Re: Powerbook on mains power only?
Ian Cargill
thn...@poboxmolar.com.invalid (Tim Hodgson) wrote:
> I have a Powerbook G4 here which has various disabilities (dead
> backlight, one RAM slot knackered, etc) which I've been trying to use as
> a fileserver, with a FW enclosure attached.
>
> The main battery is completely dead, and I don't think the PRAM
> battery's too healthy either. Despite that, I thought it should be ok as
> long as it's permanently plugged in, but it's behaving erratically -
> failing to wake up sometimes, and (sometimes) requiring a couple of
> attempts to start up.
>
> Could this be battery-related? I remember the pismo wouldn't start at
> all if the PRAM battery was dead (and connected).
I have a G4 PowerBook on which (or so I thought!) the main battery
gradually deteriorated to the extent that, if the thing wasn't used for
a few days, the battery would drain completely. The next thing is the
PRAM battery failed so, whenever the power adapter was plugged in and
the PowerBook was resurrected, it didn't know what time it was etc. I
lived with this for several months before buying a replacement main
battery. Foolishly I bought a cheaper compatible one, rather than the
hugely more expensive Apple battery, and it never really fitted
properly. Nor would it hold a charge for long because of the poor
fitting (or so I thought!!). It ended up in the bin!
A couple of weeks ago the Power Adapter developed a loose connection and
I bought a replacement from the AppleStore. Magically, the old main
battery started to behave properly and now holds a decent charge! It
seems that the problem the whole time had been a bad adapter and not a
bad battery. (When I first plugged in the new adapter I noticed the
amber light around the socket - it turns green when the battery is fully
charged. I then realised that the old adapter was showing green all the
time, even when the battery was completely flat).
I still don't quite know what the problem was and I know, Tim, this is
probably entirely unrelated to your specific problem. Still, it might be
worth checking whether you get an amber or green light when you plug in
your power adapter.
Ian