mac • View topic • booting the g3 powerbook (2023)

does anyone have any suggestions to help me turn on the g3 powerbook? after over 6 months of not turning the pb on I plugged in the adapter and - nothing - the battery charging lights don't come on and the pb won't show up - help!

My guess and this is just a guess, a dead battery. You have to get the mass out of every macbook or ibook.

Forgot to add if you're not going to use it before then you said you didn't use it.

My problem is similar but not exactly the same. I also have a G3Powerbook (brass keyboard) that hasn't been used in a long time. I just took it off yesterday. I plugged it in and it initially turned on. I hung up shortly after, assuming I would pick it up today to find out what I can do with it. Today, still plugged in, battery showing full charge won't turn on. I get absolutely no response when I press the power button. I pressed the PMU reset button on the back and saw that flash once. It still does not respond to the power button. So I'm also looking for suggestions. When I googled it I found quite a few people who had the problem you describe. They replaced the battery and all was well. I found some suggestions that a PMU reset was in order for my problem, but that didn't help.-- Larry Moss, http://www.**--****.com/ PO Box 23523, Rochester , NY 14692, (585) 359-8695Airigami: The art of bending air into specially prepared {*filtered*} containers.

There's only so much you can do with a G3 powerbook, especially a Pismo if you're desperate. My G5 iMac has been in stores for six weeks now, and this G3 has more or less kept me going. This might be a stupid question, but have you tried starting it with a dead battery? Over time, one or more cells can short circuit the battery and will draw so much power from the adapter that the laptop will no longer work. If you get the same results with a dead battery, try finding/borrowing another power supply that you know is good. These suckers go bad too. The stone does not have to be model specific. If the DC voltage and plug match, you can try it. For example, as I recall, a PB3400 brick will power a Pismo. Never believe anything until it is officially denied.

It's a Lombard. This particular machine has been through a lot and wasn't even in great shape when it went into the closet. The internal ethernet is fried. Some keys are missing and some keys don't even respond. These things are handled with a wireless card and an external keyboard. So yes, in an emergency it will help, but it's not that portable. The fan whines more than I'd like, so I don't trust it too much. If I can do something about the fan noise it works fine as a music player. I have the slim server running on another machine so the music is available for it. I imagine I can find some simple games for my 5 year old. I don't have to worry about her doing more damage and she enjoys typing. I tried again a few hours after posting my note and to my surprise it started. It worked again this morning when I tried it. I still appreciate the suggestions as I expect the problem to crop up occasionally until I actually fix what's wrong. I actually tried it without the battery. If it didn't work, it made no difference. I lean towards the power stone (yoyo type). It had been replaced at least a few times during the life of the machine. But if they've failed in the past, I don't recall ever having problems with them. As I think, I think a bad connection on the plug could behave this way.-- Larry Moss, http://www.**--****.com/ PO Box 23523, Rochester, NY 14692, ( 585 ) 359-8695Airigami: The art of bending air into specially prepared {*filtered*} containers.

hi guys, I think mine is a Lombard too - so I just took the batteries out of both sides of the thing and it still won't turn on. . .I thought it might be something with the batteries, should it turn on with the batteries out of the slot and the adapter plugged in?

Copper has a {*filter*} habit of breaking off just behind the plug while the insulation is intact, resulting in intermittent energization depending on the temperature and voltage in the wire. Never believe anything until it is officially denied.

Never believe anything until it is officially denied. A powerbook works fine if the battery(s) are discharged with only the adapter. As I mentioned, when batteries get old, they can short out the cells and draw so much power from the adapter that the laptop won't turn on. So the first thing to do is remove the battery and just try the adapter. Since that didn't work, the next thing to do is borrow a workable adapter that is known to work and try to turn it on with a dead battery. If it works, you need a new adapter. If not, you have an excellent doorstop. As mentioned earlier, you can try any Apple adapter that will fit the plug and read the output: DC 24 volts. Never believe anything until it is officially denied.