9600/200MP + PowerMac G3

[violetine]

I just got given 2 of these woonderful things, primarily to run my Akai samplers and Pro-Tools.

Unfortunately, neither of them work.

The G3 is sans CD-ROM drive, but I did install a HDD in it - a Fujitsu of some description. It's switching on, powering on the HDD, making the "ping" sound on boot - but is not sending anything to the monitor.

The 9600/200MP seems to be as per factory specs. It's switching on, but not making the "ping" sound. Tried the CUDA switch. Still nothing.

Any ideas? Your help would be really appreciated - I've got a backlog of tracks to remix!

 

[Littleodie914]

I just got given 2 of these woonderful things, primarily to run my Akai samplers and Pro-Tools.

Unfortunately, neither of them work.

The G3 is sans CD-ROM drive, but I did install a HDD in it - a Fujitsu of some description. It's switching on, powering on the HDD, making the "ping" sound on boot - but is not sending anything to the monitor.

The 9600/200MP seems to be as per factory specs. It's switching on, but not making the "ping" sound. Tried the CUDA switch. Still nothing.

Any ideas? Your help would be really appreciated - I've got a backlog of tracks to remix!

Well, hard to diagnose considering you're not really getting any messages, as there's no screen feed. Do you have any PCI video cards lying around the house or in other Macs that you can use to stick in there and determine if the GPU's are fried? That's the only thing I can come up with...

 

[CanadaRAM]

Here's a cheap and easy fix that has about a 40% chance of solving all your problems:

Put new PRAM batteries in the machines.

One symptom of dying battery is no video after the startup chime.

You want a 1/2AA 3.6V Lithium battery, available from electronic supply stores and Apple dealers for $12 each, give or take.

When you take the old one out, make note of which direction it is facing. Also, don't bung the new one in right away. Let it sit a few hours batteryless. Or use a paperclip to short across the terminals of the empty battery socket for 5 minutes to make sure the PRAM circuit is fully drained.

Get back to us after you have tried this if you still have probs.

PS, the G3 is a prime candidate for one of the new DVD burners to replace the missing CD-ROM. Check with www.xlr8yourmac.com for drive compatibility with different brands, ideally you want a model that will be bootable. Then, you can back up all of your projects on CD and DVD.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[violetine]

cheers.

will head off to the applecentre on Broadway tomorrow and grab a RPL battery.

will look into the DVD burner idea, also. not too sure if I really need it, as I'm running them on a fairly large network that has all my gear backed up onto a SCSI hard-drive lock-box hidden nicely away in my wardrobe, just in case.

I'll let you know if it works.

That said, the MP box doesn't even chime. RAM problem?

 

[CanadaRAM]

I don't think so, if it were a RAM problem it would "Car crash" on you or give you a Sad Mac doo-doo-doo-doo -- it's not getting that far by the looks of it. Although you can check by removing all but one RAM module. However, do the battery first on this one as well, you won't know about the RAM until you fix the PRAM.

And count your blessings that it isn't a 8500-9500 you have there, those of the "15 minutes to remove the motherboard to access the RAM and 15 minutes to put it back together, rinse and repeat" design.