Saving a G3 Kanga

[Sideburn]

I just pulled my Powerbook G3 Kanga out to assess its condition. Aside from the brittle cracked case, it is showing a few signs of life.

The hard drive spins up but that’s about all. No boot.

But worse is the display.

Anyone know what these signs might point to as the issue? My first thoughts are video RAM.

Was thinking about attempting a repair job and possibly swap the case with a donor 5300c.

 

[MacUp72]

AFAIK it is very similar to the 3400 series just with a G3 ( the very first).
I assume the Kanga has the same green battery of death, first thing remove it, it is taped under the speaker and button bar.
When the battery has leaked onto the mainbaord under it, it is likely damaged, unfortunately.

 

[Sideburn]

Yeah I read that and saw that video. I’ll do that. I have a feeling it’s the video ram though. I’m wondering if I can swap the vram from a 3400. I can’t find any pics of the main board or any photos of the vram or where it is on the board to see if it would be possible to lift it and swap it.

 

[Sideburn]

I guess I can scratch that idea. Looks like the Kanga has 2MB of vram and the 3400c has 1mb.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

You could still change out the chips if the part numbers are still available. Could easily also be a LCD issue, or perhaps if you haven’t checked the battery yet, the LCD cable is right under it. Perhaps the socket has been damaged.

 

[Sideburn]

You could still change out the chips if the part numbers are still available. Could easily also be a LCD issue, or perhaps if you haven’t checked the battery yet, the LCD cable is right under it. Perhaps the socket has been damaged.

I will connect it to a vga monitor and see if it has the same issue.

 

[Sideburn]

I’ve got some more info on the Kanga.
I get the same distorted display results on an external monitor. I don’t see any visible damage from battery leakage on the logic board.

Is there any hope for repairing the board? It chimes and boots ok it’s just for this display issue.

* yep that was me melting the plastic with my soldering iron re-soldering the d/c connector. You can see the solder rework. Man what a lazy ass I was whenever I decided that was a good idea