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Thanks Onre. Sorry for some blurriness, I think you should be able to make out what it reads.
 

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Wouldn't this suggest that the hard disk is just dead? If it were a logical problem with the data on hard disk, you would get further, I think.
 
Well, Disk Utilty via target disk mode found no problem with the HD. And I can't boot DVDs either.
(Can't use Diskwarrior for now, see above)
I may get a cheap IMac G5 soon and see what I can do.
 
This is really weird, I have to admit. Can you boot any DVD - say, an install disc?
 
Leopard install and Diskwarrior are the only bootable DVDs I have and they won't boot. Maybe they could both be damaged, dunno.
 
That's why we suspect the SATA controller on the LB.
This is more or less my best guess as well, but wouldn't target disk mode use the controller too? That's what puts this in the "really weird" category for me.
 
This is more or less my best guess as well, but wouldn't target disk mode use the controller too? That's what puts this in the "really weird" category for me.
I see. Yeah, kind of weird. I suspect that a PCI-SATA card might solve this, but who knows.
 
What's LB? I thought SATA was only about hard drives, not DVDs.
And I wonder why the HD didn't show via the USB controller so I could have tried a boot. Could it stii be about the PCI-SATA card? I guess that don't explain the DVDs...
 
What's LB? I thought SATA was only about hard drives, not DVDs.
And I wonder why the HD didn't show via the USB controller so I could have tried a boot. Could it stii be about the PCI-SATA card? I guess that don't explain the DVDs...
LB = Logicboard. Or motherboard if you prefer.

The SATA controller is a chip on the logicboard (motherboard). It controls the drives. I've suggested a PCI-SATA card because that would bypass the SATA controller and if it works then it would indicate that the SATA controller (the chip on the logicboard) is damaged.
 
Yes.

Can you confirm if I should be able to use the same HD on an iMac G5? (Provided it's intact of course)
The iMac G5 uses a SATA connector, so yes. Should be a straight swap. The many, many, many files that OS X installs means that it would identify the model as an iMac G5 and load the appropriate system files for that.

In other words - it should boot.
 
Got the iMac, installed Leopard, ran Diskwarrior in target mode on the old HD. Nothing wrong with the HD of course. And as I guessed, it still didn't boot. Tomorrow I intend to move it into the iMac.
I'll probably try to get a PCI/SATA card for the old G5 so I can try that. What would be the compatibility spex..? Could I get a suitable one new..?

(Correction: When I earlier said "And I wonder why the HD didn't show via the USB controller so I could have tried a boot", I meant USB adapter, not controller of course.)
 
OK. Googled again... I can see the PCI SATA card would cost more than another PowerMac G5. So, will start looking for another G5... or maybe it's time to go Intel. (Btw, my father backed off a bit on his promise of a new Mac for my birthday, after I hesitated about my ability to update from PPC to whatever they are now... we'll have to figure it out... I might start another thread...)
Anyway, moved my old HD into the Imac. And yes, it works fine. Only the Imac is painfully slow, with freezes etc... It has 2 x 512 MB RAM sticks. I read the maximum is 2 x 1GB, specified as "1GB 400MHz PC3200 DDR SDRAM DIMMs". Now, I have lots of leftover RAM sticks, including 2 of 1GB that read "D2864400MP DDR 400MHz/PC3200 1GB". Sounds similar... I'm just wondering because for instance I remember getting RAM sticks specifically made for PowerMac G5... and also, some of the sticks I have might be faulty but I don't know which. Could those cause damage or would they just prevent booting or something..? Thought I might ask before I put them in.
 
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