Bringing a PowerBook G4 A1106 back to life

[CPL593H]

Hello all,
My girlfriend unearthed a few of her old Mac laptops, and I’ve taken it upon myself to try and get them flying again. Rather new to this, but what should I be doing to get it working and usable (only for fun, not serious work). Battery is dead as a door nail and no charger in sight, so those are ordered and on their way.

haven't cracked it open yet, but took a peek at the RAM and it’s got a single 512 in it. Looks like it can take up to 2GB so that’s a possibility.

Also turned up an iBook A1005 and MacBook A1181.

thanks! Can’t wait to see these things working.

 

[z970]

what should I be doing to get it working and usable

For now, exactly what you're doing.

Let us know what happens.

 

[eyoungren]

Hello all,
My girlfriend unearthed a few of her old Mac laptops, and I’ve taken it upon myself to try and get them flying again. Rather new to this, but what should I be doing to get it working and usable (only for fun, not serious work). Battery is dead as a door nail and no charger in sight, so those are ordered and on their way.

haven't cracked it open yet, but took a peek at the RAM and it’s got a single 512 in it. Looks like it can take up to 2GB so that’s a possibility.

Also turned up an iBook A1005 and MacBook A1181.

thanks! Can’t wait to see these things working.

We can't really help unless there is a problem and you tell us what that problem is.

If you turn it on, it boots and everything words then you have achieved what you set out to do.

But if you're asking what you can upgrade then there are lots of answers to that.

 

[CPL593H]

We can't really help unless there is a problem and you tell us what that problem is.

If you turn it on, it boots and everything words then you have achieved what you set out to do.

But if you're asking what you can upgrade then there are lots of answers to that.

We can't really help unless there is a problem and you tell us what that problem is.

If you turn it on, it boots and everything words then you have achieved what you set out to do.

But if you're asking what you can upgrade then there are lots of answers to that.

Yep, will report back once I get some working power plugged in.

Looks like memory and storage can be upgraded on the PowerBook, and it can go as far as Leopard. No clue when these were last powered up, but we will see.

 

[eyoungren]

SSDs for storage are an option. You can either get a PATA SSD (expensive) or try for an adapter with an M3 SSD.

 

[CPL593H]

Status report, put a new battery in and it booted right up. Also ordered a charger and that doesn’t seem to make a difference. Tested the charger on the iBook and it works there. Area around the charging port is dented, wonder if something is loose there? Powered it down and took the battery out so as not to waste the charge.

Searching around, seems like it’s likely an issue with the DC in board? Won’t charge the battery, no run on adaptor power alone. Might see if I can find one cheap enough on eBay. Seen a few guides on iFixit, not exactly swapping RAM, but with some time I can knock it out.

As an aside, the others powered right up! MacBook is on 10.5.8, might have a go at throwing an SSD and some more RAM in it. Only downside is the Leopard install disc is likely many years gone. Will have to track one down, looks like I can use it on both the MacBook and PowerBook.

 

[eyoungren]

Status report, put a new battery in and it booted right up. Also ordered a charger and that doesn’t seem to make a difference. Tested the charger on the iBook and it works there. Area around the charging port is dented, wonder if something is loose there? Powered it down and took the battery out so as not to waste the charge.

Searching around, seems like it’s likely an issue with the DC in board? Won’t charge the battery, no run on adaptor power alone. Might see if I can find one cheap enough on eBay. Seen a few guides on iFixit, not exactly swapping RAM, but with some time I can knock it out.

As an aside, the others powered right up! MacBook is on 10.5.8, might have a go at throwing an SSD and some more RAM in it. Only downside is the Leopard install disc is likely many years gone. Will have to track one down, looks like I can use it on both the MacBook and PowerBook.

With the dent you mentioned and then the symptoms, yes. Most likely a DC-In(verter) board. Probably got hit there which broke the solder joints on the receptacle.

Just replace the board, lightly pound out the dent and you should be good.

As far as disks…take a look on Macintosh Garden.

 

[CPL593H]

With the dent you mentioned and then the symptoms, yes. Most likely a DC-In(verter) board. Probably got hit there which broke the solder joints on the receptacle.

Just replace the board, lightly pound out the dent and you should be good.

As far as disks…take a look on Macintosh Garden.

Quality, will take a peek on eBay. GF mentioned she recalled having "issues" with it before it was replaced by the aforementioned MacBook, guess I know what they were. Worth replacing the PRAM battery while I have it open?

Thanks for the help, never had a chance to mess around with Mac products from this era, so I'm finally living my past-dream. Hand-me-down Dells were the extent of it...

 

[eyoungren]

Quality, will take a peek on eBay. GF mentioned she recalled having "issues" with it before it was replaced by the aforementioned MacBook, guess I know what they were. Worth replacing the PRAM battery while I have it open?

Thanks for the help, never had a chance to mess around with Mac products from this era, so I'm finally living my past-dream. Hand-me-down Dells were the extent of it...

The worth of replacing the PRAM battery is up to you. If the laptop is going to be plugged in the majority of the time I don't see a need. Most of my laptops are used plugged in, even when taking them out.

But if you intend to use them on battery, probably worth it.

I know what you mean about this era of Macs. I actually used them in that era (20 years in Graphic Design) at work so I got to see it all first-hand. But as far as owning them myself…I could never afford them when they were the current models. Getting my first one on my own (other than a gift) came in 2010 when they finally entered my price range (less than $200). Now I can afford to have the kinds of stuff that would have cost thousands back then.

All the experience gained from using them during that era though makes me able to keep them going.

 

[CPL593H]

The worth of replacing the PRAM battery is up to you. If the laptop is going to be plugged in the majority of the time I don't see a need. Most of my laptops are used plugged in, even when taking them out.

But if you intend to use them on battery, probably worth it.

I know what you mean about this era of Macs. I actually used them in that era (20 years in Graphic Design) at work so I got to see it all first-hand. But as far as owning them myself…I could never afford them when they were the current models. Getting my first one on my own (other than a gift) came in 2010 when they finally entered my price range (less than $200). Now I can afford to have the kinds of stuff that would have cost thousands back then.

All the experience gained from using them during that era though makes me able to keep them going.

Yeah not worth it then. Once they're updated, they'll be desk pieces to tinker with. I'll scour eBay shortly and see what I can find. I know its an A1106, but is there anything more specific to search? Turned up a few already.

Took some graphic design courses in school and the first thing I used was a G4 iMac. Loved it from the first moment, it was so unlike any computer I had used up to that point. I was thrilled when the first aluminum Intel iMacs hit the classroom.

Never could convince my parents to throw the cash out for an iMac at home... I still check Craiglist now and then for the late 2003 G4s, but apartment space is my worst enemy.

 

[bobesch]

As @eyoungren said: it's probably the DC-In(verter) board.
I'd gonna replace/check that first, before I'd go any further.
New PRAM-battery is a waste, since you've got a new battery and PRAM-battery only matters, if that main battery is removed or completely drained.
Before you go for more RAM, check the RAM-bays first! Swap the RAM-brick and see, if both bays are working. Some of the PB-G4 are prone to have one of the two RAM-slots broken and dead.
And mSATA + mSATA-IDE-converter would be the last thing to add, if everything works fine. For smooth and faster and silent working.
And then that your's machine is a fine companion for Office2008, Email, basic Web, Screen/FileSharing, WebDAV, PDF-stuff, music etc. and worth the effort. (have a look ...)
& beware of the PPC-obsession!

 

[CPL593H]

As @eyoungren said: it's probably the DC-In(verter) board.
I'd gonna replace/check that first, before I'd go any further.
New PRAM-battery is a waste, since you've got a new battery and PRAM-battery only matters, if that main battery is removed or completely drained.
Before you go for more RAM, check the RAM-bays first! Swap the RAM-brick and see, if both bays are working. Some of the PB-G4 are prone to have one of the two RAM-slots broken and dead.
And mSATA + mSATA-IDE-converter would be the last thing to add, if everything works fine. For smooth and faster and silent working.
And then that your's machine is a fine companion for Office2008, Email, basic Web, Screen/FileSharing, WebDAV, PDF-stuff, music etc. and worth the effort. (have a look ...)
& beware of the PPC-obsession!

Thanks so much! Have to get the part ordered soon. Still unpacking, but sadly no new PPC treasures.

 

[bobesch]

Thanks so much! Have to get the part ordered soon. Still unpacking, but sadly no new PPC treasures.

Well, you've got some treasures left for TLC!
There is the iBook A1005 to make a nice dual-boot os9/Tiger&Classic machine (but you'll have to get used to the smelly keyboard ... To be honest, deos won't help )
And that MacBook A1181 to be maxed out to officially Lion. (If you should get a Battery-icon with an "X" on that machine, the loading function might be broken too (like with your PowerBook) and getting a new battery won't help.)

 

[CPL593H]

Alright, busy few months but finally ordered the DC Inverter Board, will get cracking into it once delivered.

Also managed to get myself into a (less fun) but easier MBA update in the meantime. I’m swimming in batteries at this point.