Hi-
I want to say first that I looked around for another occurance of this problem. It seems like this is something that's occuring a lot, and I think I know what is going on with my computer, but I wanted to make sure.
I was wondering, by the way, if there was a search engine anywhere on the website for searching the forums. That'd help a lot.
And, sorry that this is kind-of long. I wanted to give as much information on the issue as I could, in detail, because I feel it's kind-of complex.
I installed a brand-new PRAM battery (one of the Newer Technologies models--with the red cellophane wrap) in my PowerBook about a month ago. I initially had a hard time getting it into the sleeve because of the red celophane-stuff they use to cover the cells, and because none of the cells were really held in-place by anything--they felt like they were floating around compared to the PRAM battery Apple used when they made the machine.
After installing the battery and putting the machine back together, I noticed that the floppy drive I put in the left expansion bay drive was a lot tighter than before, which I attributed to the shape of the PRAM battery.
Ever since I installed the PRAM battery, the computer has been having an issue where if I touch it a certain way it loses power. It's done this probably once a week: either I touch the keys or the wrist-rests, or one of the cats steps on a wrist-rest, and the computer goes out. My hard drive ended up getting corrupted as a result and I had to reformat.
I've since taken care of the cats, so they're no longer a factor in the computer shutting down.
I couldn't figure out for sure, though, what was causing the computer to shut down like that. If it was the PRAM battery itself, touching it on the right side wouldn't cause the computer to shut-down at all--which, in fact, it did--because the PRAM battery sits just to the left of the trackpad. I didn't think it was anything with the motherboard.
But, just to be sure, I tore everything apart again tonight, and I took a look at both the PRAM battery and the PMU. I made sure to flatten-out the battery, and I kind-of looked over the PMU, to make sure nothing looked damaged. The PRAM battery took some finesse, but it finally flattened out. I closed everything up again, and when I plugged the A/C adapter back into the machine the green power-indicator light came on, along with the cooling fan. I've seen this happen before when the I've plugged the machine back in A/C to the machine has somehow been interrupted. This time, however, the fan and the light stayed on for about two minutes. I had to power the computer down by pressing fn-crtl-shift and power.
Now the computer doesn't turn on at all. I imagine that this has something to do with either the PRAM battery or the PMU.
I've got a four questions about all of this:
-Does anybody have an idea what was causing the computer to shut-down by touch--was I right in assuming it had to do with the PRAM battery or the PMU?
-Why do the fan and the light come on the way they do when power to the computer has been interrupted?
-Why would it do this (have the power-indicator light and the fan run--and whatever else happens during this) for so long this last time?
-Would it be safe to conclude that the only reason it's not powering on is the PRAM battery, given that this is the most likely reason (it seems) for the PowerBook not turning on (when it's plugged in) and, given that I the PRAM battery is just a month old?
Thanks a lot. Please let me know if I can supply any other information.
I want to say first that I looked around for another occurance of this problem. It seems like this is something that's occuring a lot, and I think I know what is going on with my computer, but I wanted to make sure.
I was wondering, by the way, if there was a search engine anywhere on the website for searching the forums. That'd help a lot.
And, sorry that this is kind-of long. I wanted to give as much information on the issue as I could, in detail, because I feel it's kind-of complex.
I installed a brand-new PRAM battery (one of the Newer Technologies models--with the red cellophane wrap) in my PowerBook about a month ago. I initially had a hard time getting it into the sleeve because of the red celophane-stuff they use to cover the cells, and because none of the cells were really held in-place by anything--they felt like they were floating around compared to the PRAM battery Apple used when they made the machine.
After installing the battery and putting the machine back together, I noticed that the floppy drive I put in the left expansion bay drive was a lot tighter than before, which I attributed to the shape of the PRAM battery.
Ever since I installed the PRAM battery, the computer has been having an issue where if I touch it a certain way it loses power. It's done this probably once a week: either I touch the keys or the wrist-rests, or one of the cats steps on a wrist-rest, and the computer goes out. My hard drive ended up getting corrupted as a result and I had to reformat.
I've since taken care of the cats, so they're no longer a factor in the computer shutting down.
I couldn't figure out for sure, though, what was causing the computer to shut down like that. If it was the PRAM battery itself, touching it on the right side wouldn't cause the computer to shut-down at all--which, in fact, it did--because the PRAM battery sits just to the left of the trackpad. I didn't think it was anything with the motherboard.
But, just to be sure, I tore everything apart again tonight, and I took a look at both the PRAM battery and the PMU. I made sure to flatten-out the battery, and I kind-of looked over the PMU, to make sure nothing looked damaged. The PRAM battery took some finesse, but it finally flattened out. I closed everything up again, and when I plugged the A/C adapter back into the machine the green power-indicator light came on, along with the cooling fan. I've seen this happen before when the I've plugged the machine back in A/C to the machine has somehow been interrupted. This time, however, the fan and the light stayed on for about two minutes. I had to power the computer down by pressing fn-crtl-shift and power.
Now the computer doesn't turn on at all. I imagine that this has something to do with either the PRAM battery or the PMU.
I've got a four questions about all of this:
-Does anybody have an idea what was causing the computer to shut-down by touch--was I right in assuming it had to do with the PRAM battery or the PMU?
-Why do the fan and the light come on the way they do when power to the computer has been interrupted?
-Why would it do this (have the power-indicator light and the fan run--and whatever else happens during this) for so long this last time?
-Would it be safe to conclude that the only reason it's not powering on is the PRAM battery, given that this is the most likely reason (it seems) for the PowerBook not turning on (when it's plugged in) and, given that I the PRAM battery is just a month old?
Thanks a lot. Please let me know if I can supply any other information.