how do you determine that a mac isn't working ? and even narrowing it down to either the power supply or motherboard "burnout" ?

[Adam Silver]

Try replacing the battery and removing all RAM (except the RAM soldered onto the motherboard). If that doesn't work, have an authorized support place check out your Mac.

where is the battery located ? next to the power supply
? i'm not a technical person .

the battery:
it's a 3.6 1/2 AA lithium, a very common mac battery that a local Radio Shack should have for under $10. (if you are in the boonies, write me private and I can mail one for under $10 if you are in US.)
The battery is very easy to get to-check this page: http://www.academ.com/info/macintosh/veryearly.shtml
the plastic cage can be a drag- but the cap off a bic ballpoint can be used to pry the legs of one end out, then lift and repeat other end.
You weren't very specific- what exactly is happening when you try to boot?
Grayscreen with a "?" question mark means it can't find a system folder, boot from a compatible system emergency disk (7.5.5 disk tools, or 7.1 with the right enabler?) and run Disk First Aid on the HD. Then install or reinstall a system. 7.5.5 works well, if you have extra ram. If it doesn't have extra ram 7.1 has less overhead.

Chimes of death, then "sad mac" face or some hexidecimal numbers....
write the numbers down...
remove extra ram, any extra stuff plugged in (external drives, PDS expansion boards, etc) and try again.
Then sell it for parts, or ?

last post (and this one) wouldn't take my password, so my email didn't get in.
[email protected]
;0

i have no idea what i'm staring at 'coz i bought imac before my friend gave this to me . there seems to no card of any form but in any case i can always sell it for parts and i've got a working IIci with monitor for $45.00 . so i guess i can use HD if ti's not dead . thank you for the info .

ok got the battery and it's in there but it doesn't start up - even the monitor doesn't light up . could it be the power supply this time and not the battery ?

any comments ?

thanks .