Mac Portable problems (was Re: Mac Portable batt charger)

From: Marion Bates <Marion.Bates_at_Dartmouth.EDU>
Date: Thu Aug 20 13:56:48 1998

--- Tom Owad wrote:
>Can someone tell me what the output of the Mac Portable battery charger
>should
>be? (What I should read across the charger contacts?) When I plug it in
>using a
>known-good AC adapter, then place the battery on it, there's no LED glow.

It's most likely the same as the Mac Portable's power adapter, which is
7.5vdc, 1.5A.
--- end of quote ---

Thanks for the info. Actually, according to Apple Service Source docs (found 'em after I posted the question) the charger puts out about a volt less. The power adapter itself is fine, but the external charger seems to be fried.

I have a more pressing problem now. Basically, the computer has a grand mal seizure whenever the internal hard drive is connected.

I've got three semi-functional Portables, and am hoping to wind up with at least one that works. But they all seem to have bad hard disks (Apple 40SC internal) -- if the drive is connected at power-up, it makes a tick-tick-tick noise, the screen flashes, and it repeatedly plays interrupted Death Chimes until I turn it off. The drive never actually spins up.

I'm not familiar with that hard drive model. Since there's no separate power cable, I assume it's some sort of funky low-power-combined-with-SCSI thing. So, anyone got any ideas about what to do with them (besides drop-kick 'em into a swimming pool)? Is there some goofy reset I can do, or a bad fuse somewhere to replace?

If there's no repair possible, then is there any other kind of hard drive that will work in a Portable? Or does someone have a spare they'd sell/trade?

-- MB
Received on Thu Aug 20 1998 - 13:56:48 BST