Wallstreet

The lombard ans wallstreet use the same PSU; but the wallstreet's processor module can become pretty easily unseated so I'd give that a try, also try pressing the power management keycombo thats printed on the back. If nothing works there could be a ton of things causing the problem; bad power board, bad connection between connector and power board, bad mobo, bad proc, etc.

If the PMU reset does work, it will light the sleep light for several seconds and rev up the fan, which will produce an absolutely horrifying screeching noise. After that the screen will blank for several seconds as it tests the ram, it'll chime, and hopefully you'll get the grey screen and all that stuff.

Try leaving it plugged in overnight. If the PRAM battery is only partially charged, you won't get any signs of life.

Alternatively, unplug the PRAM battery (disassembly required), and try booting.

A dead/drained PRAM battery wont make much of a difference in terms of a wallstreet booting, you just have to do a PMU reset to get around it.

It appears that the power connector is loose. Fidgeting with the connector while it was plugged in caused the light to flicker on momentarily. Some noise can also be heard from the speakers while doing this.

I'll take it apart and check the power board later - I have some repairs to finish right now.

Thanks for the helpful info!

Try the reset button on the rear.

Wallstreets do flicker the light and make popping sounds from the speaker when you plug in the power adapter normally I think. This happens when the PRAM battery is flat. The fan should also spin for a second or so if you listen closely.

There is a little diagram next to the ports on the back that tells you the key combination to reset the PMU. I believe it's fn+ctrl+shift+power. I could be wrong, but I believe you must use the key combination because there's no actual button for it. Lombards and Pismos do have the little hidden button though.

Sounds like yours suffers from the common power jack issues. It may show signs of life if the jack is held in a certain way. If so, you'll need to disassemble the machine and grab a soldering iron to touch up the four or five pads around the surface-mounted power jack.

Initial power with a drained PRAM battery (or after the reset combo) will be a combination of the sleep light illuminating, the itty-bitty fan screaming, a pop from the speakers, and the hard drive may or may not spin up. After a second or two, everything will immediately quit. Then, a press of the power button, the machine should chime and everything ought to be hunky-dory.

There is a little diagram next to the ports on the back that tells you the key combination to reset the PMU. I believe it's fn+ctrl+shift+power. I could be wrong, but I believe you must use the key combination because there's no actual button for it. Lombards and Pismos do have the little hidden button though.

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Correct. Wallstreets (and PDQs if you want to be picky...) have no reset buttons, just a key combo. I do agree with Franklinstein though, it sounds a lot like a loose power jack.

If so, you'll need to disassemble the machine and grab a soldering iron to touch up the four or five pads around the surface-mounted power jack.

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The good news is that the power jack on these is usually easily repaired this way.

The power jack audio section comes off the main motherboard and is easily replaced if you had to.

The only real annoying thing about the Wallstreets is that if you have a dead PRAM battery and you remove a working battery from the unit for even a second you need to plug in the power brick to get it to work again. Not that big of a deal at home, but it would be a pain out on the go. Then again they units are kind of heavy to be lugging them all over the place anyway. I tend to use mine out on the back yard when I feel like getting some sun.

I just finished touching up the solder joints on the DC jack and will be reassembling it shortly.

One of the two contacts that go through the board had no solder on it at all. The other ones looked OK.

It lives!

After reassembling and plugging it into AC power it chimed and the fan whirred at top speed for about a second.

Once I get the date and time set it should behave itself.

Good to hear! Wallstreets are great powerbooks with even better keyboards.

So far everything appears to work with the exception of the battery. MacOS reports that a battery is not present. Also the left screen hinge has no friction at all.

It has 96MB RAM, 9.2.2, Office 2001, Illustrator 8.0, PageMaker 6.5, Photoshop 6.0, Canvas 7.0, FileMaker Pro 5.0 and some Palm software. So far all of the software is registered to the last owner of this laptop.

If one of the hinges goes, the screen will not stay up.

Yes, I found that out the hard way. 8-o

The PRAM battery is dead too - if it is unplugged I have to reenter the date and time.

What would the equivalent desktop model be? A Beige G3?

What would the equivalent desktop model be? A Beige G3?

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That sounds about right. Of course, YMMV, as a function of clock speed, amount of cache, HD speed, etc., but for some appropriately loose definition of "equivalent," I'd say so.