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Power mac G5 hardware test question.

B

btcomm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 18, 2006
172
2
How long should the logic board test take with the Apple hardware test on the Power mac G5?

On the quick test it took over 5 minutes. Is that normal or should it be much faster then that? In the end it said it passed but I thought it was supposed to be quicker then that. Am I wrong? Is that normal to take that long?

Also, if it is normal for it to take that long I do think there is some kind of haredware issue going on. After it was done with the extended test it said everything passed but when I clicked on the shut down button on the apple hardware test it froze up. I could not move the mouse and I had to manually shut it down.
 
mad jew

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,191
9
Adelaide, Australia
Five minutes does seem a bit long for a logic board test, although I'm basing that on tests I can remember with various eMacs, iBooks and iMacs. Nevertheless, the last bit's a worry. The Apple Hardware Test can only help so far and it's somewhat unreliable in the sense that sometimes it'll let things pass when really they shouldn't. Maybe give us some more info about your machine such as why you ran the test in the first place. That way we may be able to help more specifically. Have you been having troubles with it of late? :)
 
B

btcomm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 18, 2006
172
2
Anyone reading this, if you have a power mac G5 can you run the AHT on it and see how long it takes to get past the logic board test?

Thanks for replying. The reason I'm running the test is because this machine is randomly freezing up, sometimes it will boot up. Sometimes it will only get to the gray apple screen and will not go any further. Sometimes when I boot off of the Apple hardware test cd it freezes up before the test will even load. Sometimes when I hold the option key it freezes before I can even click on anything. So I'm pretty sure there the issue is likely with the logic board or the ram maybe the cpu? I did an extended hardware test with just 1 GB in and it didn't freeze up or anything. It completed the extended hardware test saying everything passed. Then I clicked on the shut down button on the AHT and it froze and did not shut down. Then I put in the other gig of ram so it had a total of 2 GB of ram and ran a quick test and it went through without any errors. I tried resetting the Pram and tried loading the AHT and it froze while loading. Then I reset the PMU and tried booting up, just got to a gray apple screen, would not boot any further. So I'm going to try to boot off the AHT cd again and see if it freezes again now that I've reset the PMU.
 
mad jew

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,191
9
Adelaide, Australia
Okay, I still can't help you with specific Power Mac AHT times, but I can pretty safely say something is wrong with your machine. Let's start with a process of elimination...

The easiest component to check and the most commonly faulty component is probably the memory. For the moment just ignore the results of the tests and test the RAM by removing chips and seeing if the problems persist. Try your RAM in different combinations and slots too, if possible. Hopefully it'll just be a dodgy stick because that'll be the easiest and cheapest thing to replace.

You don't have AppleCare anymore, do you? :)
 
ReanimationLP

ReanimationLP

macrumors 68030
Jan 8, 2005
2,782
33
On the moon.
I agree with mr. mad jew.

Its' probably a faulty stick of memory, or one that doesnt comply correctly to the timings that the Powermac G5 requires.

I'd recommend pulling all memory except the stock Apple RAM, then test, and slowly keep adding your RAM back into it until you figure out which is faulty.

I dont know if they make it for PPC, but if you have access to an X86 PC that uses DDR, its great to download Memtest and use that as well to do a real good stress test on the RAM. (It scans every byte and does 20-someodd random read/write tests on each byte of RAM)
 
B

btcomm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 18, 2006
172
2
Ok I have a question. This Power mac g5 takes ddr memory. I know in a windows machine you can have just 1 stick at a time, is that the same for this computer or do you have to have 2 in at a time in matching slots? I've tried 1 stick at a time and it did not boot up at all, I don't know if that is because Power mac g5's are just like this or if it's because there is something wrong.

Even after pram and PMU resets, I booted into os x and it only let me do something for about a minute or less and then the mouse froze and I can't do anything with the computer, then the fans start going crazy and it shuts its self off after a while.

I have tried 2 ddr sticks at a time and I still got the freezing, if I should be able to do 1 at a time I will do that and see if any of them work.
 
B

btcomm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 18, 2006
172
2
No, I mean I had 2 sticks in and they let the extended hardware test go through. Then I clicked on the shut down button on the AHT and the computer froze so having just 2 sticks in didn't seem to fix the issue. I would normally suspect ram too but I that logic board testing taking like 5 minutes or longer makes me think the logic board is just bad. I could be wrong, it would be cool if someone on this board that has a PM g5 could just run the AHT real quick to see how long it takes on a normal functioning mac. I guess I will try swapping out the ram and see if anything improves.
 
mad jew

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,191
9
Adelaide, Australia
I hear what you're saying about the logic board and I think you could well be right. However, unless you're going to take it in to a repairer we'll have to be sure of what's wrong before replacing any of the components. It's kinda wishful thinking that it'll be the RAM, but swap it out to test it all the same. Removing RAM and using it in different combinations is the only real way of testing it. Those software-based tests are hopeless. Anyway, good luck with it. I hope we're both wrong about the logic board, and as ever, make sure everything's backed up! :)
 
B

btcomm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 18, 2006
172
2
So far no luck and now instead of randomly not giving video it has not been giving video at all. Someone mentioned that if the video card is going bad that could possibly cause the logic board test to take longer like it has and now of course getting no video I'm wondering if that might be the problem. As far as video cards go I know that not every video card will work in a Mac. If say an nvidia fx 5200 video card would work in a mac can you get any fx 5200 or do you have to get an fx 5200 that is specifically made for mac?

Lets say that I would have to get an fx5200 that was made specifically for mac, if I put in one that wasn't, obviously it would not work in the OS but would I at least get video while booting with the option key? Also lets say I put in a non mac version video card, I'm assuming that would not hurt anything right, I could just remove it and put the old one back in?
 
mad jew

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,191
9
Adelaide, Australia
Sorry mate, but for your purposes it'll have to be a Mac card. Although you can technically flash PC cards to get them working on a Mac, this involves some technical knowledge and will unnecessarily add another variable which'll not help our troubleshooting. :eek:
 
B

btcomm

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 18, 2006
172
2
The monitor I have for this is the proprietary type that gets power through the monitor hookup. I think it does anyway, so can you get a card that does that?
 
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