Powerbook 145b repair attempt needs help

[Powerbook27364]

I bought a 145 on eBay for parts. It is in better shape than I thought, so thinking that I may try to fix up as well... you know how it goes, Next thing you have a half a dozen Powerbooks in various repair states while you keep looking for parts LOL

Anyway, this one came without a latch button so you need a screw driver to slide it open to position. I could not find an stl file online to print one out. Anyone got a suggestion ?

Maybe you can post a thread on trading asking for anyone that has a spare laptop to give/sell you the part. If I had access to my 145B I would be happy to design a part, but I dont go home until December unfortunately.

 

[TonyJay]

I know the feeling. I had one rare WinBook laptop with a bad keyboard and ordered another really cheap one in poor condition off eBay because "there's no way it will work".

It worked. I still need a new keyboard for the other one.

Haha. Keyboard from this 145 was a part this one was going to donate to my 145b. It came with aftermarket battery that is held together with screws. So that will be easier to rebuild that... and then screen is off so a re-cap...No drive noise, so Blue SCSI . And so it goes. LOL.

 

[imactheknife]

I have a powerbook 165c that did the same thing. Turned on when i got it then after i took it apart it decided not to work anymore… same thing happened with the spare one i got.. i think the interconnect cable goes bad and messes it all up

I had a 180c that needed its lcd recapped. Took apart, and recapped it. Put together, and the interconnect cable was causing issues until I couldn’t even get it to work at all. Try to find a good one lol. Got a spare 180c and all is good now

 

[TonyJay]

Maybe you can post a thread on trading asking for anyone that has a spare laptop to give/sell you the part. If I had access to my 145B I would be happy to design a part, but I dont go home until December unfortunately.

Great suggestion. Will do. I am not sure if the latch button requires disassembly of the

I had a 180c that needed its lcd recapped. Took apart, and recapped it. Put together, and the interconnect cable was causing issues until I couldn’t even get it to work at all. Try to find a good one lol. Got a spare 180c and all is good now

I learned my lesson on the interconnect cable through 'trial and error and break'. For what it is worth (and I am sure well known members here know), it is much less stressful to the cable to hover the cable connector over the board connector, and then use a small flat head screwdriver to gently push down until firmly in. There is enough play to gently position the front of the top cover over tabs and then snug the top cover down over rear ports. What I was doing, and which for sure killed my cable, is that I would position the top cover over the tabs first and the bend the cable so that lowering the top cover would slip the connection in. Often I would have to rebend the cable once or twice to three times to get it to line up. And then use my fat fingers to push the connector down. Yikes now that I know. I had seen YouTube repair videos where this was done, and never thought that this cable was that fragile and what I was doing was that destructive.

Anyway, you learn as you go and pay eBay sellers for more parts LOL.
My confidence got a slight boost today as repaired a few standoffs, and printed out a back cover that was missing using short pieces of paper clip wire melted in for the side tabs. It of course does not look original but it works and is better than it was. Now I need a top latch button.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

That missing latch button is an odd one. I've never seen one with that missing before.

 

[TonyJay]

That missing latch button is an odd one. I've never seen one with that missing before.

Me neither. I asked the eBay seller how he listed as "..minor wear on the body from normal use, such as scratches and scuffs around casing and screen.." when he had to use a screw driver to open the lid to examine the screen. I did buy this 145 for 'parts/as is', but a missing latch would have been something I would have disclosed. Anyway there is lots to fix in this new addition to the family as I wait on an interconnect board and cable for the 145b to be delivered. I could try the interconnect board from this one... but I don't want to disconnect too much in this 145 - nervous around vintage ribbon cables now.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

It should be fine as long as you plug it in the correct way without straining it too much. I've been in and out of mine many times and well, to be fair, I have had one issue with my 170 as a result, but I've had that one apart many times. Just be extra careful, should be fine. But I get the worry. I wouldn't want to deal with that again either.

 

[TonyJay]

An update on my Powerbook 145b. It has been saved.

1. I bought a Powerbook 145 on eBay 'as is, for parts', but it arrived in a 'bit' better shape than I thought apart from a latch button that had been knocked off. It booted but screen remained dark so thought I would practice my capacitor soldering. Well that went relatively well, but did not solve the problem.

2. I decided to use the 145 as a donor after all, and used its interconnect board and cable for my 145b and it worked! So many thanks for the guidance and initial expert suggestion from several that this was THE problem all along. That cable was stressed by my ignorance in its fragility. I am now so much more careful. What is interesting is that 60 wire interconnect cable going bad caused selective loss of only a few specific keys, making me think it was a keyboard. Keyboard replacement did not fix and in fact, as I unplugged and plugged the cable in trying to reseat the keyboard ribbon cable, I got to the point it would not even boot. I would have saved myself time, frustration and money if I had just replaced the interconnect board. Now I know.

3. I am confident in capacitor replacement so I will do that with this screen but not in a rush. I am savouring my small victory LOL.

Thanks again all.

 

[croissantking]

I was having the same troubles with my 165 recently. Swapping the interconnect board was part of the solution but then I found that one of the pins on the socket on the CPU card (where the interconnect cable plugs into) was bent. And straightening this got my keyboard fully working again.

 

[TonyJay]

Good you diagnosed a second fault and did not assume the replacement interconnect board was faulty as well. I got into that trap and replaced a good keyboard. Now I have parts for the next one LOL

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

These darn interconnect boards man! Crazy how they’re so failure prone considering how simple they are. It can’t be that hard to reverse engineer that I’d think? And make new ones? Enough seem to go bad that I don’t think that’s too unrealistic at this point…

 

[TonyJay]

Crazy indeed that it is only the ribbon cable that fails, as the other 4 connections (inverter, keyboard x2, and LCD screen) are robust. Seems they used brittle small gauge wire that could not handle much flexing so they break somewhere. Has anyone ever tried to trace and bodge wire across a break?. I remember one of the forum members providing a link to a 50 wire ribbon cable with one connector end but lining up the wires to be precisely pierced in the other connector would be a challenge for sure.

 

[croissantking]

These early PowerBooks are a headache to work on in terms of all the interconnects that don’t always make good contact with each other. In addition, you lose PRAM contents every time you open it.

Edit: And you always graze your knuckles plugging or removing that damn interconnect cable.

 

[TonyJay]

On the grazed knuckles. I have learned to open the case just enough to use a plastic spudger to separate the connector from the board, and on reverse to 'hover' the top case to align the cable into the board connector and then press down carefully with the spudger. Then easy to put the two cases together. My fingers were too big and the connector would always be at the wrong angle, so that it would be bent back and forth to allow my fingers to push it down. Not quite neurosurgery but much easier on the cable than what I was doing before.

 

[croissantking]

Well done on your victory. Are you enjoying the machine?

Did you get a replacement latch in the end?

Your screen looks pretty good considering it's not been recapped. They really do need it, those caps fail bad.

 

[TonyJay]

Well done on your victory. Are you enjoying the machine?

Did you get a replacement latch in the end?

Your screen looks pretty good considering it's not been recapped. They really do need it, those caps fail bad.

Thanks for the comments. Fred1212 has posted a latch from Australia which was very kind of him, but it has not yet arrived. It is a long way from where I live in Canada.

I would be enjoying it more, but funny thing happened... my work area is in the basement and my kids recently bought me a radon detector for birthday. Turns out levels were high in the area where I was working and for past while, have been working on mitigation. That is something I knew nothing about, and now I know a lot LOL. Decided for the cost, that this was something I could do myself. Almost done, last part this week. Then I can get back to the computer stuff, which I must say is more enjoyable. I definitely will recap, and then spend time playing with it.

 

[croissantking]

I was having the same troubles with my 165 recently. Swapping the interconnect board was part of the solution but then I found that one of the pins on the socket on the CPU card (where the interconnect cable plugs into) was bent. And straightening this got my keyboard fully working again.

Circling back to this thread, my PB165 is still working well. But my PB180 is having issues with some keys on the keyboard not working. Playing with the machine is just making it worse, so I’m guessing the interconnect is the problem - specifically the wires in the cable breaking, is that what happens?

 

[TonyJay]

Circling back to this thread, my PB165 is still working well. But my PB180 is having issues with some keys on the keyboard not working. Playing with the machine is just making it worse, so I’m guessing the interconnect is the problem - specifically the wires in the cable breaking, is that what happens?

Exactly my experience. I learned that the hard way by buying replacement keyboard that also had key issues. I should have clued in when it was the 'same' keys at least the first attempt to repair. Later as I further stressed the cable, it became more keys. All good with new cable. Good luck.

 

[croissantking]

Exactly my experience. I learned that the hard way by buying replacement keyboard that also had key issues. I should have clued in when it was the 'same' keys at least the first attempt to repair. Later as I further stressed the cable, it became more keys. All good with new cable. Good luck.

I guess I’ll need to wait for some cheap interconnects to come up on eBay, and then be very delicate with them when opening and closing the machines. The problem is, I didn’t realise these cables are so fragile, and I’ve been working on the machines a lot during restoration.

It’s a pity there’s no easy way to replace the cable itself, although I might look at running some patch wires just to get it going temporarily.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

It doesn't help that all (or most?) of the traces on the board go through internal layers, making them very difficult to trace out. It would probably help if someone with a fully working one traced all the paths out and did a schematic. My 145's board is fully working so I suppose I could, but I don't know what software I'd use to plot it all out. I've never done something like that before.
I'm lucky that the most trouble I've run into with mine is that the internal speaker on my 170 stopped working, with how many times I've had both apart.
I wonder if the "second gen" 100 series PowerBooks (160, 165, 180, color variants) are as fragile.