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mikethemovie

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 28, 2008
68
0
Hi Macfriends,

Recently i got a broken g4 cube..
Im trying to figure out what the problem is..
The previous owner cut the original IDE-cable (???????? I know)..
So i replaced it with just a standard IDE-cable.. Maybe thats the problem, im not sure.. Everything is connected like it should be, power is on, but it doesnt boot.. This is what happens..

The moment i connect the powersupply, it starts booting, i hear the superdrive spin up for half a second, after that it will go dead again.. This repeats itself about a 1000 times..

The cinema display is connect through ADC, but doesnt do i thing!

Any thoughts?
 
Have you tried another drive?

Also, you shouldn't hear a CD drive spin up unless somethings in there. Heres a few options you can try if there is something in there.

Shut down the computer and start up whilst holding down the mouse button. This may take some time, but keep your finger on the mouse button right up until the disc comes out or the log-in screen has appeared.

Restart the computer while holding down Command-Option-O-F, to enter the Open Firmware prompt. Type "eject cd" without the quotes, and press return. The disk ought to eject. To start into OS X, type "mac-boot" without the quotes. Press return, and the computer will continue with the startup. (This will not work on an Intel Mac. There is no Open Firmware on Intel Macs. )

If your computer has an eject button on the keyboard, restart the computer holding down the Option key. When the startup disk selection screen appears, let go of the option key and press the keyboard's eject button.

report back
 
I dont even get into OSX..
I have no screen.. When i plug in the powersupply, its boots up without me touching the powerbutton.. Normally you can touch the on-button on the screen and it starts.. But the touchbutton on the display doesnt respond to anything.. I dont get picture after it boots up.. I mean that it just powers up, but i dont know if it actually boots, because i have no picture.. As far as i can tell there is no disk in the station..

I tried different things.. When disconnect the airport cable it stays on, but still no picture.. I have some green lights and 1 red light between the memory.. Now the drive remains silent..
 
Will the cube start up in Target mode? Did you do the usual reset pmu/ reset pram, ect?

By the way, i love the cube. Its so cool with the pop-up drive :D
 
Also, will it boot up if you disconnect the optical drive? Maybe thats why the previous owner (stupidly in my opinion) cut the ribbon.
 
Sounds like a broken touch sensitive power button. The Cube should not just turn on when being plugged in without you physically pressing the power button. And that explains why its turning off on you - holding the button down for 3 seconds shuts the machine off. Sounds almost like its permanently pressed in. I would try to take the gasket off behind the button., clean it out, replace it, and see if it fixes the problem.
 
If you are using an ADC monitor, you should be able to use it to turn cube on and off.

So, you could remove the plug that connect the power switch to the logicboard and test with it out of the loop.

The power switch is a "proximity" design. It responds to something being near it.
 
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