Almost had a working powerbook 150

[Macdrone]

I got a POS 150 off ebay for a few dollars as it didn't work, case cracked and busted. When It got here I plugged it in it booted but no screen. Swapped screen got flashing question mark. Traded hard drive from my non booting 150 and boom all good to go..... so I thought. Then I leave it plugged in, come back wont wake or boot, reset or anything else. I pull it apart and I see residue right below the old battery on the jedi board. I swap motherboards and it boots. So I am thinking great. I shut it down and come back and try and start back up nothing, swap the other board backlight blinks on then nothing. The 150 so far is my worst nemesis. Just nothing wants to play nice or be consistent. That jedi board really has nothing on it but that battery but whatever that battery does boy that motherboard pays the price for it. Oh well it was nice for a minute I guess. Wanted to say I had one but my give a crud factor is kinda taking a dive. Too many projects and not enough money flow or life gets in the way. Ill take a deep breath and find a battery for it and see if I can transfer it and maybe that will help.

 

[uniserver]

yeah sometimes these vintage macs seem like more trouble then what they are worth

your LC-II was mailed out like 2 days ago by the way. 12.48 OZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just made first class i was stoked

 

[Macdrone]

Sweet, thx.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Many times if I let a recalcitrant PB stew for a while with AC adapter offline, it'll boot up fine when I flip the power strip switch on again. How many of the lil' buggers have you got in your 150 project stack?

Wanted to say I had one but my give a crud factor is kinda taking a dive. Too many projects and not enough money flow or life gets in the way.

That sounds distressingly familiar, you've got me hesitant to try to boot mine up now . . .

< 20 minutes spent looking for a frappin' AC adapter later : >

. . . phew! Mine's still working, one day I'll get to the ADB, SD/internal 10bT hackage. Has anyone seen anything about the possibility of adapting an active matrix LCD from the 100 series for transplant into the 150? I've always wondered if that might work. Maybe the cable is the only thing that would need to be adapted?

 

[mcdermd]

I have another one on the way. My first was DOA and an inspection of the logic board revealed a deep, black burnt spot. You may also want to be sure you are using the 17w "low power" adapter. I know that any adapter above 19w (like the 24w used with the 165c and 180c) will fry the board (which could be what happened to my first one).

 

[CC_333]

My 150 (a gift from a friend's wife) works OK when it works, (once in awhile, for no rhyme or reason, it'll refuse to work and chirp at me, play death chimes, and go off. I got as far as determining that it was somehow caused by the RAM card, but I still don't know why.)

I also learned that the adapter for the RAM is kind of rare (?), which is fun.

It's a nice (if not somewhat limited) machine when it works!

This hobby seems to require lots of patience, because things sometimes never seem to work quite right unless you're constantly fiddling with it.

c

 

[insaneboy]

One I had only operated off the battery, I could hear it boot but it never displayed anything on the screen (backlight lit up).

sold the memory card, gave away the rest. Going to stick to the 180 and one day 180c. |)

 

[Macdrone]

Ya I have the original power adapter for it so hopefully that's not the issue. I did hit shut down and I am wondering if because the battery on the jedi board is bad if that's keeping it jacked up. So many if I think I am gonna call it a loss at the moment. Cant win them all.

 

[RickNel]

I know that any adapter above 19w (like the 24w used with the 165c and 180c) will fry the board (which could be what happened to my first one).

Can anyone explain to me WHY this is the case? It's not WATTS that fries things, its AMPS driven by VOLTS. Are the Apple PSUs rated in watts because they do not have proper voltage regulation? That would seem to be incredibly poor design, if so.

It would cost very little to add overvoltage protection. Any DIY bench-top PSU will have it - eg ones that I use with interchangeable tips for the miscellany of PB/IB power sockets.

Rick

 

[mcdermd]

No idea but apple specifically mentions it here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TA32393?viewlocale=en_US

 

[techknight]

and the bad thing is, it defies all laws of electronics. How more wattage can damage the unit, whilst the logic board is only going to pull what it needs. Only explanation is piss poor design of either the brick, or the DC-DC circuits in the mainboard, by using the power supplies limit to regulate the consumption of the logic board.

 

[mcdermd]

The 150 I got today had bad liquid (mocha?) damage. Some icky looking components but after a light cleaning it's at least powering up the LCD backlight. I think I'm with macdrone - I'm going to end up owning a dozen 150s before I find one that actually works.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I can't believe this negligence in design problem never surfaced here before this. Did it come up over at 'fritter?

I pulled out the AC adapter I've been using. It came from an eBay seller who sold me a "working" PB100 without it. Now I know why it has "for the Quick Take" scrawled on the side in black magic marker. Hopefully, this one hasn't killed anything, I probably just need to find the adapter for my original PB100 and then likely re-caps for the Luggables and PB100s. 15V seems to run the 150 just fine, but I'm not using this adapter again until I hear from our electron pushers.

Model No: M5651 (APS-20U) = DC 7.5V x 2.0A = 15V

 

[jruschme]

Model No: M5651 (APS-20U) = DC 7.5V x 2.0A = 15V

Isn't that 15W?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Oopsie! Still workin' on my coffee . . . xx(

Model No: M5651 (APS-20U) = DC 7.5V x 2.0A = 15W

How to convert amps to watts shuckled into the format intended:

V(V) x I(A) = P(W)

. . . still working on the coffee, but something doesn't quite add up:

Macintosh Portable Power Adapter = Model No: M5163 (SMP-10BB) = 7.5V x 1.5A = 11.5W :O

Is the 15W adapter for the Backlit Portable? :?: Mine's the original Luggable and the adapter's not even listed in the Apple table on mcd's link.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I think it's time we develop a definitive guide to Apple's AC Adapters for all products . . .

. . . gotta find that dratted PB100 adapter now . . .

. . . I forgot all about the different Duo chargers for the three bat types. :I

p.s. waybackin' the dead Q&A Link on that page would probably be a good start.

p.p.s. Documenting the recalled AC adapters (bad tips) for the PowerBook 100 might be a good idea, if you find one without a black ring around the tip, DON'T use it!!!

 

[Macdrone]

Ok It is working again. The 150 is a strange bird. Don't replace the battery on the jedi board, don't remove the old one, don't leave it plugged in and omg don't pick shut down from the menu. It consistently boot both my motherboards each time so far. I am guessing its a power switch feature on the motherboard, even with removing the battery or putting a new one on the jedi board since it is remote to the motherboard seems to enhance the issue. like removing the cable and putting it back it trips the off switch and it sticks kind of thing. I know I maybe losing some people on this and I am over simplifying it but so far a full day of use that's what I am finding. I am going to try and just bridge the gap on my other jedi board and see if I can get the parts machine going, Its ugly and all broke but if it boots maybe I can help someone out with it.

 

[Macdrone]

15 watt adapter I have two working and one bad one that are all labeled powerbook ac adapter and low power powerbook ac adapter. Someone wrote on them 150 and 160 (one number on each). One says .35A input the other says .5A input. Both say 7.5V X 2.0A output. I hope that helps trash.

 

[mcdermd]

Ok It is working again. The 150 is a strange bird.

I'm not following - what did you have to do? Mine will not respond to the power button. If I press the reset button, the backlight comes on and it gives the chimes of death. Pressing the reset button again turns it off.