Can a Powerbook battery cause a problem like this?

1. Paul Soderman - 12 June 2007

   I had an inquiry about a gray screen I recently experienced with a G4 Titanium Powerbook 867 (more fully described when posted under inquiry to some Mac groups: "Gray screen Powerbook G4 867, doubtful hardware problem...") that I could not figure out since the drive would show on another computer in Target Disk mode and the screen worked, to some extent, just before start up would stall and the gray screen began.

   Anyway, the PB ran OK after I removed the battery for the night and then booted up again after installing it and running it with the power cord attached. I noticed that eventually, the gray screen came up and the same problem with trying to boot occurred again, so I removed the battery altogether and ran the PB with the power cord only. It seems to work OK, so I thought that I'd ask about this theory: might the battery itself in some way have caused this problem all of a sudden? I'm leaning that way if the PB runs fine without the battery, but I always thought that if a battery simply went bad, it merely would fail to hold a charge. Is there something about the battery that in theory could cause the PB to not boot up or quit even though the cord was attached?

   Thanks for any help!
   Paul

2. Nigel - 12 June 2007

   No idea but maybe resetting the PMU might help

   See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449#faq9 Nigel

3. Joe Kraven - 12 June 2007

   Don't know about tht particular model, but strange thisng have happened to my wallstreet, 1400, and powerbook g4 with some bad batteries.... The only way to be sure is to purchase a new battery, or borrow a known good one, and see what happens. There could be a problem in the battery charge circuit, but my guess is a battery issue.

   A hard drive going bad can also give these kinds of symptoms.

   Previously, Paul Soderman wrote:

   I had an inquiry about a gray screen I recently experienced with a G4 Titanium Powerbook 867 (more fully described when posted under inquiry to some Mac groups: "Gray screen Powerbook G4 867, doubtful hardware problem...") that I could not figure out since the drive would show on another computer in Target Disk mode and the screen worked, to some extent, just before start up would stall and the gray screen began.

   Anyway, the PB ran OK after I removed the battery for the night and then booted up again after installing it and running it with the power cord attached. I noticed that eventually, the gray screen came up and the same problem with trying to boot occurred again, so I removed the battery altogether and ran the PB with the power cord only. It seems to work OK, so I thought that I'd ask about this theory: might the battery itself in some way have caused this problem all of a sudden? I'm leaning that way if the PB runs fine without the battery, but I always thought that if a battery simply went bad, it merely would fail to hold a charge. Is there something about the battery that in theory could cause the PB to not boot up or quit even though the cord was attached?

   Thanks for any help!
   Paul

4. Paul Soderman - 13 June 2007

   I already reset the PMU, as described in the thread at
   http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.mac.misc/browse_thread/thread/1bd8761cf423f3c7/ffe19f82aabf3d47?lnk=st&q=kidpocono+powerbook+battery&rnum=2#ffe19f82aabf3d47

   I'll have to check out the battery LED levels about the charge; just was unsure as to whether a battery problem might result in problems in running the Powerbook even if the charger was plugged in so as to provide power.

   On Jun 13, 12:23 am, Joe Kraven wrote:

   Don't know about tht particular model, but strange thisng have happened to my wallstreet, 1400, andpowerbookg4 with some bad batteries.... The only way to be sure is to purchase a newbattery, or borrow a known good one, and see what happens. There could be a problem in thebatterycharge circuit, but my guess is abatteryissue.

   A hard drive going bad can also give these kinds of symptoms.

   Previously, Paul

   Soderman wrote:

   I had an inquiry about a gray screen I recently experienced with a G4 TitaniumPowerbook867 (more fully described when posted under inquiry to some Mac groups: "Gray screenPowerbookG4 867, doubtful hardware problem...") that I could not figure out since the drive would show on another computer in Target Disk mode and the screen worked, to some extent, just before start up would stall and the gray screen began.

   Anyway, the PB ran OK after I removed thebatteryfor the night and then booted up again after installing it and running it with the power cord attached. I noticed that eventually, the gray screen came up and the same problem with trying to boot occurred again, so I removed thebatteryaltogether and ran the PB with the power cord only. It seems to work OK, so I thought that I'd ask about this theory: might thebatteryitself in some way have caused this problem all of a sudden? I'm leaning that way if the PB runs fine without thebattery, but I always thought that if abatterysimply went bad, it merely would fail to hold a charge. Is there something about thebatterythat in theory could cause the PB to not boot up or quit even though the cord was attached?

   Thanks for any help!
   Paul