Hello,

I have a Powerbook 5,8 G4 1,67 GHz DDR2 that I bought years ago and then stop working. It started with battery which had difficult to charge. Then one day I guess there was a short circuit. I love that laptop even it was more slow than Mac Mini G4 1,5 GHz... I bought it before MorphOS supported it.
Time ago I retested the power supply and it was dead. There's any possibility that only the power supply got cooked and the mainboard is still fine?
Any idea why it had difficult to charge the battery? It could last 2h when working before stop charging after the first led.
I enjoyed Rossman videos a technician who repairs macbook and hate Apple... apparently at least the more recent macbook are bad made to breakdown soon after warranty.
Now there are power supply new for 20 bucks. Maybe it worth the money. But are there any other tests I could do before? Anything to check on the mainboard? The cover is still open after years (I couldn't and I can't test at the moment...) At least I remember there weren't any sign of smoke on it or bad smelling...

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You mean it was slower than Mini? I believe A1138 is going to be faster than 1,5 GHz Mini every time. But that's just a side note.

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Sure. The power supply could drop dead, or the power supply and power connector in your PowerBook could get fried... You need to get another power brick for this one to test it out. Or... you could just use any kind of 24V power supply that provides about 2,65-3A and recycle the power cable from your fried brick to use it with that one.

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Was it original power supply, or some generic one? Maybe it was a 45W version instead of 65W? Or perhaps it was just slowly dying.

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Hi,

Well slow hard drive and Leopard on 1440×900 pixel made the difference.
My power supply was Apple original.
I guess I need to buy one and take the risk. If it doesn't work I'm going to sell as spare part this time.

Had the same issue on that PB. In my case Sound/DC-Board was broken (Spare part Nr.: 922-6707) . Maybe killed by defective PSU. On eb..y such boards are sold for less money....
If you open case, replace backup-battery too.

Beside: that PB is much quicker than a Mini - and has 128MB VRAM!

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Mmmmh same issue same model mmmh...

I don't remember inside powerbook too much, only that Apple design means a mess of flat cables... Maybe there was a small card between mainboard and the power supply connector and if I understand I should try to change that one. But what's the backup-battery? PRam battery?
PRam is another Apple mess, is not a standard litium innit? Should I change that as well?

Have a look at that:

https://www.morphos-storage.net/?page=Documentation%2FApple&file=PowerBook_G4_15p_%281.67-1.5GHz%29.pdf

The IO-Board contains also USB-Left and external speaker-port. Its a small rectangular board on the left side. Not very difficult to change..... In pdf above you will see that step by step.


[ Editiert durch Amigaharry2 11.12.2019 - 08:13 ]

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I ordered for a similar powerbook G4 15" model 65W 2,65A. I will test it for Christmas.
Thanks for the link.

The first power supply I bought from a Spanish shop was sent from China and after 6 weeks waiting I asked for a refound.
I got a new one from Amazon. It's a rectangular white power supply 24,5 V x 2,65A but testing it I gor 0 V. I plugged anyway and I got a short circuit. DC board was already faulty so I didn't expect it but I heard it was possible.
Someone told me I tested wrongly. The whole polarity is on the jack only, but it's better to not try to test on, it might cause a short circuit.

So I think the new power supply was working and maybe is still but I can't tested it.
I need a DC board for sure. Is there any place to find a new one for A1138?

Takes 5 sec on G...gle: Ebay: Nr.232410564869 (Apple Nr. 922-6707)

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I found one to buy. Hopefully there are no other part to change.