Author Topic: PowerMac G4 (Read 3501 times)

James Lewis · « **on:** January 19, 2008, 04:44:15 PM »

When I try to start up a G4 Power Mac I've had for several years, but haven't turned on for over a year, the only thing that comes up on the screen is the picture of the Apple and the wheel that spins around like it's booting up, and never gets past this point. I tried to reboot the computer using a Mac OS 9 CD and still nothing more occurs. Should I take this to my local Mac repair or would anyone be able to make any suggestions.

Thanks.

Jim

Xairbusdriver · « **Reply #1 on:** January 19, 2008, 06:44:55 PM »

Was this Mac even plugged in during its non-use?

Sounds like the PRAM battery is completely discharged. Leaving plugged in might get it charged enough to boot but I wouldn't trust it, anyway. That little batery has been trying to maintain some memory that holds a few System prefs all this time. If it wasn't plugged in, it sacrificed its little heart for you!

I would think it easy to replace that battery since the desktop Macs were made for access. It shouldn't cost more that $15 and you may solve all the problems.

I think there is even a site that specifies the exact battery number for each and every Mac. I know the owners of <this place> and they'll treat you fairly, they have a contract for their batteries, they deal in refurbished Macs and often need batteries that are no longer easy to find. Give them a call and tell them exactly which model you have and I'll bet they have a battery in stock. Yours should not be a problem and you may find them cheaper elsewhere. As a matter of fact, <OWC> has some and they have a great reputation.

Paddy · « **Reply #2 on:** January 19, 2008, 07:58:51 PM »

Jim, not sure where you live - but Radio Shack has 'em too. By the time you pay shipping, it may be cheaper just to get it locally. My guess is the same as ABD's - almost dead PRAM battery. Certainly the first line of attack - and cheaper than any solution involving repair people!!

Gregg · « **Reply #3 on:** January 19, 2008, 08:20:57 PM »

Hi James. Thanks for posting this. Now if I can remember that for a whole year when I try to boot up my old G3 again... Actually, I need to do that sooner, so I shouldn't have a dead battery. But it's so cold here, it might not "turn over".

James Lewis · « **Reply #4 on:** January 19, 2008, 09:03:19 PM »

Mochas gracias, Xairbusdriver. The G4 was stored away, UNPLUGGED, the entire time. I'll replace the Pram battery and see what happens. I"ll check Radio Shack as well Paddy, there's one close by, I'm in Boston. Thanks for that suggestion.

I'll give you an update once I have a chance to get a new battery and fire the G4 up.

James Lewis · « **Reply #5 on:** January 20, 2008, 11:49:24 AM »

QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ Jan 20 2008, 12:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sounds like the PRAM battery is completely discharged. Leaving plugged in might get it charged enough to boot but I wouldn't trust it, anyway. That little batery has been trying to maintain some memory that holds a few System prefs all this time. If it wasn't plugged in, it sacrificed its little heart for you!

I've just replaced the Pram battery in my PowerMac G4 and disappointment, oh well. When I opened the PowerMac panel to replace the battery I was reminded that I actually have two hard-drives inside as I pulled the one I had in my IIci many years ago to keep for sentimental reasons. I found that when I boot to the Maxtor 30G, I receive the picture of the Apple with the spinning donut, and when I boot to the Quantum 3G I receive an icon of a folder with the image of the Finder flashing intermittently with a question mark. I seem to have had a similar problem a few years ago with the flashing Finder and question mark, but do not remember what the resolution was.

Does this sound familiar?

Also, if the PRAM battery was maintaining System preferences in memory could this have been lost and causing the problem with booting up?

Gregg · « **Reply #6 on:** January 20, 2008, 02:13:28 PM »

I believe that the flashing ? indicates that the boot volume is not apparent. Did you loosen a connection while you were inside changing the battery? I'm not much of an expert, just guessing. Someone with more Mac knowledge will be along shortly...

It's odd that it wouldn't boot from a CD before. Is there data on the drive that you need to preserve?

Xairbusdriver · « **Reply #7 on:** January 20, 2008, 04:58:53 PM »

QUOTE

if the PRAM battery was maintaining System preferences in memory could this have been lost and causing the problem with booting up?

No, at least not that I know of. It mainly keeps things like the time/date, how fast you want the mouse to move, how fast a double-click is, mostly stuff that you can set up easily when it gets a new battery.

Since the hard drives are usually pretty well enclosed, I'm not sure why they don't boot up. The PRAM may keep that kind of info, but the OS usually just keeps looking for a bootable system on whatever is in the box. But it might be a good idea to check the connections. And also reseat the RAM.

The CD reader does have exposure to the environment, however. There could even be real bugs in there!

Other than that, it may just not be able to un-park the reading head due to smoke tar condensing on the mechanism. Or even pet hair could be in there. Some of the dust could probably be removed with a can of compressed air.

As a last resort, you might be able to connect this Mac to another one via FireWire. You may be able to start it up in Target mode. It may then be able to be seen by the other Mac and you can get all the data off those drives.

Please let us know how things go!

Mayo · « **Reply #8 on:** January 20, 2008, 05:24:53 PM »

I think that xABD has a good idea... try booting the old Mac in Firewire Disk Mode while connected to another Mac. If successful you can run Disk Utility and something like DiskWarrior if you have it installed one of your other Macs and see if there is a problem that can be fixed.

Since you had it stored for a long period of time I assume that there isn't anything important on it data-wise, but if there is something you want to retrieve and Firewire Disk Mode works, then that is the time to transfer the data to the other Mac.

Texas Mac Man · « **Reply #9 on:** January 20, 2008, 06:48:45 PM »

The memory battery is not rechargeable.

You might try a PMU reset. See Mac PRAM, NVRAM, CUDA/PMU & Battery Tutorial

krissel · « **Reply #10 on:** January 21, 2008, 12:51:19 AM »

The PRAM battery holds information regarding the startup disk as well as other settings. When you replace it there is nothing for it to remember. Doing a PRAM reset may not make much difference but do it after a shut down, not a restart. Pressing the CUDA button (just once) after replacing the battery may help.

The spinning gear means it has found BootX but not the kernels. In the case of the flashing question mark, there is no valid system to be found. Usually if you leave it for a minute it will find a system from which to boot if any is available. But I'm thinking either OS X is scrambled or the hard drive may be on its way out (or both). Try again to start up from either a 9 or X CD. By the way, which G4 is this? Which version of X is it running? How much RAM? I ask because a bad chip can cause all kinds of unexpected problems.

If you can start up using Safe mode or Verbose (Command + v) you may get an indication of what is wrong. If you can start up from X CD I'd run Disk Utility and do an Archive and Install. Ditto OS 9. If the Install utility can't see the drive, then there's your answer.

tacit · « **Reply #11 on:** January 21, 2008, 02:31:28 PM »

Te spinning gear means something is wrong with the system files on that hard drive.

The flashing folder and question mark means there is no copy of Mac OS on the other hard drive.

Can you describe the OS 9 CD you tried to use, where it came from, and how you tried to boot from it? Some G4 systems can not boot in OS 9.

Paddy · « **Reply #12 on:** January 21, 2008, 10:51:42 PM »

James, just to elaborate - the system CD that came with the G4 is the one to use, unless you have a retail copy of OS X, which will also work. A CD that came with another Mac won't work; the original system disks are machine-specific. (ie: your Mac Mini and MacBook CDs/DVDs won't work) And as Tacit notes, if you didn't have OS 9 on this machine or had a newer version than the one on the CD you've tried, it won't work. Some Macs shipped with OS 9.1 or 9.2.2 - you cannot use a retail 9.0 CD to boot them up.

BTW - you can also try booting the machine with a DiskWarrior CD or TechTool CD if you have either of those.

If you can't find the system disks and can't remember what version of what OS the G4 came with, you can look it up on http://www.everymac.com

(Which model of G4 is this?)

James Lewis · « **Reply #13 on:** January 28, 2008, 06:38:23 AM »

Thanks very much for all your assistance. At some point I took a side-track when a friend of mine mentioned that the Apple stores were providing diagnostic testing and answering questions for Macs. I took the G4 in and the tech there worked it up and had all the problems I had mentioned, and wasn't successful.

I tried zapping the Pram and was at least semi-successful in that I did hear the G4 give 2 chimes (rebooting twice?) during the zap, but this didn't produce any results.

The apple store suggested purchasing an IDE enclosure and try attaching either drives, which I picked up from Microcenter (HD 338D by Coolmax), and have been able to access the 30G drive. I haven't tried the 3G drive yet.

I'm holding on to the G4 case for now should I have free time on my hands some time in the next decade and want to do a little more investigation.

Thank you to everyone for your support and your patience. I really appreciate the service you provide, and until next time -

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Author Topic: PowerMac G4 (Read 3501 times)