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Mac noob question

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fatwizard

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2012
Messages
525
Location
Indiana, USA
Hi,

I am usually found lurking around the vintage PC parts of the forum, but I do own one Mac, a Performa 6300CD Power PC model. I have taken a notion to see if I can get it running again. It is nearly dead. When you attempt to power it up you get a small quick sound (not a beep)from the internal speaker, and nothing else.

The power supply has a 14 pin connector, and I was wondering if there was a way to test this supply akin to the jumper test for an ATX style PC supply. I have tried pulling all devices out of the machine save the mainboard with ram and the power supply with no change in symptom. I know the hard drive is bad in this unit, and I fear it may have caught some lightning.

I have almost never worked on a Mac, and I'm pretty lost. Any insight would be very much appreciated.
 
By "attempt to power up", what do you mean? On many Macs, the "hard" power switch on the back doesn't actually turn on the computer -- it just turns on the power supply (which might cause a small click from the speaker, but nothing else). You need to press the "soft" power button on the keyboard or front of the case to actually turn on the computer.

In fact, there were a few models on which the keyboard was the only way to turn on the system, until Apple realized that that's not really a good idea for troubleshooting, so eventually they began adding a power button to the front of the case of their new models in the mid-'90s.
 
Yeah, this one has the button on the keyboard, and that's the one I was pushing. In fact, if this thing has a "hard" power switch, I can't find it.
 
I was never a fan of the "power button on keyboard" or the motorized eject on the floppy drives. I just never saw the point, they just seemed to complicate things and give one more thing that could break down.
 
All, macs should make a noise when first turned on. your should sound like this: http://youtu.be/zfkMe6jewnw?t=39s Depending on how much ram you have installed, it can take 10-30 seconds before anything shows up on the screen. if thats not the sound that plays, skip to step 4
This is what I would do, in generally this order:

1. remove the internal battery, hopefully it hasn't exploded
2. Check the memory, it should take standard 72 pin 80ns simms
3. unplug everything, except for power and the speaker
4. Examine the board for leaking caps.
5. If all else fails, ask on this board: http://68kmla.org/forums/index.php
 
oblivion said:
I was never a fan of the "power button on keyboard" or the motorized eject on the floppy drives. I just never saw the point, they just seemed to complicate things and give one more thing that could break down.
Click to expand...

Like Scotty said in Star Trek III, "the fancier they make the plumbing, the easier it is to clog the drain". The mainboard/PSU caps look ok, but there is a corroded/discolored spot on the CPU legs. I can't find any evidence of a spill. I'm not sure what might have caused that. If I can get the PSU to light up I may try for a Performa mainboard on eBay. I think I may have discovered a way to test the PSU. If it works, I'll post the technique here on the forum.
 
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