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seablue

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 16, 2007
151
0
I left this morning with eMac in sleep mode (as usual). I get home and nothing, it's DEAD. No power at all. Is there anything I can do to see if I can get it to boot up?
What can it be? It will cost 60.00 just to have it looked at and then of course whatever is wrong with it. It is an older computer but it has worked great for what I need and I don't have the cash right now for a new desktop.
I'm on my ibook G4 right now.
I'm just wondering what it could be and if it's worth taking it in??
Thanks for any help.
Seablue
 

CanadaRAM

macrumors G5
Unfortunately if it is completely unresponsive (no clicks, no whirs, no 'trying' to boot) then it is probably a hardware issue and there is #%^*# all you can do on your own. What we DONT want you doing is monkeying around inside the case where there is enough residual voltage in the video circuit to possibly kill you. Leave the internal repairs to the trained pros, please.

THe things you can do is try booting with the Command - Option - P - R keys held down, unplug and reseat all external cables and to try removing and reinstalling your RAM modules.
 

seablue

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 16, 2007
151
0
Does it qualify under this repair program?

I have torn the house apart (practically) and I can't find my sales receipt. I bought it from Mac warehouse and although they found my name on file, they couldn't find a purchase :(
So, I have no idea when I bought it. Found the start up discs and they say 2003. So, I'm thinking it was then and not 2004 which counts me out on the repair extension program.
I guess I'll take it in and cough up the 60 bucks to see what it wrong with it.
This was such a surprise that it just quit on me with no warning at all.
 

yadmonkey

macrumors 65816
Aug 13, 2002
1,306
838
Western Spiral
First 2 things I'd try:

1. Make sure that power cable is really snug in the back of the emac. I can't tell you how many times I've seen this happen with electronics!

2. I've also seen power cables simply stop work, especially Apple cables. Since it's the cheapest way to start, perhaps you could try a new cable. Or bring it into an Apple store and let them try it with a different cable.

Neither of these things is necessarily likely, but worth a try considering cost.
 

seablue

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 16, 2007
151
0
First 2 things I'd try:

1. Make sure that power cable is really snug in the back of the emac. I can't tell you how many times I've seen this happen with electronics!

2. I've also seen power cables simply stop work, especially Apple cables. Since it's the cheapest way to start, perhaps you could try a new cable. Or bring it into an Apple store and let them try it with a different cable.

Neither of these things is necessarily likely, but worth a try considering cost.

Yeah... that's the first thing I tried - checked all the cables and connections. Everything was tight. I tried another cord and different outlets - nothing.
sigh.... I guess it need a doc. I'll take it in tomorrow. Even if it costs me a couple hundred, that's cheaper than a new one.
I just can't swing a new set up right now.
 

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,375
2,801
I'd still try to see if it's covered under the repair program...if you can get it fixed for free, why not? Enter your serial number on Apple's support page and see when they think you bought your machine.
 

seablue

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 16, 2007
151
0
Thanks for the tip (below)... I punched in the serial # and I'm a year too late :(
Oh well. I bought in June 5, 2003.
I'll take it in today and see what the problem is. I did backup several stuff but not all. The stuff I didn't back up, isn't critical. I have alot of the same info on my laptop.
At least I'm not computer-less. I couldn't live without one. I guess things don't last forever.
Is that typical for a desktop - 4 years?
 
An eMac is a fairly old model. But if the power supply kicked it or some other hardware related problem that's causing your computer to be unresponsive, then there is a good possibility that your hard drive is still intact and therefore all of your data is still intact. Perhaps you could extract the hard drive and recover the data with a friend who has a mac? Or you could take it to a professional to do it.
 

yadmonkey

macrumors 65816
Aug 13, 2002
1,306
838
Western Spiral
An eMac is a fairly old model. But if the power supply kicked it or some other hardware related problem that's causing your computer to be unresponsive, then there is a good possibility that your hard drive is still intact and therefore all of your data is still intact. Perhaps you could extract the hard drive and recover the data with a friend who has a mac? Or you could take it to a professional to do it.

Agreed - get that drive out and stick it in an external drive enclosure and you'll probably have all of your data. That said, the take apart on the eMac isn't really for novices, so take it to a pro unless you don't care about ever getting it to work again.

Seablue, to answer your other question, I think 4 years for a desktop computer is decent. I'd like to see them all last longer, just from an environmental standpoint, but 4 years is decent for a Mac and good for a PC, IMO.
 

FJ218700

macrumors 68000
Mar 8, 2007
1,740
0
Blue Dot, Red State
I took one apart last week, it really isn't that big of a deal to get to the hard drive (~ 5 min and 10 screws). I wouldn't worry about not being able to put it back together again.
 

yadmonkey

macrumors 65816
Aug 13, 2002
1,306
838
Western Spiral
I took one apart last week, it really isn't that big of a deal to get to the hard drive (~ 5 min and 10 screws). I wouldn't worry about not being able to put it back together again.

But are you a novice? I'd never recommend the procedure to someone who doesn't have experience with take aparts, especially when there's a non-discharged CRT in there.
 

D ROCK

macrumors regular
Feb 6, 2007
123
0
shocked by worse?!

yeah not so much.... the shock that "could" be produced by a charged CRT is huge!
and lethal.
if you have never done this by yourself find a friend who has some experience with this and understands the dangers and then ask them to show you the proper procedures ... it can be alot of fun but dying is rarely "fun"
so be safe and play it safe.
whatever you do DON"T touch the back end of an exposed CRT.
 

seablue

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 16, 2007
151
0
Well, update on eMac... Took it into the repair shop and they called me today to come pick it up and they found NOTHING wrong with it! The guy said they plugged it in and put it in sleep mode and it woke up fine. They shut it down and it booted up with no problem.
What the???? So, it's home now and working fine. It was horribly slow and acting strange so I repaired permissions and it seems much better now.
 
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