PowerBook 180c Won't Turn On

[MaxVCad]

I just acquired a really clean PowerBook 180c but am having some trouble getting it to boot. I'm having issues with two things (that I know of so far, ha).. Any help would be really appreciated. I want to get this up and running so that I can use it to put software on my dad's old Mac SE. And also because it's really cool in its own right.

- The charger / charging port doesn't seem to function properly. I need to hold the charger in a specific spot in order to make good enough contact to boot the computer. Any fix for this?

- When the computer boots, I hear the hard disk make some sounds (see video: https://youtu.be/eW2iF9INCpk) but ultimately I get an icon on the screen that shows what looks like a floppy disk with a blinking question mark in it. Is this because the HDD is sticky? Can I take it out and rotate it in my hands it to try and revive it? If so, are there any good instructions on how to remove the HDD? I wasn't able to find anything.

- I put an old 6.0.3 backup floppy in it and it froze mid-boot. It put the Happy Mac icon up on the screen but froze there and the floppy drive no longer made any noise. Also, the disk now seems to be stuck in the floppy drive. Not sure if the boot freeze is expected behavior just because the OS is older than this computer is built for, but it would be nice to get the floppy back out so I can try something else. Will this computer boot on IBM-formatted floppys? I'm thinking maybe I can make a Disk Tools floppy on my vintage ThinkPad and use that to try and repair this HDD.

Kinda disappointed it has multiple issues, and may have more once I overcome these. It's in near-flawless condition so I'm really hoping I can save it. Thanks all!

 

[maceffects]

Could be an issue with the connector on the laptop or the AC if OEM. That said it will need new capacitors regardless.  Also, make sure to boot without battery if it’s dead. The HD is probably sticky and needs work or replaced. Regarding the disk, that’s too old of an OS to boot this machine. Likewise, floppy drive issues are common with this series.  Have you tried the paperclip method to remove the disk?

 

[MaxVCad]

Thanks for the input Mac Effects.. Yeah I did the paperclip method to get the floppy out. The machine boots off floppy no problem so I guess it's a HDD issue. I haven't fixed the power issue yet, I'm hoping maybe if I clean the power port it'll help. Kind of annoying to have to place the charger so precariously and then not move the machine at all once powered up. I pulled the HDD out last night and tried to fix it using a YouTube video I found but couldn't get these two phillips head screws out to pull the top magnet off. They were torqued down like crazy! No way a jeweler's screwdriver is going to allow enough grip. I tried holding the screwdriver with needle nose pliers and it ended up snapping the shaft of the jeweler's screwdriver. I ordered a new HDD but would love to get this one working if possible. Any tips for fixing it / getting these screws out?

 

[Byrd]

Goodness - you don't need to crack open the HD as first point of call repairing old SCSI 2.5" hard disks.   The most likely issue is "stiction" from stuck heads which is usually rectified with a firm steady slap on the top of the HD as it attempts to spin up.  This usually gives it enough for the drive to spin up.  It might also just have crashed/corrupted data or no software on the HD to boot up.

The charging jack - you will need to resolder the motherboard DC jack for a reliable connection.  Thankfully PB 1x0 models are a joy to dismantle, getting to the jack requires you to remove the motherboard but isn't too onerous.

 

[maceffects]

Goodness - you don't need to crack open the HD as first point of call repairing old SCSI 2.5" hard disks.   The most likely issue is "stiction" from stuck heads which is usually rectified with a firm steady slap on the top of the HD as it attempts to spin up.  This usually gives it enough for the drive to spin up.  It might also just have crashed/corrupted data or no software on the HD to boot up.

The charging jack - you will need to resolder the motherboard DC jack for a reliable connection.  Thankfully PB 1x0 models are a joy to dismantle, getting to the jack requires you to remove the motherboard but isn't too onerous.

I agree just watch the brittle plastics.  Check all the SMD capacitors while you’re inside.  

 

[MaxVCad]

Ok, I tried the firm tap method and it seemed to make some forward progress. Now when I boot the computer, it gives the startup gong and shows the smiley Mac face on the screen. After a few minutes like this, the smiley Mac turns into a floppy with a question mark. When I try putting in the first installer floppy for System 7.5, it loads but when it gets to the desktop it seems to freeze up as it never gets as far as showing the desktop icons / menu items. The menu bar and desktop are just blank with my (movable) mouse being the only interactive object shown. Could this be because the hard disk needs to be run through the Apple HD SC Setup program? Is there an Apple HD SC Setup bootable floppy image somewhere? I have Apple HD SC Setup 7.5 on a floppy but it's just the individual program, not bootable.

This is where I got it: https://youtu.be/fpPFh7V0fYs

If you turn the volume up you can hear the wonderful HDD noises.

 

[Byrd]

Hi Max,

you've probably contaminated or physically damaged the HD by pulling it open and putting things near the heads, magnets - I suspect now it spins up but it's too far gone to be properly detected by the OS.  If you can't get to the desktop, it means the System is constantly probing the HD to get it to display some life and proceed to loading the desktop - where you can then access or format the HD.

Perhaps try making up a boot floppy with Norton Disk Doctor - available on The Macintosh Garden

 

[MaxVCad]

Thanks Byrd.. One last question - do you have any idea exactly what floppy image I need for this Norton Disk Doctor you speak of? I downloaded Norton Utilities for Mac v 3.5.3 yesterday and created all of the floppies but none of them booted the computer.. It just spat em out. Am I missing something? Is there a specific floppy image that can actually boot the computer vs these ones that just seem to have software on them?

 

[LaPorta]

I have an image of the emergency NDD startup disk. Send me a PM with email address and I'll get it to you.

 

[MaxVCad]

The trouble ended up being the HDD. I got another one on eBay for $20 and problem solved. I was able to initiate the disk, partition it and update it without issue. I then installed System 7.5.

I'm having issues with DiskCopy. I don't know if it's because the floppy IMG files I'm writing are coming off an IBM formatted 1.44. My process is - Put the file on a 1.44 floppy on a Windows 98 computer. Put that floppy into the Powerbook, which it reads fine, and copy the file to my HDD. Then remove that floppy, insert an 800k floppy and use DiskCopy to write the image to the 800k floppy. But every time I do this I get errors -54 and/or -8813 depending on how I go about it. I don't know what those mean but the floppy IMG files I transfer from the IBM 1.44 floppy have a weird icon that says 'PC.' I don't know if maybe I am damaging the IMG files by transferring them via IBM-formatted floppy. I don't really understand why that would matter.

Right now the only workaround to this that I've found is, after I transfer the IMG file onto the Powerbook, I restart it. Then DiskCopy can virtually mount the IMG without any errors. Once it's virtually mounted I can drag all the files from the uncompressed IMG and individually copy them onto the 800k floppy. I don't think this is ideal though because I don't think it maintains certain characteristics or possibly hidden files that the original IMG file may have had,