HELP!! My Powermac G4 is DEAD!!

Try resetting the PMU... it's a little button the size of a cookie crumb located on your motherboard.

 

> Try resetting the PMU

Also known as the Cuda chip. It's a round button about 2mm diameter on a square swith about 5mm square, it'll be soldered onto your motherboard. Press this for 5 seconds -- only do this but once, however.

If that doesn't help you may be in line for a new PRAM battery - 1/2 AA 3.6 V Lithium, available at better stocked Radio Shacks and electronic stores, about $8.00. Plan on a new one every 3 - 6 years depending on the Mac model and how much time you leave it turned off.

Three beeps means a problem with RAM, or the motherboard. Try removing all but your original Apple RAM, and put that RAM into a different socket, and boot again.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=95052

Thanks
Trevor

 

Hold Command+Option+P+R while starting up. This time, after 3 chimes, let go. The chimes are good.

This will zap your PRAM and, in theory, display at correct levels for your monitor so that you can see stuff again. Then you change it later.

 

Keep holding command + option + P + R, it will give you the "startup" chime, but keep holding that key combination through three cycles of the chime. It takes a while.

 

YAY... glad to hear that. I had that happen to me about 2 years ago. very scary for us who have no idea whats going on. Good thing for places like this!

 

I have the same problem with my powermac g4 yikes as well and resetting the pram doesn't give me a picture.. I upgraded the rage 128 to a radeon 7000 32mb card and... no picture on either of my monitors.. I also pressed the button on the motherboard and removed the battery same problem continues :-(

Does the video card have to be a mac version? My brother in-law said no since he installed radeon 7500s in quicksilvers

 

yes... they have to be mac cards. they don't contain the same bios code.

 

Uh oh, now I put the original card back in and I have lines going down the screen!