Thats really weird. Well...you made a good choice by going with the iMac. Great computer. But, I do love those PPC G5's!!
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Power Mac G5 startup issue
- Thread starter jywv8
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Thats really weird. Well...you made a good choice by going with the iMac. Great computer. But, I do love those PPC G5's!!
Yeah, it was time for an upgrade anyway. So, in the end, things worked out well.
But note that replacing the graphics card didn't really seem to do anything. The only thing I can think of is that all the jostling of driving it to the Apple Store knocked something back into place.
Hi
See my full attempts and diagnosis over at Macworld...http://forums.macworld.com/thread/103827
With my problem, I was most concerned when I couldn't reset PRAM ( just stayed with no video for as long as I waited ), and the reset-all command just froze Open Firmware. Anyone feel this would make an absolute diagnosis for logic board failure? Anyone know if reset-all tries to reset PRAM and maybe that's why it freezes? Finally...Anyone know what Apple charges to replace the logic board?
Thanks.
See my full attempts and diagnosis over at Macworld...http://forums.macworld.com/thread/103827
Do you know if this includes the 9600 XT or just the 9600 Pro? Graphics card is the only thing I couldn't swap as I have no other Mac card I could possibly conjure up.
With my problem, I was most concerned when I couldn't reset PRAM ( just stayed with no video for as long as I waited ), and the reset-all command just froze Open Firmware. Anyone feel this would make an absolute diagnosis for logic board failure? Anyone know if reset-all tries to reset PRAM and maybe that's why it freezes? Finally...Anyone know what Apple charges to replace the logic board?
Thanks.
I think it was over $700 2 yrs ago when I replaced one on a 2nd gen G5 at work (under warranty). Probably not worth it. I heard that they will do a flat rate repair that might be less but I can't remember how much it costs.
For anyone who might care... the issue of not starting up with video when cold went away this summer -- as soon as it got warm. Now that Fall is coming I am bracing for the problem to come back. I want to hold on to this 1st gen G5 one more year at least.
As a footnote to this, I had the identical problem; when we moved offices it became unusable (and actually was causing other problems with my PCI cards). I called Apple but, because my model is a first gen, even though it was displaying the EXACT PROBLEMS outlined in the support document, they couldn't do anything other than offer to sell me a $400 replacement upgrade (much better card, but I wasn't spending $400 on a 6 year old machine). Found a Radeon 9800 for $25 and flashed it, now works better than the stock card did. So all in all, the least headachey solution!
disconap, could you be more specific about where and how you flashed the card? I might like to do this too. Thanks!
What Orange said. 
Check out the buying and flashing guides, and be careful to make sure that what you're buying matches the picture in the description. You actually may have more luck finding a pre-flashed card at this point, I got lucky and found a flashable one on Craigslist.
Check out the buying and flashing guides, and be careful to make sure that what you're buying matches the picture in the description. You actually may have more luck finding a pre-flashed card at this point, I got lucky and found a flashable one on Craigslist.
Still having problems
I don't know if anybody will read this as most have probably solved this problem or got a new mac but I thought I would report my experience.
As previously stated the G5 does not provide video signal to the monitor on start-up. I noticed it only happened in winter when the room temp was cold. It has gotten worse to the point that even on warm summer days it has the same problem every time.
My remedy was to blow warm air with a hairdryer thu the front vents for a min. It will then start up fine. It is getting worse and sometimes I have to do this more than once.
I assumed it was the video card but was just not techy enough to try flashing a PC card so I found an OME card from an original G5 (ATI Radeon 9600 Pro) just like mine and replaced mine. It did no good - same symptoms. This makes me think that it is not a video card issue.
Needless to say I had hoped like many that the new Mac Pro would be out by now so I could replace this aging G5. Still waiting..
It is sad because this machine could still have a good life in my home doing other work, but not with this problem.
Anybody have any thoughts. I hate to toss this machine.
I don't know if anybody will read this as most have probably solved this problem or got a new mac but I thought I would report my experience.
As previously stated the G5 does not provide video signal to the monitor on start-up. I noticed it only happened in winter when the room temp was cold. It has gotten worse to the point that even on warm summer days it has the same problem every time.
My remedy was to blow warm air with a hairdryer thu the front vents for a min. It will then start up fine. It is getting worse and sometimes I have to do this more than once.
I assumed it was the video card but was just not techy enough to try flashing a PC card so I found an OME card from an original G5 (ATI Radeon 9600 Pro) just like mine and replaced mine. It did no good - same symptoms. This makes me think that it is not a video card issue.
Needless to say I had hoped like many that the new Mac Pro would be out by now so I could replace this aging G5. Still waiting..
It is sad because this machine could still have a good life in my home doing other work, but not with this problem.
Anybody have any thoughts. I hate to toss this machine.
Hello,
Thought I'd just throw some further info on this subject.
I have a dual 2.0 G5, which needed hairdryer assistance for some time before it finally refused to boot up last year, no matter how much hot air was pumped at it. Anyhow, luckily I had a spare 1.8 G5 and chucked the drive into the working machine, no probs. I consigned the 2.0 to the garage and left it, hoping to 'have a look at it' when I had the time. Last weekend, I had some time, so decided to swap the graphics cards over in the two machines. Left the hard drives as they were. The old 2.0 G5 cranked up first time, no hairdryer, with a cloud of dust and a happy chime. Thought that meant it must be the graphics card was cooked, so chucked it in the 1.8 G5, and it surpised me when it booted first time. Happy ending all round, plus the kids don't fight quite as much about taking turns
The old G5 must have just needed a holiday, or a reseated graphics card.
Good luck,
Razzer
Thought I'd just throw some further info on this subject.
I have a dual 2.0 G5, which needed hairdryer assistance for some time before it finally refused to boot up last year, no matter how much hot air was pumped at it. Anyhow, luckily I had a spare 1.8 G5 and chucked the drive into the working machine, no probs. I consigned the 2.0 to the garage and left it, hoping to 'have a look at it' when I had the time. Last weekend, I had some time, so decided to swap the graphics cards over in the two machines. Left the hard drives as they were. The old 2.0 G5 cranked up first time, no hairdryer, with a cloud of dust and a happy chime. Thought that meant it must be the graphics card was cooked, so chucked it in the 1.8 G5, and it surpised me when it booted first time. Happy ending all round, plus the kids don't fight quite as much about taking turns
The old G5 must have just needed a holiday, or a reseated graphics card.
Good luck,
Razzer
just thought I'd share my experiences too.
I recently added a 1.5TB HDD to my G5 2x2.0GHz. Three days after a successful installation, I started having problems with re-starting the machine. My problem was the "press the button, hear a click, light goes on then off, and machine is dead", but only when re-starting after some time using it. i.e. a "hot-start". A restart from the apple menu didn't cause any trouble though.
I could leave the machine overnight and it would start fine, as long as it was switched off at the wall for that period. If left on, it still wouldn't start next day.
Two Mac stores couldn't find the problem, and both wanted to replace the power supply ($500) the the motherboard if that didn't work ($500).
We put the machine aside and bought an iMac.
I happened to find this thread and read about the PMU button on the motherboard.
PMU
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86760
or SMU
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300341
With nothing to lose, I tried it and Presto! All good. It works fine again.
Footnote: I'm not sad this happened, I got a shiny new iMac 27" out of it!
The boss has now claimed the G5 for home.
I recently added a 1.5TB HDD to my G5 2x2.0GHz. Three days after a successful installation, I started having problems with re-starting the machine. My problem was the "press the button, hear a click, light goes on then off, and machine is dead", but only when re-starting after some time using it. i.e. a "hot-start". A restart from the apple menu didn't cause any trouble though.
I could leave the machine overnight and it would start fine, as long as it was switched off at the wall for that period. If left on, it still wouldn't start next day.
Two Mac stores couldn't find the problem, and both wanted to replace the power supply ($500) the the motherboard if that didn't work ($500).
We put the machine aside and bought an iMac.
I happened to find this thread and read about the PMU button on the motherboard.
PMU
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86760
or SMU
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300341
With nothing to lose, I tried it and Presto! All good. It works fine again.
Footnote: I'm not sad this happened, I got a shiny new iMac 27" out of it!
The boss has now claimed the G5 for home.