Rick Dangerous
Well-known member
Got my 1400c printing! Had to do the same thing i did with the 3400; adjust the appletalk port in control center, extensions, etc. Nice to have it working.
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PowerBook 1400c CL Find
- Thread starter Rick Dangerous
- Start date
Trash80toHP_Mini
NIGHT STALKER
Both I think. There is no stock port for external video. Apple's card is 8-bit at I'm not sure what maximum resolution? VIEWpowr does 16-bit up to 16" res. 832x624 and 8-bit up to TPD res. at 1152x870.
Rick Dangerous
Well-known member
So i got my other 1400 in today and it does have the ViewPower card and extra ram; which is nice.
Unfortunately; it boots to "At Ease" some kid friendly OS mac used to offer. I used this guide to try to get rid of it:
https://lowendmac.com/macdan/010319mm.html
Unfortunately it's password protected; so i couldn't just disable extensions and delete it. I did reach out to the ebay seller to ask for the password.
I tried holding "Control+Option+Shift+Delete" when booting but it just turned extensions off; didn't boot from CD (bringing me back to the password prompt screen.
If anyone has any tips let me know!
Unfortunately; it boots to "At Ease" some kid friendly OS mac used to offer. I used this guide to try to get rid of it:
https://lowendmac.com/macdan/010319mm.html
Unfortunately it's password protected; so i couldn't just disable extensions and delete it. I did reach out to the ebay seller to ask for the password.
I tried holding "Control+Option+Shift+Delete" when booting but it just turned extensions off; didn't boot from CD (bringing me back to the password prompt screen.
If anyone has any tips let me know!
Rick Dangerous
Well-known member
Rick Dangerous
Well-known member
Have a copy of disk tools for my 3400 on floppy; going to give that a whirl and see what happens. Nope "This startup disk will not work on this Macinthos model. Use the latest Installer to update this disk for this model."
I have another copy of Disk Tools for 7.6 on floppy going to try that too. Nope same message...
How is it possible these things won't boot from CD? What is the point of having the command if it doesn't work whatsoever. lol
I have another copy of Disk Tools for 7.6 on floppy going to try that too. Nope same message...
How is it possible these things won't boot from CD? What is the point of having the command if it doesn't work whatsoever. lol
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Rick Dangerous
Well-known member
Thanks; looking forward to it! The password is "OK" looks like im all set.
Is that the Viewpower card in the above picture? I think not....i'm thinking he forgot to include it. Reached out about that....
Is that the Viewpower card in the above picture? I think not....i'm thinking he forgot to include it. Reached out about that....
Rick Dangerous
Well-known member
Previous owner claims the card is installed. Second opinion anyone based on the above picture? That PCB doesn't look like the same footprint as the ViewPower card to me...
jeremywork
Well-known member
That's the optional Apple 8-bit video out card, which has the same external connector as the ViewPowr card. Could be the seller assumed from the exterior.
The PowerBook 1400 for some reason does not start from CDs using 'C', instead use 'Cmd+Opt+Shift+Del' on this model. Note LEM has this incorrectly as 'Ctrl' instead of 'Cmd.'
Hope that helps!
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Rick Dangerous
Well-known member
Thanks! I figured....messaging him now, what a let down. Oh well..at least the 24MB ram module was in there, and i needed the CD-Rom drive.
Yeah i was looking at that magical key sequence on LEM and it took me a while to figure out it was wrong after googling around..thanks. Cmd makes more sense and i figured it might be that instead of Ctrl.
Yeah i was looking at that magical key sequence on LEM and it took me a while to figure out it was wrong after googling around..thanks. Cmd makes more sense and i figured it might be that instead of Ctrl.
Rick Dangerous
Well-known member
So i have been mulling over what to do about the PRAM batteries in these machines....they have one each and they are clearly visible when you pull out the battery cell.
Rather than taking hours to fully disassemble each machine; i was thinking of just snipping the black/red wires with a tiny pair of scissors, effectively disconnecting the batteries while leaving them in place. I think this might cause less damage than trying to pry up the old plastics; and these small cell type batteries aren't as prone to leakage as other types.
Can anyone give me a thumbs up on this idea; or tell me why i shouldn't do it?
Rather than taking hours to fully disassemble each machine; i was thinking of just snipping the black/red wires with a tiny pair of scissors, effectively disconnecting the batteries while leaving them in place. I think this might cause less damage than trying to pry up the old plastics; and these small cell type batteries aren't as prone to leakage as other types.
Can anyone give me a thumbs up on this idea; or tell me why i shouldn't do it?
cheesestraws
Well-known member
I wouldn't, personally, leave them attached even disconnected.
That said, you don't have to go as far as the guide wants you to to replace the battery. What I did was cut the wires and go down the teardown far enough to get to the screws on the battery cover, then I just undid them, threw out the battery, and put it back together. You only need to go all the way to the bottom of the laptop if you want to plug a new one back in.
Rick Dangerous
Well-known member
I will admit i just snipped them because i don't intend to ever replace these batteries or fully disassemble the laptop. Seems to be working fine so far; and if i were to be able to source a replacement i could easily re-wire.
Rick Dangerous
Well-known member
Anything that can be done about this (the red area on left side of screen) or does it just mean my LCD is on it's way out? Just shows during startup; though there is some small distortion on that side of the screen when in Finder. Happened when zapping dead PRAM battery during the first week i owned it. TY if there is a possible fix to know about short of screen replacement.
CircuitBored
Well-known member
There are a bunch of electrolytic capacitors inside these PowerBooks that will go bad over time. It's possible that you're giving this machine its first proper usage in well over a decade so you may have triggered some rapid deterioration by stressing the system so suddenly. My 1400cs worked perfectly for the first week I had it and then developed capacitor-related glitches similar to this.
You're going to have to partly disassemble the machine and gently fiddle with the video cable and connectors while it's powered up to see if you can trigger any change onscreen. If you can't then you have narrowed it down to either capacitor failure or LCD failure. Hopefully replacing the caps in the LCD does the trick. The fact that that portion of the screen is not permanently faulty suggests to me that it's more likely a capacitor issue but I could be wrong.
Electrolytic caps are weird and temperamental and the older they get, the weirder they get. I've seen caps that work while cold and turn bad once they're warm and I've seen caps that won't cold-start but are perfectly fine once warm. When it turned bad the PSU in my Quicksilver G4 would only work if I preheated it with a hairdryer but then didn't skip a beat.
I'm not sure there are any consumer-grade electronics (with "wet" caps) from that era that are immune to issues. In my experience it's only old pro audio gear and professional equipment such as oscilloscopes that have high enough quality components to resist failure for such a long time. 20+ years is a really long time for a computer.
Personally I would stop using that machine immediately and completely disassemble it to inspect for capacitor failure. Be aware that it's possible for a capacitor to fail without leaking or gassing off. It's not hard for dying video circuitry to take out an LCD on its way out. The 1400c has the much more desirable active-matrix LCD and you will likely never find a replacement panel if yours dies. Use the opportunity to extract the PRAM batteries, which are liabilities that pose a threat to the whole machine if left in-situ (even disconnected). In my opinion it is unwise to come into possession of any machine this old and not strip it down for a thorough inspection unless you know it was very recently serviced.
You're going to have to partly disassemble the machine and gently fiddle with the video cable and connectors while it's powered up to see if you can trigger any change onscreen. If you can't then you have narrowed it down to either capacitor failure or LCD failure. Hopefully replacing the caps in the LCD does the trick. The fact that that portion of the screen is not permanently faulty suggests to me that it's more likely a capacitor issue but I could be wrong.
Electrolytic caps are weird and temperamental and the older they get, the weirder they get. I've seen caps that work while cold and turn bad once they're warm and I've seen caps that won't cold-start but are perfectly fine once warm. When it turned bad the PSU in my Quicksilver G4 would only work if I preheated it with a hairdryer but then didn't skip a beat.
I'm not sure there are any consumer-grade electronics (with "wet" caps) from that era that are immune to issues. In my experience it's only old pro audio gear and professional equipment such as oscilloscopes that have high enough quality components to resist failure for such a long time. 20+ years is a really long time for a computer.
Personally I would stop using that machine immediately and completely disassemble it to inspect for capacitor failure. Be aware that it's possible for a capacitor to fail without leaking or gassing off. It's not hard for dying video circuitry to take out an LCD on its way out. The 1400c has the much more desirable active-matrix LCD and you will likely never find a replacement panel if yours dies. Use the opportunity to extract the PRAM batteries, which are liabilities that pose a threat to the whole machine if left in-situ (even disconnected). In my opinion it is unwise to come into possession of any machine this old and not strip it down for a thorough inspection unless you know it was very recently serviced.
