IT'S ALIVE!

[Juliet Elysa]

Cool. I have none of those things so it should work. Now to find a stopwatch program or something, that'll be the challenge. :lol:

 

[Juliet Elysa]

Well, I found a stopwatch program but currently have no way to get it to the Performa. Definitely see a USB floppy drive in my future...

I'm reviving this thread to say that I'm going to bite the bullet and open it up to remove the PRAM battery (all because of an "oh crap" moment I had on this thread ). While I'm at it I'll check caps for any visible damage and, if my camera feels like cooperating, get some pics to share with y'all.

 

[Juliet Elysa]

Surgery complete! It took a couple hours, mostly because it took me ages to figure out that the battery was held in place by Velcro of all things, but it's out, along with a bunch of dust. I used a few paintbrushes to brush the dust out (gently). Even before the dusting, though, the board looked great. Caps were OK to the eye - no bulging or leaking. The battery wasn't leaking either, so no acid for this Performa!

There were a few bumps in the road. First, both tabs broke off of the door and I didn't put much pressure on them at all. Second, I couldn't get the tray out of the case (I wasn't being firm enough). Third, the battery took ages to remove, though I was being quite gentle since I didn't know how the battery was attached and didn't want to break something by using too much force. Fourth, I couldn't get the tray back in the case (it was being finicky). Fifth, the screws wouldn't line up when I was trying to reassemble the Performa, and it took me about half an hour to get them to cooperate.

Now I'm having another problem. Nothing happens when I press the power button. No chimes, activity, anything. I forgot to press the cuda button (or whatever it's called) as well as the startup trick that's been mentioned here. I'm hoping that fixes the problem, would be somewhat ironic to break the Performa while trying to prevent something that would break it.

Edit: D'oh, just saw that someone mentioned the fact that the battery's attached by Velcro. Yeah, definitely need my RAM reseated. :lol:

 

[Juliet Elysa]

Before and after pictures...

 

[MJ313]

Nice job - it looks so pretty and clean now.  Bummer about the tabs. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do, if it's to the point where there's no flexibility left. At least you won't see them when you turn the computer around.

 

[Macdrone]

Usually if the screws don't line up you don't have the board in the "rails" and it's not slid back into its harness.

Also try the push button start on the back of the performa not the keyboard.

If all that fails may need the recap after all no matter how good they look.

And BTW the performas start no problem after battery removed. I have like 8 of them.

 

[Juliet Elysa]

Yeah, getting the board back into the "rails" was a royal pain. Had to pull it out and put it back several times. Does gentle pushing once the board's lined up do the trick or is a bit of force necessary? I'm really shy when it comes to being firm, especially with things I care about. And the button on the back didn't do anything either.

It's possible that something got bumped out of place or dust got somewhere it shouldn't have. Also, does accidentally brushing a finger against traces or chips/etc. make a difference? I tried to keep my hands on the edge of the board but it still managed to slide around a bit.

As for caps, what should I replace them with? There's a lot of information and choices out there, it gets confusing to someone just starting to learn.

 

[techknight]

at worst, you could have bent a pin over inside of the connector or on the board edge connector. Youll need a good light source to check for that. That could cause it not to work. 

 

[MJ313]

at worst, you could have bent a pin over inside of the connector or on the board edge connector. Youll need a good light source to check for that. That could cause it not to work. 

If a pin bends up on the board edge connector, it seems it wouldn't be easy to bend back, because of the plastic that gets in the way. Is there a way to secure it back down you would recommend? (Like with a real small bit of super glue or something to hold it back down?) Just curious.

 

[Juliet Elysa]

I didn't dust off the edge of the board or the edge connector, so might have been while I was removing the battery or (more likely, if this is the case) trying to put it back. Can you give an example of a good light source? I have a variety of lights at my disposal.

 

[Juliet Elysa]

IT LIVES AGAIN!

I held the CUDA button down for 5 seconds just to be safe, and then I took a look at the pins. One was very slightly bent, so I poked it gently with a dull needle to bend it back, which worked. Then I took a look at the rails... and found what looked like a cookie crumb blocking one of them. So the board had to have been out of position as well, which would explain why it didn't look right once I got the screws back on the first time. After removing the crumb the board lined up right.

Just in case anyone is reading this and having trouble getting the board out or back in - be firm! I had to push/pull on the metal holding the board so hard that it sounded like it broke (dramatic banging, for a lack of a better word). But it didn't break. As long as you have the board in the rails lined up right you're OK.