G5 2.7Ghz no chime, black screen...

[philgxxd]

Hi!

I just got my early 2005 G5 out from storage only to find it unbootable.

It turns on with the fans spinning and i can even hear the harddisk spinning up but no chime and the screen stays black.

I first tried to re-seat the graphics-card...Nothing changed.

Then i measured the PRAM battery...dead.
So i changed it for a new one and even reseted the PMU. Nothing changed.

I also tried without the graphics-card, then without PRAM battery, then without RAM.
I read through many forum posts and i began to disconnect the harddisk and even the two sata cables from the Motherboard. I also disconnnected the optical drive.

I don't have any AGP graphics-card to try as i don't think i can try the ATI RADEON 9000 from my G4 MDD as it doesn't seem to fit. AGP PRO port i guess isn't compatible.

Are any AGP 8x card compatible for my G5 2.7Ghz?

Next thing i will check are if all voltages on the main Power connector are present.

 

[Project Alice]

I don't have any AGP graphics-card to try as i don't think i can try the ATI RADEON 9000 from my G4 MDD as it doesn't seem to fit. AGP PRO port i guess isn't compatible.

Are any AGP 8x card compatible for my G5 2.7Ghz?

AGP Pro slots are fully backwards compatible.
It will fit. However, ADC on G5s is different and is not compatible with ADC from G4s.

What I would do though is order a Geforce 5200 from eBay. There are hundreds of them from G5s. Its actually annoying because they show up when I'm looking for other cards.

 

[philgxxd]

Thanks @Project Alice!

I'm seeing a lot of FX5200 dual dvi on eBay. Are these all suitable or do i have to pay the premium for mac cards?

 

[Project Alice]

Thanks @Project Alice!

I'm seeing a lot of FX5200 dual dvi on eBay. Are these all suitable or do i have to pay the premium for mac cards?

The mac versions of the Geforce 5200 are not a premium. They're dirt cheap. While you can buy any old AGP 5200 and flash it, you might as well get the mac version at the same price. Like this one. No mods this is not my listing.
While most mac cards are overpriced, the Geforce 5200 is not.

 

[philgxxd]

Thanks again @Project Alice!

I'm from Spain - Europe. But i will take that listing as reference.
I actually saw a dual DVI fx 5200 mac card.
Isn't that rare?
Did they even exists?
[doublepost=1564922868][/doublepost]Nevermind. The eBay listing i saw is obviously a pci-e card although the title says fx 5200 agp.

 

[Project Alice]

Thanks again @Project Alice!

I'm from Spain - Europe. But i will take that listing as reference.
I actually saw a dual DVI fx 5200 mac card.
Isn't that rare?
Did they even exists?
[doublepost=1564922868][/doublepost]Nevermind. The eBay listing i saw is obviously a pci-e card although the title says fx 5200 agp.

That eBay listing is not PCIe. It is AGP Pro. And no, the 5200 FX mac card is extremely common, which is why they are a dime a dozen. They came standard in the majority of AGP based G5s, especially the earlier models.

 

[backyardvoodoo]

I bought my DP G5 2.7 3 weeks ago. Power cycled it many times while trying to install Debian. At first it would only boot every second time. Then it stopped booting with the exact same symptoms as yours!

Only thing is, power button goes off after being released. Not sure if yours is the same.

I was blaming the CPUs and the logic board so the G5 is now lying disassembled with all CPUs unscrewed.. Funny thing is, I have a 5200 FX in the closet. I will try that next.

 

[philgxxd]

Only thing is, power button goes off after being released. Not sure if yours is the same.

Exactly same behaviour.

Thanks for posting back.
I still didn't have any updates so i still have to check voltages on powersupply but i want to rule out the graphics card so after reading through many forum posts i got the idea of trying the graphics card in my G4 MDD before making any purchases.

 

[backyardvoodoo]

I have just tried the 5200 fx and it didn't make any difference. Also tried installing a working PSU from another G5 (DP1.8) to the same behaviour. Also undid the CPUs and removed some corrosion from them in the process. It didn't look like anything on the PCB was damaged so I don't think the LCS killed them.

I think it's the logic board in my case.

 

[philgxxd]

Also tried installing a working PSU from another G5 (DP1.8)

Oh! So it does fit?
I was believing that the power supplies are not cross compatible.
I'm actually in contact with a seller that is selling a power supply from a what i think is a 1.8Ghz model.
He sent me pictures and it says 630-6691.
I wanted to say him that it's not suitable for my model but maybe i will take it just in case because it's cheap. It says 600w. I'm not sure it will be enough power delivery.
[doublepost=1565034792][/doublepost]

Also undid the CPUs and removed some corrosion from them in the process. It didn't look like anything on the PCB was damaged so I don't think the LCS killed them.

I think it's the logic board in my case.

That's a lot of work. I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you.

 

[backyardvoodoo]

Just make sure you check compatibility - https://lowendmac.com/2014/which-power-supply-works-in-my-power-mac-g5/ there is a good chance it'll fit like mine

 

[philgxxd]

Thanks again @backyardvoodoo

I saw that page and you are right. I have to ask him if it's for the dual 1.8Ghz (in this case it seems to be the same PS) or the later dated single 1.8Ghz.

But i have some updates:

1. Measured voltages and they seems to be fine
2. Taped Pin3 and Pin11 of the ATI Radeon 9650 card and tested it in my G4 MDD. It's working!
3. Although everything looked so clean on the first sight and there were no obvious signs of leaking i saw that by looking more closely...


Suspicious...

I digged deeper and found this:



Then i began to disassemble the whole processor block and got confirmation...





So at least i think i found the cause.

 

[backyardvoodoo]

I would too love to know if it means that the CPU / LCS is no longer?

I cleaned some of this cruft off my CPUs but I assumed that it has been there for a little while given that the G5 was working when I bought it.

 

[Jubadub]

I read that the G5 Quad LCS (both types) should be used on the 2.7Ghz G5 instead (they seem to be perfectly compatible and fit).

Although you got a problem in your hands with that G5, damn, I'm jealous you were even able to find one. Those 2.7GHz are RARE! Especially outside the US. Now if it's just for parts... There's a whole graveyard of that model.

 

[philgxxd]

I swear that if i will get it to work again i will make it a server.
24/7 serving all of my Macs
[doublepost=1565083445][/doublepost]Will have to find suitable o-rings now.

 

[Jubadub]

Make sure to put its extra 200Mhz/core of processing power (compared to the Quad Core) to good use! Particularly for all single-core OS X applications out there, like Classic itself on Tiger. Not sure what other OS X applications/games out there make use of only a single core, but they certainly exist! Good luck.

 

[Amethyst1]

Make sure to put its extra 200Mhz/core of processing power (compared to the Quad Core) to good use! Particularly for all single-core OS X applications out there, like Classic itself on Tiger. Not sure what other OS X applications/games out there make use of only a single core, but they certainly exist! Good luck.

Virtual PC comes to mind - needs all the grunt you can throw at it.

 

[Jubadub]

Virtual PC comes to mind - needs all the grunt you can throw at it.

Good call!

 

[philgxxd]

What i like to do with a server would be...

1. Serving netboot images for my iMacs G3 so that i don't need any local storage. I know i would have only a 10Mbit connection but the internal bus is slow anyway. I remember that in a keynote a netbooted iMac booted even faster than from the internal disk. I'm not expecting miracles but it would reduce heat footprint inside the machines.
2. Serve Internet to my old macs.I got good results with Screensharing my G5 from my Powerbook G4 and even sending the audio over network to watch youtube.This was within Leopard on both sides and it was really snappy.

 

[philgxxd]

Update:



Duh!
That is worse than I thought. Here you can see the plates which go onto the processor cards. At this point I already cleaned a little bit of that "white rice" people often mentioning but here it already turned blueish.
Specially the left plate have the thermal paste so hardened that I feared I couldn't make it flush again.



Here you can see what I think it's called galvanic corrosion. Happens when two different metal types are touching that are reacting electrically.
Will try to recover the bolt in soapy water and a toothbrush and the copper of the circuit board with alcohol and gentle scratching.



Here you can see the "white rice" that got between the caps.



That is how it came out. I mostly got rid of the corrosion. I scratched a little bit the part where the processor die rests but I think it's tolerable.



This one wasn't so bad. Even the thermal paste was still smooth.



That are the tools I used.

I still have to dismantle the entire block and do more cleaning and finally rebuilt everything with new o-rings and fluid but there is hope.