testert555 RemoveThis @gmail.com <testert555 RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote:
> I received a free PB DVI 800 from Craigslist and thought I'd try to
> get it working. It came with no ram, harddrive, battery, power
> adapter or cd drive. I know nothing about the laptop's history. I
> bought an adapter and plugged it in. When I power it on, this is what
> happens:
For reference, I have a PowerBook G4 DVI 667 (baby brother of the 800)
which developed a similar sounding fault last year, and I did a fair
amount of troubleshooting trying to fix it (unsuccessfully). I suspect
mine has developed a logic board fault (e.g. a broken track or dry
solder joint), but I haven't tried replacing the internal NVRAM battery,
which might be flat.
> 1. Power button does not blink or stay blue.
The power button has no LED or other illumination of any kind. It is a
simple button.
There is a white LED under the screen which is used to indicate the
power state (e.g. slow pulsing while asleep). It is visible from both
the inside and outside of the screen.
> 2. The pb makes one short beep then no other sounds.
If you have no RAM, then this is normal behaviour. You must have some
RAM in the computer before it will get anywhere beyond an error beep and
blinking power LED.
> 3. The blue led button under the screen stays constant for 2 secs,
> then blinks twice, then stays on for 2 seconds... then repeats.
Along with the beep, that's an indication that the power-on self test
failed. There is no easy way to tell what it is complaining about, but
without any RAM this test will always fail.
I'm not sure why you have a blue LED - all Titanium PowerBooks I've seen
have a white LED under the screen. Maybe your one got replaced by a
previous owner.
> I tried resetting the PMU which did nothing.
>
> My questions are:
> 1. When starting with no ram, hd or battery, what should I expect?
Exactly what you see (due to the lack of RAM only). Add some RAM (PC133
SO-DIMM, not EDO) and you might get further. If it still beeps in the
same way, then either it doesn't like the memory you have installed, or
there is another fault preventing it starting up.
The lack of a hard drive will not cause any problems (other than not
being able to boot from the hard drive, of course) - you should at least
get the normal startup chime then a blinking icon on the screen
complaining about not being able to find a startup volume.
Battery is even less important. The computer will run fine off mains
with no battery (just don't pull out the mains plug while it is
operating).
> 2. Does the two blinks mean anything?
Possibly error 2 (the number of beeps might also be an error code), but
the error codes are not publically documented. You'd need the service
manual for that model, which isn't distributed by Apple outside of its
registered service agents, but you might be able to find a copy on the
web somewhere.
> 3. Should the fan(s) start turning with power?
Not until the computer is doing something which involves heavy CPU or
graphics use. I don't notice the fans under normal operation of my PBG4.
--
David Empson
dempson RemoveThis @actrix.gen.nz
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