So I bought a Pismo Firewire a few years back from a wonderful person I met (online) through AF. It worked great until about 2 years ago. I was in Colorado and was about to turn it on for the day to use, and no power. I tried the usual PRAM reset and reset button on the back nothing. So, I left it alone and periodically would try and see if it would resurrect itself. No dice.
Still, I have the computer and it was so good to me, and I really want to use it again. I begged my parents to help me with the resurrection. For Christmas, my parents bought me a part that I just got finished installing. I received a power supply card (the card underneath the trackpad) and installed it.
Now, after doing the reset button and the PRAM reset here's what it does:
Before there would be no power, with the PRAM plugged in, still no power.
With the PRAM unplugged, the first little LED light on the battery will flash, indicating there is power going to it. (I haven't tried allowing it to charge overnight.)
When I plug the PRAM back it to allow it to charge, the main battery dies. No lights.
I tried putting the battery in the right bay and leaving DVD/CD-RW drive out. Nothing.
Any suggestions? Could it be the PRAM? I have read many posts that indicated the computer can run without a PRAM, but I'm not getting anything... as of yet. I have also tried starting it without either battery. Could it be a logic board issue?
The PRAM battery on these units tends to last about 3 to 5 years. If it's the original, it's about nine years old now: far beyond the expected life of the PRAM battery.
Unplug the PRAM battery and try booting without it. When the machine gets to the desktop, the date & time will have reset so some very old date (1952? 1999?) and will revert back any time the AC and main system battery are both removed.
The PRAM battery itself may or may not be rechargeable. Some were, most weren't. You might be able to dismantle the one you've got, build one with matching cells (and the original connectors) and wrap it in shrink tubing. More time consuming, but a lot less expensive than the $40, $50 or $60 prices I've seen on eBay and the like.
The bad news: you may have swapped out your DC/sound board for nothing. The good news: if you kept the original, you've got a good spare. And you know the minute, intimate details of the construction of your Pismo.
If you find it necessary, I do have a "parts" Pismo in my basement. I'll be happy to send you any other parts you need, and I'll be more than fair on price (not giveaway prices, but I don't feel the need to get rich off of my fellow Fritters). Send me a private message here at Applefritter.
Thanks cwsmith I will definitely get back to you on that after the holidays.
The computer will not boot at all, with or without the PRAM. What I did try was leaving the computer plugged in all night and now I have even more life in my computer! The caps lock and num lock lights come on now. I'm still not sure what exactly is going on, but I'm thinking it could be both batteries. Who knows?
Any help or suggestions would still be greatly appreciated.
It's interesting to see that it is still around. Sorry to hear it's giving you problems. How does the keyboard on it work? I still got that project on my webpage if you ever want to see.
BTW, sent you a PM. Please get back to me!
Wow I hope its not the case, but I think the logicboard is toast. My clamshell iBook did the same thing back in 03 where nothing would happen except the Caps Lock and Num Lock lights would turn on (also had power to the USB ports). I had it checked out by my local service provider and the logicboard was fried. Here's a link to the thread I started, which isn't at all helpful, but kinda funny to read. I did end up getting it fixed eventually and its still running to this day.
http://www.applefritter.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.pl?board=ppc;action=display;num=1069801602
Coius, I did the very same keyboard "hack" on my MBP, inspired by your page a looooong time ago. I also used the clear-ish keys from a G3 iBook, which look great when the kb backlight is turned on.
On my wallstreet it seems like nothing is happening at first when the power button is pushed, but the capslock light will go on, if you let it sit for 5-10 minutes it will suddenly spin up the HD and boot. Have you tried letting it sit after trying to boot it?
I definitely tried that.
Still no life. So, I've resigned to changing out the logic board. *Sigh* Thanks for everyone's help. 
I definitely tried that.
Still no life. So, I've resigned to changing out the logic board. *Sigh* Thanks for everyone's help. 
... with that logic board. Send me a PM and let's see what we can do.