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My 1998 iMac G3 in Bondi blue finally booted after I swapped the PRAM battery last Tuesday.
I'd been convinced the logic board was fried from sitting in my damp garage for a decade, but the old timer at the computer recycling place in Spokane just shrugged and said, 'Kid, it's probably just the $4 battery on the motherboard.'
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matthewperry3mo ago
That old timer at the recycling place knew his stuff. Did you have to clean any corrosion off the motherboard from the old battery leaking, or was it just a straight swap? I've heard those PRAM batteries can make a mess when they sit that long.
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william9173mo ago
You know, I always assumed a dead computer from that era was basically a lost cause. I'd see a machine not boot and immediately think it needed some crazy expensive part or a whole new board. But this kind of thing, a simple battery swap fixing a totally dead system, really shows how often the fix is stupid simple. Makes me wonder how many other old Macs got trashed over a three dollar part.
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fisher.diana2d ago
Right, @matthewperry brings up a good point about the battery leaking. But honestly, the REAL tragedy is that half the people tossing these machines probably never even CHECKED the battery. They saw a blank screen and just assumed the logic board was toast. That old recycling guy definitely saved a few from the dumpster, but think about how many got thrown out in the 90s and early 2000s before people knew about this trick. It's like finding a gold coin under a pile of trash. The fix literally takes a minute and a half if it's just the battery. Shows you how much we overcomplicate old tech.
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