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| Click here to select a new forum. | | My Powerbook 180 has stopped working after only 32 years! Seeking help. | Posted by: Bittersweet1947 on 2026-09-25 18:06:42
I bought a Powerbook 180 on 3/30/94 and used it until it stopped working on 9/25/2026! All of it is original equipment If I power it up, there is a clicking sound but nothing appears on the screen except the mouse arrow. I tried to boot it up using the Disk Tools floppy, and then tried a Norton Utilities floppy start-up disk, but the laptop would not boot up. Maybe the problem is the hard drive? I'm wondering if anyone knows of a video that shows the process of replacing the SCSI hard drive? | Posted by: Byrd on 2026-09-25 20:07:17
Welcome @Bittersweet1947 ;
That's a pretty good 30 year run of a working PowerBook 180! There may be chance you can resurrect the hard disk depending on the model; take it apart and see what lies within. Some 2.5" hard disks had stuck heads from perished/sticky bumpers. Alternately, you can get a 2.5" BlueSCSI or ZuluSCSI as a replacement.
Here is the service manual that details how to take it apart, don't forget the small grey screw at the back ports.
JB | Posted by: Durosity on 2026-09-25 22:45:57
After only 32 years? Disgraceful.. back in my day computers were something you bought and never replaced! I’d be having words with Mike Spindler if I were you (and if he were still alive!) | Posted by: lauland1 on 2026-09-26 00:03:14
If the clicking is loud enough to hear through the case, I'd hope it was the hard drive, and not something else. Since moving parts wear down with age, it is likely the hard drive.
The fact that you get an arrow is a "good sign", that at least memory, the cpu, etc, is probably still fine. On the other hand, it should at least try and put up more, like the flashing question mark.
If the hard drive is bad, it may be "trying" to read it, and getting stuck, like waiting for an acknowledge that never comes. I'd hope it would eventually give up and try the floppy. But I understand clicking is no fun, and letting it sit long enough to give up may be too long.
Usually, once drives start clicking, they are doomed. They may start working again a bit, but, they WILL fail again eventually.
If you're up to it, take it apart and remove the hard drive. If it then boots fine to floppy then, you will know. (Technically the scsi bus will not be terminated, but I believe it shouldn't be much of a problem).
----
Anecdotally, if you have a hard drive that is dying or doomed, and will just end up in the recycle bin, people try some crazy things. Like putting it in the freezer or heating it up, or taking apart, trying to clean, etc. None of these are likely to help, and I wouldn't recommend it, because you don't want to accidentally toast the rest of the machine. | Posted by: ArmorAlley on 2026-09-26 02:30:31
@Bittersweet1947 I second the BlueSCSI or ZuluSCSI. I have a BlueSCSI in my PB 540c and the new drive is quieter, faster and there is so much more storage capacity..
Be warned about brittle plastics when opening the case and putting it all back together again.
These machines are old and were not designed to last so long.
ifixit.com is not a bad place to start:
PowerBook 180: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/PowerBook_180
PowerBook 180c: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/PowerBook_180c | Posted by: bittersweet47 on 2026-09-30 15:57:16
@Bittersweet1947 I second the BlueSCSI or ZuluSCSI. I have a BlueSCSI in my PB 540c and the new drive is quieter, faster and there is so much more storage capacity..
Be warned about brittle plastics when opening the case and putting it all back together again.
These machines are old and were not designed to last so long.
ifixit.com is not a bad place to start:
PowerBook 180: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/PowerBook_180
PowerBook 180c: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/PowerBook_180c Thank you. I hadn't come across the ifixit URL. | Posted by: bittersweet47 on 2026-09-30 15:57:51
If the clicking is loud enough to hear through the case, I'd hope it was the hard drive, and not something else. Since moving parts wear down with age, it is likely the hard drive.
The fact that you get an arrow is a "good sign", that at least memory, the cpu, etc, is probably still fine. On the other hand, it should at least try and put up more, like the flashing question mark.
If the hard drive is bad, it may be "trying" to read it, and getting stuck, like waiting for an acknowledge that never comes. I'd hope it would eventually give up and try the floppy. But I understand clicking is no fun, and letting it sit long enough to give up may be too long.
Usually, once drives start clicking, they are doomed. They may start working again a bit, but, they WILL fail again eventually.
If you're up to it, take it apart and remove the hard drive. If it then boots fine to floppy then, you will know. (Technically the scsi bus will not be terminated, but I believe it shouldn't be much of a problem).
----
Anecdotally, if you have a hard drive that is dying or doomed, and will just end up in the recycle bin, people try some crazy things. Like putting it in the freezer or heating it up, or taking apart, trying to clean, etc. None of these are likely to help, and I wouldn't recommend it, because you don't want to accidentally toast the rest of the machine. Thank you. | Posted by: bittersweet47 on 2026-09-30 15:59:06
After only 32 years? Disgraceful.. back in my day computers were something you bought and never replaced! I’d be having words with Mike Spindler if I were you (and if he were still alive!) [The following is free of sarcasm.] Thanks for the amusing comment. | Posted by: bittersweet47 on 2026-09-30 15:59:47
If the clicking is loud enough to hear through the case, I'd hope it was the hard drive, and not something else. Since moving parts wear down with age, it is likely the hard drive.
The fact that you get an arrow is a "good sign", that at least memory, the cpu, etc, is probably still fine. On the other hand, it should at least try and put up more, like the flashing question mark.
If the hard drive is bad, it may be "trying" to read it, and getting stuck, like waiting for an acknowledge that never comes. I'd hope it would eventually give up and try the floppy. But I understand clicking is no fun, and letting it sit long enough to give up may be too long.
Usually, once drives start clicking, they are doomed. They may start working again a bit, but, they WILL fail again eventually.
If you're up to it, take it apart and remove the hard drive. If it then boots fine to floppy then, you will know. (Technically the scsi bus will not be terminated, but I believe it shouldn't be much of a problem).
----
Anecdotally, if you have a hard drive that is dying or doomed, and will just end up in the recycle bin, people try some crazy things. Like putting it in the freezer or heating it up, or taking apart, trying to clean, etc. None of these are likely to help, and I wouldn't recommend it, because you don't want to accidentally toast the rest of the machine. Thank you. | Posted by: bittersweet47 on 2026-09-30 16:01:17
I bought a Powerbook 180 on 3/30/94 and used it until it stopped working on 9/25/2026! All of it is original equipment If I power it up, there is a clicking sound but nothing appears on the screen except the mouse arrow. I tried to boot it up using the Disk Tools floppy, and then tried a Norton Utilities floppy start-up disk, but the laptop would not boot up. Maybe the problem is the hard drive? I'm wondering if anyone knows of a video that shows the process of replacing the SCSI hard drive? I did find two videos showing the procedure for replacing the hard drive on my Powerbook 180. | Posted by: lauland1 on 2026-09-30 16:09:34
Hopefully that is all you'll have to do. Those machines were well made.
---
I got a box of mixed parts of, as far as I can tell, were 160's 170's and 180's from a former repair shop. I put together one machine that is just 1 bit display, and a second that is 16 shades of grey. I think they are a 170 and 180, but since they were assembled Frankenstein style, they may be mutants. (I think the labels don't match the motherboards).
I probably received 8 hard drives, and found 2 to be working fine, but probably over half were dead. The repair shop was not careful and these contained ancient owner contents. | Posted by: A24A on 2026-09-30 17:08:09
Would it be correct to assume that there is a normal startup sound? The fact that the pointer/arrow shows but not (yet) a Happy Mac appears to indicate that the computer is about to load SCSI drivers.
To begin with, you may want to try a PRAM reset (press the four keys Command+Option+P+R immediately after the startup sound). Hold until the startup sound is heard again (once or twice).
Next, when starting from a floppy, you could also try to hold down the four keys Command+Option+Shift+Delete(Backspace) in an attempt to prevent a problematic SCSI driver from loading.
If you open the PowerBook 180, you could remove the hard drive for a test. Insulate the empty hard drive cable connector inside the computer with electrical tape, and then temporarily reassemble the PowerBook. Finally, try again to start from a floppy with a valid system. | Posted by: arroz on 2026-10-10 00:38:54
Hi!
Just one more to the pile of the problem being the HDD with the head stuck. This is exactly what happened on my PowerBook 145. This is a video right after replacing the display (that was bad). It has the exact behaviour as you describe. The problem is the disk has the head stuck, and for some reason it freezes the SCSI bus and prevents the Mac from displaying the floppy disk with the question mark. IIRC it will eventually show it, but takes a few minutes.
If you do have a bootable floppy disk, you can insert it before or right after powering up the PowerBook and it should boot from it without issues, I think. But until you remove the disk from the bus, it will always cause problems.
There are people who repair those disks (look for videos about Connor disk drives with stuck heads) but it's always a very risky fix, since HDDs should only be opened in clean rooms. A single particle of dust can destroy the heads. Or, as others mention, just buy a BlueSCSI (internal one for powerbooks) and put it where the HDD used to be.
I'm sure you can find videos of people opening that powerbook. Just be very careful with the fact the plastic is old and very fragile (much more than when new). It's normal that a few screw sockets will simply break. The trackpad is a place where that happens easily. It's very heavy, and when you lift the case, it may simply fall off brining the sockets with it. That's what happened on mine after opening it a few times. There's not a lot you can do about it except being as careful as you can, being very gentle with the screwdriver, and holding the trackpad with your hand when it's hanging just from the screws. If you can, remove the ball before opening the Mac, although that's sometimes not easy due to the ring being stuck.
With a new BlueSCSI, that thing will work for another 30 years, I'm sure!
Regards,
Miguel Arroz | | 1 |
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