Hi so I have a 1999 Powermac G3 blue and white rev A with 400mhz G3 with the original video card.I have had it for a while and have recently got back around to messing with it.It powers on (front lights and green lights inside) but it has no chime nor video.I have heard these things can be rather fussy.so far I have tried unplugging everything except the video,I have tried a pram reset,I have also tried moving around the ram to see if that Made any difference.I would like to mention that is has no pram battery but I don't think the one it had when it was working had much voltage If any If anyone one can help it would be greatly appreciated.Thanks.
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Need help with a power Mac g3 B&W RevA-Please Help!
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I'm not even going to blame the PRAM on this. I have had all sorts of hair-yanking stunts pulled by my Rev A. Sometimes the only thing you can do is to leave it for a day or so to sulk and think about what it has or hasn't done and then it starts up as if nothing has happened.
I always seemed to solve my Rev A problems with one or two presses of the CUDA reset button on the logic board. It was a pain to do all the time, but it did work. Changing ram/video/unplugging stuff never made a difference for me.
“Rather fussy”?
That’s putting it rather mildly.
(Way back when) I once depended upon a B&W with a Rev.1 (Rev.A?) mobo… for daily Photoshop & commercial graphics production - the need for ritualistic Command+S keystrokes came to be a an engrained behavioral habit to guard against the freezes and crashes inherent with the Rev.1 mobo. There’s nothing quite like completely losing any file that you've spent hours on!
Just recently I dusted off that old B&W and installed a Rev.2 mobo. In fact, I also installed another Rev.2 in a second B&W (and with one more machine left to convert). Now my old B&W performs like a much different AND stable machine.
More info on other B&W shortcomings:
lowendmac.com
Not my listing…
Just found a source for the Rev.2 motherboards down in Texas.
(I’ve already installed one of these in my 2nd B&W.)
A great price for something hard to find (with free shipping too).
Point being, whether or not a Rev.1 can be made working again - the Rev.1 boards are definitely worth replacing with the Rev.2 board.
@weckart - I feel your pain.
The Rev.1 and Rev.2 boards are both APPLE 820-1049-A boards.
One needs to check the CMD chip, to tell them apart.
That’s putting it rather mildly.
(Way back when) I once depended upon a B&W with a Rev.1 (Rev.A?) mobo… for daily Photoshop & commercial graphics production - the need for ritualistic Command+S keystrokes came to be a an engrained behavioral habit to guard against the freezes and crashes inherent with the Rev.1 mobo. There’s nothing quite like completely losing any file that you've spent hours on!
Just recently I dusted off that old B&W and installed a Rev.2 mobo. In fact, I also installed another Rev.2 in a second B&W (and with one more machine left to convert). Now my old B&W performs like a much different AND stable machine.
More info on other B&W shortcomings:
Why the Blocked G4 Upgrade Uproar? | Low End Mac
lowendmac.com
Not my listing…
Just found a source for the Rev.2 motherboards down in Texas.
(I’ve already installed one of these in my 2nd B&W.)
APPLE 820-1049-A Rev. 2 MOTHERBOARD with H-IBM25PPC | eBay
Item Type : MOTHERBOARD. rev 1/27/18 JT;. Manufacturer: APPLE. We are not responsible for compatibility issues with you system or software. Removal of Security Seal will void warranty. <="">Warranty <="">.
www.ebay.com
Point being, whether or not a Rev.1 can be made working again - the Rev.1 boards are definitely worth replacing with the Rev.2 board.
@weckart - I feel your pain.
The Rev.1 and Rev.2 boards are both APPLE 820-1049-A boards.
One needs to check the CMD chip, to tell them apart.
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Thanks for all the help guys,I ordered some batteries and they got in today but yelled no different result.I might just have to upgrade to the rev.2 motherboard it seems like a good option Compared to fooling around with this one.Thanks again for all the help.