Recently acquired, hard drive spins up but stuck on pattern screen. Reseated RAM and CPU boards, reset power management. Any idears? It booted once successfully after having been plugged in all night without battery, but now back to the checkerboard screen. I'm beginning to think the pram battery might be playing a role here.
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Powerbook 170 won't boot
- Thread starter fairchild
- Start date
Turns out it is a problem with the way the daughterboard is mating with the main board. When fully screwed down, it won't boot. When i released the screws a bit and played around, sure enough it booted! I shimmied a guitar pick under one of the daughterboard screw posts and it gives pretty consistent results, but when i pick the 170 up and the chassis flexes a bit, it can be problematic. So either i've got a bad trace, or the daughterboard isn't seating properly.
Does anybody have any more permanent solutions to this problem? I'm thinking i might put some small washers between the main and daughterboards. What type of washer material would be smart? Obviously you wouldn't want wide metal washers bridging traces etc, but i'm hoping someone else has figured something out if this is a common problem.
The battery lasts for 5 mins. Are there any tricks to restoring some life to it, without rebuilding?
The display on this thing is one of a kind! I absolutely love this computer; might be my new favorite Mac! The machine is laden with retro software, a lot of it business and internet oriented. I'll post up some pics soon. It's Classy and a timeless design really in terms of computers we have today. The 170 looks like it should be used for a lunar expedition or something.
Thanks,
Mark
Does anybody have any more permanent solutions to this problem? I'm thinking i might put some small washers between the main and daughterboards. What type of washer material would be smart? Obviously you wouldn't want wide metal washers bridging traces etc, but i'm hoping someone else has figured something out if this is a common problem.
The battery lasts for 5 mins. Are there any tricks to restoring some life to it, without rebuilding?
The display on this thing is one of a kind! I absolutely love this computer; might be my new favorite Mac! The machine is laden with retro software, a lot of it business and internet oriented. I'll post up some pics soon. It's Classy and a timeless design really in terms of computers we have today. The 170 looks like it should be used for a lunar expedition or something.
Thanks,
Mark
beachycove
Well-known member
They are amazing -- so much better than the LCDs that replaced them. Try it outdoors with no backlight, for instance, or even under a desklamp.
You would also appreciate the PowerBooks 180, 180c, 270, 270c, 280 and 280c, which have similar technology in the screens (though with more greys/ colours). I like using them, though, in B&W as they are so incredibly sharp, and even better than a Compact's CRT.
Update:
I found some rubber bushings from an iBook g4 hd mounting bracket that fit nicely between the main board and daughter board, screwed them in snugly but not fully, and now it boots consistently. If I attempt to pick up and move the 170, it will lockup if there is enough flex between the boards, but as long as it stays stationary on a table it's fine. So I'm quite happy about this, as the machine contains tons of retro apps and utilities which could be useful on numerous 68 k macs. I wish there was a more solid fix, that would enable me to pick and move the book without powering down. Clearly it's a contact issue between the two boards. Again, if there are others experiencing this problem and have a better fix, let me know, as I absolutely love this thing! Will be seeking out others with the active matrix screens.
I have a fully working powerbook 1400cs that I would consider trading for a 180, 180c, 270, 280 active matrix screens. I have a line on another 170 which has a non booting hardrive which could serve as a spare parts machine, or may render my current one a parts machine, but I'm open to another 170 as well!
The sharpness of the screen is incredible for the time!
I found some rubber bushings from an iBook g4 hd mounting bracket that fit nicely between the main board and daughter board, screwed them in snugly but not fully, and now it boots consistently. If I attempt to pick up and move the 170, it will lockup if there is enough flex between the boards, but as long as it stays stationary on a table it's fine. So I'm quite happy about this, as the machine contains tons of retro apps and utilities which could be useful on numerous 68 k macs. I wish there was a more solid fix, that would enable me to pick and move the book without powering down. Clearly it's a contact issue between the two boards. Again, if there are others experiencing this problem and have a better fix, let me know, as I absolutely love this thing! Will be seeking out others with the active matrix screens.
I have a fully working powerbook 1400cs that I would consider trading for a 180, 180c, 270, 280 active matrix screens. I have a line on another 170 which has a non booting hardrive which could serve as a spare parts machine, or may render my current one a parts machine, but I'm open to another 170 as well!
The sharpness of the screen is incredible for the time!
techknight
Well-known member
grab a magnifying lense and carefully check the solder joints on the board-to-board connector. I bet there are cold/broken joints.
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