Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Help! My iBook g3 won't charge or startup.

C

Caelum

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 11, 2007
24
0
Australia
Hi all,

I have an iBook g3 running Tiger that I bought second hand almost two years ago that has been working perfectly up until yesterday.

I use it for uni during the day and usually turn the machine off overnight while it charges. The other night I left it 'asleep' while charging instead of off. When I came to use it in the morning it would not wake up and was totally silent although it's pulsing 'on' light in the front part of the casing was on. The charging cable was still connected and was green, indicating a full charge, but the battery-life light display, when pressed, showed only a single light, which flashds a few times, indicating the battery wasn't fully charged.

While trying to get the thing to do something I removed the battery. This caused the ibook to turn off the pulsating light - it was completely off and apparently not drawing power from it's adapter, which was still plugged in.

I have been trying since then to get the computer to turn on. No matter how long it is left charging, the battery never indicates anything other than a single light with a few flashes, the computer will not turn on and the cable of the charger stays green when plugged in.

I have tried inserting an older battery - which I know worked, it just only used to hold an hour's charge or so - and it will not charge at all.

I have also tried resetting the PMU, which appears to have done nothing

Does anybody know of anything else I could try?

Thanks for any help.
 
kajitox

kajitox

macrumors 6502a
May 2, 2007
581
0
I've heard of this problem before, and it's almost always due to water damage on or around the MagSafe...is this the case?
 
Q

Quint

macrumors member
Feb 4, 2008
55
0
This is a common problem on the G3 Powerbook - not sure if the iBook is the same. On the powerbook, it happens when the permanent battery (sometimes referred to as the pram battery) dies. To fix it on the powerbook, you can open the keyboard using the tabs between the F keys and carefully unplug the battery connector from the logic board. Then it powers up without a problem. I am not sure if you can duplicate these steps on the ibook.
 
C

Caelum

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 11, 2007
24
0
Australia
Hi again, thanks for your help all

Chrismcfall - thanks, it does appear to be a logic board problem. A friend allowed me to remove his logic board from his identical machine and try it in mine - everything worked, though it was a fiddly process. I guess I will need to fork out for a new one.

Thank you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom