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PowerComputing PowerBase 180 weird boot
Posted by: narunetto on 2016-06-30 15:22:16
I recently acquired one of these PowerComputing PowerBase 180 clones and on boot up it just shows a checkered black and white screen, sometimes with a mouse, sometimes not. I've tried reseating everything possible, disconnecting drives, changing RAM configuration, taking out PCI cards, and finally got a new PRAM battery put in. I don't really know where to go from here and I don't have much classic Mac experience so any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Posted by: Macdrone on 2016-06-30 17:35:40
the power computing capacitors should be looked at on the motherboard for goo,  the one i had needed them replaced, another i found was totally rotted from goo.

Posted by: narunetto on 2016-06-30 17:44:00
the power computing capacitors should be looked at on the motherboard for goo,  the one i had needed them replaced, another i found was totally rotted from goo.
I looked over the motherboard quickly and it didn't seem like any of them were leaking but I could look over again.

Posted by: Macdrone on 2016-06-30 22:13:24
the only reason I say bad caps is for intermittent failure, thats usually a sure sign.

Posted by: narunetto on 2016-07-01 00:31:55
Yeah, that's good advice considering they have these kinds of caps, but to no avail I just went over it again with a flashlight even and I don't see any residue from any of the caps. I've dealt with bad caps on a camcorder and it's usually pretty obvious... and kinda smells like cat piss, haha. Well I appreciate the advice, I really wanna get this machine up and working but I'm at a loss.

Posted by: 360alaska on 2016-07-05 22:55:07
Did you check the voltage coming from the supply?

Posted by: narunetto on 2016-07-07 09:24:34
Didn't check it directly but put in another known working power supply and it didn't change the boot.

Posted by: narunetto on 2016-07-11 19:14:54
Well, for anyone who has this problem in the future, it's most likely the processor cache module! I acquired another powercomputing unit and was doing some testing, swapped the modules, and it booted up! Looking to source a new one atm, it was 256K

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