Anyone know much about Mac computers?

**OldSchool1080s** · 04-12-2007, 08:18 AM

Just putting a feeler out there to see if there are any computer / mac geniuses that can help me out...

Story:

A friend of mine was given a 17 inch PowerBook Aluminum. It has the 1Ghz / 512mb/ 60Gb/ SuperDrive configuration. He could not figure out what was wrong with it. Therefore, he gave it to me and said if I can fix it, I can have it. His uncle was the previous owner. While traveling, TSA searched his bag and dropped the PB. The PB has never worked since. I have connected a power adapter that is known to be working. The light glows amber when plugged into the PB. Therefore, I am guessing that the power supply is okay. I took apart the computer by removing the screws on the bottom and sides and removing the whole top section which includes the keyboard and power button. I checked for any loose wires and was unable to find anything wrong. I also was unable to find any cracks in the logic board. I continued to try removing the hardrive and booting the computer. Still no go. I then removed the SuperDrive and proceeded to undo the board that contains the usb and the PRAM battery. I checkd the connections on the two little 3.7v batteries and they seem to still be soldered in. Does anyone have any ideas as to what to try next? My brothers 12 inch PB had the same problem. If you pushed the power button, it did nothing, not fans, no sound, no HD boot, nothing. They took out the hardrive and replaced it with a new one and it booted right up. Should i try installing a new hardrive? I figured that it wasn't the hardrive due to the fact that it wouldn't power on with the hardrive removed. In a PC, it will power on and the BIOS will boot but it informs you that there is not hardrive installed. I am new to Macs so I am not sure if this is the same. I just know that it didn't power on even with the hardrive removed.

Any help would be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

**skiHOG** · 04-12-2007, 09:03 AM

first off, if TSA dropped the computer it should have been checked before leaving to see it was not working. Then, have TSA replace the computer. From what it sounds like the computer doesn't POST, which could mean a couple things. Bad board, bad CPU, bad RAM, or maybe when it was dropped it jarred one/some of those parts loose from their position. Might try checking to see the CPU/fan are still locked in the correct position, and check the RAM to see that it's still seeded well.

Originally Posted by OldSchool1080s

Just putting a feeler out there to see if there are any computer / mac geniuses that can help me out...

Story:

A friend of mine was given a 17 inch PowerBook Aluminum. It has the 1Ghz / 512mb/ 60Gb/ SuperDrive configuration. He could not figure out what was wrong with it. Therefore, he gave it to me and said if I can fix it, I can have it. His uncle was the previous owner. While traveling, TSA searched his bag and dropped the PB. The PB has never worked since. I have connected a power adapter that is known to be working. The light glows amber when plugged into the PB. Therefore, I am guessing that the power supply is okay. I took apart the computer by removing the screws on the bottom and sides and removing the whole top section which includes the keyboard and power button. I checked for any loose wires and was unable to find anything wrong. I also was unable to find any cracks in the logic board. I continued to try removing the hardrive and booting the computer. Still no go. I then removed the SuperDrive and proceeded to undo the board that contains the usb and the PRAM battery. I checkd the connections on the two little 3.7v batteries and they seem to still be soldered in. Does anyone have any ideas as to what to try next? My brothers 12 inch PB had the same problem. If you pushed the power button, it did nothing, not fans, no sound, no HD boot, nothing. They took out the hardrive and replaced it with a new one and it booted right up. Should i try installing a new hardrive? I figured that it wasn't the hardrive due to the fact that it wouldn't power on with the hardrive removed. In a PC, it will power on and the BIOS will boot but it informs you that there is not hardrive installed. I am new to Macs so I am not sure if this is the same. I just know that it didn't power on even with the hardrive removed.

Any help would be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

**tuffy109** · 04-12-2007, 10:27 AM

when you plug the power supply on, does it turn green after a while (fully charged). it might be amber just showing that it's plugged in, but the battery may not be charging. also check the lights on the bottom where the battery is (not sure if the model you're looking at has them) to see if it's in working condition.

**Tippster** · 04-12-2007, 10:36 AM

Take it to an Apple store and ask them "WTF...?"

**iceman** · 04-12-2007, 10:42 AM

Sell it on ebay and ship it by UPS and insure it for what you sold it for. Then when it gets to the buyer and doesn't work, refund the buyer's money and get the insurance money from UPS and go buy a computer that works.

Wait, I think that would be illegal, never mind.