Andy’s PowerBook Problem

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I wouldn't be so troubled by some of the more modern systems (the G4 PowerBooks for example) if the keyboards were more consistent, otherwise I think one of my favorites would be the 12-inch G4. That's mighty cute, small and light. Maybe a 1400 keyboard in that!

I was thinking the same thing about my PowerBook 100. I modified the case so it now has a 1400 KBD. The lid has had the LCD from a 2300c inside for the 20 years since I started the project. The 16bit 640x400 16bit(?) portion of its LCD is a perfect bezel fit!

Back then, turning PowerBooks into picture frames was all the rage. I was turning BabyPB into a Color slide show player.

I hear you about Trackpads, hate 'em. But after breaking into the 'Book scene from the Duo 230 and PowerBook 100 (PERFECT trackball size) when I collected my first 1x0 the trackball felt like the size of a Kensington 8-Ball, which I also hate.

 

[cheesestraws]

which admittedly I have not had much use for, but has been fun to play with.

I use mine as an emergency serial console for if I muck up my network kit it works fairly well, and is much nicer looking than many of the alternatives.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

I was thinking the same thing about my PowerBook 100. I modified the case so it now has a 1400 KBD. The lid has had the LCD from a 2300c inside for the 20 years since I started the project. The 16bit 640x400 16bit(?) portion of its LCD is a perfect bezel fit!

That sounds super interesting, can you post a picture of it?

 

[AndyO]

I was thinking the same thing about my PowerBook 100. I modified the case so it now has a 1400 KBD. The lid has had the LCD from a 2300c inside for the 20 years since I started the project. The 16bit 640x400 16bit(?) portion of its LCD is a perfect bezel fit!

Back then, turning PowerBooks into picture frames was all the rage. I was turning BabyPB into a Color slide show player.

I hear you about Trackpads, hate 'em. But after breaking into the 'Book scene from the Duo 230 and PowerBook 100 (PERFECT trackball size) when I collected my first 1x0 the trackball felt like the size of a Kensington 8-Ball, which I also hate.

I am very tempted to look for a 100, but they are rather uncommon. It's hard to even imagine how a 1400 keyboard would fit in one, but that is a great idea! As much as I've never really liked my 1400, I would admit that the keyboard is one of the better ones.

I use mine as an emergency serial console for if I muck up my network kit it works fairly well, and is much nicer looking than many of the alternatives.

That's an excellent idea! I have been known to use a DOS portable for that in the past, but an eMate is much more elegant!

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Just a warning, the 100 is a capacitor nightmare, tons of caps on the logic board and the display circuitry so I’d expect a recapped one to be pretty expensive, and they very rarely show up on eBay.

 

[joshc]

100s are not that uncommon, at least in non working condition. There's three listed on eBay UK at the moment, and probably more in other countries. We are also in the quiet season as far as I can tell, so more will probably be listed later in the year.

 

[AndyO]

I'll keep my eye open for one, but thanks for the warning about the capacitors - I'm not in any hurry, so can wait. I seem to have enough alternatives to use!

 

[AndyO]

And thanks to @3lectr1cPPC and the 'post your powerbook' thread, my Clamshell, now forgiven for its transgressions running what was actually 10.3, now reverted to 9.0.3 thanks to its actual restore CDs, which I forgot it even had....



There is something wholly satisfying in grabbing installers from the garden directly - which I am having to do because it won't read the CD-R disks I previously used in the other G3 PowerBooks. However, with Mac OS 9, it already feels like a whole different proposition than it did with OS X. It is probably a keeper after all!

I have only had this for 18 months... why didn't I think of 'downgrading' it before?!

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Beautiful!

 

[AndyO]

I think this will actually grow on me a bit now!

 

[AndyO]

There was this PowerBook 190cs.

It was being sold as 'parts only', but looked in pretty good condition, and I thought it would be good for plastics, since my 190 is sadly not too great in the screen hinge department at the very least. So, at the price, which was less than it would have cost to have a passive matrix screen mailed to me if I had found one to get, I bought it.

Ironically, the plastics are actually pretty poor and I wasn't particularly pleased with my purchase, until I wondered if I'd missed something, and plugged in a power supply. It chimed. Then... Happy Mac, Welcome to Mac OS, and then desktop. It works... well, I'd say 'perfectly', but as a person who obviously likes very old PowerBooks, 'perfect' could be assumed to be a bit of a movable feast.

However, here it is, having software installed from my 'thumb' drive, and happily churning away.



Dead battery, but otherwise it seems quite functional. No idea where I can put it, but a welcome addition!

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Here's an idea for this new addition - find a parts 5300c. It doesn't matter what's broken on it, as long as the display and cable are intact. Swap with the 190cs's panel, and you've got an active-matrix 68k mac that is only rivaled by the 540c (and the 550c but we don't talk about that one )

 

[AndyO]

I do like that idea! Not seen many 'c' units, but having (briefly) had a working 540c, I do like the active matrix screen at that resolution. Bizarrely though, these passive matrix panels are not that bad. This one is sharper than my 520c.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

What would be interesting to test would be if the 800x600 5300ce screen works on the 190. I haven't heard of anyone trying it, only the 640x480 5300c screen.

 

[CC_333]

What would be interesting to test would be if the 800x600 5300ce screen works on the 190. I haven't heard of anyone trying it, only the 640x480 5300c screen.

I think it should be theoretically possible, although, if I remember correctly, the 190 has somewhat less VRAM than the 5300. I'm not sure about that, though, so don't take my word for it....

c

 

[AndyO]

For curiosity sake, this is the power supply I bought for the 5300 from 'uspoweradapter.com' ($21 inc shipping). Oddly, this isn't the PSU I bought because they sent another one for some reason, but it looks exactly the same. I use the first one every day on the 5300cs at work, and have no issues with it. As can be seen, it does use a short adapter from a larger barrel jack to the 190/5300 size. It doesn't fully engage in the PowerBook when inserted, but works well anyway.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Interesting how they put the apple logo on it. I’ve never seen that before on a 3rd-party charger.

 

[AndyO]

A bit of not-untypical intellectual property theft if I had to put a label on it.

The fact it doesn't push totally in to the power socket means it can fall out (I haven't experienced that), but also that it is less likely to rip the connector off the logic board, because any stress on the connection, such as picking the PB up, where the tendency is to lift and tilt from the front, leveraging the connector at the back, results in it falling out.

Not perfect, but since these PSUs are quite rare as far as I can tell, and thus expensive if you need one, this does seem to be a viable alternative at a sensible price.

 

[AndyO]

The $47 520c finally arrived. I find it really frustrating when a seller posts that it has shipped, and then it just sits, with tracking number issued, but not in the carrier's possession for days on end - particularly when I paid immediately after the auction ended. Seems to be getting more common.

But anyway, it works pretty much perfectly, and is in fact the quietest 500-series I've recently heard since they do seem to have rather whiney hard drives, and this doesn't. The display catch is broken, which seems not uncommon, but overall the plastics look ok. The right-hand battery had almost disintegrated inside it and took ages to extricate.



The keyboard is like trying to type on congealed porridge, but I killed my 540c trying to switch out a similar keyboard for a rather better one from the parts machine, so I'll leave this alone!

It runs quite nicely. 12Mb RAM, Mac OS 7.6.1



The PSU fits snuggly - which my other one doesn't, and is apt to fall out occasionally, but.... well, I just can't drum up any enthusiasm for it at all. But, at least I have doubled the number of functional 520c PowerBooks in my possession!

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I've identified my real problem. I can't resist the temptation to free PowerBooks from the limitations of the configuration they were in as shipped. This leads to the hoard of PartsBooks on hand and the inability to find them when I want to. The 100/1400KBD hybrid will make an appearance eventually while I'm looking for something else. Sorry I couldn't post it yet, guys.

So make up for it, the last hurrah of the TrackBall PowerBook, the 190c/TB:



5300 series' gubbins underneath that infernal trackpad are almost flush with the bottom of the chassis, so going ce's a bust. But cubic in the 190 under the trackpad just could not remain unused. If you can believe it, I need to raise the trackball a few millimeters not for clearance of boarderneath, but for handier access topside.

With filament printing and (clear) resin casting developments over the last nineteen years, it's a whole new ballgame. I can leave the divider bar and use the OEM button as planned or go a bit wild, but I do have one nicely colored trackball of the second best diameter ever.

Duo KBD fix still remains a challenge.