Re: Blank screen - PB 5300 just died!
At 11:02 PM 9/6/2003, Drew wrote: You probably need a pass-through terminator to use with the 5300. I know Zip drives provide termination, but their capabilities are dubious at best. I wondered about that. But I checked the little switch on the Zip drive and it was set at Termination - On so I didn't worry further about it. I'll throw in a real terminator next time I try using the Zip on this machine! As for a completely non-responding 5300, that could be a lot of things. Have you tried resetting the power manager by pushing in (and holding) the reset button on the back of the computer for about 30 seconds? Afterwards, sometimes it will start without you pushing the power button, other times you have to push the power key first... But usually this clears up strange power/booting problems. If that doesn't help, then keep it plugged in for 24 - 48 hours and try again. Your PRAM battery could have been depleted, and a depleted PRAM battery can cause a failure to boot You may also have a completely dead PRAM battery (in which case you need to either buy a new one or rebuild your current one). Thanks - all good advice. I'll try those ideas today. The clone desktop is another matter (and probably best answered on the corresponding list - [EMAIL PROTECTED] for Power Computing clones, etc). I'm a member of that list too, but thought I'd throw all my problems in one message. Sorry about polluting this list with my desktop problem too. :-) But you gave a great response to that issue as well. I'll check on the cache DIMM tomorrow. Best, Allan -- PowerBooks is sponsored by http://lowendmac.com/ and... Small Dog Electronicshttp://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html PowerBooks list info: http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml -- AOL users, remove mailto:; Send list messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] For digest mode, email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscription questions: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/ Using a Mac? Free email more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
Re: Blank screen - PB 5300 just died!
On Saturday, September 6, 2003, at 06:26 PM, Allan Trick wrote: I need a little feedback on something if you have any... Last night I was copying some files from a Zip 100 disk to my PowerBook 5300. Everything was going fine until I dragged a folder of files over, it started copying, and then it stopped midway through like it was copying a REALLY big file--the Zip amber light kept on making it look like it was busy too--and then I noticed everything else on the PB desktop went away (HD icon, etc.) and it appeared to have frozen. I forced a reboot from the keyboard and reset the Zip drive too. When I restarted the PB, there was just a big black diamond with a 2 in it bouncing around on the screen. I guess that's a symbol for SCSI port 2? That's the clue right there. You were in SCSI Disk Mode, which means you must have a switchable SCSI cable that's acting flaky; I expect that if that switch gets thrown during normal operations, all sorts of weirdness will ensue. It could a be a switch that's partially thrown, so sometimes it makes contact, sometimes it doesn't, or it could be a physically broken switch, or crud in there making contact. If you are *certain* you're not using a cable that can be switched into SCSI mode something's wrong with the cable itself, or the scsi connections on the motherboard. Try a different SCSI cable, if you have one. Unplug all scsi cables from the powerbook and try booting. All the strangeness could well have confused the power manager so try this http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58416 -- Wherever you go, there you are. - B. Banzai, Ph.D. Bruce Johnson -- PowerBooks is sponsored by http://lowendmac.com/ and... Small Dog Electronicshttp://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html PowerBooks list info: http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml -- AOL users, remove mailto:; Send list messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] For digest mode, email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscription questions: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/ Using a Mac? Free email more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
Blank screen - PB 5300 just died!
I need a little feedback on something if you have any... Last night I was copying some files from a Zip 100 disk to my PowerBook 5300. Everything was going fine until I dragged a folder of files over, it started copying, and then it stopped midway through like it was copying a REALLY big file--the Zip amber light kept on making it look like it was busy too--and then I noticed everything else on the PB desktop went away (HD icon, etc.) and it appeared to have frozen. I forced a reboot from the keyboard and reset the Zip drive too. When I restarted the PB, there was just a big black diamond with a 2 in it bouncing around on the screen. I guess that's a symbol for SCSI port 2? I restarted off the Disk Tools floppy. There were no hard disk errors and everything came up normal. I went through the process again. It froze again on transferring a small folder of files from the Zip. I restarted again and the computer came up OK (no diamond this time). But the pattern repeated. I decided to call it a night after the last such cycle. And this morning I tried turning on the PowerBook and there is NO response from the computer. It's just DEAD. I hesitate to mention another fact because it makes NO sense to me whatsoever, but my desktop (a Mac clone) is dead today too! I had it on last night, but it was not connected to the PB. It shut down normally last night. Today when I press the power switch, the power supply turns on, but the hard disk isn't going through its paces. The screen never shows any signs of life. (I do hear the startup chime.) Zapping PRAM is not possible; it doesn't recognize the key sequence. Why would a desktop show these signs, whether or not in connection with a laptop? Does any of this sound at all familiar to anyone else? I think I'm going crazy. At least I have this PC laptop with which to post this message! :-) Thanks in advance for any advice. Allan -- PowerBooks is sponsored by http://lowendmac.com/ and... Small Dog Electronicshttp://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html PowerBooks list info: http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml -- AOL users, remove mailto:; Send list messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] For digest mode, email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscription questions: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/ Using a Mac? Free email more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
Re: Blank screen - PB 5300 just died!
Allan, You probably need a pass-through terminator to use with the 5300. I know Zip drives provide termination, but their capabilities are dubious at best. Did you try disconnecting the Zip drive before rebooting? The PowerBook is probably hanging because of SCSI conflicts (either incorrectly connected devices or incorrectly terminated). Disconnect all the external devices and retest. If the 5300 acts normally, then SCSI conflicts are almost certainly the problem. As for a completely non-responding 5300, that could be a lot of things. Have you tried resetting the power manager by pushing in (and holding) the reset button on the back of the computer for about 30 seconds? Afterwards, sometimes it will start without you pushing the power button, other times you have to push the power key first... But usually this clears up strange power/booting problems. If that doesn't help, then keep it plugged in for 24 - 48 hours and try again. Your PRAM battery could have been depleted, and a depleted PRAM battery can cause a failure to boot You may also have a completely dead PRAM battery (in which case you need to either buy a new one or rebuild your current one). The clone desktop is another matter (and probably best answered on the corresponding list - [EMAIL PROTECTED] for Power Computing clones, etc). Have you checked to make sure the keyboard and/or monitor are plugged in correctly? A partially or completely disconnected keyboard or monitor can in some cases cause symptoms that match yours. If you have a PowerTower (Pro) or PowerCenter (Pro), you might be suffering from a dead cache DIMM. These things are notoriously prone to ESD and can just up and die on a bad day. A dead cache DIMM in these machines exhibits EXACTLY the symptoms you describe (grr, my dual 200/604e PTP had this problem a while ago). Simply removing the cache module solves this problem. Michael Macdonald of the Power Computing list made my personal list of Mac Heroes for solving this problem when no one else could... He doesn't seem to have contributed lately over there, though Peace, Drew -- Author of ClassicStumbler email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] web: http://www.alksoft.com/ Visit the PowerBook 5300 FAQ! http://www.alksoft.com/5300_FAQ/ -- PowerBooks is sponsored by http://lowendmac.com/ and... Small Dog Electronicshttp://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html PowerBooks list info: http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml -- AOL users, remove mailto:; Send list messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] For digest mode, email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscription questions: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/ Using a Mac? Free email more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
