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Need help with Powerbook 180c

Submitted by MaxTek on August 8, 2007 - 10:18pm. 680x0 Macs and Lisa

Hi,

I've been trying to resurrect a Powerbook 180c. I got as far as the screen lighting up and than nothing. I can't even get the screen to light now.

I checked my power adapter with a voltmeter and it checks ok. I have taken apart the PB and the power plug appears fine on the motherboard. Nothing shows up when I inspected the daugtherboard and motherboard.

So my guess is either a bad motherboard or the CMOS battery. The CMOS battery on this model is a quarter size battery but is soldered to the motherboard and has a connector soldered to the battery...go figure.

I know other Macs won't start with a bad CMOS battery but what about this model Powerbook?

Anyone know or have any suggestions?

Thanks.

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Did you test battery.

Submitted by DaveyPocket on August 8, 2007 - 11:11pm.

Did you ever test the battery? Make sure it works before taking it out. Does it make a startup bong? A little more information would be nice.

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MaxTek's picture

Re: Did you test battery.

Submitted by MaxTek on August 8, 2007 - 11:29pm.
DaveyPocket wrote:
Did you ever test the battery? Make sure it works before taking it out. Does it make a startup bong? A little more information would be nice.

Test the battery? Do you mean the CMOS battery? If yes, than no I haven't tested the battery. It is soldered onto the motherboard. No startup bong, no hard drive noise.

When I just got the screen to light up I didn't get a startup bong either. It would hang at the lit up screen.

No it does nothing. No noise.

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Try desoldering.

Submitted by DaveyPocket on August 8, 2007 - 11:55pm.

If you have a soldering iron. De-solder the batter and test it, if it's dead, replace it and see what happens then. Does the laptop's battery work? Not the CMOS, but the main battery? Something might be messed up on the motherboard, check around the web and see if you can find anything. I don't own a power book.

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eeun's picture

I've had similar probems with

Submitted by eeun on August 9, 2007 - 12:08am.

I've had similar probems with the 180.

My problem ended up being the AC adapter, which was putting out the correct voltage, but not enough amps. The adapter was either from an earlier 'book, or from the battery charging block. Is the AC adapter known to be for that Powerbook?

The cmos battery should not influence startup on the older 'books. The pram batteries in my three older units (180, 140, 165c) have been dead since at least 2000, and all will start.

The main battery may have an effect, though. Have you tried starting with the battery in or out?

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MaxTek's picture

Re: I've had similar probems with

Submitted by MaxTek on August 9, 2007 - 12:17am.
eeun wrote:
I've had similar probems with the 180.

My problem ended up being the AC adapter, which was putting out the correct voltage, but not enough amps. The adapter was either from an earlier 'book, or from the battery charging block. Is the AC adapter known to be for that Powerbook?

The cmos battery should not influence startup on the older 'books. The pram batteries in my three older units (180, 140, 165c) have been dead since at least 2000, and all will start.

The main battery may have an effect, though. Have you tried starting with the battery in or out?

Yes the PB 180c needs a 24W adapter (model 5652) and that is what I am using. I have tried starting with the main battery in its tray and removed. No difference.

Starting to sound like a bad motherboard....?

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STOP!!!!

Submitted by william ahearn on August 9, 2007 - 12:30am.

Hey,

Before you start de-soldering stuff on the 'book, try resetting the power manager.

Read about it here:

http://www.westwind.com/reference/tn/PMReset.html

William
www.williamahearn.com

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MaxTek's picture

Re: STOP!!!!

Submitted by MaxTek on August 9, 2007 - 1:21am.
william ahearn wrote:
Hey,

Before you start de-soldering stuff on the 'book, try resetting the power manager.

Read about it here:

http://www.westwind.com/reference/tn/PMReset.html

William
www.williamahearn.com

Yes I did that but thanks for the link anyway.

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grannysmith's picture

PB 100 series backup batteries

Submitted by grannysmith on September 19, 2007 - 2:09pm.

The advice about resetting the power manager was a good starting point, but it must be added that the much-misunderstood internal backup battery (not just a 'PRAM' battery) plays a part. I've written about its longevity and re-charge characteristics before, and it may be worth your while to take those into account. Otherwise, you have already followed most of the logical causes of misbehaviour.

What cannot be excluded is that some prior owner has faffed about with the innards of the PB, replacing the inverter with one of the wrong output voltage, or installed the wrong daughtercard (containing the 33MHz CPU and 68882 FPU). You can rule out these only by comparing the assembly numbers to Apple's specification in the Service Source manual Vol. III. To save you some time, they are 922-0378 (922-0374 is for the 165c) and 661-0751 respectively.

de

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