Here we have a Powerbook 1400CS 117MHz running System 7.5.3. 64MB HDD 16MB Ram) Real screamer. It's battery can hold a tiny tiny bit of charge but it's always plugged in when a trip down memory lane is warranted. It's got a CD Module in bay #2. Was working a charm until today.
Upon pressing the power button, the speaker "pops", the startup chime fires, the Happy Mac shows up, and after a few seconds, the speaker "pops" again, the screen goes black, and it becomes totally unresponsive. No lights, no sounds, totally dead. After removing the battery for a few minutes, it was able to go through the same cycle making it to the same spot, Happy Mac, and "pop". Dead duck. Pressing the reset button provides mixed results, sometimes the computer tries (and fails) to make it past the speaker "pop" phase, sometimes it'll give a chime before dying, and sometimes it does absolutely nothing.
I'm contemplating leaving it unplugged and unbatteried for the night starting it by reset button and/or hunting down the PRAM battery and kali-maa it, see if that fixes things... but I wanted to consult the space grey eminence for possible alternative causes? Or perhaps a terminal issue with the device itself? No error tones, and I figure getting as far as I am the hard drive and memory are ok.
Is he dead, Jim?
Does it do the same if you try to boot of disk or CD? What about with the hard disk disconnected?
I think it's a power issue most likely, particularly based on the behavior at reset.
PowerBooks can do some strange power management-related things when their PRAM batteries go bad. They're actually rechargeable cells, but like the main battery, they don't last forever, and are also prone to leaking. I'd start by removing the PRAM battery and see if the issue persists. (You may end up with other weird side effects, like the computer starting up automatically when the AC adapter is plugged in -- my own 1400c does this -- but the machine should at least be able to boot reliably.)
Thanks so much for responding. Results were the same on CD boot, I haven't tried disconnecting the HD but will try that.
Thanks again.
I have 3 of these Powerbooks and I discovered the hard way on two of them that the plastic used by Apple in the mid 1990s is notoriously weak with age!
When opening the screen/lid, use care to go slowly.
The plastic along the bottom row of the LCD screen where the Apple Logo and "Macintosh" and "Powerbook 1400c" are located take a tremendous amount of pressure from the metal brackets behind this plastic upon opening and closing the lid.
My hope is to be able to take my last 1400cs and recombine all of its parts to give me again a 64MB 1400c with the rare internal ethernet board.