Thread
PB 180 resurrection
Hey everyone, FIrst time poster here. :scrambled:
I was wondering if anyone would be able to point me in the right direction as to what I should do with my PowerBook 180. Back in high school, one of my friends sold it to me for the hefty sum of $1 (CAD), and everything seemed to be in good working condition except the hard drive was not recognized when I tried to install System 7. Afterwards, the sad little mac spent a great quantity of time in my parent's cellar in storage. Not that big a deal for one dollar, I thought.
Now, 4 years and 7 semesters of university later, I'm back at my parents place visiting for Thanksgiving; and I thought I would make another attempt at reviving this beast.
That being said, I'll take you through the various "repair" states that I've gone through to hopefully make it easy to give some sort of a diagnostic:
1) Removed everything
2) Put it all back together except for the top part containing the keyboard and screen. When I start the computer I hear some weird "static" noises, the floppy drive starting, and then a thin trail of smoke started rising from underneath the daughterboard.
3) Removed everything again to find the source of the smoke – found nothing.
4) Put everything back. Started the computer – I hear the floppy drive starting to work but then the computer shuts down immediately after.
5) Took apart the floppy drive (I have no idea why I did this)
6) Floppy drive no longer makes any noise when I start up the computer (lol)
7) Started the computer lots – I got a lot of weird things happening from the start up chime sounding like a Nine-Inch-Nails-esque distorted sound to a really, angry sine tone being played from the speaker until I unplugged the power
8) Finally got the regular startup chime, soon followed by the chimes of death (we're getting somewhere!)
9) Repositioned the RAM on top of the daughterboard
So after this last step, the startup chime is heard, the screen turns on, and after a split second of seeing the cursor the screen will go to a blank screen with some lines running across it. The speaker plays a low-frequency buzzing noise, and I no longer hear any activity from the inside of the computer. Also, the floppy drive doesn't seem to do anything ever since I took it apart.
I'm not giving up on this baby yet; and this seemed like an excellent resource for some advice. Can anyone direct me to links/threads where these kinds of issues arose? Or would anyone be able to give me some pointers as to what I should do next?
Thanks,
niv
I was wondering if anyone would be able to point me in the right direction as to what I should do with my PowerBook 180. Back in high school, one of my friends sold it to me for the hefty sum of $1 (CAD), and everything seemed to be in good working condition except the hard drive was not recognized when I tried to install System 7. Afterwards, the sad little mac spent a great quantity of time in my parent's cellar in storage. Not that big a deal for one dollar, I thought.
Now, 4 years and 7 semesters of university later, I'm back at my parents place visiting for Thanksgiving; and I thought I would make another attempt at reviving this beast.
That being said, I'll take you through the various "repair" states that I've gone through to hopefully make it easy to give some sort of a diagnostic:
1) Removed everything
2) Put it all back together except for the top part containing the keyboard and screen. When I start the computer I hear some weird "static" noises, the floppy drive starting, and then a thin trail of smoke started rising from underneath the daughterboard.
3) Removed everything again to find the source of the smoke – found nothing.
4) Put everything back. Started the computer – I hear the floppy drive starting to work but then the computer shuts down immediately after.
5) Took apart the floppy drive (I have no idea why I did this)
6) Floppy drive no longer makes any noise when I start up the computer (lol)
7) Started the computer lots – I got a lot of weird things happening from the start up chime sounding like a Nine-Inch-Nails-esque distorted sound to a really, angry sine tone being played from the speaker until I unplugged the power
8) Finally got the regular startup chime, soon followed by the chimes of death (we're getting somewhere!)
9) Repositioned the RAM on top of the daughterboard
So after this last step, the startup chime is heard, the screen turns on, and after a split second of seeing the cursor the screen will go to a blank screen with some lines running across it. The speaker plays a low-frequency buzzing noise, and I no longer hear any activity from the inside of the computer. Also, the floppy drive doesn't seem to do anything ever since I took it apart.
I'm not giving up on this baby yet; and this seemed like an excellent resource for some advice. Can anyone direct me to links/threads where these kinds of issues arose? Or would anyone be able to give me some pointers as to what I should do next?
Thanks,
niv
Alright, so small update:
All I've really changed is I've put the battery in as well as the power cable (I only had the PB plugged into the wall without the battery up until now). I don't know if that makes a big difference, but now it will boot up until the "Looking for disk" icon is displayed. I have my System 7 Install disks ready, but when I put them in the computer just shuts down and I hear a faint high pitched whining sound.
When I reboot the computer the disk icon will display before immediately shutting down again.
Also, I've got that burning plastic smell again.. uhh.....
Still no activity from the floppy drive. I think my problem lies here?
I'm really wishing I didn't mess with it earlier...
All I've really changed is I've put the battery in as well as the power cable (I only had the PB plugged into the wall without the battery up until now). I don't know if that makes a big difference, but now it will boot up until the "Looking for disk" icon is displayed. I have my System 7 Install disks ready, but when I put them in the computer just shuts down and I hear a faint high pitched whining sound.
When I reboot the computer the disk icon will display before immediately shutting down again.
Also, I've got that burning plastic smell again.. uhh.....
Still no activity from the floppy drive. I think my problem lies here?
I'm really wishing I didn't mess with it earlier...
Okayy... I guess this will be the final update lol
Basically everything is working fine, except I've found the source of the burning. One of the black boxes on the underside of the logic board actually melted off through the plastic frame!
Guess I know where the problem is now.
Basically everything is working fine, except I've found the source of the burning. One of the black boxes on the underside of the logic board actually melted off through the plastic frame!
Guess I know where the problem is now.
Well done.
I had thought the machine was toast.
I had thought the machine was toast.
That happened on my PB165c a few years ago, stunk out my room too. :-/
I took some pictures of the mess today if anyone's interested:
The logic board underside
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l146/virusys/IMG_3513.jpg
Where the blackbox was burnt off
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l146/virusys/IMG_3520.jpg
The black box
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l146/virusys/IMG_3521.jpg
Another shot of the black box burnt onto the bottom
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l146/virusys/IMG_3523.jpg
So yeah. I really wish I could find a schematic of the logic board so I could figure out what that little black box is, and stop feeling like such a noob amongst seasoned vintage mac aficionados
.
As for the rest of the machine, everything else was seeming to work fine – except for the fact that it only seemed to work off of the power on the battery and not from the power supply. At this point I'm asking myself, is it worth it to invest in an entire new logic board? Or should I just look for a new (old) machine altogether?
The logic board underside
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l146/virusys/IMG_3513.jpg
Where the blackbox was burnt off
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l146/virusys/IMG_3520.jpg
The black box
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l146/virusys/IMG_3521.jpg
Another shot of the black box burnt onto the bottom
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l146/virusys/IMG_3523.jpg
So yeah. I really wish I could find a schematic of the logic board so I could figure out what that little black box is, and stop feeling like such a noob amongst seasoned vintage mac aficionados
.As for the rest of the machine, everything else was seeming to work fine – except for the fact that it only seemed to work off of the power on the battery and not from the power supply. At this point I'm asking myself, is it worth it to invest in an entire new logic board? Or should I just look for a new (old) machine altogether?
is there any print left on "the black box" (probably a voltage regulator)
unfortunately the print has been completely burnt off. However it does look exactly like the ones above it (see the 2nd picture), although there's no way to confirm that it is the same thing or not.
I cant find anything for those numbers (damn apple using noname china knockoffs) it appears to be a fet, but with what stats i dunno
might try abit harder when i get home from work
might try abit harder when i get home from work
Thanks a lot man. Would the fix just be to solder on a new one?
That is if it is the part you think it is of course.
That is if it is the part you think it is of course.
depends, you could solder a new one on, but if the original issue that fried it in the first place is still there, you will have just burned out another
first place id look is to make sure the power supply is putting out the correct voltage (and correct for the laptop)
first place id look is to make sure the power supply is putting out the correct voltage (and correct for the laptop)
Sounds like a solid plan. I've got everything packed up to head back to university, so I'll check it out later tonight when I get there.
Alright, so my power source is the Apple Low-Power AC Adapter; I couldn't find anything online about the requirements for the PB180 but here's the specs of the power source:
Input: AC 100-240V
50/60Hz 31-40VA
Output: DC 7.5V 2.0A
These are the same ratings for the battery charger as well. Is this the power source I'm supposed to use? Or should I just refrain from using the power source directly altogether and use battery power exclusively?
Input: AC 100-240V
50/60Hz 31-40VA
Output: DC 7.5V 2.0A
These are the same ratings for the battery charger as well. Is this the power source I'm supposed to use? Or should I just refrain from using the power source directly altogether and use battery power exclusively?
Unfortunately, that's the PowerBook 150 AC adapter, which can't be used with your PowerBook 180 because that adapter can only provide enough juice for the PB 150.
The proper AC adpaters aren't that hard to find at all though.
Alright. Would this be why that transistor melted?
Also, do you know what type of adapter I should pick up?
Maybe; I'm not too sure though.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Powerbook-180-power-suppy_W0QQitemZ120480036416QQcmdZViewItemQQptZApple_Laptops?hash=item1c0d2b7640
http://cgi.ebay.com/car-cord-for-APPLE-PowerBook-140-180-series_W0QQitemZ110444838649QQcmdZViewItemQQptZApple_Laptops?hash=item19b7067ef9
The former is a wall adapter, the latter is a car adapter.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Powerbook-180-power-suppy_W0QQitemZ120480036416QQcmdZViewItemQQptZApple_Laptops?hash=item1c0d2b7640
http://cgi.ebay.com/car-cord-for-APPLE-PowerBook-140-180-series_W0QQitemZ110444838649QQcmdZViewItemQQptZApple_Laptops?hash=item19b7067ef9
The former is a wall adapter, the latter is a car adapter.
Thanks a lot for the links!
Out of curiosity, I decided to start up the computer off of battery power, and after a few tries I managed to get the machine to boot off of the System 7 install disk. When I tried to install, it didn't pick up a hard drive.
So basically now I'm back at square one
I removed the hard drive again and started rotating it in my hands, and I could hear the clicks made by the arm moving around; so this must not be the problem. However, upon closer inspection I noticed something that I missed before: one of the input pins has been dislodged and is hanging mid-way through the plastic casing. It also seems as if there is one input pin missing altogether. Intuitively, I'm thinking that if I solder the dislodged pin into place I'll be able to fix it that way, however the missing input pin presents a problem.
This mini-project seems to be presenting one small complication after another, but I'm not going to give up yet!
EDIT:
Haha, oh wow. It's actually a lot worse than I thought. The drive is supposed to be 40-pin, but 4 are unaccounted for and one seems to be trapped in the HDA cable. It would cost me a lot more $$$ to get the replacement parts than to find a second-hand machine altogether.
Oh well, I tried. Thanks for your help everyone! I'll be back if I need help with future projects!
Out of curiosity, I decided to start up the computer off of battery power, and after a few tries I managed to get the machine to boot off of the System 7 install disk. When I tried to install, it didn't pick up a hard drive.
So basically now I'm back at square one
I removed the hard drive again and started rotating it in my hands, and I could hear the clicks made by the arm moving around; so this must not be the problem. However, upon closer inspection I noticed something that I missed before: one of the input pins has been dislodged and is hanging mid-way through the plastic casing. It also seems as if there is one input pin missing altogether. Intuitively, I'm thinking that if I solder the dislodged pin into place I'll be able to fix it that way, however the missing input pin presents a problem.
This mini-project seems to be presenting one small complication after another, but I'm not going to give up yet!
EDIT:
Haha, oh wow. It's actually a lot worse than I thought. The drive is supposed to be 40-pin, but 4 are unaccounted for and one seems to be trapped in the HDA cable. It would cost me a lot more $$$ to get the replacement parts than to find a second-hand machine altogether.
Oh well, I tried. Thanks for your help everyone! I'll be back if I need help with future projects!
Couldn't you simply buy a new Hard Disk? 80 MB can't be that expensive these days. 
PB SCSI hard drives are a little tricky to find.Couldn't you simply buy a new Hard Disk? 80 MB can't be that expensive these days.
This is true, something I've noticed quite a bit these past days .PB SCSI hard drives are a little tricky to find.Couldn't you simply buy a new Hard Disk? 80 MB can't be that expensive these days.
I know now the problems definitely the HD too: the machine now boots from the OS 7.5 install disk, except the option to "switch disk" to the HDD is always greyed out.
I'm thinking the obvious problem is the broken pin(s) on my current disk. However, I've been searching and I'm not quite sure how many pins are supposed to be intact on the SCSI connector. Does anyone know how many pins the drive should have? I know its a 40-pin drive, but I'm not sure if some are missing because they are redundant. It would be really helpful to have a diagram or something to tell me what it's supposed to look like. :-/
I'm pretty sure it's 40 pins, but I can check tomorrow on my own PowerBook 180 to make sure. I don't see any on eBay, but you could ask around in the trading forum of this site.
Let me take a pic of one for you.
Try pinouts.ru.
According to (http://pinouts.ru/HD/scsi25_pinout.shtml), you are correct, there are 40 pins. Very useful website Bunsen, thank you! :b&w:
I remember having a problem involving the hard drive not showing up on my PB 180c, too bad it had been sitting there for a good year without fixing itself
Hello once again,
Update: I managed to get a good-condition working PB 180c, and it works great! Kind of makes this thread useless, but I'm keeping the 180 around in case I want to do some Frankenstein-ery at some point in the future. Now all I need to do is get some sort of connection between my iMac and the 180c to transfer some files, and that leads me back to browsing this forum!
Thanks for all your help!
-niv
Update: I managed to get a good-condition working PB 180c, and it works great! Kind of makes this thread useless, but I'm keeping the 180 around in case I want to do some Frankenstein-ery at some point in the future. Now all I need to do is get some sort of connection between my iMac and the 180c to transfer some files, and that leads me back to browsing this forum!
Thanks for all your help!
-niv