Need some repair help, iMac G5 17" 1.8ghz

[ixi]

So I bought two G5 17" iMacs from a guy for a great deal. One is a 1.6ghz and the other 1.8ghz (not working) One works perfectly, no problems. The other seems to have a hard drive problem. I have the two computers opened up side by side so I can swap stuff out and rule out components.

I'm fairly new to repairing this stuff but I like to tinker and I think I can do this.

The guy who I bought it from said he had someone look at it (I'm not sure of his skill level) and he could get it to restart and work fine for a few days after he "opened it up and reconnected the hard drive and could probably be repaired if it was just soldered in place."

You can see in this pic that this connection has been marked by a magic marker and is probably the issue.

First off, the #1 green light lights up but stops there.

I've swapped hard drives with the other computer so I know it isn't that nor is it the wiring going to or from the hard drive.

What can I check from here. Can I check things with a multimeter? It seems like there is just a short or bad connection at the point marked by the magic marker.


Also, this part is on the working computer but not on the other, what is it?

Thanks for any help and your patience.

 

[ewilson6]

look at all the capacitors and resistors on the motherboard if any of them have stuff oozing out of them, then the motherboard is probably going bad. Also smell the motherboard, if it smells like burnt toast, then that is probably the issue. If its just a hard drive, they are easy to replace just google it. Also check the watch battery on the motherboard it is about time to probably change that as well. Wal-mart $3.99 for battery.


Start up the computer and put in the original os x tiger disc and hold down the C button. This will allow you to run a complete hardware test on your system and probably tell you what the problem is.

--Eric

 

[ixi]

I'll change the battery. The hard drive won't start up at all. I've replaced it and know that isn't the problem. How can I check the connection that was marked? Multimeter? Capacitors all seem good and nothing smells fried.

 

[ewilson6]

i'm not seeing the part marked with a marker. The chip that is missing from the one looks like the a bluetooth card. Somebody might have taken it out.

What is marked with a marker in the picture? I'll try to help when I figure it out.

--Eric

 

[ixi]

Yep, sorry I didn't make that more clear, edited.

That other piece could be a bluetooth component. I don't think this model came with one so someone could have added it.

Here's the marker and is most likely where the problem is.

Thanks for your time on this.

 

[ewilson6]

If that piece needs sodered, I would take it into a small electronics shop and let them do it. that looks like a very complicated procedure because of the location. It shouldn't cost that much, looks like a 10 minute job to do, but I wouldn't attempt to do it yourself.

--Eric

 

[ixi]

If that piece needs sodered, I would take it into a small electronics shop and let them do it. that looks like a very complicated procedure because of the location. It shouldn't cost that much, looks like a 10 minute job to do, but I wouldn't attempt to do it yourself.

--Eric

I wouldn't attempt it myself. I would like to test it though to see if that connection is getting power. I could test it on both computers and be pretty sure that is the problem. So anyone know how to test it?

 

[rtrt]

think the part circled might be a hdd drive temp sensor - not sure if that would stop it booting

 

[leighonigar]

Many things get marked with pens like that in brand new stuff. It doesn't mean anything as far as the end user is concerned. I would get a firewire cable. Link the two and boot one (the working one) up in firewire target disk mode, the other from that disk (boot it up second and hold option) if that doesn't work, it's not the hard disk.

 

[MTI]

The wire from the hard drive carrier is for the thermal sensor and will not affect booting, since the computer will boot without a hard drive installed.