New to me PB180...it's dead Jim...

[at0z]

After wrestling an original Portable back to health I figured it was time to embrace the grey brick era. I remember working on these back in the day when they were easy to change things out. At the time the helpful SSOL used to work through "won't power on" as

Check PSU. Done.
Reset PMU. Done.
Remove RAM. Done.
Replace Daughter Board. Uh Oh.
Replace motherboard. Uh Oh.

There's literally nothing when you hit the power button - no brief sound, no click, no spark of life however brief.

This was in the days of available service parts so board level repair wasn't a thing.
Back in 2023 meanwhile - I picked this up because it came from a good home and it had a working I/O door. Anybody who knows these would know that's getting pretty rare these days. So I was hopeful with a proper power supply it might awaken. But no.

I checked the onboard fuse hoping that it might have failed and be the root cause but sadly it tests out okay. Inspecting the boards visually I don't see any signs of meltdown. Or battery leakage. And I am given to understand these things don't suffer bad caps the way the old luggable did.

So, any PB1XX experts give me further things to check besides the SSOL hilarity of days gone by ?

Thank you

 

[desertrout]

Yeah, no electrolytics to go on these, not even on the display (there's one on the inverter board, but that wouldn't cause a total non-boot afaik).

When the PSU is plugged in, is the board getting power? It's possible the connector is loose in the PCB. If it is getting power, then I guess start tracing it out... The 140 schematics are available now (attached) and the motherboard of the 180 is sorta similar, probably enough to stumble around and narrow down an offending component.

 

[Byrd]

Also pull the battery during any troubleshooting, and and all PowerBook 1x0 Ove come across had startup issues when not use for years on end

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Another vote to check the PSU. If it’s an original and you’re getting no power, it’s probably dead. The 100 series PSU used awful ELNA long life caps that leak rampantly.

 

[demik]

This ! A lot of old batteries are shorting power when left in

 

[at0z]

Yeah, no electrolytics to go on these, not even on the display (there's one on the inverter board, but that wouldn't cause a total non-boot afaik).

When the PSU is plugged in, is the board getting power? It's possible the connector is loose in the PCB. If it is getting power, then I guess start tracing it out... The 140 schematics are available now (attached) and the motherboard of the 180 is sorta similar, probably enough to stumble around and narrow down an offending component.

Thanks for the schematic I had been looking for something like that but I forgot that the PB1XX range had essentially the same motherboard but the daughtercard switched the tracks on the functionality. PSU is putting out the stated 7.5v but I have not taken it apart to check the caps so I guess it could be sagging under load. I'll try using my bench power instead. Didn't see anything amiss with the power socket on the motherboard, it looks okay but I might reflow it just to be sure. Battery has been removed during testing - no change, I know it's expired.

 

[desertrout]

Thanks for the schematic I had been looking for something like that but I forgot that the PB1XX range had essentially the same motherboard but the daughtercard switched the tracks on the functionality.

Yeah, -ish... to clarify, the 140/145/145B and 170 share the same motherboard, and the 160/165 and 180 share a revised motherboard... the power circuit looks a little simplified, but it looks like most of the major components are still there in a recognizable / similarish configuration.

 

[at0z]

Yeah, -ish... to clarify, the 140/145/145B and 170 share the same motherboard, and the 160/165 and 180 share a revised motherboard... the power circuit looks a little simplified, but it looks like most of the major components are still there in a recognizable / similarish configuration.

There’s a lot I have forgotten from those wild PowerBook days. I had one customer who took a PB100 out to the Scott Polar Research station in Antarctica and it died after four weeks. Apple agreed to upgrade him free of charge. Those were the days.

 

[desertrout]

Ha, yeah pretty sure that wouldn't happen today. I love stories like this - the closest I can get to 'the days' is discovering provenance from the HDD... it's neat to receive into care machines that were used for cool things.

 

[at0z]

Ha, yeah pretty sure that wouldn't happen today. I love stories like this - the closest I can get to 'the days' is discovering provenance from the HDD... it's neat to receive into care machines that were used for cool things.

well I was working for an Applecentre in Cambridge UK at the time and I advocated his case with Apple UK. I mean when the nearest Apple Service Center is over a thousand miles away and your laptop for research craps out after four weeks with five months more of your stay, I think they got the message. I forget what the common PB100 achilles heel was.. Or maybe there were multiple. It was built by Sony for Apple if I recall correctly. Visits to Apple UK in Uxbridge were always fun.

 

[at0z]

I can't find it now but I thought there was a post here from someone who found a damaged diode on the motherboard and replacing it fixed it. I think I have a short on D15 as it was getting hot when powered up. ANybody had D15 go south or can tell me what it is - I can't make it out on the schematics anywhere and there is no part number on the chip itself I can make out.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

well I was working for an Applecentre in Cambridge UK at the time and I advocated his case with Apple UK. I mean when the nearest Apple Service Center is over a thousand miles away and your laptop for research craps out after four weeks with five months more of your stay, I think they got the message. I forget what the common PB100 achilles heel was.. Or maybe there were multiple. It was built by Sony for Apple if I recall correctly. Visits to Apple UK in Uxbridge were always fun.

Back in the day it was that the tip of the AC adapters could crack and cause a short that would fry the logic board of the poor PowerBook. Nowadays the caps get 'em.

 

[twelvetone12]

How does this failure on the PB100 physically look like? I would like to avoid killing mine after all the time it took to restore it

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

I don’t have an image, but it’s if the plastic tip on the AC adapter plug is cracked. Shouldn’t be much of an issue anymore since apple did a recall back then IIRC, and I’d recommend using an aftermarket charger anyway unless you’ve also recapped the OEM AC Adapter.

 

[twelvetone12]

Aah ok it is in the adapter itself! No for the moment I only have the bench supply...

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Yeah you should be good.

 

[desertrout]

I can't find it now but I thought there was a post here from someone who found a damaged diode on the motherboard and replacing it fixed it. I think I have a short on D15 as it was getting hot when powered up. ANybody had D15 go south or can tell me what it is - I can't make it out on the schematics anywhere and there is no part number on the chip itself I can make out.

I can't for the life of me find D15 on the motherboard... where the heck is it?

 

[Dogmander]

I can't for the life of me find D15 on the motherboard... where the heck is it?

On the bottom, near the Power connector

 

[desertrout]

On the bottom, near the Power connector

Oh lol - thanks.

Looking at a 180 board I have here, the marking on that diode is 'KW'... afaict the equivalent diode on the 140 is D16, which has a zener diode marking... Zener diodes with the KW code are DDZ13B-7 (https://www.digikey.ca/en/products/detail/diodes-incorporated/DDZ13B-7/700105) .

Not definitive, I can remove and test the one from the board I have here and see what my tester says...

 

[at0z]

Thanks I’ll order a few and test…