[Ti] Help required: dead powerbook g4 aluminium

[Jeffrey K. Lew]

On Sep 28, 2007, at 3:29, Tarik Bilgin wrote:

> Hello gang,
>
> It's funny. You go through life thinking you are a computer pro,  
> and then something goes wrong with the hardware and suddenly you  
> are left clutching a multimeter and with not much of a clue as how  
> to proceed...
>
> I'm now the proud owner of a dead G4 Albook! The problems began  
> when it was knocked off a table and landed edge down, on top of the  
> charger connector, which was attached.
>
> This destroyed that charger and bent the case somewhat.
>
> I then used a backup charger, but did notice that sometimes i would  
> get some sparking while placing the connector in the port.
>
> One day nothing seemed to happen, then the charger connector got  
> really hot really fast, and there was that ionisation smell, you  
> know the one you get when you run an electric motor.
>

The power jack on the DC board is probably broken, you just can't see  
it. There may be some electronic components on the DC board that got  
fried. Have you tried another power adapter, since maybe something  
blew up in the adapter and not on the DC board?

If the Powerbook can still run off the battery, your logic board is  
probably still OK. An out-of-warranty repair to replace just the DC/ 
audio board is about $330 (around $200 flat-rate repair, plus $100  
labor, plus tax). You can probably find used DC boards for around  
$100. To replace it, you'll need to be able to completely strip  
everything out of the bottom case.


Jeff Lew
UCLA Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences