iMac 800 Mhz G4 has died! Help needed!!!

[red-manhattan]

I (stupidly ) wiped some random files and folders to 'cleanse' my 800 Mhz imac G4 before giving it to my Mother. The machine boots from either OS X & OS 9.
I reinstalled the original OS X disk, but then it all went wrong... The imac does not recognise the disk drive, and occasionally recognises the external hard drive connected via firewire - although it disconnects randomly.
Sometimes the imac will not start up, when it does it takes an age. OS 9 no longer appears on the machine and I can't install it. I've reset the power setting, but to no avail. I've booted up pressing no end of keys, but I still have an imac that is of no use to man nor beast. AT Computers in Gloucester very graciously said that they doubted the machine not recognising the disk and firewire drives were to do with anything that I wiped, but it seems too much of a coincidence...
Can anybody help?

 

[lamina]

Its likely your hard drive is dead. Listen close for any weird whirring or clicking noises.

Good news is, it'll be pretty easy to fix. I'm in class right now so I don't have time to look up an HowTo, but a few minutes of Googling should yield results.

Good luck.

One More Thing (tm)

Can you boot to an OSX disc? By that I mean if you insert a restore disk or a Mac OS Tiger or Panther or whatever disk, does it boot to the disk?

 

[red-manhattan]

No, tried that, by holding down option key when starting but imac just freezes on me. BTW the only way I can open the disk tray is by booting up and holding down the mouse.
Any and all help is appreciated

 

[Kashchei]

No, tried that, by holding down option key when starting but imac just freezes on me.

You need to hold down the "C" key when booting from a disk, not the option key. The option key lets you select which volume to boot from on a single drive (i.e. OS 9 or OS X if both are installed on a single drive).

 

[red-manhattan]

Thanks - I'll try the C key and post the result...

 

[Superdrive]

My G4 800mhz iMac has bad VRAM, unfortunately that has rendered my beauty useless. I hope for your sake, you can bring it back to life.

 

[Eidorian]

You need to hold down the "C" key when booting from a disk, not the option key. The option key lets you select which volume to boot from on a single drive (i.e. OS 9 or OS X if both are installed on a single drive).

Holding down 'C' at boot just boots from the optical drive. "Option" will give you options internal and external. This includes the optical drive.

 

[red-manhattan]

Holding down the C key when booting up gave me the white screen with the apple logo and the progress circle... for about 5 minutes with nothing else. Then the hard drive sounded as if it was starting up, but no change to the screen.
6 minutes later I was left with just a blank white screen and no apple logo or progress circle.
The machine sounds on but nothing else...
15 minutes later the screen turned black...the mouse seemed unresponsive so I tapped the keyboard. This woke the machine up. I now have the desktop but the mouse is not working (the keyboard is, but it takes a few minutes for option + tabto respond! This is not an exaggeration)
Probably worth mentioning that I managed to perform a hardware test a couple of weeks back (it's been going on that long), and the result was fine.
Help?

 

[spork183]

Can you connect it to another mac and start it up in target firewire mode? That would let you get a look at the drive and also let you see if the drive comes up. You could also clone back to the drive with the system on the other computer.

i'm assuming the "pressing no end of keys" included resetting the pram.

 

[red-manhattan]

Thanks, yes I have reset the pram
I've not connected it to another mac and started it up in target firewire mode - is there a walkthrough anywhere please?

 

[spork183]

Thanks, yes I have reset the pram
I've not connected it to another mac and started it up in target firewire mode - is there a walkthrough anywhere please?

simple to do. connect both computers with a regular firewire cable. start the good one. when it is fully booted, hit the power on the imac while holding down the "t" key on the imac keyboard until you see the firewire icon. You'll see the imac drive on the working computer, just like an external. The imac screen will sport a firewire icon that roams around. This is of course assuming it works.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583

 

[red-manhattan]

I've just tried it. The imac is showing the firewire icon, my powerbook is not detecting the imac

 

[spork183]

I've just tried it. The imac is showing the firewire icon, my powerbook is not detecting the imac

make sure you have no other firewire peripherals connected. i'm guessing though that your powerbook only has one firewire port. but make sure your external drive isn't connected to the imac.

List of apple suggestions. Check number 2.
1. Make sure the FireWire cable is good, and check the connection.

2. Use Apple System Profiler to verify the host computer has FireWire 2.3 or later installed.

3. Make sure no other FireWire devices are connected.

4. Make sure you are starting up the computer by holding the T key.

5. Check the keyboard connection. Make sure you are using an Apple keyboard. If you are using the Apple Wireless Keyboard, make sure you are using a compatible Bluetooth adapter with the most recent Bluetooth update.

6. Make sure that Open Firmware Password has not been enabled on this computer.

 

[red-manhattan]

Thanks.
No other firewire peripherals are connected.
You're right, the powerbook has only one firewire port
I've checked the FireWire cable is good, and checked the connection.
Can't see what version of firewire it is (re your comment that it should have FireWire 2.3 or later installed. The machine is about 15 months old, G4 12"powerbook, 1.5GHz
The info stated on system profiler is:
Manufacturer: AAPL
Model: 0x54444D
GUID: 0x393FFFED79BA0
Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Connection Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec
Sub-units:
Target Disk Mode Unit:
Unit Software Version: 0x10483
Unit Spec ID: 0x609E
Firmware Revision: 0x0
Product Revision Level: 0000
Sub-units:
Target Disk Mode SBP-LUN:
Removable Media: No
BSD Name: disk1
OS9 Drivers: No

No other FireWire devices are connected.

I started up using the T key.
I checked the keyboard connection - it is an Apple keyboard, non wireless
Open Firmware Password has not been enabled.

And the powerbook still doesn't recognise the imac! (It doesn't look good)

 

[Sly]

As this behavior started after you removed some files I think there is a fairly good chance you have corrupted the hard drive in some way and a fresh OS X install will be needed. As has been suggested the first step is to boot from the instal CD. Before you do this remove *everything* apart from the keyboard and mouse which must be plugged directly in to the Mac. Shut the Mac down, insert the OS X CD in the drive, make sure its the bootable disk, I'm not sure if its not the one dot disk, it tells you on the disk anyway (to open the drive pull the front flap down and push the small hidden button on the right). Hold down the 'C' Key whilst turning on, keep it held until after the Apple logo (Mac face if your on 10.1). If it doesn't start the installer then you have either a. non bootable disk in the drive or b. a hardware problem that is going to need some professional assistance as you should still be able to boot off the CD with no HD or Pram battery in the computer. After the installer starts go to the top menu bar open the Disk utility initialize the HD, verify its ok, then run with the installer.

Let us know what happens.

 

[red-manhattan]

Well.. I rebooted, pressing the C key and the imac gave me the option of booting from the disk. I started the process but it just stopped halfway through the reinstall.
I tried booting again (every day for the last week, actually) and the machine freezes half way through the start up, always on the white screen with the apple logo. If there's no other help or advice it seems that ebay and 'spares or repairs' beckons...
Thanks to everyone for their imput, it was appreciated.

 

[Sly]

You say " the imac gave me the option of booting from the disk" & "the machine freezes half way through the start up, always on the white screen with the apple logo" It doesn't sound to me as though you are booting off the CD/DVD. The first option you should see is a screen asking you which language you want to use. After you pick a language you can then chose Disk Utility from the menu bar. What disk are you using to boot from, which version of OS X, is the drive actually spinning up?

 

[red-manhattan]

Today was break through day. After being fairly hacked off with the whole business I revisited the imac today, after an absence of about a week.
I booted up my imac with the 'T' key down, linked to my powerbook. The imac did not appear on the desktop (no surprise there). I went into disk utility, where it displayed the imac as a hard drive. I erased the disk entirely. I rebooted the imac and it allowed me to load the OSX disks and I then loaded the OS9 restore disks - the imac is now workinga treat!!! Thanks to all for the help.

 

[Gokhan]

k

i am suprised no one mentioned using disk warrior ???

congrats on getting it working