Old iMac G5, black screen on startup

[Flenix]

Hey guys,


The other day, I got a free iMac G5. When I got it, it was literally the machine only - no mouse, no keyboard... even the RAM and HDD was removed!

Anyways, I pinched an official 512mb RAM stick from an old powermac G5 I have kicking around, and put in a spare blank small HDD. Powered it up, and got that good ol' chime - then, nothing.

There's no sign of it doing anything, but the power light does stay on. The screen stays black, not even a backlight.


On Yahoo Answers, someone suggested there might be a dead PRAM battery. Thought it seemed a little strange, but I had replacement batteries spare so changed it just in case, and the issue wasn't fixed.

I've checked the caps, they're all absolutely fine.

It's a 2004 model I believe. 17" A1058 - shipped with 512mb ram and a 160GB HDD. Currently using a different 512mb stick (still Apple) and a blank 80GB drive. There's no OS installed but I've got a copy of Leopard waiting for it if I can get the screen on.


Anyone got anything to suggest? I don't want to spend tonnes on it but I wouldn't mind spending a little to fix it myself. At the end of the day I'll probably sell it once it's working (specs aren't high enough for the kind of stuff I would do with it), so it has to be worth whatever I spend on fixing it.

 

[Mr Rabbit]

Is this an iMac with an iSight camera built into the top of the front bezel? Have you attempted to reset the PRAM and SMU?

To reset the PRAM:

• Connect your iMac to power
• Hold Command+Option+P+R while pressing the power button
• Keep holding the 4 keyboard keys until you hear a second, usually louder, chime
• Release all 4 keys

This Apple KBB article walks you through some basic troubleshooting, including resetting the SMU, with an iMac G5.

 

[Flenix]

Is this an iMac with an iSight camera built into the top of the front bezel? Have you attempted to reset the PRAM and SMU?

To reset the PRAM:

• Connect your iMac to power
• Hold Command+Option+P+R while pressing the power button
• Keep holding the 4 keyboard keys until you hear a second, usually louder, chime
• Release all 4 keys

This Apple KBB article walks you through some basic troubleshooting, including resetting the SMU, with an iMac G5.

I'll try that, but I don't have a Mac keyboard. It's not an iSight model though.
Any ideas what keys I should use from my generic cheap windows keyboard?

EDIT: Tried the KB article. I've only got one button there so apparently my SMU is reset automatically by unplugging it, but nothing on that article helped. When I put in the power cable the first LED came on, when I powered it up the second one came on. As far as that article knows, everything works.

EDIT 2: Found out with windows it should be winkey and alt instead of command and option. Tried it, and nothing happened. No chime or anything, so guessing it didn't work. But, I had replaced the PRAM battery before, which I would assume would have reset the PRAM.

I get the feeling either the screen or the graphics card is probably dead. Anything else I can try before I resign myself to that?

 

[Saltymac]

Try a second monitor and see if you get anything on it. Check your ram again. Go to Everymac and download the user guide for it and read about troubleshooting.