PowerBook G4 1.5 project

[feelingsupersonic]

Hi guys. 2nd time posting on here. After getting my PM G5 back into service, I decided to grab a Powerbook G4 to add to my collection. I wanted one of the later ones, with a 17" display. So I grabbed a 17" 1.5ghz model as a project for $43 after shipping and tax:

17" Apple Powerbook G4 Laptop 1.5 GHz 17" LCD Screen Super Drive Model A1085 P/R | eBay

You are buying none working Apple Powerbook G4 Laptop 1.5 GHz 17" LCD Screen Super Drive Model A1085 for parts or repair. Laptop does not power on. No further testing has been done. Screen looks fine physically however since i cannot test with the laptop on, i don't know if it is good or bad.

www.ebay.com

No idea what I'm going to be working with here, it hasn't even shipped yet. But I will keep this thread updated as I go. It sounds like at the minimum I will also be buying a power supply for it and a RAM cover for the bottom if I can find one.

Besides that I'll do my usual RAM upgrade and SSD install, and researching what you guys have done previously for worthwhile upgrades if any. The elephant in the room is the reason it won't boot, but we'll see...hoping it's something that can be fixed cheap.

 

[yanksrock100]

Should be a fun project! I bought a 12 inch PowerBook that “doesn’t boot” online last year and it turned out there was just no OS installed. To my surprise, Tiger installed perfectly and the machine was is great condition too. Good luck!

 

[eyoungren]

Hi guys. 2nd time posting on here. After getting my PM G5 back into service, I decided to grab a Powerbook G4 to add to my collection. I wanted one of the later ones, with a 17" display. So I grabbed a 17" 1.5ghz model as a project for $43 after shipping and tax:

17" Apple Powerbook G4 Laptop 1.5 GHz 17" LCD Screen Super Drive Model A1085 P/R | eBay

You are buying none working Apple Powerbook G4 Laptop 1.5 GHz 17" LCD Screen Super Drive Model A1085 for parts or repair. Laptop does not power on. No further testing has been done. Screen looks fine physically however since i cannot test with the laptop on, i don't know if it is good or bad.

www.ebay.com

No idea what I'm going to be working with here, it hasn't even shipped yet. But I will keep this thread updated as I go. It sounds like at the minimum I will also be buying a power supply for it and a RAM cover for the bottom if I can find one.

Besides that I'll do my usual RAM upgrade and SSD install, and researching what you guys have done previously for worthwhile upgrades if any. The elephant in the room is the reason it won't boot, but we'll see...hoping it's something that can be fixed cheap.

I have the A1013 (1Ghz) with a 128GB SSD installed. Always liked the 17s since I first saw them, but am partial to the first model. I use it at work to stream my iTunes library from home.

Be sure to join here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/club-17.1959812/

 

[feelingsupersonic]

Thanks gents. Should be here in around a week from now. I'm planning for this to will become my "around the house" laptop, for those low-intensity tasks. Fingers crossed the screen has survived, in general it seems like the aluminum chassis has seen better days.

Seems as though the battery options are limited as best. Most links are turning up a 404 or "out of stock." Not too keen on a cheesy replacement battery. If anyone has recommendations I would greatly appreciate your 2 cents, otherwise I will continue googling.

 

[feelingsupersonic]

Finally, it's arrived. It's not looking like an easy/stupid fix though, it's getting power, but trying to boot it yields nothing more than a brief noise from the optical drive. And a slight flicker on the screen that happens so quickly that I had to be in a pitch black room to even slightly notice it, then it goes back to black. No fans or other signs of life.

Time to hit google for troubleshooting, don't want to start one of those threads when I'm sure there is info out there already. But I also wouldn't have my feelings hurt if any experts shared their USD $0.02.

 

[feelingsupersonic]

Ok! Progress! I popped it open and looked for connectors that may be unseated. Sure enough after poking around, the orange cable that crosses the HDD was unplugged, where it meets the logic board at the edge of the case.

Popping it back in gave me a single "boop!" when powering on, and the LED on the screen-opening switch is blinking (no apparent pattern, unless it's a code). Still nothing from the screen. Tried PRAM zap and booting into open firmware with no luck. We will see.... I verified I am using the correct 65W power supply and there is no battery installed.