OT: HW-issue, PowerBook G4 Ti does not power on

dear experts,

  excuse me for this non-NetBSD centric question, thanks for
not blaming
me.

  PROBLEM:
  my dear old PB G4 Titanium (500MHz, no Gbit, no DVI - the
real old
one)
does not power on any more: whether I leave the battery in
place or not,

with the power adapter plugged in, upon press of the power
button
nothing 
happens. (no chime, no light, no chirpy sounds, nada nothing
niet
nichts)

  the battery is unuseable since a while (the capacity was
only
sufficient
for 20 min. last time...)

  the jojo/puck gray-transparent power adapter draws power
from mains as
I can see the regular small sparks when I plug in the power
cord to the 
wall outlet (some inrush current flows into the adapter)

  QUESTIONS:

  is there a way to verify the power adapter operates
normally?
  what voltage at which pins are expected?
  is there a way to crack open the power adapter?
  I'd like to verify that some DC comes out of it, that the
DC cable is 
still firmly attached. (the proprietary plug apple uses
is... hard to
tap)
  
  Is there a known "typical damage" inside the
PowerBook, happening just

by the age of the device?  (in the circuits around the power
button?)
  what shall I check inside the PowerBook?  
(I have a well equipped electronics lab available)


thanks in advance for some hints
Stephan

On Mon, Nov 12, 2007 at 12:11:15PM +0100, Schwerzmann,
Stephan wrote:
>   is there a way to verify the power adapter operates
normally?
>   what voltage at which pins are expected?
>   is there a way to crack open the power adapter?
>   I'd like to verify that some DC comes out of it, that
the DC cable is 
> still firmly attached. (the proprietary plug apple uses
is... hard to
> tap)

I think the best bet is to try to tap the hard-to-tap
adapter.  I don't
know what that one looks like, but I seem to recall issues
with the
power connector on some laptops--either at the end of the
power adapter
cable or the jack in the powerbook.

You might take a look at http://www.ifixit.com/
It has a (not encouraging) FAQ about the "Titanium
Mercury" (is that
yours?) not turning on.

-allen

-- 
Allen Briggs  |  http://www.ninthw
onder.com/~briggs/  |  briggsninthwonder.com

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Hello,

On Nov 12, 2007, at 06:11, Schwerzmann, Stephan wrote:

>   PROBLEM:
>   my dear old PB G4 Titanium (500MHz, no Gbit, no DVI -
the real old
> one)
> does not power on any more: whether I leave the battery
in place or  
> not,
>
> with the power adapter plugged in, upon press of the
power button
> nothing
> happens. (no chime, no light, no chirpy sounds, nada
nothing niet
> nichts)

My PowerBook 3400c pulled a similar stunt a while ago, the
solution  
was a PMU reset - basically unplug everything, remove all
batteries,  
find the reset button and hold it for a minute or two in
order to  
drain any capacitor charge that might still provide power to
nvram. I  
don't know where this button is on the TiBooks but google
knows  
everyting.

>   QUESTIONS:
>
>   is there a way to verify the power adapter operates
normally?
Absolutely.

>   what voltage at which pins are expected?
Something between 12v and 16v IIRC, on the two inner rings
of the  
central pin - the tip is unconnected or ground.

>   is there a way to crack open the power adapter?
Don't do that unless you really have to.

>   Is there a known "typical damage" inside
the PowerBook, happening  
> just
> by the age of the device?  (in the circuits around the
power button?)
As I said - sometimes the PMU's firmware gets messed up and
that may  
lead to the symptoms you're seeing. The solution is to force
it to  
reset ( and thereby load its firmware from ROM ) -
unfortunately the  
exact procedure varies from machine to machine.

>   what shall I check inside the PowerBook?
If you open it then the first thing would be the backside of
the  
power connector.

have fun
Michael
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