Almost fixed my Cube... I think

[livingfortoday]

Okay, so a while back I had posted about my Cube not powering up. I got a replacement VRM, but that didn't seem to help. I then got a new power button, and that seemed to work. Problem is, the Cube powers up for a few seconds, the hard drive spins up, and everything lights up, but then it shuts down again before showing anything on the monitor. Then it reboots and goes through the process again.

I've tried booting it up with both the original processor and the new upgrade I have, but it goes through the same processes either way. I've reset the motherboard as well, after swapping processors.

Anyone know what's going on?

 

[Laser47]

i dont have any idea, but maybe too much power is being drawn from the power supply causing it to shut down? You could disconnect power to the hdd and see if thats the case.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I had a similar problem with my Cube when I first got it. The problem was an over-sensative power button. I fixed it by taping a piece of paper to the inside of the case right above the button.

 

[livingfortoday]

I had a similar problem with my Cube when I first got it. The problem was an over-sensative power button. I fixed it by taping a piece of paper to the inside of the case right above the button.

Sweet! That worked! I finally have a working Cube again.

Thank you!

 

[livingfortoday]

Actually, the video card won't work now. I have a flashed FX5200, and I put in the original Radeon that came with it, and neither seem to show any video. It worked fine up until I shut it down after 30 minutes of use.

Any clue as to what might be causing this?

Sheesh, I love this thing, but it's gonna drive me nuts.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Actually, the video card won't work now. I have a flashed FX5200, and I put in the original Radeon that came with it, and neither seem to show any video. It worked fine up until I shut it down after 30 minutes of use.

Any clue as to what might be causing this?

Sheesh, I love this thing, but it's gonna drive me nuts.

Boy, are you ever having trouble! I have no idea, except for possibly a bad monitor or cable. Conceivably, you tweaked something in the AGP slot with all your other efforts...

 

[livingfortoday]

Boy, are you ever having trouble! I have no idea, except for possibly a bad monitor or cable. Conceivably, you tweaked something in the AGP slot with all your other efforts...

Well, I guess I'll swap out some of the cables and the AGP riser from the other spare Cube I have, just to check... I'll let you know.

 

[livingfortoday]

Nope, not the AGP riser or the cables. Damn, I really can't understand it. If it's not one thing, it's another with this computer.

 

[IJ Reilly]

And you know for sure that the monitor is okay? If so I suppose at this point it couldn't hurt to reset the Cube using the CUDA button on the motherboard, but honestly I don't know how it would help. Any difference if you boot on an OSX install CD?

Another good question for the folks over at Cubeowner, I guess.

 

[Dreadnought]

Let it sit idle for a couple of days, you probably put some static power in there that needs to disappear. Had almost the same with my G3 iBook when I had dismantled it and put it back together. A couple of days later it worked like a charm again.

 

[livingfortoday]

Yeah, I've tried resetting the mobo and everything... I think I'm gonna take the advice of just letting it sit for a few days, and seeing if that fixes anything. We'll see!

 

[IJ Reilly]

If that doesn't work, I'd suggest burning incense, and prayer.

 

[livingfortoday]

Well... still no video. I've ordered a new video card, in the desperate hope that that's the problem. I have no clue what else it could be at this point, and it's really damn frustrating. Thanks for your help, I'll keep ya'll posted...

 

[livingfortoday]

Well, I replaced my video card with a new GeForce2 I got on ebay, and it seems to show me video. I haven't really tested it out yet, though, but I'm hoping it will hold. I can't explain why my FX broke, but I guess I'll see if I can return it.

 

[dops7107]

Well, I replaced my video card with a new GeForce2 I got on ebay, and it seems to show me video. I haven't really tested it out yet, though, but I'm hoping it will hold. I can't explain why my FX broke, but I guess I'll see if I can return it.

I hope so for your sake - you must really be throwing the cash at this dead horse. Erm... I also hope it doesn't actually turn out to be a dead horse...

 

[livingfortoday]

I hope so for your sake - you must really be throwing the cash at this dead horse. Erm... I also hope it doesn't actually turn out to be a dead horse...

Yeah, I'm pretty pissed off about the whole situation, but whaddya gonna do, ya know? The moment I got the thing, the video card broke, so I replaced it with the FX 5200 which apparently has stopped working within 6 months of use. The power button randomly broke as well, I guess, though I replaced that. Ah well, the Cube is still a great machine, and as soon as I get a heatsink and fan for the GeForce2, I'm gonna power it back up and see what those Dual 1.5Ghz G4's can do!

 

[skunk]

Yeah, I'm pretty pissed off about the whole situation, but whaddya gonna do, ya know? The moment I got the thing, the video card broke, so I replaced it with the FX 5200 which apparently has stopped working within 6 months of use. The power button randomly broke as well, I guess, though I replaced that. Ah well, the Cube is still a great machine, and as soon as I get a heatsink and fan for the GeForce2, I'm gonna power it back up and see what those Dual 1.5Ghz G4's can do!

The power button problem is commonly caused by the Cube innards sitting slightly lower in the casing after reassembly. The power button is heat-sensitive - hence the remote switching - and it has a little gasket which insulates it from the heat of the machine. If the gasket is not in contact with the casing, the power switch is triggered, either sending it to sleep, powering it down, or making it cycle through sleeping and waking. My solution was to gently prise up the metal holding the power button by a millimetre or two (a sixteenth to you), with a large screwdriver, and reassemble. Works a treat. I find bits of paper so inelegant.

Solution published by me on and endorsed by Cubeowner.com...

 

[IJ Reilly]

Yes, so much more stylish to bend metal.

I tripped over the paper scrap solution somewhere on the 'net shortly after I bought my Cube and found it to be waking and sleeping randomly. Not elegant perhaps but workable over these many years, and of course, invisible in any event.

I'm beginning to think some of the above problems are related in some way to the flashed 5200. I never trusted that approach to making otherwise incompatible video cards work in the Cube.

Also, now that I think of it, running the Cube outside of the case is one way of diagnosing problems related to the power button.

 

[livingfortoday]

Yeah, but real cards are so damn pricey, and hard to find. Also, I've been running my Cube outside of the case pretty much this whole time, because taking it in and out for every attempted fix would have been a pain. Seems to run a lot cooler that way too. When it was in the case, I was getting readings of 73 degrees C when running folding, outside it was down to 52. That's with the dual 1.5Ghz, mind you, not stock.

 

[Daedalus256]

This may be a dumb question but...

Are you sure that you dual processors aren't overheating? I mean having two 1.5ghz G4's in that tiny little cube is worse than my girlfriend's brother having a Fragbox.

I've just recently cut my teeth on macs with this amazing Powerbook (PowerMac on the way!) but maybe you could try to reseat the processor since you said you tried replacing the original.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Yeah, but real cards are so damn pricey, and hard to find. Also, I've been running my Cube outside of the case pretty much this whole time, because taking it in and out for every attempted fix would have been a pain. Seems to run a lot cooler that way too. When it was in the case, I was getting readings of 73 degrees C when running folding, outside it was down to 52. That's with the dual 1.5Ghz, mind you, not stock.

I picked up a brand new Radeon 7500 for $40 on eBay. Not as good a card as the 5200, granted, but inexpensive (and with an ADC connector, which I needed).

Given that you're running the Cube outside of the case, I'd say overheating is not an issue and I think we can rule out heat affecting the power switch. Did you say it had booted with the new video card installed and displayed video?

 

[livingfortoday]

I picked up a brand new Radeon 7500 for $40 on eBay. Not as good a card as the 5200, granted, but inexpensive (and with an ADC connector, which I needed).

Given that you're running the Cube outside of the case, I'd say overheating is not an issue and I think we can rule out heat affecting the power switch. Did you say it had booted with the new video card installed and displayed video?

Yah, I got it to start booting up and show some video with the GeForce2, but then I immediately shut it down because I don't have a heatsink or fan on the card, and don't wanna damage it. I think I'm just gonna slap a heatsink on it and use this card for now, cause the wallet's pretty drained after this experience.

I'm thinking the 5200 may have had heat damage? It seems odd that the card would just randomly die, and I'm thinking that since with the dual 1.5's the inside temp of the Cube got up so high, it may have hurt the video card. I may need to get a Powerlogix Powercube or just run it out of the case for now. I mean, 73 degrees is WAY too hot.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Yah, I got it to start booting up and show some video with the GeForce2, but then I immediately shut it down because I don't have a heatsink or fan on the card, and don't wanna damage it. I think I'm just gonna slap a heatsink on it and use this card for now, cause the wallet's pretty drained after this experience.

I'm thinking the 5200 may have had heat damage? It seems odd that the card would just randomly die, and I'm thinking that since with the dual 1.5's the inside temp of the Cube got up so high, it may have hurt the video card. I may need to get a Powerlogix Powercube or just run it out of the case for now. I mean, 73 degrees is WAY too hot.

What do you mean by "some video?" (These things usually either work or they don't.)

Where did you find a GeForce 2MX with no fan or heat sink? AFAIK, they all shipped with one or the other.

Not sure what to make of your 5200 problems, but as I said earlier, I just don't trust flashed PC video cards -- not based on experience necessarily, but strictly on the fact that computers are inherently complicated beasts and a hacked video card introduces an extra variable. You could try it in another Mac. That might tell you if the 5200 is fried, or just unhappy living a Cube.

As far as heat is concerned, I wouldn't worry much. People are running dual G4s in Cubes all the time without heat-related issues. So long as the base fan is installed (properly!), the CPU should be cooled adequately. Notice also that the video card in a Cube isn't on the same air path as the CPU. I don't think you can overheat a video card with a hot CPU.

 

[livingfortoday]

Notice also that the video card in a Cube isn't on the same air path as the CPU. I don't think you can overheat a video card with a hot CPU.

Well, that's good to know. But it also means my card is probably broken because it's a crappy flashed one, then.

I meane "some video" in that it booted up, showed everything fine, and I shut down right away. Not in that it was intermittent or anything like that. Just that I didn't leave it on long.