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Mac G3 (333Mhz no firewire) Lombard Powerbook power up issues... need advice

A

Archman

Senior member
This is in regards to an issue I am having with a recently purchased second hand G3 Lombard Powerbook (333MHz w/o firewire). The powerbook has a 4.8 GB HD and 256MB ram, using Mac OSX 10.3.

Now, sometimes when I plug the AC adapter in, the thing does not power up at all, or it flicks on momentarily, then off, and I have to press the power button to turn it on. Other times, it powers on, but the screen remains black. Sometimes in the middle of starting up the OS it simply freezes... other times it boots into the OS, and the clock/date is wrong... I've only found second hand (used) CMOS batteries (don't know the Mac name for them) and replaced. but they are all dead from the testing.

Now the other issue is this, when I try to turn off the notebook, I have to unplug the AC adapter, because pushing the power button down does nothing what so ever, even holding it for 1 minute, and other times 20 seconds... no shut down. When I am in the OS though (rarely) I can shut it down through the OS command.

Now, from the issues I've mentioned... what sounds like the problem here?

CMOS battery for sure, needs to be a new one...

power converter?

?

open to ideas and suggestions...

thank you very much
 
You're probably better off asking this over in the Mac Ach in the Arstechnica forums, as they'll have more combined experience on these sorts of issues.

Unfortunately, I can't help that much beyond suggesting a new AC Adapter.
 
Thought I'd give it a shot here, as I've come to rely on the expertise of people here on the Anandtech forums for help, advice, and knowledge with any PC trouble that was beyond my scope 😀

It never hurts to ask 😉
 
JDCentral

PMU, meaning the Power Module Unit correct? Found a site to take the thing apart, and will get to work taking everything out and then reseating all of the modules and see if it makes a difference 😀
 
Sounds like the PMU to me too. You can just reset it by pressing a key combo at poweron (can't remember what it is, look on the apple support site). No need to pull it apart.
 
Well, I took it apart and re-assembled it... seems sturdier now 😀 The down side is that when I plug in the AC adapter, a little green LED power indicator lights on the laptop, and stays on... but when I try pressing the power button, I get nothing now... 🙁
 
hopejr this powerbook actually has the reset button at the back of the notebook, a small button that you use a pen to get to. The "Pismo" (Pismo had Firewire built in) allows the use to do the key combo... hit it, waited a while, and still nadda 🙁
 
The Shortcut Control-Command-Power Button should reboot the Powerbook even if the OS didn't load. I have no idea about your other problem though.
 
any ideas though? i mean if no juice were going to the notebook, the little green power LED below the screen would not be on... maybe some component stopped working... any ideas what the symptoms suggest?
 
any ideas though? i mean if no juice were going to the notebook, the little green power LED below the screen would not be on... maybe some component stopped working... any ideas what the symptoms suggest?
 
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