Do you reset the power manager after plugging the Portable in (press the interrupt and reset buttons together)? After it's had all power removed, my backlit Portable always requires this before it will boot.
Do you hear the sound of the hard drive attempting to spin up? If so, does the display dim slightly at the same time, then turn off?
I've never had any luck running my Portable without a battery (even with one of the later dark gray coloured AC Adaptors). It really likes to have a functioning battery to give the hard drive a little extra 'kick" when it power sup. You could try unplugging the hard drive and see if the machine will then get as far as the flashing ? on screen. The batteries are not hard to re-pack with new cells.
[edit] and if you've had to remove the main battery, don't forget to put the battery cover back in to place. The cover closes a little switch - if you leave the cover off, the 9v battery will keep going flat.
Do you hear the sound of the hard drive attempting to spin up? If so, does the display dim slightly at the same time, then turn off?
I've never had any luck running my Portable without a battery (even with one of the later dark gray coloured AC Adaptors). It really likes to have a functioning battery to give the hard drive a little extra 'kick" when it power sup. You could try unplugging the hard drive and see if the machine will then get as far as the flashing ? on screen. The batteries are not hard to re-pack with new cells.
[edit] and if you've had to remove the main battery, don't forget to put the battery cover back in to place. The cover closes a little switch - if you leave the cover off, the 9v battery will keep going flat.