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G5 crashes during (or shortly after) boot up

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WaltH

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 23, 2004
2
0
Hello forum,

I'm sooo sad.

Problem:

Power Mac G5, 2 GHz, Dual, OSX 10, bought in summer 2004, no modifications, brandnew.

It has been working fine for the first 100 hours. Now I either can't boot anymore or it crashes at random 10 to 30 seconds after boot up. I'm not touching anything. No mouse movement, no keypress. It just suddenly darkens the screen and says:

System failure: cpu=1; code=1 ()
Latest crash info for cpu 1:
Exception state (sv=0x1DF91500) (etc. ...)

Sidenote: When it was happening the very first time, the cooling fans were slowly accelerating to max speed, although the exhausted air was cold as a fish (the high fan speed was probably just a side effect of a certain safety automation. -- Just a sidenote; no problem really).

The status LED on the Mac blinks 3 times every few seconds. The handbook says for 3 blinks: "no compatible memory installed".

Now I'm not sure if it's a CPU failure or a memory failure ... or anything else.

Can I fix it myself by replacing one of the two CPUs or some memory cards? Will this lead to warranty problems? Or is it technically too risky? (I'm an electrical technician).

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
 
mklos

mklos

macrumors 68000
Dec 4, 2002
1,896
0
My house!
If possible, take any extra RAM out. If you don't have any extra RAM then throw the Hardware Diagnostics CD in and run it. You'll have to boot from that CD. After the Mac Chime hold the "C" key down. The hardware diagnostic software has a Mac OS 9'ish look to it so don't be surprised there. See if it comes up with anything wrong. Also, don't be surprised if all 9 fans kick up to full speed as there is no OS to control the speed of the fans.

If you can't run that then I'd buy some RAM for it and see if it works better with JUST the new RAM in it. If that doesn't work then I'd call Apple. You may want to call Apple before you buy the RAM. It does kinda sound like you had a bad stick of RAM go bad. If you have only the standard amount of RAM in there then its kinda hard to test that as you have to have both sticks of RAM in there for it to be recognized by the system. If you do have extra RAM in there then take out the RAM that came with it and see if it still does it. If it still does it, then put the original RAM back in and then take out the extra RAM and see if it still crashes.

DO NOT MESS WITH THE PROCESSORS!!! That WILL void the warranty, but messing with the memory (RAM) won't. It doesn't sound like a CPU (Processor) died as then it wouldn't boot at all, nor would it chime. If it doesn't chime then I'd be calling Apple. The Chime is the Mac bong that you hear everytime you start any Mac. Thats kind of a little POST like PCs have in a way.
 
Sun Baked

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
3 Flashes: Incompatible RAM types are installed.

---

When only PC2100 DIMMs are installed

The computer makes three single tones instead of the startup sound. The LED on the front of the computer flashes three times, and the computer does not startup.

When a mix of PC2100, PC2700, or PC 3200 DIMMs is installed

The computer starts up normally, but neither the computer nor Apple System Profiler recognizes the PC2100 memory.

When no memory is installed

The computer does not make a normal startup sound. Instead, there is a single tone, and the computer’s front LED flashes continuously.

---

Of course it is "paired memory" so you have to make sure each bank is filled with the same 2 DIMMs.

Don't know what will happen in you mix up the DIMMs or put them in wrong, and I could not find the bank numbering diagram quickly.
 
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WaltH

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 23, 2004
2
0
AppleCare technician on the phone said it's probably a defective CPU. If it were a defective RAM, there would be 3 loud beeps. But there are just 3 blinks on the LED, no beeps.

On Monday I will ask my local Apple tech service to visit me.
 
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