Motorola StarMax 4000 Hardware Issues

[nixgeek]

Hello everyone. I'm hoping some of you could help me out with a problem I'm having with an old Motorola StarMax 4000 MT.

The StarMax was working fine when I had it home. However, I decide to move it to my school to use it there for some tasks (since it's running Debian). At this point when I plugged it in, it wouldn't start. I checked to see if maybe it was the battery that needed replacement. Fortunately, I hav a bunch og those 1/2 AA batteries at work. UNfortunately, this Mac clone uses the square battery that's soldered onto the motherboard. Not a problem, just that it's a little harder than usual to replace.

However, I decided to try something: I decided to hit the PMU reset button on the logic board. All of a sudden, the StarMax came to life.

The only problem is that now when you shut it down and unplug the power cord, the StarMax is unable to turn on again and requires the PMU reset.

Is this related to the battery, or could it be some other issue?

Thanks again!

 

[Cheryl]

In order to narrow down the possible problems, keep the unit plugged in to a power source and just shut it down. After a while, try starting it up. Does it start up okay or do you still need to reset the PMU?

 

[nixgeek]

Thanks for the reply, Cheryl. I will try that once I'm at the my school site, which is where it is now. I'll post back with the results.

 

[DeltaMac]

Also, the battery in that StarMax is not soldered. It should have a short cable that simply plugs into the logic board. The battery is attached to the logic board with velcro. You can test this battery, which should have at least 3 volts. If dead, replacements are not easy to find, but an Apple service center will have them.
Replacing that battery should fix your boot issues.

 

[nixgeek]

Oooo, good to know! I couldn't tell right off the bat if it was soldered or not. Thanks for the info!

I will still test Cheryl's idea, but I'll see what I can do about acquiring the proper battery. Thanks again!

 

[nixgeek]

OK, after dropping off my son to class, I went to my office and shutdown the StarMax for about 10-15 seconds. I went ahead and hit the power key on the keyboard and it turned on. I went ahead and shut it down again and turned it on from the power button with success. I'm going to leave it off overnight to see if it will turn on tomorrow in the morning.

At this point, all of this has been done with the case cover off. Once I'm sure it's turning on again, I will attempt to do the same but with the case cover back in place. Hopefully it's not the case that's causing a short.

I'll keep you posted.