HELP! iBook shutting down shortly after hitting power button..

[JBR]

Hi,

I have an unpleasant problem with my 14 inch iBook G4 which worked perfectly until last reboot.

- when i try to power it, it shuts down (stalls..) by itself right after. A few attempts ago, it still booted until the desktop appeared, but then, upon every attempt, it kept shutting down earlier.

Could that be a battery issue? Battery not recharging anymore? The AC was plugged in all the time.

Hint: i was asked to do some software update - which i did - including some 'battery' software. This required rebooting. the problems occured after that...

The worst is: i made a super nice movie with iMovie, which i'm supposed to show at my sister's WEDDING NEXT SATURDAY .... (of course, there is no copy of it except the one on the iBook's harddisk)

Any help much appreciated!

- j

 

[emw]

Have you tried the old standby - zapping the PRAM (hold down "cmd-opt-p-r" all at the same time during startup - right after pushing the power button). The memory chime will sound twice and the iBook will appear to momentarily reboot (but this time because you want it to).

Also, you could try rebooting with the original CD that came with the iBook (hold down "c" while rebooting) to see if that works.

 

[JBR]

hmm.. it's even worse now, it's completely dead, nothing happens when i push the power button.

thanks for the suggestion, but it doesn't seem to do anything...

 

[emw]

Zapping PRAM shouldn't kill it. Sounds more like a battery issue. Have you tried turning it on while the battery is out (AC plugged in, of course!)

 

[emw]

Also, check this out:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58450

It is an Apple KB article on iBooks not running on the battery. It steps through resetting the Power Management Unit.

 

[JBR]

Zapping PRAM shouldn't kill it. Sounds more like a battery issue. Have you tried turning it on while the battery is out (AC plugged in, of course!)

Yes, i did, but nothing happens.. it only wants power from the battery, which is totally empty now.