restoring my late 2005 quad core G5!

[Eucoila]

Hello, and thanks ahead of time for letting me join this group.

I have a late 2005 quad core G5 I took delivery of in the summer of 2006. I took it offline some 6 years ago, replaced by other Macs in my lab. I want to bring it back to use at home now.

On startup, after chime, I get no signal on the screen, and it goes immediately into overhear mode. Here's what I have done to address this, to no avail:

1) disassembled everything but motherboard, and cleaned thoroughly (including power supply, it was the dirtiest)
2) clean RAM chips and slots
3) replace PRAM battery
4) verified air dam sensor was in place and functioning.

While I had the processors out, and heat sink, I could not see any visible evidence of leaking; hoses look fine and supple, and pump is running (single pump).\

Attached are images of the LED's I get on startup....

Any help would be appreciated, esp links to previous threads!

Matt

 

[netsrot39]

Hello,
I'm not familiar with the Quad per se but I do own 3 Dual Core 2005 G5s. I think there might be a problem with your CPU(s). I'd try reseating the processor cards and check if all screws are tightened good enough (really make sure ALL screws are tightened). If the problem persists try one CPU at a time (i. e. booting up with only one processor installed). Proceed similarly with memory. Try 2 sticks at a time to rule out possible culprits (If I recall correctly memory has to be installed beginning with the inner slots).

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

On a separate note from troubleshooting, since you mentioned how dirty the machine was, before you put everything back together, pull the logic board out and clean/repaste the north bridge heatsink.

A little-known fact about the Power Mac G5 and what to do with this information - The House of Moth

We take a look at a fairly unknown design feature of the Power Mac G5 and explain how this knowledge can come in handy when troubleshooting system issues.

thehouseofmoth.com

 

[netsrot39]

On a separate note from troubleshooting, since you mentioned how dirty the machine was, before you put everything back together, pull the logic board out and clean/repaste the north bridge heatsink.

A little-known fact about the Power Mac G5 and what to do with this information - The House of Moth

We take a look at a fairly unknown design feature of the Power Mac G5 and explain how this knowledge can come in handy when troubleshooting system issues.

thehouseofmoth.com

I wouldn't try this if you do not have spare plastic clips however since they will break when you attempt to remove the heatsink. I recently restored 2x A1177s G5s and I also encountered issues when reassembling then but in my case it always was the CPU. I have the habit of testing everything before I put it together entirely and so I only put back a couple of screws to test if the CPU works. Luckily, after some trial and error, I came to the conclusion that all screws have to be put back and fastened in order for the CPU to make proper contact and work (I almost wrote the CPU card off ?). Personally I skipped the repasting stuff (except the CPU) and my G5 temps look fine but I made sure to check if the hidden Delta fan (in the media bay area) works.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

I wouldn't try this if you do not have spare plastic clips however since they will break when you attempt to remove the heatsink. I recently restored 2x A1177s G5s and I also encountered issues when reassembling then but in my case it always was the CPU. I have the habit of testing everything before I put it together entirely and so I only put back a couple of screws to test if the CPU works. Luckily, after some trial and error, I came to the conclusion that all screws have to be put back and fastened in order for the CPU to make proper contact and work (I almost wrote the CPU card off ?). Personally I skipped the repasting stuff (except the CPU) and my G5 temps look fine but I made sure to check if the hidden Delta fan (in the media bay area) works.

At a minimum, considering the dust the OP spoke to, it makes sense to clean out any dust build up on the NB heatsink fins. It is not much more work and to proceed pretending that the NB heat sink assembly does not accumulate dust when you have cleaned the remaining machine because of a concern of dust build up makes little sense to me. OP needs to be aware of this aspect of the machine design as his earlier post does not make this clear that he does.

I agree that the plastics are brittle at this point, so repasting the NB without having new snap rivets should not be done.