Powerbook 145b carnage

[TonyJay]

I thought I would share this as I have never seen anything quite like this. I bought this Powerbook 145b on eBay and it was described as having damage 'possibly from a drill' . I do not think you need to be much of a detective on this one LOL. It arrived very poorly packed with only a few pieces of styrofoam in a box just slightly larger than the laptop. It had been dropped with enough force to crack the battery case (probably some internal standoffs as well) so that it was not possible to slide it out. Anyway, back to the 'possible drill holes'. I am not sure what this poor little laptop did to its previous owner to trigger this level of destruction, with so many 3/8 inch holes through the top case... through the hard drive and through the bottom case! I am sure their kitchen table has drill marks in the same locations LOL. You would think if there was any 'sensitive' information on the drive, removing 5 screws and removing the drive or even bending its pins would have been enough. I guess not. Total destruction.

Holes aside, amazingly this boots with a chime. I bought this for a screen. Unfortunately the item was described as booting with a 'dim image', but there is no image. No ? Mac. Just faint backlight. Maybe re-cap will save it but I was hoping just to swap out for now. I have sent the seller a message relaying my disappointment in their item description and mediocre shipping for fragile vintage computer. In retrospect, I should have asked for an image of the boot up screen. On a positive note, the charger works. And they did not drill through the hard drive ribbon cable LOL.

 

[bigmessowires]

Wow! I've definitely heard about using a drill to make certain no information can be recovered from a drive. This person must have been in a hurry, and instead of removing the drive to destroy it, they just drilled the whole computer. You have to get this computer working now! It will be a one-of-a-kind piece.

 

[TonyJay]

Yes I have all the parts except the one I still need. A screen.
Alternative would be to run over it with my car and re-list on eBay as having 'minor damage, possibly from a heavy weight'.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

That's definitely a data removal attempt, and a successful one at that. That's amazing. Post a photo of the LCD, from what it sounds like, the caps are bad which is normal. If they haven't leaked bad enough than the screen will probably be fine with new ones.

Not as bad as I was expecting considering the thread title! Now I just wonder what sort of creative use you could make out of those holes.

 

[TonyJay]

That's definitely a data removal attempt, and a successful one at that. That's amazing. Post a photo of the LCD, from what it sounds like, the caps are bad which is normal. If they haven't leaked bad enough than the screen will probably be fine with new ones.

Not as bad as I was expecting considering the thread title! Now I just wonder what sort of creative use you could make out of those holes.

I guess title was a bit dramatic LOL, but I was shocked that someone would do this to a vintage computer. I have a dead screen that could not be revived with re-cap, so I suspect that corrosion destroyed a trace somewhere. Or the ribbon cable connector is damaged. I was hoping to at least get a screen here that would show an image even with typical ghosting, to motivate me to replace the caps in this one.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Who knows when that was done, could have been 20 years ago.
On the screen - it's likely that on that panel, the LCD's internal ribbons (with the integrated controller ICs) got rotted out. That's the pressing concern, but they haven't all done that yet. My 100 and 145 gave no display before recapping and were completely fine after. I'd give it a go anyway, leaving it to rot further certainly won't help.

 

[TonyJay]

Who knows when that was done, could have been 20 years ago.
On the screen - it's likely that on that panel, the LCD's internal ribbons (with the integrated controller ICs) got rotted out. That's the pressing concern, but they haven't all done that yet. My 100 and 145 gave no display before recapping and were completely fine after. I'd give it a go anyway, leaving it to rot further certainly won't help.

Yes agree. Thanks

 

[bigmessowires]

Now I just wonder what sort of creative use you could make out of those holes.

Oh these? These are speed holes, they make the computer go faster.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

"It makes it weigh less"

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

In all seriousness, I do have to say, something like that in that condition would be a great candidate for a custom paint job or something like that. Use some sort of filler on the holes, sand it down, paint the case.

 

[TonyJay]

In all seriousness, I do have to say, something like that in that condition would be a great candidate for a custom paint job or something like that. Use some sort of filler on the holes, sand it down, paint the case.

Thinking about that. What do you think would fill them? Would thermoplastic stick to the PB case material?

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Not sure, I don't have experience in that field at all. 8 bit guy used resin casting on his Bell & Howell Apple II, but that is a bit complicated. It did give a texture match though. Don't think that would matter if you painted it with primer first though.

 

[TonyJay]

Not sure, I don't have experience in that field at all. 8 bit guy used resin casting on his Bell & Howell Apple II, but that is a bit complicated. It did give a texture match though. Don't think that would matter if you painted it with primer first though.

I think thermoplastic melted into the holes might work but will search around. My primary goal is actually to get my other PB145b without the ventilation holes working.

 

[TonyJay]

Oh these? These are speed holes, they make the computer go faster.

The certainly add ventilation LOL

 

[Dogmander]

You could try using superglue and baking soda as a cheap method for filling the holes. I did that when trying to repair my 140, as the preview owner had drilled holes in the screw housing to add a hinge repair.
I'm not sure how strong the holes would be, but it'd be worth a shot.

 

[beachycove]

I have had several passive-matrix 100 series PowerBooks pass through my hands over the past few years. All have needed the screen recapped, i.e., all showed the symptoms described, and all came back to life after the screen was recapped.

I did the recaps myself. I am no expert with a soldering iron, though I am not afraid to tinker. If I can do it, with a modicum of preparation more or less anyone can.

 

[TonyJay]

You could try using superglue and baking soda as a cheap method for filling the holes. I did that when trying to repair my 140, as the preview owner had drilled holes in the screw housing to add a hinge repair.
I'm not sure how strong the holes would be, but it'd be worth a shot.

Thank you for that suggestion. I have used that method for cracks and standoffs, and the hardened material is very very strong as you know. For holes like this, I would have needed to repaint the case . I was able to get a bottom case off eBay which I have not used, as the screen could not be saved with re-cap. I think the leaked capacitors did some damage to the fine LCD traces although I can not see anything obvious.

 

[TonyJay]

I have had several passive-matrix 100 series PowerBooks pass through my hands over the past few years. All have needed the screen recapped, i.e., all showed the symptoms described, and all came back to life after the screen was recapped.

I did the recaps myself. I am no expert with a soldering iron, though I am not afraid to tinker. If I can do it, with a modicum of preparation more or less anyone can.

You definitely get better with experience so likely you are better at this than you give yourself credit for. First time for these can be daunting.