I just got a Power Mac G5 original with dual 2 GHz processors. The light on the front flashes what does this mean?
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SOLVED!!!! Just got a new dual processor 2 GHz G5, what does this mean?
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Try removing the PRAM battery while the machine is unplugged for 5 mins, that will also reset the PMU. If it's still happening try swapping around the memory and/or replace with known good sticks (also see if the code changes when NO memory is installed). Last resort would be to re-seat the CPU's.
One flash indicates no RAM detected, or no usable RAM detected.
Open it up and inspect where the RAM sticks live (toward the front, down at the bottom, behind the easily removable grey plastic dual fan assembly). There should be at least two sticks of the same capacity seated in slots opposite one another.
For example, for an 8-slot G5:
X -
- X
- -
- -
…or… …and so on (but I tend to add in sticks from the outside slots before adding more sticks inward, as habit)
- -
- -
- X
X -
…where “X" is a stick of RAM.
If the seller took those out, then yeah, you’re not going to get far.
all eight slots were filled with these 😬
Attachments
There might be damage on the logic board preventing booting, that stick looks like it has some nasty corrosion. Snap some pics of the logic board around the memory slots.
Looking at your logic board photo there is certainly some corrosion damage, most likely from a leaking liquid cooler.
Try pressing on the "grid" area immediately to the right of the part number sticker in your picture from post 10. Press firmly and keep pressing while attempting to power up the system. Ensure you have memory installed. Report your results.
Memory slots in those PM G5 are numbered from the center out.
You said you tried one pair in the "2" slots, but your picture shows a pair in the "4" slots.
Try a pair in the "1" slots, which should be the best placement for just a single pair.
Do you get a boot chime? Do you get a boot chime when you try a PRAM reset?
Have you tried reseating the graphics card?
Do all the fans spin when you try to boot? Do they continue to spin faster when you wait for a minute or two?
You said you tried one pair in the "2" slots, but your picture shows a pair in the "4" slots.
Try a pair in the "1" slots, which should be the best placement for just a single pair.
Do you get a boot chime? Do you get a boot chime when you try a PRAM reset?
Have you tried reseating the graphics card?
Do all the fans spin when you try to boot? Do they continue to spin faster when you wait for a minute or two?
Yah, something traumatic (for a computer) occurred at some point in this G5’s life. One shouldn’t be seeing that kind of moisture-based corrosion on any of those areas, no matter how old the system is (I have basically the same system as you do, a mid-2004 2.0 DP unit).
The next step might not be one you’re gonna enjoy very much, but you probably need to set aside an idle weekend day to tear this system down, with help from iFixit, to inspect the backside of the main board. (Also, while you’re at it, take out the PSU and inspect the internals of that, given how the top lid of it is festooned with rust.)
There’s a chance a full inspection might pinpoint why you’re having troubles here. There is a very real possibility that the backside of the board, where quite a bit lives (like the memory controller and its heatsink, as well as ducting channels), will give you a sense of how that moisture damage affected the main board. (I’m also starting to wonder whether that particularly corroded RAM stick was pulled out from the bottom-most RAM slot, which would support the hypothesis that this G5 was, at the very least, exposed to extreme moisture for a time — such as a high humidity room or even brief exposure to a flooded space.
I’m thinking that only once you’re able to inspect all of the areas which are situated in that zone where you already see metal corrosion will you be able to get a better sense whether a thorough clean-out — up to something as intense as 99 per cent isopropyl alcohol and an old, soft toothbrush — is in order, or whether the system is salvageable. As it is, there is a risk that board solder points you can’t see from your vantage (since they’re on the backside) might have failed from moisture exposure.
The next step might not be one you’re gonna enjoy very much, but you probably need to set aside an idle weekend day to tear this system down, with help from iFixit, to inspect the backside of the main board. (Also, while you’re at it, take out the PSU and inspect the internals of that, given how the top lid of it is festooned with rust.)
There’s a chance a full inspection might pinpoint why you’re having troubles here. There is a very real possibility that the backside of the board, where quite a bit lives (like the memory controller and its heatsink, as well as ducting channels), will give you a sense of how that moisture damage affected the main board. (I’m also starting to wonder whether that particularly corroded RAM stick was pulled out from the bottom-most RAM slot, which would support the hypothesis that this G5 was, at the very least, exposed to extreme moisture for a time — such as a high humidity room or even brief exposure to a flooded space.
I’m thinking that only once you’re able to inspect all of the areas which are situated in that zone where you already see metal corrosion will you be able to get a better sense whether a thorough clean-out — up to something as intense as 99 per cent isopropyl alcohol and an old, soft toothbrush — is in order, or whether the system is salvageable. As it is, there is a risk that board solder points you can’t see from your vantage (since they’re on the backside) might have failed from moisture exposure.
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I moved the ram sticks, I also can’t use it in the ones slots because one of the one slots has corrosion. I did not try a PRAM Reset. The fans do spin up and they continue to spin faster.
Which opposing slots are filled shouldn’t matter to the G5, just so long as the pair of sticks share the same specs/capacity and are seated in their opposing slots. As it is, though, for @Apple Fan 2008 ’s G5, using the centre-most RAM slots is probably advised, given the known moisture damage we’re seeing here on what I’m surmising is probable moisture damage around the lowest slot(s).
Yup - first thought I had when I saw that picture - that machine’s been in a flood. Given how bad the RAM sticks are and one of the slots is too corroded to get a stick back into… I’m sorry mate but it’s a goner. You’ll spend more money and time trying to resurrect that one than just looking for another on eBay, Craigslist or gumtree. ☹️
Well, for now I’ll try a toothbrush and alcohol. Considering the brown residue on the computer looks like it was a cup of coffee. I refer to stuff on the case not the rust.
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Frankly, if you‘re serious about cleaning this whole thing, inside and out, I would consider finding a rubbermaid-style tub, like the kind one might slide beneath a bed, large enough to set flat the whole main board, and fill it with enough 99 per cent isopropyl alcohol to cover both sides of the main board. Cover it with a lid to prevent rapid evaporation. Let the board soak, at a minimum, overnight — or maybe a couple of days. When you take it out, while it’s still wet, use that soft toothbrush, also wet with alcohol, to gently clean away all visible corrosion. The alcohol, ideally should loosen corrosion.
After you’re done, let it dry (maybe another overnight). Then, under bright light and, if you have one handy, a magnifying glass, inspect all the areas which showed corrosion from whatever the water source was (coffee, flooded basement, a Florida/Indonesia/etc. storage locker, or whatever it was). Look for degraded/cracked solder.
If all looks good, inspect the inside of the PSU to make sure no capacitors have leaked or other evidence of lquid damage affected the components within. If all looks good inside there, close it up. Then, reapply fresh thermal paste to the memory controller on the main board backside. Take apart the CPU/heatsink/daughtercard assemblies for each CPU. Inspect those for any moisture damage. If all looks good, reapply thermal paste to those and reassemble.
Finally, reassemble your G5. Avoid the RAM slots which were corroded; assume they’re unrecoverable.
If all goes well, your system might POST successfully. But I’m sort of with @SecretSquirrel here: the past liquid damage has likely doomed your main board. Go into the above expecting this to not help and that you can’t really make it worse than it already is, so if it actually does work, you‘ll be surprised in a pleasant way.
