PowerBook 145!

[Juliet Elysa]

Thanks to a good friend of mine this PowerBook is headed my way! Since the listing says it's untested I'm fully expecting that it won't start up... but before I can find out I need to get my paws on an AC adapter for it. There's a definite thrill in not knowing if a vintage computer works or not, and being greeted with a Sad Mac would help with my anxiety of them (it's not bad enough to be called a phobia anymore, yay!). I haven't decided if I'm going to ask for an adapter in the trading post yet, but since I don't get paid for at least another week it's not too high on my priority list.  (and when I do get paid bills and other stuff will nom most of my money quickly... >< )

When the PowerBook gets here I'll update this post with some pics, both before and after an external cleaning. Will also let you all know what it does when I get an adapter.

Edit because the editor broke the angry smiley again... ><

 

[jhorvath911]

It's mind boggling how you have such problems with bombs and sad macs, I've been collecting for 20 years and only had either issue a couple times total lol

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

I've yet to see one. Had some errors but never a Sad Mac.

 

[raoulduke]

I recently accidently stumbled on a way to 'induce' them in my 5300c but not as a condition of the board or upon receipt. I've known about it for 20 years or so but I'd never seen it personally until then.

 

[Juliet Elysa]

It's mind boggling how you have such problems with bombs and sad macs, I've been collecting for 20 years and only had either issue a couple times total lol

I haven't had that many issues with them, they just happened at a young enough age to traumatize me. :lol: We all have the occasional crash, nothing's perfect.

 

[Juliet Elysa]

It's home!

It's obvious that this PowerBook was loved. The case shows some signs of wear... but the keyboard and trackball are pristine! No sticking anywhere! Same goes for the power button. The packaging was tidy and looked like it was done with care - with a piece of (pink!) bubble wrap wrapped around it three or so times the computer fit perfectly into the box. So things are looking great right now. Just need to hunt down an adapter for it, then we can see if it works!

I haven't had a chance to take pictures yet, my camera had to run out of batteries at this precise moment...   ><

 

[Garrett]

Does the screen really have some brown stuff on it or is that just my eyes. Also, does the Apple rainbow have a white spot or was that just a glare?

 

[Juliet Elysa]

Your eyes aren't deceiving you. The white on the Apple logo might not come off, but I really hope the brown stuff on the screen does.

 

[techknight]

Hey, the brown stuff is actually the liquid crystal. The LCD panel is damaged and will need to be replaced. This is formed from pressure spots, either from something sitting on the screen, or the lid was closed with something in between. (seen that happen with peeps in a rush). 

It causes micro-cracks in the glass substrate, allowing air in and dispersing the liquid crystal. 

 

[Juliet Elysa]

Oh wow, I didn't even know that was possible. 8-o You learn something new every day! Is replacing an LCD panel an easy fix?

 

[techknight]

Yes as long as you dont break off the already brittle plastic anchors for the brass screw inserts.

Plus the LCD needed recapping anyway. Even the replacement

 

[Juliet Elysa]

It seems like everything needs a recap. Eventually I'm going to see something like a toaster that needs a recap, and it's not going to surprise me one bit! :lol:

The power adapter arrived in the mail today... and the PowerBook is in mostly great shape! The LCD has some issues, but we already knew that. Everything else seems to be working the way it's supposed to. I have a video of a startup (and restart, you'll see why) and shutdown, but the PowerBook is faster than my modern computer so uploading will take a bit.

 

[Juliet Elysa]

Well, the video finally decided to upload. Here it is. If anyone can shed some light on the display issues I'd appreciate it. Eventually the LCD will be replaced, but the contrast issue is driving me nuts so anything that could make that a bit more stable until I can replace the LCD would be much appreciated.

Edit because I forgot that the 68kmla site doesn't like displaying videos. Click here to see it.

 

[Ferrix97]

I think you should look at the display hinges, they seem very stiff. They also have a tendency to brake loose, since the plastic is very brittle.

as for the display, I think it's easier to get a replacement and change the capacitors on it. the only electrolytic (leaky) capacitors inside a PB are the ones in the display and on the Inverter board (the one with the brightness and contrast controls on it). the ones in the display are SMD, the two on the inverter board are thru-hole.

I made a video showing how to replace the ones inside the display, it should solve the problem that you're having.

Usually when a display is completely dead, the mac will boot normally but the display will stay black (or very dark).

Even if the display is brand new, you will still get some vertical/horizontal shadow lines and picture ghosting, this is normal in early passive matrix displays. if you want a great display, you should get a 170 or 180, with an active matrix display you get no lines and no ghosting, but (due to their age) they may suffer from another problem known as "Tunneling".

 

[Juliet Elysa]

8-o That doesn't look like a good project for someone who's never soldered before... Do you have any suggestions on what I could practice on?

And the hinges aren't quite as stiff as they appear (though they are somewhat stiff), I was operating the PowerBook one handed 'cause I was holding the camera with the other and the computer kept wanting to lift completely off the bed instead of opening. :lol:

 

[Mr. Ksoft]

I'd say practice soldering / recapping using random wires, dead motherboards and the like, that's how I started not too long ago.  A year down the road, though, I don't think I'm ready for doing my own recapping on machines I care about.  My biggest project yet was modding an early Amiga 500 to 1MB ChipRAM and Kickstart 3.1 (not as easy as later models), and I just about had a nervous breakdown soldering on it cause my motor skills suck.  And those were significantly larger targets than you'd deal with in a recap.  Sucks cause I have a lot of gear that is either going to need recapped soon, or is way overdue.  With a low operating budget (part time college jobs, woo) the only realistic choice is to learn to do it yourself.

What I'm saying:  You'll need a hell of a lot of practice if you want to sure you're not going to harm your lovely new machine.  Don't jump right to the hard stuff or a lot could go wrong!

 

[Juliet Elysa]

That sounds reasonable enough. Usually fine motor skill is one of my strengths and I'm a fast learner, so that should definitely give me an advantage here.

Today I sat down to spend some more time with the PowerBook, and when it's on my lap in the position I usually use a laptop the various display issues aren't nearly as bad. The brown spot is still too noticeable, though, so a replacement is still on my list of things to do. Also, I did some other "tests". The date and time is staying set, which is awesome. And it has control panels for a color monitor even though it has a black and white display, and the voice recorder thing says it can't be used on this Macintosh. Neither of those are problems, just interesting.

However, the battery is being weird. I let it charge for several days, and today unplugged the adapter and turned the PowerBook on using battery power. It started just fine - but soon after reaching Finder the low battery messages popped up in very rapid succession, and the bars in the battery desk accessory (that may be the wrong term, someone correct me if it is) went from showing that the battery was fully charged to showing that it was empty in under 10 seconds. It had shut itself down in under a minute after pressing the power button, including booting time. Everything works the way it should when the adapter is plugged in.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Batteries, as they age, do that. I would recommend continuing to cycle it for a bit (don't leave it connected when you're not as home). My eMate, when I first got it, lasted about an hour, now it goes about seven or eight, and this is on the original battery pack.

 

[Juliet Elysa]

Yeah, I was surprised that it started up at all with just the battery. It has better battery life than some of the "laptops" at my school! :lol:

It's good to know that cycling the battery can be that magical! Most of the time I'm at home. The PowerBook alternates between sitting on my desk chair when I'm not using my main computer and my bed when I've had to use the chair (most of the time I don't move it back to the chair until I'm done with the computer for the day). It's on my bed for about 12 hours a day, and the cord is quite a tripping hazard so unplugging it while it's on the bed would be the most convenient option. Does 12 hours plugged in, 12 hours not plugged in sound reasonable?