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After I replaced the hard drive in my old iBook G3 (with the help of iFixit guides), it will not boot connected to mains power, only with the battery. It also always returns its date/time settings to its "zero-hour", when it left the production line.

The G4 suffered a fall and no longer "finds" the HD to start. In addition it has a yellow vertical line on the monitor at the beginning of its rightmost third part to the left.

I suspect a logical board problem on the G3, and some physical damage on the G4's HDD.

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The G3 could be a PMU (power management unit) issue. Try resetting the PMU using the instructions on this page. – ughoavgfhw Feb 23 '12 at 20:53
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What is the question? Are you looking for a place to take it, or additional repair guidance or advice? – MrDaniel Feb 23 '12 at 20:57
Well,additional repair guidance.i suppose MrDaniel is in the USA, and i am in brazil.As for ughhoavgfhw, i will be checking and return eventually. Thank you – JoaquimPedroAV Mar 1 '12 at 20:05

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

Your G3 probably has a dead motherboard battery. Depending on the model, they are usually not that hard to replace and cost between $2 and $30.

As for the G4, I'd say physical damage from the fall is a pretty good assumption. Since it sounds like multiple components are damaged, it may not be worth the effort to fix unless you just like to tinker.

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About G3, I had "learned" they did not have motherboard battery, and that it would be a burnt capacitor. As for the g4, the contents of the HD justify any effort within my range...We could proceed on that direction... – JoaquimPedroAV Mar 1 '12 at 20:09
All macs have motherboard batteries of some kind. It may be a lithium button, a rechargeable, or an integrated NVRAM chip, but some form of power for the NVRAM is essential. As for the G4, if the HD is what's important, remove it and place it in an external case. I do not recommend putting the HD into a different computer until you verify its condition because a physically damaged HD could damage whatever you put it in. – Seth Noble Mar 1 '12 at 22:21
And, as long as you have regular internet connection, you can just forget the date being wrong and set the OS to adjust the time when automatically, and the computer will be wrong for a minute or two each time it boots, but correct until the next time power is removed from the system. – bmike♦ Apr 1 '12 at 16:43
The battery does more than just keep the clock up to date. It maintains PRAM and NVRAM memory, which maintain essential firmware information. As the battery weakens, those memory areas can become not just forgotten but corrupt. This will cause boot failures, corrupt display, trouble changing displays, and trouble with external devices. This doesn't always happen as the battery fails, but it is a major pain when it does. – Seth Noble Apr 2 '12 at 14:41
up vote 0 down vote

Usually when the date is reset after every boot it's a sign of a dead motherboard battery. Have you checked that?

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