Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[redstudio]

I wonder why so many PowerBook G4s don't have working internal speakers. I own 4 of them and I bought them with non-functioning internal speakers, audio only with headphones. Reading around, it seems like a very common problem. Why? Is it possible that after a while the internal speakers break? And yet they don't have to handle high volumes... Could it be a software problem? Firmware/hardware? Can the situation be fixed? Let me know if you know anything. Thanks!

[DrNo7]

Just a 2 cents guess: all Powerbooks are 20+ years old. The membrane of speakers becomes brittle with time and no membrane=no sound.
However, I wonder if these speakers are close enough to off-the-shelf references or if it is Apple unicorn parts that will mean surgery to adapt (or a pair of amplified computer speakers at a thrift store to be simpler and period correct 😝)

[robespierre]

The rubber surround of a dynamic speaker (the part that crumbles) doesn't produce the sound. Its function is to create an air seal around the cone to increase the efficiency and reduce rattling noises.

Like many electronics d'un certain age, the problem is electrolytic capacitors.

[wove]

I restored a 2005 17 inch G4 Powerbook about a month ago. After having it back together there were still a couple things that needed attention, one of those things was no sound. I checked the wiring harness and the connections, but the speakers remained silent. I found a set of speakers in my parts bin and replaced the non-working speakers. It appears that the speakers were what was bad, for the speakers from the parts bin work just fine.

It does seem odd that speakers would just fail and the problem with the original speakers might still be in the connecters or wiring harness. In my case though replacing the speakers did correct the problem.

[redstudio]

Thanks for the information. It's already a good starting point and gives me hope! In fact, the sound card capacitors aren't electrolytic but ceramic, so they shouldn't have the same defects. Is it possible that so many PowerBooks have no sound? Is there a manufacturing defect in the speakers? Are the coils drying out and not moving anymore? Would there be any noise? Are they burning out? It's a mystery.
Next time I disassemble one, I'll try to extract the signal from the one that should be going to the speakers to see if that's the case with mine too. It's certainly impossible to find new originals. Used ones are likely to be faulty. We'll see. If you have any other experiences, let me know. Thanks!

[GaryN]

I'm going to hazard an educated guess here that the speakers got blown by being played at or near full volume. Even the tiny chip amps used in laptops are capable of delivering a surprising amount of voltage when driven into distortion. This seems far more likely than the speakers just "dying of old age"…