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TiBook Help!

VirtuallyInsane

VirtuallyInsane

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
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I got a cheap, second-hand, grotty looking "for parts" Tibook (yay, finally I got one!) and it came and it wouldn't power on. It has no HDD inside it, or a battery. When I plug it in, it lights up but it doesn't turn on. The screen looks alright, and everything is connected properly (the hinges are ironically very stable). The logic board looks fine and has no rot on it.

Do you need a battery for it to power on or is there something else wrong with it? I have spare HDDs and RAM (it seems to have RAM inside it) and it seems sound internally. Does anyone have any ideas? Thank you.
 
it can run without a battery as long as it’s plugged in. Mine did when i had a TiBook a long time ago. I’d take out the battery when it was fully charged. When it came time to move with it, I made sure the battery was there.

Plunk a hard drive in there and see what happens.
 
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Here is the Apple Service Manual for the DVI models (667Mhz +):

If this is for your model, try stepping through the Startup troubleshooting section - see page 127. There is a PMU reset button near the top right of the logic board accessible with the keyboard up.

I've also seen the power buttons on these units just stop working (as with some Power Mac G4s) and have had luck booting via jumping the pins on the back of the power button connector on the logic board to determine a faulty button.

These are the pins to jump with a flat head screwdriver or similar - be careful not to short anything else :)

titanium-jump-power-button.png
 
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AphoticD said:
Here is the Apple Service Manual for the DVI models (667Mhz +):

If this is for your model, try stepping through the Startup troubleshooting section - see page 127. There is a PMU reset button near the top right of the logic board accessible with the keyboard up.

I've also seen the power buttons on these units just stop working (as with some Power Mac G4s) and have had luck booting via jumping the pins on the back of the power button connector on the logic board to determine a faulty button.

These are the pins to jump with a flat head screwdriver or similar - be careful not to short anything else :)

View attachment 2239150
Click to expand...

If I'm going to jump it, do I just set my screwdriver on the two pins?
 
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AphoticD said:
Yep, briefly closing the circuit by touching the two posts with a screwdriver will do it
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the help but it looks like it needs a new logic board. Tried resetting the PMU, tried disconnecting and reconnecting the PRAM and tried to jump it, but not turning on.

Any other ideas? It's a 2000 model.
 
When troubleshooting for a failed logic board, best practice is to strip it down as bare as possible as a process of elimination. You'll likely want to remove the logic board from the case entirely, remove RAM and expansion cards (airport, etc) then on the bench, connect only the DC-in board, jump the power pins and test for heat at the CPU (use your finger in latex gloves or through a cloth).

If you're getting heat at the CPU then there's a possibility of life and you can start by adding a RAM module (test one at a time and a known good module) and try to jump the pins again. Connect speakers, but sometimes speakers just stop working, so try headphones to listen for a boot chime or error beep. Then if it's attempted to boot in this stripped state, start reconnecting things one a time like the Inverter board and LVDS cable to determine display output.

If nothing is heating up on the board when you attempt to jump boot then you'd want to test a known good DC-in board before you deem the logic board as faulty.

Just for example, I have seen the Airport card causing a no power behaviour, essentially an internal short in the card preventing the entire board from powering up. In those cases, simply removing the Airport card allowed the system to boot.
 
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VirtuallyInsane said:
Yes.

And @AphoticD , I tried everything that you mentioned, and still no signs of life. Any other suggestions before I try and look for a new logic board? :/
Click to expand...
Sounds like you’ve determined the logic board as faulty.

Where in the world are you? There might be someone here with a spare board. Is there an identifying spec label inside the battery bay? (i.e. 400MHz, 500MHz, etc)

Post a photo of your board here and a request on the MR marketplace forums.
 
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AphoticD said:
Sounds like you’ve determined the logic board as faulty.

Where in the world are you? There might be someone here with a spare board. Is there an identifying spec label inside the battery bay? (i.e. 400MHz, 500MHz, etc)

Post a photo of your board here and a request on the MR marketplace forums.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think that it is and I live in the UK.

Do the MR marketplace forums work? I asked once, and I never got a good answer/reply.
 
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