Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Powermac g4 wont turn on

CheeseBread365

CheeseBread365

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 27, 2017
141
13
Ann Arbor, MI
I got a powermac g4 quicksilver. I don't know much about it, other that someone decided to smash it up pretty good when it wouldn't turn on. I found it by a trash can. I got it home, and started to part it out, and it turned on as I was taking out the motherboard. I had it plugged in from when I was trying to get it to work. So I put it back together, and turned it on. It only turned on by wiggling the upper right corner of the motherboard. nothing else would turn it on. Power button only turns it off. Now wiggling the motherboard does nothing. I tried everything, but it wont turn on.

Does anyone know what the problem with it is?
 
If someone smashed it up it could be anything,

PSU, CPU, logicboard, RAM, damaged connectors. I don't even know where to start.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dronecatcher
I have the same Mac, with the same problem. Never figured it out. It was working great, then the house had a power surge of some type and after that it never turned on. I replaced the PSU, went through everything other than the processors. It was a dual 800. Something got fried I'm sure. Still has never came back on since. I can't bring myself to get rid of the thing, I plan on using the case for a custom build when money and time allows.
 
Got it working. Turns out the CPU screws weren't there. I noticed this when it was sparking. I turned off the computer, and saw there were no screws. I put them back in, and the computer started turning on again. (power button still doesn't work but i'm fine with just wiggling a usb cable or something. Im going to replace the cracked and missing body panels with some from a broken g3 I have. then it will be much nicer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: eyoungren
I have a new problem now. I found some SCSI cards in there, which is good, since they are worth a lot of money. But when I plug one of them in, the computer tell me to restart it when i turn it on. Does this mean the card is broken?
 
What make and model of SCSI card, and what OS?

I searched high and low for a particular model of Adaptec card to use in a G5 only to find that it's invisible in Leopard and would cause a kernel panic on booting in Tiger.

BTW, don't get your hopes up on making a fortune on SCSI cards. Certain ATTO cards can bring a nice sum, but most common Adaptec cards are worth a little of nothing. Also, even if you do have a high dollar/desirable card, the buyers for those cards can be even more scarce than the cards themselves. It's usually someone like me who's looking for a certain type of connector to adapt certain types of peripherals to specific computers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AphoticD, Gamer9430 and LightBulbFun
Agreed. I bought a handful of Adaptec cards for next to nothing recently. PC ones can be usually easily converted to Power Domain ones. ATTO auctions go for a few bucks more but not big money. Those asking for a lot upfront wait a long time for buyers.

Old, small capacity SCSI drives however...
 
weckart said:
Agreed. I bought a handful of Adaptec cards for next to nothing recently. PC ones can be usually easily converted to Power Domain ones. ATTO auctions go for a few bucks more but not big money. Those asking for a lot upfront wait a long time for buyers.

Old, small capacity SCSI drives however...
Click to expand...
Ain't that the truth. I needed to buy a 40MB or 80MB hard drive for my recently acquired IIci and I was surprised at the asking prices for them.
 
its a digidesign digi 001 pci card it is a scsi card. im trying to run it on panther
[doublepost=1520457412][/doublepost]there is also the other thing i dont know what it is. it is a small board with a plastic cover connected to a long scsi cable that was plugged into the scsi card does anyone know what this is
 
Last edited:
That Digidesign PCI audio card likely crashes the system when drivers that it needs are missing (software needs to be installed before you can use it).
 
Like I said, that's a sound card, and from what I can find it's useless unless mated to some external hardware.

If someone who was running the set-up that required that card needed one, they MIGHT come along and pay that price for it...but just finding one listed for that price doesn't mean that you can sell at that price.
 
bunnspecial said:
Like I said, that's a sound card, and from what I can find it's useless unless mated to some external hardware.

If someone who was running the set-up that required that card needed one, they MIGHT come along and pay that price for it...but just finding one listed for that price doesn't mean that you can sell at that price.
Click to expand...
if i sell it im going to sell it at 240 or 250
[doublepost=1520464665][/doublepost]is there a place i can get the software required to use it for my g4
 
As @bunnspecial pointed out, the PCI audio card needs to be coupled with the external unit. Here's a picture of the Digi 001 rig;
Digi-001.jpg


If you really want to try getting the optical I/O working standalone (if that is even possible), you might find drivers at avid.com or search archive.org for older drivers on the old digidesign.com website.
 
The 001 can work without the external rack as a ADAT in/out card.

I have an MDD that works with the card but not with the card+cable+rack. Same card (+cable+rack) works on a G3B&W and G4 DA flawless.

The card works with protools LE 5-6 on 9 and panther. Can be used on tiger and Leo as coreaudio, but wont work with a protools version higher than 6.4.

All the software needed is backed up on Macos9Lives!

I have seen Digi 001 complete selling for 100-150 bucks. I have a friend that fruitless tried to sell it on my city for 4 years at 200 bucks.
[doublepost=1520469283][/doublepost]When the MDD had the card+cable+rack it couldnt boot. The power button showed light for a second and shut down. without the cable+rack it could boot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AphoticD
I didn't realize the 001 was locked down to PTLE 6.4. I always admired the rig, but my little Digi Mbox 1 (USB) is still working perfectly in Tiger and Leopard. Purchased in '03 and used almost every day since (from iBook G3 through to G5, then to C2D MacBook Unibody '08). The last version to support it was Pro Tools LE 7.4.2cs4, which really shines on the MacBook when running under 10.5.8.

I think the Firewire Digi 002R (or the desk version) is probably a better option over the 001 for most PowerPC Macs. These still sell for around $200 here in Australia.
 
  • Like
Reactions: G4fanboy
AphoticD, you are wrong. Last version for PowerPC and original M-Box is 8.0.1
[doublepost=1520482437][/doublepost]7.4 had elastic audio and 8.x also elastic pitch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AphoticD
CheeseBread365 said:
if i sell it im going to sell it at 240 or 250
[doublepost=1520464665][/doublepost]is there a place i can get the software required to use it for my g4
Click to expand...

You mean $24.00 or 25.00... you can get a whole computer for $240 or $250, not an incomplete, unknown functionality PCI card.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back