Help, iMac G5 is D-E-D!

[Littleodie914]

Hey guys, I just got back from college (home for the holidays) to find that our family computer, an iMac G5, is dead! This has happened before a couple times in the past when power outages occur, but it's usually been a quick fix.

What happens is there's absolutely no signs of life from the computer when you press the power button. No white light, no screen, no fans/HD even. I opened up the back of the case to check out the 4 LED's, and the 1st light was flashing rapidly, and making a small squeaking/clicking noise. I checked online and read this to indicate that the power supply is working properly. Before when we've had this problem, we just reset the PMU (it's the little grey button above the 4 lights.) Now, nothing's working at all.

I know this seems a bit terse, but I really don't know what else to say! I'm hoping there's some easy fix (a button, key combo, secret word to say) for this, any help would be really appreciated! I'm here for a couple weeks before I head off again, but I really don't want to leave the fam without their computer for too long! (Plus we just got my mom a new iPod Nano for Christmas, and she can't use it. )

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Hey guys, I just got back from college (home for the holidays) to find that our family computer, an iMac G5, is dead! This has happened before a couple times in the past when power outages occur, but it's usually been a quick fix.

What happens is there's absolutely no signs of life from the computer when you press the power button. No white light, no screen, no fans/HD even. I opened up the back of the case to check out the 4 LED's, and the 1st light was flashing rapidly, and making a small squeaking/clicking noise. I checked online and read this to indicate that the power supply is working properly. Before when we've had this problem, we just reset the PMU (it's the little grey button above the 4 lights.) Now, nothing's working at all.

I know this seems a bit terse, but I really don't know what else to say! I'm hoping there's some easy fix (a button, key combo, secret word to say) for this, any help would be really appreciated! I'm here for a couple weeks before I head off again, but I really don't want to leave the fam without their computer for too long! (Plus we just got my mom a new iPod Nano for Christmas, and she can't use it. )

First off, Dead is spelled dead, not ded. 2nd, I seem to recall that happening to a dell after I started it up without a processor... maybe the ram needs to be reset?

When crap like that went on with my wintel PC's, the fix is to remove/disconnect everything except the basics. 1 stick of ram, motherboard, graphics card, and then see what happens. I don't know what the inside of an iMac looks like, but that's what I would do... after making sure it's plugged in and possibly trying a different outlet.

Merry Christmas, and good luck on the iMac!

P.S. and make sure the power button is working

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Did you notice any bulging capaciters when you looked inside? G5's power supply history is kind of poor to say the least.

 

[Littleodie914]

I didn't notice any bulging capacitors right off the bat, maybe I'll go look again. As for the faulty power supply, I was wondering if there's any way to test that? Now that I've read a bit more on Apple's site, it says that LED #2 will also be on if the logic board has detected proper power from the power supply. (It's not on.)

The only light that's on on the inside of the computer is #1, but then again this problem has happened before in the same situation, and I remember we fixed it by plugging/unplugging the computer rapidly a few times while trying a combination of holding the power button, hitting the button right after plugging it in, etc.

Hope this helps maybe?

(And I know it's spelled 'dead', I was just making a joke. )

 

[Littleodie914]

Hmm... So assuming the problem is the power supply, what should we do now? We didn't get AppleCare on the machine, and it's definitely over the 1-year warranty. (It'll be two years this X-Mas.) What exactly are our options at this point? We don't have any Apple Stores around us, should we find a third-party repair center?