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2004 Mac G5 Problems

MBP13

MBP13

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 13, 2011
278
1
I just recently purchased a 2004 iMac G5 off of eBay last week, and I'm having some issues with it. The iMac keeps shutting down whenever I put it to sleep. It'll stay asleep for about ten seconds before shutting itself down. The listing said the iMac is in great condition, which it is, but the fact that it shuts down without me telling it to do so.

It seems like I purchased an iMac with faulty capacitors. Yet, upon looking at the inside of the G5 after I unboxed it, the capacitors look to be in fantastic shape, and it doesn't even seem like they're faulty. I've searched this forum for solutions to the issue, and I reset the SMU button and even tried the unplug power cord/wait 10 seconds/plug in power cord while pressing power button, but to no avail, the problem didn't go away.

Can someone please help me? I really don't want to have to replace the logic board for a couple hundred dollars if it's not necessary. I'd love the iMac to sleep when I tell it to sleep, but if that'll cost me a big bucks, then I'll keep it the way it is.

Other than the random shut downs, there's nothing else wrong with the iMac. I love it. :)

Here are pictures of the capacitors. Do they look like they're bad or going bad? Maybe the problem with them is as obvious as the others.

f3485fcd.jpg

S1050132.jpg

S1050128.jpg

S1050130.jpg

I'm in contact with the seller, so hopefully he will help me out. But, I would still appreciate any help that you all can provide.

Thank you.
 
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I really hate to hear that you are having issues with this. I unfortunately fell under a similar circumstance a few years ago buying an iBook from ebay.. however by the time I realized the problem, I had no means of contacting the seller.

I've dealt with iMac G5's, and this really does sound like symptoms of failing capacitors. The Mac would boot up, the fans would start spinning at high speed and then it would instantly shut down. It was probably a lot worse off than yours, though.

You probably don't, but did your Mac have an Apple Hardware Test CD? Since you got it off ebay, I assume you didn't get any discs.. but its always worth asking!
 
The problem isn't that the computer shuts down as soon as it boots up. I can keep the iMac running for hours, but as soon as I put into sleep mode, it shuts down.

And no, WardSenatorFE, there were no CD's included in the purchase and I do not have an Apple Hardware Test CD.
 
I've serviced dozens of iMac G5 computers at work, and they are almost always failing these days due to bad PSU's and caps. Even caps that look good can still be failing. First off I would consider replacing the PSU. Its pretty cheap, and I would bet if its never been replaced, its about due.
 
The seller is allowing me the opportunity to return the iMac to him for 100% of my money back.

Do you think I should return it?
 
adcx64 said:
I think you should return it, and use the money to buy another one, or a similar Mac.
Click to expand...

Completely agreed here. Without having someone diagnosing exactly whats wrong, you could end up spending more money on the computer than what it is worth. You don't have the parts to test on it, so it would be a huge inconvenience for you to try and troubleshoot it and buy parts for it. You bought a machine that was listed as working, not "Repair or As-Is". I would really suggest taking the money and buying another one or something else.
 
adcx64 said:
I think you should return it, and use the money to buy another one, or a similar Mac.
Click to expand...

As soon as I tried watching a 1080p YouTube video on the PowerPC iMac G5 I had buyer's remorse, so I think I'm going to pay a couple hundreds dollars extra and upgrade to a Intel iMac G5.
 
Does this happen when the iMac goes to sleep on it's own or only when you put it to sleep?
 
This only happens when I put the iMac to sleep, not by itself. However, I don't know how to set the iMac to go to sleep by itself, but I can only figure out how to let the LCD sleep, but not the internal components. How do I set the whole iMac to sleep by itself?
 
MBP13 said:
As soon as I tried watching a 1080p YouTube video on the PowerPC iMac G5 I had buyer's remorse, so I think I'm going to pay a couple hundreds dollars extra and upgrade to a Intel iMac G5.
Click to expand...


There isn't an Intel G5. The G5 was the last PPC. After the G5, there just called Intel. The last G5 imacs with iSight, looked just like the 1st Intel imacs.
 
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Open Console and in the search bar look for "-110" without the quotes under All Messages and Consoles Messages. If you get hits, it has a bad power supply.
 
MBP13 said:
This only happens when I put the iMac to sleep, not by itself. However, I don't know how to set the iMac to go to sleep by itself, but I can only figure out how to let the LCD sleep, but not the internal components. How do I set the whole iMac to sleep by itself?
Click to expand...

Go to system preferences -> Energy Saver, and there is the sleep setting, "Put the computer to sleep when it is inactive for:". There is a slider bar that you can adjust. And you can also schedule the times that you want your iMac to sleep, shutdown, restart, wake or startup thru clicking schedule.
 
^I tried that, and even when the iMac goes to sleep, it's not "sleeping". The little white light front of the iMac isn't blinking, and isn't supposed to be blinking when it's asleep?

Picture 1.png

Picture 2.png

Open Console and in the search bar look for "-110" without the quotes under All Messages and Consoles Messages. If you get hits, it has a bad power supply.
Click to expand...

Can someone provide a screenshot of the Console showing me where the All Messages and the Consoles Messages search is? I didn't see it. In all honesty, I've never used the Console before, so I have no idea what I'm doing. :eek:
 
Well, I packed the iMac up just now to send it off back to New Hampshire. :(

Thanks for your help, though, everyone.
 
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