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Mac Forum / General / Portable Macs / January 2007iBook 500 MHz G3 - does not start at all - what to do?
I have an iBook 500 MHz G3 that ran without problems until last week. Now when I press the power-on button, nothing happens at all (no sounds, no light, no noises), even when pressing for 10 seconds. The battery is full. (It has OS X 10.3.9 on the disk, if that matters.) What can I do? What might be wrong? At the minimum I'd like to start it in firewire mode to copy the data on the hard disk. TIA Marc  SignatureSwitzerland/Europe <http://www.heusser.com> remove CHEERS and from MERCIAL to get valid e-mail In article <marc.heusser-0A00DD.22200628012007@news.unizh.ch>, Marc Heusser <marc.heusser@CHEERSheusser.comMERCIALspammers.invalid> wrote: > I have an iBook 500 MHz G3 that ran without problems until last week. > Now when I press the power-on button, nothing happens at all (no > sounds, no light, no noises), even when pressing for 10 seconds. The > battery is full. (It has OS X 10.3.9 on the disk, if that matters.) > > What can I do? What might be wrong? It's broken. As for what's wrong? There could be a lot of things. Hopefully this will help: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300552 > In article <marc.heusser-0A00DD.22200628012007@news.unizh.ch>, > Marc Heusser <marc.heusser@CHEERSheusser.comMERCIALspammers.invalid> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300552 Thank you - resetting the PMU as per the instructions and links on that page did the trick. Is it likely that (if this does not happen soon again) this remains a single incident, or do I have to plan for a new machine? Marc SignatureSwitzerland/Europe <http://www.heusser.com> remove CHEERS and from MERCIAL to get valid e-mail In article <marc.heusser-A3D7F5.10012629012007@news.unizh.ch>, Marc Heusser <marc.heusser@CHEERSheusser.comMERCIALspammers.invalid> wrote: > > In article <marc.heusser-0A00DD.22200628012007@news.unizh.ch>, > > Marc Heusser <marc.heusser@CHEERSheusser.comMERCIALspammers.invalid> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > Marc While I've heard of plenty of people using 7 year-old (or more!) Apple portables, it's always good to have a plan. If budgeting for a new machine is a possibility, you should consider doing so. After all, unlike major corporations, you don't have to take your money away if you don't spend it before the next fiscal period. SignatureLater, John johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu 'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk. >> In article <marc.heusser-0A00DD.22200628012007@news.unizh.ch>, >> Marc Heusser <marc.heusser@CHEERSheusser.comMERCIALspammers.invalid> [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Is it likely that (if this does not happen soon again) this remains a > single incident, or do I have to plan for a new machine? I doubt it will happen very regularly at all. It's not a common occurrence in my experience. SignatureJR In article <marc.heusser-A3D7F5.10012629012007@news.unizh.ch>, Marc Heusser <marc.heusser@CHEERSheusser.comMERCIALspammers.invalid> wrote: > > In article <marc.heusser-0A00DD.22200628012007@news.unizh.ch>, > > Marc Heusser <marc.heusser@CHEERSheusser.comMERCIALspammers.invalid> [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Is it likely that (if this does not happen soon again) this remains a > single incident, or do I have to plan for a new machine? iBook 600 MHz G3 here, and that happened to me back in July 2003. I've only needed to reset it once since then. > At the minimum I'd like to start it in firewire mode to copy the data > on the hard disk. The internal disk on mine "died" over a year ago, since when I've been running off a firewire disk. Please make sure you have adequate backups in case your disk goes the same way. PS - I say "died" because it still sort of works, but is prone to freezing, so I don't use it any more. SignaturePaul Sture In article <paul.sture.nospam-50F039.18571129012007@mac.sture.homeip.net>, > > Is it likely that (if this does not happen soon again) this remains a > > single incident, or do I have to plan for a new machine? > > iBook 600 MHz G3 here, and that happened to me back in July 2003. I've > only needed to reset it once since then. Nice to know, thank you. > > At the minimum I'd like to start it in firewire mode to copy the data > > on the hard disk. > > The internal disk on mine "died" over a year ago, since when I've been > running off a firewire disk. Please make sure you have adequate backups > in case your disk goes the same way. I will, I just did one with CarbonCopyCloner to the big disks in my MacPro. Marc SignatureSwitzerland/Europe <http://www.heusser.com> remove CHEERS and from MERCIAL to get valid e-mail In article <paul.sture.nospam-50F039.18571129012007@mac.sture.homeip.net>, > > Is it likely that (if this does not happen soon again) this remains a > > single incident, or do I have to plan for a new machine? > > iBook 600 MHz G3 here, and that happened to me back in July 2003. I've > only needed to reset it once since then. Unfortunately it did develop another problem now: I can start it all well while connected to the mains power. As soon as I pull the plug, it goes to sleep, and I cannnot wake it unless I reconnect the power adapter. The battery is full, and less than 1 year old. Any ideas of whether this is repairable with little effort and how? TIA Marc SignatureSwitzerland/Europe <http://www.heusser.com> remove CHEERS and from MERCIAL to get valid e-mail > In article > <paul.sture.nospam-50F039.18571129012007@mac.sture.homeip.net>, [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Any ideas of whether this is repairable with little effort and how? Sounds like Power Management again. A hail-mary might be to do a complete NVRAM reset. Search for "nvram-reset" on Apple Support. Basically, we want to boot into OpenFirmware and run the two commands to reset the iBook to factory settings. There is a chance the battery, while still holding a charge, is failing in some manner. It may not be telling the iBook it has a charge. Hint: don't run the iBook with a full charge all the time. A laptop likes to be used like a laptop, with the battery being partially a few times a day. > > In article > > <paul.sture.nospam-50F039.18571129012007@mac.sture.homeip.net>, [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > likes to be used like a laptop, with the battery being partially a few > times a day. Well, sorta. Try Apple's page for their recommendations: http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html SignatureLater, John johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu 'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk. >>> In article >>> <paul.sture.nospam-50F039.18571129012007@mac.sture.homeip.net>, [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html Perhaps I wasn't clear. I meant /exactly/ this: "An ideal use would be a commuter who uses her MacBook Pro on the train, then plugs it in at the office to charge." Factor that trip home and a recharge in the home office, and you have your "few times a day." > >>> In article > >>> <paul.sture.nospam-50F039.18571129012007@mac.sture.homeip.net>, [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > Factor that trip home and a recharge in the home office, and you have > your "few times a day." LoL! I guess I wasn't being clear myself. I was agreeing with you, broadly speaking, and attempting to provide more detailed info in case the OP wasn't familiar enough with Li-chemistry batteries to clearly understand what you wrote. Ah! The joys of the written word! :-) SignatureLater, John johajohn@indianahoosiers.edu 'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk. >>>>> In article >>>>> <paul.sture.nospam-50F039.18571129012007@mac.sture.homeip.net>, [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > > Ah! The joys of the written word! :-) Ah, ok then. I do this myself. I wasn't sure if I was being unclear or not. However, yes, that is the exact document I read, lo, those many years ago (I note that it has been updated to read "MacBook" instead of "PowerBook"). Followings the instructions therein has led to many years with a G3 iBook and only two batteries (so far). Actually, three, since I was able to participate in the recent laptop battery exchange. Marc Heusser <marc.heusser@CHEERSheusser.comMERCIALspammers.invalid> wrote: > In article > <paul.sture.nospam-50F039.18571129012007@mac.sture.homeip.net>, [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > goes to sleep, and I cannnot wake it unless I reconnect the power > adapter. The battery is full, and less than 1 year old. I've seen this (with a different model). I never solved it. :( The computer just stops knowing that the battery is there. You might try cleaning the contacts with the eraser end of a pencil... It may be that the battery has gone bad (despite its relative youth). m. Signaturematt neuburg, phd = matt@tidbits.com, http://www.tidbits.com/matt/ Tiger - http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/tiger-customizing.html AppleScript - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596102119 Read TidBITS! It's free and smart. http://www.tidbits.com > > Unfortunately it did develop another problem now: I can start it all > > well while connected to the mains power. As soon as I pull the plug, it [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > cleaning the contacts with the eraser end of a pencil... It may be that > the battery has gone bad (despite its relative youth). m. I did notice it did not recognize the battery - the menu bar symbol with the cross in the battery. Cleaning contacts made that go away, it shows the battery as being charged (even though the charger still charges - yellow light), and 0% - there is definitely something wrong here. I did all the reset-nvram and reset-all in open firmware. Looks like it is time for a new one ... The battery was exchanged by Apple on the exchange programme - I'd guess from the behaviour that the charger actuall charges the battery ok, but the computer seems not to recognize the battery, at least it behaves as if it was not there. Not bad - 6 years for a portable. Thank you for your help. Marc SignatureSwitzerland/Europe <http://www.heusser.com> remove CHEERS and from MERCIAL to get valid e-mail |
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