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G5 PowerMac problems - oh lawd....

C

chungasarnies

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 20, 2010
29
0
Hello all,

Bought a non-functional PowerMac G5 off ebay recently. Advertised as having a HDD failure. Managed to get Leopard 10.5.2 up and running on it by installing a new hard drive, with a partition containing an image of an old Leopard disc that I no longer have.

Seemed to be running well, until the 10.5.8 update failed spectacularly and now I'm stuck in boot :)apple: logo; spinning cog). Can't get past this.

Things I should point out:

- Boot command key combos don't seem to work (mostly); might be because I've only got a wireless USB keyboard to hand though.

- Red light on the motherboard on switching on and shutting off (with power button). Not entirely sure of the significance of this. Didn't seem to be a problem, since I did have it up and running.

- From what I've read, think it might be the PRAM battery. However I cannot, for the life of me, find it anywhere in the case. It's in neither of the locations shown here http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1305.

- 2GB of ram in the slots, only 1.5gb showing, even though they seem to be seated correctly.

- It's a G5 2.3GHz Dual

- It was damaged in transit. The 'feet' sections of the frame totally buckled, but I decided to just straighten them out because it wasn't really worth pursuing the compensation for if I could still get it up and running.


At a loss. Going to try a reinstall of the OS if I can, other than that, I'm not sure where to turn. Want to avoid the Apple Store because a. I can't afford it, and b. this thing is hellish heavy.

Any help very gratefully received!
 
Last edited:
MacHamster68 said:
but i can show where you find the battery
http://www.appleselfrepair.info/power-mac-g5-late-2005-dual-2-0-2-3-ghz-quad-11-2006/procedure-1.html
Click to expand...

Blimey, I've looked everywhere for that, thanks!

A friend has leant me a Leopard install disc which I *think* has worked. I'll pick up a copy for myself in time, for the sake of completeness and keeping above board. I see they're pretty affordable used now.

Although - I have already bought it a few years ago, I just don't have the disc (sold along with an older Mac). Does this mean I still can (legally) have a license to install it, albeit not from the disc I purchased?


PS - For anyone who might come across this in the future!

Check your ram. I had two knackered RAM sticks, when I removed them the install seemed to work. Seems it's been an issue for others as well.
 
chungasarnies said:
Although - I have already bought it a few years ago, I just don't have the disc (sold along with an older Mac). Does this mean I still can (legally) have a license to install it, albeit not from the disc I purchased?
Click to expand...

No, because you sold your license along with that Mac and the disk (1 OS X disc has 1 license, excluding the Family Pack - on selling the disc you lose the license) - you can use either the OS the machine shipped with, or purchase a new copy of OS X 10.5 Leopard if you want to stay within the law.
 
chungasarnies said:
Blimey, I've looked everywhere for that, thanks!

A friend has leant me a Leopard install disc which I *think* has worked. I'll pick up a copy for myself in time, for the sake of completeness and keeping above board. I see they're pretty affordable used now.

Although - I have already bought it a few years ago, I just don't have the disc (sold along with an older Mac). Does this mean I still can (legally) have a license to install it, albeit not from the disc I purchased?


PS - For anyone who might come across this in the future!

Check your ram. I had two knackered RAM sticks, when I removed them the install seemed to work. Seems it's been an issue for others as well.
Click to expand...

The memory also has to be installed in matching pairs. So maybe(assuming 2x 256mb) were not installed correctly? Also you mentioned 2.3ghz, is that a dual-processor(DP) or dual-core(DC) model? It will say on the label when you take off the side door.
 
OrangeSVTguy said:
The memory also has to be installed in matching pairs. So maybe(assuming 2x 256mb) were not installed correctly? Also you mentioned 2.3ghz, is that a dual-processor(DP) or dual-core(DC) model? It will say on the label when you take off the side door.
Click to expand...

The dodgy pair was a 2x256mb, just didn't seem to like them. I *think* its a dual-core machine but I'm not 100% sure how to get a definative answer on that. It only has one 'G5' logo on the inside of the machine, if that means anything...

Been running very nicely for about 6 hours now. Fingers crossed it will keep going. Ordered a new PRAM battery just to be safe.

And damn. This thing smokes my MBP at startup/shutdown etc. I was actually shocked...
 
careful smoke out of a MBP when it tries to keep up with the G5 2.3 dual core is not a good sign ,
so better dont let them compete against each other ;)
 
I've got to say I was getting disillusioned putting this thing back together. Reminded me of my Windows days! Having said that though, the '09 onwards MBP is the most reliable Mac I've ever seen (IMO) so perhaps I was getting complacent :D

Can't wait to get another 2gigs in this thing...
 
a bit more ram is never a bad idea , you cant have to much of it , if you consider apple thought its enough to ship the PowerMac with 512mb ram , you will see it really runs much better with 2 GB , but MATCHING pairs and dont be sad 16GB ram are your limit , not that you would ever need it ,but just want to let you know ;)
 
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