A Powerbook With Issues

Ok...this is going to be fun.

I have a Titanium Powerbook that was given to me by a friend. Trouble
is, he knocked it off his counter and so the screen is broken. Not just
broken LCD, but the hinges are broken as well. However, the actual
computer seemed to be in good shape. Well, it did. We got the hard
drive zeroed out and then I installed Jaguar. In order to see the
installer, I left the lid closed long enough for Open Firmware to
disable the built-in display and hooked up an external monitor (then I
opened it again, since some sites claim the keyboard is used for heat
dissipation).

Then I let my 12-year-old brother play with it. While I wasn't around.
Baad idea.

Ever since then, it refuses to boot. When I turn it on, I get the Mac
chime, and then some static comes out of the speakers. It sounds like a
fan, which is what I thought it was at first. Then, the Mac beeps 3
times and the sleep light pulsates. The internet tells me that this
signifies that all of the RAM is detected but faulty.

However, I discovered that I could get it to boot up if I lifted up the
keyboard. In order to use the computer, I have had the keyboard lifted
up and laying upside down over the trackpad. Then I would access it
using VNC on my primary computer.

I just received Tiger in the mail today, and obviously my VNC trick
won't work with an OS install. Does anyone have any idea as to why the
keyboard being in place would cause this error?

(On a side note, if I disassemble the laptop and disconnect and remove
the broken LCD entirely, will the laptop still function?)

Thanks,
Evan Broder

.

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