PowerBook 140 won't boot

[Ih8reno]

I just picked up a PowerBook 140 for $10 today and had it turned on at the sellers home. I brought it back and now it won't turn on. I did the power management reset, (battery is fried however) and it still does nothing. Anything else I can try or did I get a very cool paperweight.

 

[Intell]

Try booting it without the battery in it.

 

[Ih8reno]

Same results, nothing

 

[Intell]

Try leaving it plugged in with the battery one for a few hours. Also try pressing and holding the power button for about ten seconds. Sometimes those older Powerbooks needs to be held in longer.

 

[Ih8reno]

Alright, gone leave it for awhile. Hopefully that fixes the problem. So strange though that it booted at his place not even an hr before I brought it home and turned it on.

 

[Intell]

One thing you may not know about those old machines is that the 2.5" SCSI hard drive in them is often worth more than the machine itself at a price point of about one dollar per megabyte.

 

[Ih8reno]

Thanks for the info! The laptop itself was quite a find and I'm hoping it is repairable. I'd rather not piece it out, over the past while I've put together a cool mac collection and all but this one work.

 

[Ih8reno]

Tried leaving it plugged in for over an hr, nothing. Took out the battery cleaned it and reassembled it, nothing. Guess I'm just outta luck.

 

[joplinG5]

Tried leaving it plugged in for over an hr, nothing. Took out the battery cleaned it and reassembled it, nothing. Guess I'm just outta luck.

Don't give up on it just yet. Chances are the PRAM is corrupted and needs to be reset. The Powerbook probably hadn't been used in ages and was fully discharged when you first plugged it in causing the PRAM to reset itself and work fine... but it got corrupted during use and it's not discharged enough to reset itself now. Try these instructions at the following link. You may need to do this multiple times taking some breaks in between before it actually works.

http://www.jacsoft.co.nz/Tech_Notes/PP_Manage.shtml

If that doesn't work... then leaving it sit without the battery or any power source installed for a few days should get it going again. Pulling it for just an hour usually isn't long enough.

These old Macs will always start working again right about the time when you're planning to sit them out for the trash. They are definitely temperamental little beasts! If you had it working earlier... then it's eventually going to work again.

 

[Ih8reno]

Well it turned on finally! However small problem. Boots to the chime and the screen lights up but nothing comes on. Anybody have any ideas what I should do next?

 

[Intell]

It may be suffering from the LCD capacitor problem the Powerbook 1XX models with passive screens had. The screen should return to normal after 5-10 minutes of it being on. You may have to fiddle with the brightness/contrast a bit.

 

[Ih8reno]

Update, played with the brightness and saw the question mark with the disk image. Guess I have to try and find a copy of the os.

 

[Intell]

You can legally download Mac OS 7.5.3 disk images and the 7.5.5 update from Apple as well as many other older Apple software at this page: http://www.info.apple.com/support/oldersoftwarelist.html

 

[jrsx]

You can legally download Mac OS 7.5.3 disk images and the 7.5.5 update from Apple as well as many other older Apple software at this page: http://www.info.apple.com/support/oldersoftwarelist.html

In 19 floppy images!

 

[Ih8reno]

Tries installing the os and the screen kept going off and on and making it essentially a waste. Gonna try again later and with a screen that I am getting for free that the seller had said can be hooked up to this mac. Should have it by this weekend. Here is the screen they guy is giving me.

 

[Ih8reno]

Tried the screen and some install disks and all the disks get spat out. Screen I got for free doesn't seem to link up to the laptop but the speakers work well. Guess this will just be a cool conversation piece in my place. $10 well spent.

 

[petebocken]

Tried the screen and some install disks and all the disks get spat out. Screen I got for free doesn't seem to link up to the laptop but the speakers work well. Guess this will just be a cool conversation piece in my place. $10 well spent.

I've got a PB 140 as well and having the same exact problem you are having. Powers up fine to a gray screen, I can move the mouse but nothing displays on the screen. Tried zapping PRAM and resetting power manager. I copied the OS 7 disk tools to a floppy (using these directions: http://lowendmac.com/2008/creating-classic-mac-boot-floppies-in-os-x/ ) and it displays the floppy disk icon on the screen then ejects the floppy every time.

Side note, the resetting power manager instructions always state to remove the battery, however I can't remove the battery. I can get the battery door to slide open a little but can't get the battery out. I don't want to break the door off, so I haven't tried too much more to remove it.

Seems like I'm running out of options. Like you said, still a cool conversation piece ... and a nice addition to my collection!