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| PowerBook 1400cs/166 weirdness booting anything | |
| Posted by: LaPorta on 2022-09-25 14:20:58 I can definitely appreciate that! Next question: has this been recapped yet? | |
| Posted by: Corgi on 2022-09-25 15:02:53 Unsure at what the prior owner has done to it, but it seems to be very much stock so I doubt it has been recapped. The caps appear to look okay to me, but of course looks can be deceiving with these things. There is a bit of static along the speaker whenever DC is plugged in, so it could likely stand a bit of work. This would be my first recap ever, so I think I'd rather wait until I can get one of the half-dead LCs out of storage as "practice". Unless there's something like the original Xbox where it's hazardous just leaving it alone? I'm not too well-versed in pre-G3 PowerBook lore yet; this is my first refurb, and I'm happy it seems to be making progress! In more good news, the 8.1 update has allowed it to read the other partitions on the SD card. It has also allowed the PC Card slot to work properly now. It's able to read disks in the adaptor, and since 8.1 can do HFS+ I can now copy files directly to the CF card as a sort of shared flash drive between any of my Macs and the 1400. 👍 | |
| Posted by: LaPorta on 2022-09-25 15:10:35 If ever you need, I would help take care of it for you. I recapped my and Rick Dangerous' 1400s. I actually started (and should finishe) a thread showing how to do an entire recap of it. You can always use it as a guide for yourself too if need be. I also rebuild the batteries: PowerBook 1400 Restoration: ReduxEarlier this year, I put a lot of time and effort into the recap and restoration of my 1400. Documenting it was part of the fun, for others to be able to learn from steps that I took and things that I found out. Well, the great crash wiped out my entire thread, and there appear to be no...
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| Posted by: Corgi on 2022-09-25 15:38:32 Looking over that thread, the logic board doesn't seem that intimidating – my 586 ThinkPad was much worse to take apart. The display puts the fear of God in me, though. I've never done anything with laptop displays. I've always just treated them as a single replaceable component. Add the fragile little tabs and you have one spooked Corgi. The display has another issue, though. It was very hard to tell with the simple default PowerBook pattern, but the Nutmeg accent illustrates it very well. Unfortunately I can't capture a good photo of it with my phone. I feel like there was a name for this on old LCD panels. Basically, there are a bunch of light and dark places, and there is a discoloured patch on the right side. I mean yeah, it's a passive matrix from 1997, but I have other examples from this era that aren't quite this bad:  The discolouration on the bottom is phone noise, but the patch under the "Extra" disk is real. | |
| Posted by: LaPorta on 2022-09-25 17:32:38 I must say, I have not yet worked on fixing or recapping a passive matrix version of these. I thus far only have experience with the active matrix ones. Those could have been areas of pressure put on top of the machine when it was closed? It could be something else entirely, as well. Maybe start a new thread and see if anyone has had that issue? At the least, if you want your battery replaced, that I can always do for you. | |
| Posted by: Corgi on 2022-09-25 17:48:57 Incoming PM regarding battery. Thank you (all) for all your help and experience with these, by the way! | |
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