Dead Pismo, help

[GFLPraxis]

We had to re-arrange our desks in Calculus today, and my Pismo slipped off the desk and fell screen-first to the floor. The back of the screen hit first and it closed on impact. Then went to standby.

There is no visible damage, neither outside nor inside. When I picked it up and pressed the button and it didn't come out of standby right away (the light was on), I popped the battery out and back in.

I pressed the power button and nothing happened.

It is definitely powering on. After pressing the power button, I can press caps lock and it will light up- if I hold the power button down for ten seconds, caps lock shuts off. The battery is charged (IIRC was around 70 or 80%).

If Apple had released Intel iBooks today I'd simply upgrade, but I can't afford a MacBook Pro. Can anyone help me fix this? Hopefully none of the hardware is permanently damaged (not even the case is scratched, other than a crack that was there already when I bought the system two years ago).

 

[GFLPraxis]

Anyone? Please? Don't make me suffer bringing my father's old PeeCee laptop to class tomorrow

 

[umrdad]

it's dead jim

just guessing here . . . will it boot from internal/external drive? the hard drive may not have handled the impact

 

[Eidorian]

Another dead Pismo.

 

[GFLPraxis]

It doesn't get to the point where it CAN boot off a hard drive. Nothing appears on the screen. But I can get the caps lock key to boot up.

It actually sounds a lot like this...
http://www.opensubscriber.com/message/g-books@mail.maclaunch.com/2894472.html

I already pressed the PMU reset button, to no avail.

I'm going to go try this advice:

Open the keyboard. Locate the PRAM battery lead (white/black cable by
the optical drive). disconnect the lead, then try to start the 'book.
If it starts, just plug the lead back in and it should charge the
rechargeable PRAM again. I've revived two "dead" Pismos this way.

-Dylan

 

[Mechcozmo]

Is the screen just dead? Can you plug it into an external screen to see if the hardware is fine, but maybe you just damaged the screen?

 

[doucy2]

RIP Prismo
sounds like you've lost it for good hope you dont have anything too important on there
you may want to think about parting this babby out
people are always looking for parts

 

[GFLPraxis]

Didn't work

Are you sure it's permanently dead? I've seen several other people revive similar Pismo's- see the link above.

Can anyone at least help me diagnose it? Is it the logic board, motherboard, processor, etc...just want to find out what's wrong with it, whatever it is, and if its not too bad maybe there's a way to fix it.

Is the screen just dead? Can you plug it into an external screen to see if the hardware is fine, but maybe you just damaged the screen?

No, the hard drive doesn't spin.

 

[localghost]

hm

it’s really just a guess, but you should open it to see if everything is okay – memory dimms?

best would be to get a working pismo, they are very affordable - you have time to do the repair an get the money back by selling one of them later. if it doesn't work out, it’s never a mistake to have spare parts for a 5 year old mac (i’m typing this on a pismo).

 

[GFLPraxis]

I removed the RAM (stupidly, forgot to unplug it, hopefully that doesn't matter) and tried, still doesn't do anything but turn on the keyboard lights.

 

[localghost]

i feel with you, but i’m afraid you will have to disassemble it completely an put it back together step by step (get a grounding strap!).

other things that might have come apart are the processor card or the power connector/board (the small internal battery might be enough to light up the keyboard). there are lots of other things that could be broken, you might want to give the help forums at macworld and macfixit a try.

 

[Mechcozmo]

I removed the RAM (stupidly, forgot to unplug it, hopefully that doesn't matter) and tried, still doesn't do anything but turn on the keyboard lights.

May have fried it but i don't think you could have done much more damage, honestly. Sounds like the hard drive was spinning when it hit the floor. If you have any OS CDs, try sticking them into the CD drive and starting from them. (Or maybe the HD cable just came loose and you're a lucky sunofabitch)