Powerbook screen

O

oniq

whoami
Hi, I just acquired a Powerbook, when I turn it on the screen stays black. I can hear the hard drive spin but there is nothing on the screen. Anyway to fix this?
 
Has it worked before? otherwise I would suggest that you put the restore CD in and hold C by starting up, if you don't see anything happening after 30 seconds, i recommend that the display is defect.
Hopefully this will help.
 
Its a Powerbook 'Pismo' (I believe is what they are called) G3 500mhz. I received it for free. The reason it was given away for free is because the previous owner already got a new one and did not want to get this one fixed. I have come to the conclusion (after reading posts on other boards) that it may be the daughter board housing the CPU that is fried. I'll look into it further before dumping $200 for a daughter board into the laptop. It is a nice laptop though, G3 500mhz, 128mb ram, 12gig hard drive, 2 firewire, 2 usb, tv-out, monitor out, built in ethernet, 14.1" screen with 1024x768 resolution. Wish I could see it :)
 
Originally posted by oniq
Its a Powerbook 'Pismo' (I believe is what they are called) G3 500mhz. I received it for free. The reason it was given away for free is because the previous owner already got a new one and did not want to get this one fixed. I have come to the conclusion (after reading posts on other boards) that it may be the daughter board housing the CPU that is fried. I'll look into it further before dumping $200 for a daughter board into the laptop. It is a nice laptop though, G3 500mhz, 128mb ram, 12gig hard drive, 2 firewire, 2 usb, tv-out, monitor out, built in ethernet, 14.1" screen with 1024x768 resolution. Wish I could see it :)
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The most common failures I've seen with the Pismo is a blown ethernet controller. Coincidentally enough, when the chip blows it causes the same symptom you describe. The easiest way to tell if it's the chip is to remove the cpu and look directly beneath it, at the logic board. If the chip below is bubbled, cracked, etc, you found your culprit... bad logic board. :(

Tim
 
Anyway to tell if its a blown ethernet controller? If the symptoms you describe aren't present physically, could it still be a bad CPU?
 
Well, how's about this. It's very very rare for a cpu module to go bad. You can try doing a full logic board reset, swapping/reseating the ram modules, and also reseating the cpu. To do the reset, pull the batteries out, make sure ac is not plugged in, and hold the little button on the back for thirty seconds. Then reconnect everything and see what happens. Does the unit chime when you hit power or do you just hear the hd spin up?

Tim
 
Ok I looked at the CPU there seems to be a white powdery substance (looks like it fried) in the upper right corner of the cpu.
 
I'd still be a bit skeptical about having a blown cpu. Does the substance look like a light powder or does it look like corrosion? Try getting an old toothbrush and some isopropyl alcohol and try cleaning it off. How many ram modules are installed on the cpu? Try just one at a time in each slot. Also, make sure you try the logic board reset.

Tim
 
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