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Dead Dual 2.0 G5

yoman

yoman

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 11, 2003
635
0
In the Bowels of the Cosmos
I have had an event of concern regarding my dual 2.0. It had been running fine for over a year until early morning yesterday. Upon booting up the
I see the little power light turn on,hear the fans rev up and the CD/DVD drive spinning. Then nothing else. No hard drive noise, no chime, no power to ports(mouse doesnt light up, keyboard light doesnt either) I have been faithful over the past year to do monthly maintenance of the caches and permissions. I am unable to do any hardware tests or boot from CD, reset PRAM because the keyboard isnt recognized by the computer. So any ideas.

So recap of what is does and does not do.

Does:
Power light, fans run, cd drive spins

Does not:
no video, audio, power to peripherals, not seen on network

Specifications:
Dual 2.0 GHz
1 GB Apple Ram
Original ATI Radeon 9600 64Vram
Stock CD/DVD Drive and Hard Drive.
No new software installed recently
Runnning 10.3.9

Thank you for your help.
 
I'm 100% sure but it sounds like you could of had a power surge or your hard drive is knackered.

I'd phone up apple or take it to an apple store or service centre
 
I have a similar problem with my dual 2.0. But there is nothing really wrong with it. The solution is really simple. Unplug the monitor, and it boots up no problem and you can plug the moniter bag in.

I hope this works for you too!
 
clarification

I have paid closer attention to the power light. It only comes on when I am pressing the power button. Upon removing my finger the light no longer is active.

I tried the unplug monitor idea, however it did not resolve my issue. thank you.
 
When I have a power surge (even with a surge strip) the mac shuts off and then refuses to power on again.

I was so pissed until I said, why not unplug and plug it back. THat didnt work.

What did work was yanking the actual G5 power cord from the machine itself, and replacing it. Then it powered on.

happend twice during a few storms lately.
 
Sdashiki said:
When I have a power surge (even with a surge strip) the mac shuts off and then refuses to power on again.

I was so pissed until I said, why not unplug and plug it back. THat didnt work.

What did work was yanking the actual G5 power cord from the machine itself, and replacing it. Then it powered on.

happend twice during a few storms lately.
Click to expand...

When you mention "replacing" the power cord does that mean purchasing a new cord or just removing the cord from the back of the machine and then reinserting it. Sorry for my ignorance. Thank you.
 
Yank and replace. Just pull cord from back of machine and put right back in.

Dont buy a new one. LOL

My machine makes a "click" noise when it has power taken and restored. I think my PSU does that for some reason.
 
reset the PMU

try resetting the PMU. the same thing happened to my dual g4 a month ago and the apple store people told me to do that.

ON THE G4, its a little black button on the mother board thats about a 1/8th inch in size on a littlemount. Press that with the power unplugged and you should be good to go.
 
noirnoir said:
try resetting the PMU. the same thing happened to my dual g4 a month ago and the apple store people told me to do that.

ON THE G4, its a little black button on the mother board thats about a 1/8th inch in size on a littlemount. Press that with the power unplugged and you should be good to go.
Click to expand...

It seems as though using Sdashiki's method by removing the power cord and replacing it resets the PMU. Unfortunately this did not work for me. However Thanks for your input.
 
yoman said:
It seems as though using Sdashiki's method by removing the power cord and replacing it resets the PMU. Unfortunately this did not work for me. However Thanks for your input.
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't. There should be a little silver button on the bottom left of the board, push it and hold it for 10 seconds, then plug the computer back in and away you go. (If that was the problem)
 
joecool85 said:
No, it doesn't. There should be a little silver button on the bottom left of the board, push it and hold it for 10 seconds, then plug the computer back in and away you go. (If that was the problem)
Click to expand...

Thank you for the clarification, I have done as you suggested. The computer still will not fully boot, just the fans reving, DVD drive spins then the ultimate fan vortex as they rev up to full speed. Thanks.
 
yoman said:
Thank you for the clarification, I have done as you suggested. The computer still will not fully boot, just the fans reving, DVD drive spins then the ultimate fan vortex as they rev up to full speed. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Well, it may be a bad power supply. I would check that first..
 
With a power surge it normally burns out the power pack (PSU) and can damage the motherboard and other components. Do you have a surge protector? (basically an adapter to prevent surges).

But from what your saying the power light and fans are spinning etc, so that means power is going to it. Very strange, I'm not 100% sure with apple hardware but it could be the mother/logic board.

The thing that makes me suspect the logic board is that you mentioned this problems: -

Does not:
no video, audio, power to peripherals, not seen on network
Click to expand...

Do you even hear the chime or see the boot up screen with the apple logo?

If not sounds like the board, if not possibly the hard drive is damaged.

But I could be wrong, better ask CanadaRAM he knows best with Macs :)
 
Patch^ said:
With a power surge it normally burns out the power pack (PSU) and can damage the motherboard and other components. Do you have a surge protector? (basically an adapter to prevent surges).

But from what your saying the power light and fans are spinning etc, so that means power is going to it. Very strange, I'm 100% sure with apple hardware but it could be the mother/logic board.

The thing that makes me suspect the logic board is that you mentioned this problems: -

Do you even hear the chime or see the boot up screen with the apple logo?
:)
Click to expand...

I do not hear the chime or see a boot up screen. I do have a surge protector, however I have heard that they protect very little unless you have an industrial one, which i do not. I will take to apple store possible later today or tomorrow. I'll let you all know, Thanks for you help.
 
I had a similar problem with my first rev. G5 2x2.0 mac. The symptoms where the same, but it happened more gradually. At first I managed to turn the computer on after a few tries, but eventually it took me hours until iit was impossible.

In the end it was a defective graphics card and Apple (who was aware of the problem with some cards) sent me a new one...

But I'm not sure if newer computers had any of the defective cards... The model that could be defective showed under System Profile as ATY,RV350
 
i was thinking that it was the graphics card, but he also has no audio, which is from the mother/logic board.

Just take it to an apple store and see what they say, best of luck ^_^.
 
I am going to give the graphics card idea a try first before heading to the apple store. Even though the graphics card doesn't explain everything. I am speaking to apple now and they are planning on shipping a replacement card to my address. It should arrive in a few days I'll update you all about the outcome. Thanks all for your help.

Maka, thanks for the heads up on the known graphic card issue.
 
yoman said:
I am going to give the graphics card idea a try first before heading to the apple store. Even though the graphics card doesn't explain everything. I am speaking to apple now and they are planning on shipping a replacement card to my address. It should arrive in a few days I'll update you all about the outcome. Thanks all for your help.

Maka, thanks for the heads up on the known graphic card issue.
Click to expand...

You welcomed! I hope it solves the issue for you :) BTW, when they called me to say they were sending the replacement, it actually arrived the next day! amazing...
 
Update and end of story....

Well I initially waited for the video card to come from Apple hoping it would solve my problem. It did not. Next I lugged my "little" G5 to the apple store. There they determined that one processor plus the mother board had fried. Making the repair a grand total of $1400 + tax. I scoffed at such an idea and decided to hold myself over with a mac mini,until i could accrue more money for another G5. So I went from a Dual G5 to a mac mini. Oh well. The Mini is pretty fast for being a little tinkerbell. It probably packs as much punch per square inch as my former computer. :)
 
yoman said:
Well I initially waited for the video card to come from Apple hoping it would solve my problem. It did not. Next I lugged my "little" G5 to the apple store. There they determined that one processor plus the mother board had fried. Making the repair a grand total of $1400 + tax. I scoffed at such an idea and decided to hold myself over with a mac mini,until i could accrue more money for another G5. So I went from a Dual G5 to a mac mini. Oh well. The Mini is pretty fast for being a little tinkerbell. It probably packs as much punch per square inch as my former computer. :)
Click to expand...
ebay the G5. THere are people who know how to replace these parts on their own and will pay good money for the rest of the working components. Just a rough guess based on having sold other broken macs, but you might get $600-$700.
 
yoman said:
Well I initially waited for the video card to come from Apple hoping it would solve my problem. It did not. Next I lugged my "little" G5 to the apple store. There they determined that one processor plus the mother board had fried. Making the repair a grand total of $1400 + tax. I scoffed at such an idea and decided to hold myself over with a mac mini,until i could accrue more money for another G5. So I went from a Dual G5 to a mac mini. Oh well. The Mini is pretty fast for being a little tinkerbell. It probably packs as much punch per square inch as my former computer. :)
Click to expand...


Sounds like a good idea for an AppleCare ad.
:(
 
I don't know if apple would choose to advertise one of their products frying in order to sell more buyer protection. Just me though.
 
Probably because if he waits he can get newer hardware. Besides, if he sells the old PM that would cover the difference.
 
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