/ Powerbook battery error

Powerbook battery error

I have a G3 333 PowerBook, which is dead. I bought a new AC adapter and that didn’t help. The battery has been bad for sometime so I purchased a new battery still it doesn’t work. When I put the battery in three lights come on and then go off. What else can be wrong?

Kate Dubensky Troubleshooting a Dead PowerBook

Try to Force a Reset

Some well known Mac reset tips include a three-step process of pressing keys repeatedly to try to force your PowerBook to restart. First, force quit by pressing Option, Command and Escape. Second, restart by pressing Control, Command and Power. Third, force shut down by pressing and holding the Power button down for ten seconds. Repeat these steps until the computer responds, or until you are quite sure that it won’t.

Reset the PRAM

When your Mac won’t turn on Apple suggests that you start by resetting your computer’s PRAM - parameter random access memory - a small amount of RAM that is used to house particular settings. To reset the PRAM you basically need to reset the motherboard battery that powers it.

How to Reset the PRAM on a PowerBook G3

To reset the PRAM, first plug your PowerBook into a wall outlet with a working power cord. Make sure to test the cord with another computer and the socket with another electric device to make sure that the power source and the cord are both good. Double-check that the power cord is securely connected to the computer and remove any external devices that are plugged into your computer, including printers, speakers or your iPod. On your keyboard, locate the command key, the option key, the P and the R. When you turn your computer, press these four buttons at the same time and hold them down right away, before the grey start up screen appears. If this works, you will hear the start up sound again and you should be alright.

Reset the PMU

Since you are troubleshooting a PowerBook, you will reset the PMU - the Power Management Unit - which is a chip built into the motherboard that allows the computer to retain settings after it loses power. If these steps don’t work at first, you can repeat them until they do. Apple offers detailed instructions for different PowerBook G3 models and years that you can access here.

Troubleshoot the Logic Board and Other Hardware

If this doesn’t fix it, you might have a faulty hardware component, most likely the logic board. If this is the case, you will need to replace the logic board and can take it to an Apple shop for replacement and repair.