Some time ago, I used my PowerBook G4 1,5 Ghz and the screen went black. A simple reboot was suffisant to relauch the system.

Then, this problem was more frequent and the machine only boot up after several attempts (with reset of the PRAM and others tricks).

Now, I can't boot it up. The screen is black and I only heard the DVD drive. I also tried to replace the RAM module with no luck. And open the case to remove the dust (but there was no dust). This PowerBook G4 seems dead.

Did you have similar experience and perhaps a solution?


Best regards

[ Edited by Daff 09.04.2025 - 16:37 ]

You say the machine seams 'dead' but it does spin the optical drive, right?

Firstly I'd check the external DVI port - does it give any signal?

If yes, then most probably the display has gone bad (check the cables).

If not, then I'd try the hairdryer-on-GPU test. If that helps you might consider reflowing it using some hot air gun. Mind you, that's not a permanent repair. The machine might last for a while though.

I will try the DVI output.

You should also try to enter OpenFirmware-Console! If you can't see, then a hardwaredefect may bee occured.
If not, check MOS-Installation.

I tried the DVI output but it'a also black.

Amigaharry2: thanks for the tip but OpenFirmware or launch menu ("Alt" during the boot) show nothing. The hard drive doesn't boot.

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You mean - you don't hear the hard drive working? And what if you put a bootable CD into the optical drive? Would it start spinning?
You didn't by any chance leave the "boot chime" unmuted so we could determine if the machine chimes now?
If I were you I'd pry the motherboard out, heat the GPU for a few minutes (even with a hairdryer) and see if that helps at all. If not - sorry, mate but your PowerBook is probably in a better place now.

For OpenFirmware no harddrive ist needed! It has to open FW-console anyway. If it does'nt, there is a hardware-foult. Could be powersource, if you even don't hear the chime and harddrive......

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A month ago, the hard drive was only booting up once in ten times. But for the last two weeks, it hasn't wanted to restart.

I tried inserting the MorphOS CD, it seemed to boot up but the screen remained black. Then it was a nightmare to remove it, the CD eject key (like all the other keys on the keyboard) hardly works any more.

I can hear the chime every other time. But that's as far as it goes: black screen.

The Internet is full of threads about these black screen problems on PowerBook G4s. Some as little as two years after buying a new PowerBook G4. Mine is 20 years old, so I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do for it, I will buy anbother one.

Thanks for your reply.

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If you hold the touchpad button during restart the machine will eject CD.

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At least it kinda passes the POST check.

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If it goes down anyway then you can at least try the "hairdryer fix" to determine if it was really the GPU :)