Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

PowerBook G4 Titaniums Wont Power On

J

Jony Mac

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 27, 2010
393
7
Pittsburgh, PA
So I just got two PowerBook G4 Titaniums from a guy at work. I wanted to get them working to mess with.

I guess he has not used them for a while. The batteries are dead I guess. If i plug in the AC to each laptop I can't get them to power on. I tried resetting the PMU by hitting the reset button on both models and then tried hitting the power button. Nothing happened. I really have no way of telling if the power supply is working, or if it is the correct one.

Anyone have any suggestions what I could try or look for?
 
Doing some research I wonder if its the power adapter. I got a Apple yo-yo adapter model M7332, and from what i read its a 45W adapter for G3s...can someone confirm this
 
Mine is: model number M7332, AC input 1.2A, AC 100-240 volts (V), 50-60 hertz (Hz)

output: DC 24V, 1.875 A

Don't know what all this means but am reading of the adapter and manual.
 
Pull the batteries. Tibook batteries affect overall power issues.

If your dc in board is dead and you have either the 400 or 500mhz Tibooks, you are sunk because they are built into the logic board.

If you have later Tibooks, and the dc in is dead, you can replace. In the meantime, pull the batteries. They have a mother board battery that also needs to be replaced... but I believe you can still start it up w/ ac adapter plugged in for a while and by pulling the big batttery.
 
jbosi said:
I have a 800mhz DVI TIBook and a 500mhz TiBook. Power Adapter model is M7332 that I have. How do I pull the main battery.
Click to expand...

Push the little slider thing until the battery pops out on the bottom of the laptop. Plug in the adapter and see if either of them power up.
 
d88co88 said:
Push the little slider thing until the battery pops out on the bottom of the laptop. Plug in the adapter and see if either of them power up.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sorry I didnt mean main battery I meant battery backup. Right now I have the main battery out and its plugged into AC. Again its the M7332 Power Supply, so I'm not sure if that is what is needed for the PowerBook G4 Titanium A1001
 
I'm pretty sure that the iBook yo yo adapters should not even plug in properly to the Powerbooks? Or maybe I'm thinking about the colored iBook y you adapters that were shaped slightly different?

Put out a Craigslist call for a newer adapter I think you need 65 watt.

Or just keep 'em plugged in for a long time and keep pumping the on button.

The yo yo's don't have a colored ring to show they are making contact, bummer for you.

I remember distinctly the day my motherboard battery died on my 400mhz Tibook. The same day I upgraded it to Tiger. It was like seventy five bucks to replace back then. Do some research on them, I'm sure you can do better than that now.
 
Hmm so maybe these are dead. I called the Apple store near me. They have a power supply at the genius bar. My thought was to show up and see if theirs powers this on. Maybe it's just the adapter. Maybe is the backup battery. I read if the backup battery is dead the computer will not boot at all, even on AC.
 
jbosi said:
Hmm so maybe these are dead. I called the Apple store near me. They have a power supply at the genius bar. My thought was to show up and see if theirs powers this on. Maybe it's just the adapter. Maybe is the backup battery. I read if the backup battery is dead the computer will not boot at all, even on AC.
Click to expand...

That's a good idea - go to the genius bar. If it is the power supply, just buy a cheap one from eBay or search your local craigslist.
 
Update:
The PowerBooks wont power on at all. I've tried hitting the reset button for the PMU and saw nothing. I left the charger plugged in for 48 hours, I read somewhere (maybe on this forum) that doing this may help recharge the internal battery. That did not help.

I called my local Apple store and they do have a charger there I can test..but I havent made it there yet. I found the replacement battery on eBay for $8.99 so I'm going to order that. I think that's probably my next step.

I think if it does not work the $9 is not a major loss.

Does anyone have any other experience with this type of problem. The battery is really easy to get to on this so it should be a straight forward replacement.
 
If it helps, I can confirm that when my motherboard battery went out on my 400mhz Tibook (same revision as your 500mhz Tibook, so same computer really) it went completely dead. Nothing. Nada.

But still, take them into the Apple store. You want to make sure your logic boards are good, the DC ins are good etc. You really also need a newer adapter to test if power is getting to the batteries or not (signified by green or orange light on the newer adapters)

If the machines weren't dropped, there's a good chance you are just having battery issues. The Tibooks were well known for acting funky if the main swappable power batteries had died as well.

Remember, if the dc in board is bad on the 500mhz, it's toast. If the dc in is bad on the 867, it's replaceable. Good luck. The dc ins go bad of course if the machines are dropped or manhandled at the power adapter area.
 
California said:
If it helps, I can confirm that when my motherboard battery went out on my 400mhz Tibook (same revision as your 500mhz Tibook, so same computer really) it went completely dead. Nothing. Nada.

But still, take them into the Apple store. You want to make sure your logic boards are good, the DC ins are good etc. You really also need a newer adapter to test if power is getting to the batteries or not (signified by green or orange light on the newer adapters)

If the machines weren't dropped, there's a good chance you are just having battery issues. The Tibooks were well known for acting funky if the main swappable power batteries had died as well.

Remember, if the dc in board is bad on the 500mhz, it's toast. If the dc in is bad on the 867, it's replaceable. Good luck. The dc ins go bad of course if the machines are dropped or manhandled at the power adapter area.
Click to expand...

Yeah I read that about the DC in being replaceable on the 800Mhz model. I'm hoping its just the battery. The VP I got this from takes care of his stuff. It has scratches on the bottom part but thats just wear and tear on something this old..
 
I got my PRAM battery on Saturday, removed the old one, hit the reset PRAM button, plugged in the 45W yo-yo adapter and nothing happened....so my next thought is to test the adapter. If its not that then its probably the DC IN.
 
So I took the PowerBook to the Apple store and used their adapter. The laptop turned on just fine. So looks like I'll be on the hunt for a cheap 65W adapter.
 
Well I ordered a adapter should be here in a couple days. Here is why I love Apple. I dont have the restore DVD for these, I called Apple and told them I no longer have the restore DVDs.

These shipped with 10.1, and I was told they could send me that for free or ship me Tiger for $16. Then they realized that the oldest OS that they have in stock still is Tiger. Apple is sending me copies of Tiger for free so that I can get this system back up and running.
 
jbosi said:
Well I ordered a adapter should be here in a couple days. Here is why I love Apple. I dont have the restore DVD for these, I called Apple and told them I no longer have the restore DVDs.

These shipped with 10.1, and I was told they could send me that for free or ship me Tiger for $16. Then they realized that the oldest OS that they have in stock still is Tiger. Apple is sending me copies of Tiger for free so that I can get this system back up and running.
Click to expand...

Wow! Normally, you would get charged for that kind of thing. Apple is awesome :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back