Aluminum PowerBook G4 Won't Boot

[CC_333]

Hi,

I made an attempt to get rid of this thing here, but I though about it and figured I'd give it one last chance before consigning it to the junk heap (either mine or someone else's).

Anyway, the problem is that it basically won't boot completely from any disks I connect to it (FireWire, internal HD, etc.) It will recognize and begin to boot from a disk, but it freezes for no apparent reason early on in the process (this is with known good disks and OS installations, by the way). Strangely, it began manifesting itself after I upgraded the internal HD from stock 60 GB to 7200RPM 80 GB (or maybe 120 GB). It appeared to run fine before I did that.

Maybe it is a relatively minor, easily fixable problem (such as a cracked solder joint, or even something as simple as a speck of metal shorting something).

Input would be appreciated. I can provide some more details if needed.

c

 

[CC_333]

Problem Solved!

It turns out it was the ribbon cable for the combo drive that was causing the problem. I unplugged it and it booted up just fine.

That makes getting replacement parts a much, much cheaper proposition, since all that it needs now are new screws (I lost most of them), a sleep LED board (one of the wires broke; I may try fixing it first), and of course the combo drive cable.

Until next time...

c

 

[gobabushka]

Im glad you got it working!!!

 

[CC_333]

Im glad you got it working!!!

Yeah, me too!
I've been lamenting the fact that it wouldn't boot for almost a year and a half now, and for some reason, I never thought that it might be that cable causing the problem.

So, aside from occasionally bringing it out to charge the brand new (as of mid to late 2010) bought-at-Amazon.com battery, and poking at it to see if it somehow "magically" fixed itself, it just languished in the closet.

Such is life...

c

 

[gobabushka]

well, use it and love it well for me when u get all the screws! Lol

 

[CC_333]

well, use it and love it well for me when u get all the screws! Lol

I will! It's a neat machine, and I was very disappointed when it broke.
I now not only need to get new parts and reassemble it, but I also need to get a hard drive... I sold the one which I got as an upgrade to a friend when I figured the machine was a lost cause. What a mistake that was!!

I still have the stock 60 GB drive, however, so I'll just use that until I can afford another, better drive.

At 867 MHz, it's not the fastest. But it is still very decent under Mac OS X Tiger (and pretty good, if not a bit on the sluggish side, under Leopard). I may also try some variant of Linux on it for fun.

c