing methods with a powerbook G4 which I also have. It's be worth replacing the backup battery, as I said before. hc Yeah, odd thing about that. One of the fixes I've tried was resetting the PRAM, as mentioned on Apple's support page. After many tries, I got upset and left the battery out for a couple of days. When I re-attached the battery, it still wouldn't turn on. Shortly after that, it got put in a corner and forgotten till a week ago. I hooked it up, and after holding in the reset button for 30 sec, it fired right up. Odd thing was, the time was correct. Off course, I made the mistake of shutting it down, and it hasn't turned on since. Thanks for the suggestion, though. I still will probably look into replacing the battery (if I can ever get this thing to power up again.) Here's a question: When the powerbook is plugged in, the green led on the top is lit up. Every other time I press the reset button, the light will turn off. Oddly enough, when it does run, the led is not on. I assumed the top led meant the powerbook was on, but I wonder if that is incorrect. By chance, does the led, or maybe something else, give off any kind of diagnostic codes (like something similar to a pc's beep codes?) Thanks in advance! ~Dave PS: Sorry, I wrote the original message on google (I was bored at work with my dead powerbook). To avoid confusion, I'll write all the messages from here on out at home instead. > Probably you're right, I might be confusing methods with a powerbook > G4 which I also have. It's be worth replacing the backup battery, as I > said before. > > hc > Hello, > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Thanks in advance! You might want to check the PRAM battery: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=30017 Cathy Signature"there's a dance or two in the old dame yet." - mehitabel C.Stevenson, M.D. cats1921@sonic.net > > Hello, > > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Cathy I think he needs the whole PMU board replaced. I have a Wallstreet that had weird power problems --- it would turn itself off randomly --- and the sleep LED being on solid. I replaced the PMU board and it has been much better. Before I replaced the board, I reset the PRAM numerous times to no avail. Richard > > > Hello, > > > [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > Richard Well, he may very well need a new board. Is that the first troubleshoting step you recommend? Cathy Signature"there's a dance or two in the old dame yet." - mehitabel C.Stevenson, M.D. cats1921@sonic.net > Well, he may very well need a new board. Is that the first > troubleshoting step you recommend? On the PBG3's, you pretty much have to disassemble the entire machine to replace the PRAM battery (unless the Lombards are very much different from the Wallstreets in this respect). So, yeah, I'd say that if he were going to go through that trouble to replace the PRAM battery, he might as well change the PMU board while he's at it. Much of this depends on how much it will cost him to get a replacement PMU. I got one from eBay for $20. Richard > On the PBG3's, you pretty much have to disassemble the entire machine > to replace the PRAM battery (unless the Lombards are very much different > from the Wallstreets in this respect). Oops. I guess it is a lot easier to replace the PRAM battery in a Lombard than in a Wallstreet: <http://www.info.apple.com/usen/cip/pdf/pbg3/pbg3_bk_bat.pdf> -R. When it has run, it's never shut itself off. Then again, the most its run in the last 6 months is less than 10 hrs total. When your wallstreet would shut itself off, would it not want to turn back on, or would it power right up? Thanks in advance! Richard Chang <chang@nospam.com> wrote in news:chang-8EAA32.23460220072004 @comcast.dca.giganews.com: > I think he needs the whole PMU board replaced. I have a Wallstreet that > had weird power problems --- it would turn itself off randomly --- and [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Richard > When it has run, it's never shut itself off. Then again, the most its run > in the last 6 months is less than 10 hrs total. When your wallstreet would > shut itself off, would it not want to turn back on, or would it power right > up? The symptoms were very random. When it was bad, the machine would not restart. I just get the solid sleep LED (which some have called the "green light of death")and the fan blowing. I suspect that this is an indication of a bad PMU. Richard |
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