Powerbook G3 Kanga/3500 new hard disk power/spin issues

[Byrd]

Hi,

I've been trying to upgrade the internal IDE hard disk of my Powerbook G3 Kanga/3500, from the original stock 5GB noisy unit that I think is on it's last legs.

Problem is that every IDE drive I have tried spins up and down like there is a power or compatibility issue - this is in testing 6/10/20/40/60 GB drives of various brands, and various amp ratings (the 5GB stock drive was 0.5A, I've tried drives rated from 0.5A to 1.0A).  The hard disks are also detected on the desktop, but quickly spin up then down resulting in obvious operating system errors.

I'm stumped - any clues what is doing this?

Thanks

JB

 

[Byrd]

I've just tried the same range of drives on a Powerbook 3400/200Mhz - same spin up/down issues.  I'm aware some pre-G3 Powerbooks have issues with ATA6/Ultra ATA-100 specifications, but the drives I've trialled are at most ATA5/Ultra-ATA 33 or 66.

 

[Elfen]

Before anything was your Kanga/3500 or its power-brick recapped? Have you tried it without the battery inside the unit(s).

I have an old ThinkPad 560e with a shorted battery and a old HD that takes up a lot of current for its size. The thing is this - With the battery inside the 560e, the hard drive does not boot. It has the same symptoms, Spin up and then Spin down. Without the battery, the system boots up but barely. So I switched to a CF-SSD on that system. Damn machine runs like new! The reason is because the CF takes a lot less current than the hard drive. On top of that, the shorted battery works - there are a couple of dead cells in it but it can now hold a charge and run the 560e for an hour when using the CF but could not with the hard drive!

IBM used better caps in their Thinkpads than Apple, with most being Solid State (cant tell if they are tantalums or something else but they are not electrolytic), but the Power supply side of the logic board will need a recapping one day because those are electrolytics.

So this is a 2 part problem for you - test booting without a battery in the system and see if that holds out. If it does, part of the problem is dead cells in the battery pack. The other part is the power brick and Power section of the logic board is going to need a recapping. Recap the Power Brick first and test it and see it if improves anything.

 

[Macdrone]

http://www.mcetech.com/manuals/ms_ig-ss.pdf

Here is a link for Hard drive upogrades in just about all old powerbooks with troubleshooting.  First common issue it mentions alot is anything over 4 gigs can cause issues.  lots of other stuff but thats what I could find.

I know I had to remove a pin in my cube to make its CD DVD bootable, I know the laptop drives are different but there always seem to be one oddity or another for the old machines.

 

[Byrd]

Thanks all for the info - I've been using the original black (compact) power brick for both 3400 and 3500 in testing, which could of course be the culprit - I'll trial a yoyo power brick next up and see if that improves things.

 

[techknight]

Thats strange, I stuck a 20GB in my 3400c, and it works perfectly fine. it was actually a pull from a GPU-Less iBook G3. 

Of course, I pulled the PRAM battery way before it could become a disaster.