Powers on immediately when back power switch set to "on," no video
I recently picked up a second Color Classic to try and fix my first one (which has a weird blue blotch in the top left of the CRT, which is not going away after being plugged in and "on" for a long time to degauss).
The machine boots immediately when the power switch on the back is set to "I", which the other one doesn't do (analogue board problem?). It also makes a periodic squeaking sound which doesn't sound like electrical arc'ing (as I've heard previously on a Mac Plus) but it does sound electrical in nature.
The speaker plays the boot chimes and beeps, so the computer is functioning properly. The monitor remains black the entire time, and doesn't feel "staticky" when I touch the glass, so I'm guessing it's not getting something it needs to power on.
The Color Classic progresses properly to the OS, and you can change the volume level through the buttons on the front. It will also respond to the three-finger salute as well as trying to zap the PRAM on startup.
If I push the power button on the keyboard after I imagine the boot process to have reached Finder, it doesn't beep like it should when bringing up the "Shut down?" dialogue box, so the OS is either stuck on some other dialogue box, the version of the OS installed doesn't have the "Shut down" dialogue box, or however the power button interrupt works isn't getting caught by the hardware. Since it works with the three-finger salute, I'm assuming the key works and the OS is just getting stuck.
The motherboard is good, as verified by swapping into my first Color Classic; both ADB ports work and the machine has the normal pseudo-softpower behavior.
I posted to the 68kmla already (see here) but I figured a Colour Classic specific forum might be of more help. I'm going to crack the case soon to take a look and see if there are any obviously blown caps or torched lines.
Any suggestions about what to check next would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the post!
I should have mentioned, but I installed a brand new Newer PRAM battery prior to starting up the machine the first time (it came with no PRAM battery installed).
How does the "jump start" trick actually work? I thought the machine had already done a fair bit of hardware initialization prior to the startup chime.
Well, the "jumpstart" trick assumes you have a dying PRAM battery. I have no idea how it really works; the best I've been able to surmise is that the act of powering the system off and on again rapidly is enough of a jolt to provide the trigger voltage for the video to wake up. If you have a brand new PRAM battery in there though, this trick won't do any good -- I'd take a look at the analog board for dead/dying components (especially capacitors).
It's been a long time since I've been inside a Colour Classic.
Caps on the analog board, and I think there were also two large diodes or resistors that tended to go bad. You'll know them to see them, they look like big resistors and are often surrounded by a darker, slightly cooked area on the board.
Could be as simple as oxidized connections on the wiring loom that connects the two boards, so I'd eliminate the easy stuff first.
I've seen similar problems caused by a dying PRAM battery. The machine is old enough to need a replacement (assuming it still has the original installed) anyway. IIRC it's a 1/2 AA-size 3V battery like other Macs from that vintage use.
To try to get it going *now*, you can try the "jump-start" trick I discovered back in the day. Turn the machine on, let it chime, then immediately switch it off and back on quickly.
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