Recently bought (and then upgraded) a PowerBook 1400c: I have questions

[Mighty Jabba]

I bought a 1400c for a pretty good price, but when it arrived I found that it gave me a message saying, "The built-in memory test has detected a problem. Please contact a service technician for assistance." It would boot up okay after that, but would only recognize 56MB instead of the 64MB that was installed. After a little troubleshooting I was able to narrow it down to one of the memory expansion boards, since the message went away when I removed it. I also found that it would occasionally recognize all 64MB, but then it would start giving some odd errors during use. I think the intermittent nature of the fault is why the seller didn't mention it, but I got a partial refund because of it, making my final cost about $30 plus shipping. Anyway, I was wondering if I was better off just removing the offending board and only running with 40MB, or if things should work okay with 56MB when that error is displayed. An extra 16MB of RAM would be nice.

I also got a Nupowr 183MHz PPC upgrade for the 1400, so I decided to try installing that. At first I didn't realize that it required software, since I only received the board itself, and it seemed that the system was only recognizing it as running at 100MHz. My improvised speed tests in Photoshop seemed to bear this out, since it was about 20% or so slower than the stock configuration. But once I installed all of the software for it from Newer Technology's site (and props to them for still having these available BTW), it worked fine and gives a modest speed boost. 

While I was working inside the computer, I noticed that I seem to have an additional board in mine that I haven't seen in other photos, and I was wondering if anyone knew what it was (in the middle).  

 

[Byrd]

Great!  I've been fixing up a few early PowerBooks recently and two have reported third-party RAM issues like yours (a PowerBook 180c, PowerBook 5300c); if it remains reliable keep the module in there but if not (bus errors, freezing etc), yank it out.

The card in the middle is an Apple external monitor card for the 1400c; NewerTech made one as well which I think supported slightly higher resolutions (and dual display?)

 

[Mighty Jabba]

Thanks, that explains why I have this port on the back with a rattly plastic cover. I didn't realize that it wasn't normally there, but it did seem a little odd.

 

[LaPorta]

Indeed. That port is not found on a normal 1400.

 

[Byrd]

Indeed. That port is not found on a normal 1400.

... I think the card same standard in later 1400 or premium models (/166, TFT display).  Note you'll need an adapter of course to get the HDI14 video connector to Mac DB15, these are fairly easy to find

 

[MOS8_030]

... I think the card same standard in later 1400 or premium models (/166, TFT display).  Note you'll need an adapter of course to get the HDI14 video connector to Mac DB15, these are fairly easy to find

Yes, my 166 has that video-out card.

 

[techknight]

Its worth hanging onto any memory upgrades, whether they work or not because they are getting more rare. 

Its not too difficult with some SMD rework skills to "re-chip" the board with some NOS DRAM ICs.