Chosen Solution
I’ve got a A1181 1.83. I was having some kernel panic shutdowns for a week or so, and now when I push the power button, only the fan powers up (at least, that’s the only noise I hear). There’s a faint, very brief flash on the screen, a bzzt bzzt sound (I’m not sure where this sound originates), then the fan comes on. Battery charges, green light on charger is on.
Make sure to test the RAM slots. These old MacBook boards constantly develop bad slots over time, and if a bad slot is occupied, a machine will behave similarly to what you describe. Take one module out and test the machine, then if that does not fix it, fill the empty slot and take the other out. Resetting the PMU/SMC is good, and also, if testing the RAM slots doesn’t help, take off the topcase and disconnect everything that is unnecessary – optical, hard drive, battery, sound, Airport, etc. If everything is disconnected and it still behaves the same, you know it’s the board.
Reset PRAM & NVRAM, here is how: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
