Bronze G3 laptop wont start up

chychchych
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Wont start up at all. The power supply is plugged in, the green indicator light comes up, but nothing else happens. I've played with the reset button on the back of the computer a million times and it doesn't do anything. Removed all power for a day, plugged back in, nothing happened. I'm thinking something is fried in the motherboard and I might as well stop trying to make it work, but I might as well post it here and see if I find any luck.



Maybe a dead clock battery? Could that cause this? Or fried RAM?



This is a bronze G3 powerbook, 400mhz (I think).

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,562member
    Look at this article in the Apple Knowledge Base:

    Article ID: 14449

    PowerBook and iBook: Resetting Power Management Unit (PMU)



    Here is the relevant part for you:

    PowerBook G3 Series (Bronze Keyboard) (M5343)

    1. If the computer is on, turn it off.

    2. Press and release the reset button on the rear of the computer. The reset button is located between the external video and modem (RJ-11) ports.

    3. Wait 5 seconds.

    4. Press the Power button to restart the PowerBook computer.



    Note: When you reset the power manager, wait at least 5 seconds before pressing the power button to start up the computer. If you do not wait at least 5 seconds, the reset procedure may fail. (If you suspect that the reset procedure has failed, press and release the reset button again and wait 5 seconds before pressing the Power button.)



    ---

    I would press and hold the button for a few seconds as well.



    ---

    [Edit] One more thing, try removing the battery and leaving it out. Old, discharged batteries can sometimes have weird effects.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    when you hit the power button, does the fan come on and nothing else? (and the green light)
  • Reply 3 of 4
    aquafireaquafire Posts: 2,758member
    Sounds like your battery is needing replacement. ( the internal start - up battery ).

    In that case try this series of start-up processes.



    ( A ) Remove all external devices such as modems, printers etc and start up as per usual.

    If that fails..try keeping the start up key pressed down until you hear the "mac -chimes"



    ( B ) Try starting up from an external key-board. Sometimes the start up key on the inbuilt keyboard might get gritty or need a cleaning. ( don't do with power on )



    ( C ) In addition to removing all external devices, Remove the large rechargable battery from its slot.

    Then try starting up without it being present.



    Try this last trick with both the inbuilt & external keyboards. I know this last suggestion sounds odd, but it worked for my powerbook 1400c.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    chychchych Posts: 860member
    Actually the powerbook keyboard does not start the computer at all, I have to press the reset button on the back to do so (resetting the power manager does not fix the problem).



    In fact I do not even get to the start-up chime. Just the green light comes up, not even the fan (though the fan only comes on when it gets hot inside). Though, I did press the reset button many times and did notice that the processor and ram did warm up. Pressing/holding the power key on the keyboard many times does not seem to do anything either.
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