Trying to revive my LC475

[meall]

Hi,

I have 2 LC475 mainboard. I remember that one used to be working just fine, and the other one had an issue. Now, they seam to have the same issue. I'm really confused as to what happen there. But I do not think they are dead.

Both MB when put into a case and turned on do their startup chime. But then, they stay there for ever, no matter how long I give them to boot. I tried the PRAM reset (CMD-OPT-P-R), removing the memory and VRAM, removing the PRAM battery for a while (in hope PRAM will reset), disconnecting HD and floppy, but so far, nothing... One MB have the RED CUDA button, pressing about 30 seconds did not helped. The other main board do not have this! strange, they both have the same part number!

Any idea what else I can try? I'm out of option now.

I wanted to reinstall my IIe card, but without a computer, it is difficult.

 

[PowerPup]

I had a Performa 475 (Uses the same LC pizza box case,) and it had a similar problem.

What I had to do was flip it on for about 2 seconds, then flip it off and back on.

Then it should hopefully startup.

Hope this helps.

 

[meall]

Damn god! It worked on the first one!

Ouf, does not make sense to me, how come it is a diagnostic method now :lol:

I'll try this on my second one too, in case it wakes up. I have an LC III case when I can put the MB into, so that will give me a backup in case of...

Thanks!

 

[luddite]

That's typical behaviour when the PRAM battery's dead.

 

[meall]

That maybe the battery. If I reboot the Mac, and let it run, no problem ever. But as soon as I switch the machine off, I have to rely on this trick again. I do not like this as it may result it bad things eventually, such as MB burning!

I thought I had some other batteries like this, but none to be found. Where can I can some replacement for a good price including shipping to Canada?

Thanks you guys

 

[JRL]

Mike Richardson (on ppcmla.com) has really cheap ones.

 

[PowerPup]

Yeah, it's definitely the battery. I remember the exact same thing happening when my PowerMac 6100's battery died.

All you need is a new one and the problem will disappear.

 

[Scott Baret]

I concur on the battery issue. I ran out to get a new board for a 475 once before I knew about this issue. Then I read about these issues with the batteries a few months later and realized I now had an extra board! (Thankfully it was a free conquest).

When you purchase batteries, a key rule is to always have one extra per five machines on hand. Many of the mid-90s Macs would have this problem, so it's always good to have a spare on hand just in case, more if you have a bunch of Macs. It's also nice because many other Macs use the 3.6V batteries, from the SE to some of the modern machines.

Avoid Radio Shack for these batteries. Before I knew better, I paid $12 for a 3.6V battery at the Shack. They're cheaper just about anywhere on the net. The best thing to do is buy them in bulk and if you have more than you know what to do with, it's never a bad idea to sell or trade them on our trading post section.