PowerBook G3 Walstreet blinking light

[Ih8reno]

Hi everyone


Just picked up a G3 walstreet and cannot seem to get it to work. When I opened it I inserted working ram and realized that the heatsink screw wasn't attached so I put one in. The PowerBook boots and even goes to desktop. That's when suddenly it shuts off and the light on the bottom right of the display blinks. Anyone have any ideas why this keeps happening? Before I connected the heat sink cover properly it wouldn't even boot and would say there was a bus error. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[CooperBox]

Can't help you as I'm no expert on these Powerbooks, but suggest you try the same query also on the Apple Collectors forum here. There are some very knowledgeable guys there too who can certainly help.
Seems a sound bet that the heat-shield screw was left out for a good reason, maybe shorting out something underneath when fitted and tightly secured.
[doublepost=1452723386][/doublepost]

Hi everyone


Just picked up a G3 walstreet and cannot seem to get it to work. When I opened it I inserted working ram and realized that the heatsink screw wasn't attached so I put one in. The PowerBook boots and even goes to desktop. That's when suddenly it shuts off and the light on the bottom right of the display blinks. Anyone have any ideas why this keeps happening? Before I connected the heat sink cover properly it wouldn't even boot and would say there was a bus error. Any help would be appreciated!

Think I found something which might help. What length screw did you use as a replacement in the middle of the heat-shield? If you used one the same length as the edge retaining screw, that could be your problem as the middle screw must be shorter.

 

[Ih8reno]

Removed the screw same thing. Also tried resetting pram, booting off cd, changing ram slots, changing actual ram. All shut down at the desktop with flashing green light...

 

[Gamer9430]

That would be a sleep light . when I put my Wallstreet to sleep in both OS 9 and Tiger (not officially supported), it blinks. It turns off once I wake it back up. Not sure why exactly it's acting up. I'd try a fresh copy of OS 9, as well as reseating the CPU card, RAM (even though you already did that), and HDD. Also, remove any PCMIA cards if there are any since those can cause issues.

 

[Ih8reno]

Made an error on the model, it's a mainstreet.

Found an old webpage with someone who had the same issue. Turns out the hdd had been changed. Put a magnet against the case and poof issue is gone!

 

[Gamer9430]

Made an error on the model, it's a mainstreet.

Found an old webpage with someone who had the same issue. Turns out the hdd had been changed. Put a magnet against the case and poof issue is gone!

Well that slightly changes things. I don't have one of those, so that's the end of the road for me.

Also, magnets?! Calm down there, MatthewLTL!

 

[Ih8reno]

I swear I'm not him! I am not endorsing hanging hdd's with magnets! So far this old PowerBook is pretty functional!

 

[Gamer9430]

I swear I'm not him! I am not endorsing hanging hdd's with magnets! So far this old PowerBook is pretty functional!

That's what they all say...

In all seriousness, the PBG3s are pretty useful machines for typing stuff. Sadly for you, you have the lesser wallstreet (mainstreet), thus it will be a bit slower and stuff of that sort.

 

[Ih8reno]

All good, I'm just glad I finally figured it out!

 

[Ih8reno]

Just an update on my final repair in case anyone else has this issue.

I was going through my parts closet and thought I'd try upgrading the hdd on this PowerBook for fun. Got a 40GB HDD and installed it and proceeded to install 9.2.2 on it. Well, the power on issue is now gone as is the sleep issue! Don't know how but the original hard drive was he cause of all its problems. It now boots perfectly and works smoothly. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best one.

 

[weckart]

Mainstreets have issues with the voltages applied to hard drives. Many will flat out not work or will burn out. There are a few niggling electrical issues with Wallstreet MK1 laptops that were ironed out with the PDQs.