Question about the polarity of PowerBook 165c AC adapter

[nextvolume]

(Read EDIT)

Hello, yesterday I bought an old PowerBook 165c with a broken screen cable at a local flea market... but it came without its ac adapter.

I have managed to find a compatible 7.5V 2A power adapter (the one for the PSOne) and I have modified its plug, but my powerbook doesn't seem to start up (I can only hear the hard disk) so I think that I have gotten the wrong polarity. What is the polarity of its AC adapter?

Will it play the "chord" sound when starting up, even if the screen is not connected?

Thanks for any answer.

EDIT: The polarity was right, as now I can heard the startup chord via external speakers. Will it show anything on an external monitor at bootup?

 

[LCGuy]

By default the PowerBooks are designed to use the internal display as the main display. Furthermore, they are also set to run an external display as an extended desktop, rather than video mirroring. You'll have to set the PowerBook to use the external monitor as the main display, which requires access to the monitors control panel. Depending on how well you know the classic Mac OS, you can do it as I did once upon a time, by using keyboard shortcuts to select and open the hard drive, and then using some guesswork, figure out where the windows are and drag them over as you open them. Its difficult, but doable.

 

[Bunsen]

Does the 165 support SCSI Disk Mode? If you have the right cable and another Powerbook, you could boot the other 'book from the 165's HD, set the whatsadoohickey you need to change, undock, and reboot the 165. I think that should work.

By default the PowerBooks are designed to use the internal display as the main display. Furthermore, they are also set to run an external display as an extended desktop, rather than video mirroring.

In other words, yes - if you start the 'book with an external monitor plugged in and powered up, something will show up - but it won't be the main desktop where you can access things like control panels. It's a second desktop space that adjoins the main one.

/eta/

a compatible 7.5V 2A power adapter (the one for the PSOne)

Heyyyyy, good tip.