My trusty old 17" has had a lot of use over the last 2yrs and as such, the keyboard had gotten rather worn & crusty. So, being the adventured type I ordered a new one, knowing that I could most likely perfom the install myself (having been sent a simple guide by a friend, which I studied closely).

It all seemed to go so well. The procedure was much simpler than I had anticipated and it really didn't take very long at all. Upon completion I was rather proud of myself.... until I tried to power-on for the first time....

Nothing, nada, zip. No friendly boot chime, nothing. My PowerBook appears to be dead in the water. I tried disassembling again and reinstalling the original keyboard, but to no avail. I put the new one back in, knowing the likely hood of it being an exercise in futility, still nothing. I've inspected every part of every step with fine detail, on my subsequent dis/re-assembles over the last 3 or so hours and I can't see anything wrong. All cables, ribbons, connectors etc. appear to be just fine.

I'm now at an utter loss and am just wondering if anyone has any ideas or suggestions as to what might have occured.

Suffice it to say, I am going to have to resort to consultation with an AppleCentre tomorrow, but thought I might describe the case here as well on the off chance someone might be able to offer some enlightenment.

I'm thinking now that I probably should have just bought new keys. The endeavor was purely aesthetic after all; the keyboard *was* working. I just really wanted to replace the whole thing and start afresh (plus the amount of new keys I wanted nearly equated the cost of the full keyboard). Shame on me, I guess. :/

Thanks in advance for any attention anybody can give to this.

Crisis over!

After sleeping on it, I made one more attempt today at trouble shooting the issue - this time, 100% success. Phew.

It turns out that I had [rather stupidly] reconnected the trackpad ribbon incorrectly, by feeding *under* the white pressure clip instead of above it. So simple (as it usually always is!), yet so fatal.

The new keyboard is working beautifully now (although the down key is a little sticky, tho I'm not complaining... I'm just glad it works!). It almost feels like I have a brand new laptop!

We now return you to your scheduled programming. This case is officially closed.

Common problem. Glad to hear all is well.

-Bradley
PowerbookMedic