5300 Sad Mac

[spaceinvader12]

This is a sad post following my previous ones over the last week. The 5300 that I've got has been running flawlessly all the time I've had it and was fine this morning, but tonight when I tried to powder it up it threw a sad Mac and chimes of death. The error codes were 0000000f and 00000001. I tried to research them and heard it might be bad ram but I'm not sure.

What could cause a PowerBook to suddenly stop booting, and more importantly, what can I do to fix it? I tried holding the reset button and removing the expansion ram card but it didn't change anything. Can anyone help me?

 

[Carboy7]

Caps?

 

[spaceinvader12]

It could be caps, yeah. It looked quite clean last time I checked over it but it can't hurt to look again. Any ones in particular to look at? What else could cause it?

 

[spaceinvader12]

Bit more information: It has 8MB soldered ram and a 32 mb expansion card. The hard drive runs 8.1 and I have a CF card running 7.5.5. When the sad mac hits it plays 4 clashing chimes that are most similar to the ones at 0:09 in this video but louder (a given) and harsher as well:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FOOmoukpJc

I'm hoping it isn't memory, and http://whitefiles.org/b1_s/1_free_guides/fg3mo/pgs/m03.htm says that 4 notes and my error code means a bad system or disk drive but it also says the codes it uses are for various apple iis so I don't know how accurate they are.

I hope some of this is helpful in diagnosis. I can probably repair what's wrong but I am new to this hobby and currently google isn't helping too much so I thought the more knowledgeable people here can help me out.

 

[rsolberg]

This looks very much like a corrupted System file to me. Does the Sad Mac occur if the PC Card adapter and CF card are taken out prior to powering up? If so, try resetting the PRAM - this should ensure the Mac tries booting from the internal HD. If you still get the same error, the issue is likely on the hard drive. I'd try booting from a Disk Tools floppy and select the CF card in the Startup Disk control panel.

 

[spaceinvader12]

Rsolberg, thanks for your help and advice. I've been out of town for a few days and just got back tonight to play around with the 5300. Unfortunately, removing the CF card and resetting the PRAM didn't help it boot up. I stuck in a system 7.5 disk tools floppy and still got the same error. The floppy drive didn't even spin up (it was good last time I used it, but I suppose I've got others to swap in if that's a possible problem.) I disconnected the hard drive for good measure and got the same issue. I realized neither the hard drive nor the floppy drive are audibly activating either, which struck me as odd. I can't recall any events at all that would cause something like this where it would suddenly stop working.

So, I'm guessing it may not be a system file error to me from what I've tested, but if you think it's still a distinct possibility, I should have more time this week to mess around with the Powerbooks and I can try a number of things. I have a 190 and 190cs which could be possible sources of parts if necessary, although both have individual issues. In the mean time, what else could cause this sadmac error? What further testing can I do to see what the problems could be? I can repair things if necessary, as I've got a friend with quite a bit of electronics equipment.