PowerMac G5 still not working

[fusionflare]

I bought a powermac g5 off of eBay that had no hard drive so that meant no os. I later bought a hard drive with OS X 10.5 leopard and connected it to the machine. I booted it up and got about halfway through the welcome video and it told me to restart the computer, so I did and then I got the the giant X at the end of the video and it freezes and I haven’t been able to get to the intro video since and it gets to a white screen with a gray Apple logo and freezes, no loading, spinning wheel beneath the logo either. I opened it up and couldn’t find any damage until I checked the power supply. It looked like it had a small amount of water damage but idk if that would cause that. When I start up the machine the light in my mouse lights up then turns off however, if I hold alt and press the mouse button when I turn it on, it goes to the boot menu and works fine unless I press the “next arrow” and it goes to the same white screen with the Apple logo.

I’m new to Macs because this is my first one and I have no idea what to do here. I have no idea if it’s thehard drive or power supply or something else cause if this problem.

I have bought a retail copy of OS X 10.5 leopard and I get stuck at the white screen with the gray Apple logo and I bought a new power supply but still no luck so I’m at a major loss right now

 

[z970]

I'd try a new drive first. Do you have any spares around?

 

[AphoticD]

Check the troubleshooting steps for your particular G5 in the Apple Service Manuals found here:
http://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/powermac/

You will also find the power supply pin-outs for voltage testing to confirm the PSU is functioning properly.

From my experience with the G5s, intermittent crashing / kernel panics have mostly stemmed from RAM trouble. It could be either the RAM sticks or the slots on the logic board. I’d try moving / swapping RAM around.

You will also want to run the Apple Service Diagnostics disc found here:

https://archive.org/details/AppleServiceDiagnosticDisks25GB

ASD v2.5.8 will suit all G5s except the last generation, Dual Core or Quad late 2005 (PCIe) models, which will use v2.6.3.

Burn to disc, boot holding the C key and run the full test to find where your hardware fault could be.

 

[fusionflare]

I'd try a new drive first. Do you have any spares around?

I have tried to install OS X from my retail copy on 6 different drives but it won’t go past the Apple logo screen
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Check the troubleshooting steps for your particular G5 in the Apple Service Manuals found here:
http://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/powermac/

You will also find the power supply pin-outs for voltage testing to confirm the PSU is functioning properly.

From my experience with the G5s, intermittent crashing / kernel panics have mostly stemmed from RAM trouble. It could be either the RAM sticks or the slots on the logic board. I’d try moving / swapping RAM around.

You will also want to run the Apple Service Diagnostics disc found here:

https://archive.org/details/AppleServiceDiagnosticDisks25GB

ASD v2.5.8 will suit all G5s except the last generation, Dual Core or Quad late 2005 (PCIe) models, which will use v2.6.3.

Burn to disc, boot holding the C key and run the full test to find where your hardware fault could be.

I have tried to use ASD but with this new power supply I have not so I’ll try that. As for ram I ordered 4gb for it otherwise I only have 4 (really 2 because when I try the two 256mb sticks it doesn’t post) sticks of ram for it so I can’t try that. I will use the service manual tho

I’ll try all of the methods when I can and I will return with an update but I’m just waiting on things to come in the mail right now

 

[z970]

I have tried to install OS X from my retail copy on 6 different drives but it won’t go past the Apple logo screen

Ah. I second Aphotic, then.

 

[fusionflare]

Alright Update: I ordered ram and it just arrived and I installed it. To my disappointment, it still didn’t pass that screen. Tried the os disk and the same thing . I’m now starting to think it’s the motherboard due to the ram, power supply, hard drive, and os being changed.

 

[z970]

Alright Update: I ordered ram and it just arrived and I installed it. To my disappointment, it still didn’t pass that screen. Tried the os disk and the same thing . I’m now starting to think it’s the motherboard due to the ram, power supply, hard drive, and os being changed.

Look its serial number up on EveryMac and tell us what model it is. I think the 2003 dual processor versions had some logic board problems.

 

[AphoticD]

They are (very) hot running machines with server grade CPUs running on consumer grade boards. It’s disappointing, but no surprise they are intermittently failing after 15 years of operation.

Can you try the hair dryer trick to get it to boot? Heat up the area around the ram before booting and see if it gets through, if so, then you’ll want to hunt around for a replacement logic board.

Also, a mention of the AirPort Extreme cards failing in another thread makes me think it is another thing to try removing to identify the fault. (If it exists).

Did your G5 pass the extensive ASD testing? It can take a few hours (depending on ram), but in the G5s, the test can usually reveal where the fault is.

 

[fusionflare]

They are (very) hot running machines with server grade CPUs running on consumer grade boards. It’s disappointing, but no surprise they are intermittently failing after 15 years of operation.

Can you try the hair dryer trick to get it to boot? Heat up the area around the ram before booting and see if it gets through, if so, then you’ll want to hunt around for a replacement logic board.

Also, a mention of the AirPort Extreme cards failing in another thread makes me think it is another thing to try removing to identify the fault. (If it exists).

Did your G5 pass the extensive ASD testing? It can take a few hours (depending on ram), but in the G5s, the test can usually reveal where the fault is.

When I try to use ASD it only lets me choose the hard ware test even thought there is an os test but that won’t work I’ve never tried the hair dryer method (I replaced the ram so maybe better results with that combination) and the only thing left that I can replace is the motherboard so hopefully one of these work
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Look its serial number up on EveryMac and tell us what model it is. I think the 2003 dual processor versions had some logic board problems.

It is a 2003 according to EveryMac and that’s what I’ve been told it was before and it does have 2 processors

 

[z970]

It is a 2003 according to EveryMac and that’s what I’ve been told it was before and it does have 2 processors

Right. That explains it.

It will likely need a new logic board. Whether or not you want to go through with that process is something you'll have to decide for yourself.

I tried swapping logic boards once on those G5's, and I couldn't finish it. Didn't have the tools, mainly, so don't wing it, and make sure you've got everything you need before you begin. Absolutely crucial.

 

[fusionflare]

Alright so I did the testing and my results for all 106 individual tests that I did 10 times was passed so I’m good with everything. So the only thing left is to now is change the logic board, which I’m assuming is the motherboard right?

 

[z970]

So the only thing left is to now is change the logic board, which I’m assuming is the motherboard right?

Yup. One and the same.

 

[fhturner]

Alright so I did the testing and my results for all 106 individual tests that I did 10 times was passed so I’m good with everything. So the only thing left is to now is change the logic board, which I’m assuming is the motherboard right?

Just curious...did you ever have any luck? I wondered if the GPU might be causing the crash. Sounded like it could have been when drivers were loading perhaps...

 

[havokalien]

cold solder joints at the memory and/or the chips on the reverse side of the board are known weak point failures. Intermittent problems. Lack of sufficient lead in the solder doesnt allow the flex the motherboard has heating up and cooling down after years of use, it just happens.

 

[SELLERTHINK]

I didn't see anyone mentioning resetting the PRAM and also replacing the battery. The battery especially can cause all kinds of problems on G5's.
Also holding the option key (if I recall correctly) will take you to the boot options screen, if you have you install discs or diagnostic disc in the drive you may be able to select and run it that way.
This post is a little old. So I'm putting it out there for anyone who is troubleshooting their G5, since I didn't see these mentioned.
My G5 won't boot when the battery is bad unless I manage to get it to boot while plugged in and don't unplug it. But even then, the battery will cause issues like the G5 restarting over and over instead of shutting down and other weird stuff. The G5 really wants a good battery.

 

[necreation]

Have you tried Command + v during the startup?
Check the message in the verbose mode to understand what's wrong.

When I bought the first 2 used Powermac G5 with dual CPU 2.0 GHz. One of it has the symptom of stuck to the white screen during boot. A bit of Googlefu brought me to this forum and found out that the GPU was the culprit. I took the other GPU from the working unit and pops it in. It works right away.

Since then I ordered for a Geforce 6800 Ultra in ebay. Works great ever since.

 

[SELLERTHINK]

Interesting, never heard of Command + V before, nor Verbose Mode. Good idea