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Oh great. No system chime on PM G4

D

Daedalus256

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 7, 2005
308
0
Pittsburgh, PA
As some of you may know (from the sig) I recently purchased a PowerMac G4. Nice system, plenty of RAM and a pretty good video card. Well I received it the other day. It sat in my trunk for a day or so and today I finally got around to hooking it up in my apartment.

Now the previous owner confirmed that it was working, I even met him in person for the exchange. It has 10.3.5 installed on it I guess. So I know that it DID work. I get it today, plug it in and I get nothing. Green power light comes on but no system chime and hell, I can't even open the DVD-ROM drive. Could this be a dead hard drive? Or is the G4 itself dead from sitting in my car for a day? Any help is appreciated.
 
Arcus said:
You left it sitting in your trunk for a few days? That doesnt sound like a good idea.
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It was in a box with packing material, perfectly safe. I also kept it in the back seat for a little while and it rode shotgun on the way here :)
 
I'm not sure if this is it or not but, I'm hearing zero percent hard drive noise when it boots. I mean the hard drive could just be really quiet or something but I'd imagine I'd hear something.
 
Definitely check the RAM to see that it hasn't come loose. Happened on a G4 I worked with several times. Although we would usually get that dreadful glass-breaking sound at start-up.
 
robx2 said:
Definitely check the RAM to see that it hasn't come loose. Happened on a G4 I worked with several times. Although we would usually get that dreadful glass-breaking sound at start-up.
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I just tried swapping out all of the RAM sticks one by one to no avail. This isn't looking good. :/

EDIT: I think I'm going to take it to the Apple Store near me tomorrow when I don't have class. Mac geniuses have a strange way of bringing apple products back from the dead.
 
1. Reset NVRAM (do a google search for your model)

2. Check onboard battery. If it is an older Mac (in this case yes) and it has been unplugged for more than 24 hours, it has a tendency to deplete the battery on the logic board. You can pick up a new one for like $12.00 at Radio Shack among other places.

3. Reseat RAM, and Video Card and PCI cards. Check for dust in lots. Often transit makes an iffy connection go bad.

4. Make sure the 120/220 power supply switch is properly placed. Again, trasit can move it. It is located on the outside near the plug.

5. Press PMU on logic board

If those fail, then chances are good you have a bad power supply. In my experience, that generation power supply is a workhorse, but if left on all the time and them moved, has a tendency to fail. I have had three that worked fine 24/7 for years fail after moving across town with them. You can cross reference your exact model with the part number for your power supply and buy one. They range from $80 to $200 depending on refurb, new, and the exact model of G4 you have. Replacing is straightforward, but requires good agility as it gets tight inside the case with the cables.
 
Don't believe them when they tell you it's the logic board. They say that for freaking everything...

Daedalus256 said:
I just tried swapping out all of the RAM sticks one by one to no avail. This isn't looking good. :/

EDIT: I think I'm going to take it to the Apple Store near me tomorrow when I don't have class. Mac geniuses have a strange way of bringing apple products back from the dead.
Click to expand...
 
If it doesn't chime, then the speaker could be dead/unhooked.. or more likely, it's failing the POST (Power On Self Test). I'd start by reseating EVERYTHING inside. Check all cable connections.
 
Unreal! I reseat the graphics card and it boots right up! Amazing! Oh well it has a new logic board battery now too, heh. Thanks for all the help guys!
 
I remember a few years back when we were having trouble at work with an old LC II. The computer had done very nicely for some time on an Apple branded portrait monitor. In a needless burst of moving office furniture, it got hooked up to the only other portrait monitor we had, a Radius one of the same resolution. First time it was OK but there was some trouble, I don't quite remember what. The next time it booted up, we got this awful chime that sounded like a funeral dirge, complete with the sad Mac face and a picture of a microchip. After a bit of trial and error the computer was restored to its original partner and all was well.
 
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