Members Geoff Grace Posted October 18, 2008 Members Share Posted October 18, 2008 My G5 has a problem that I've never encountered before, and I'm hoping that one of the computer experts we have here can help me figure it out. The problem first began a little over a week ago. I tried to restart my G5; but after I heard the startup chime, my Mac wouldn't boot up. The monitor screen stayed black; and after a few minutes, the computer's fan began to ratchet up. I decided to press and hold the startup button on the face of the tower to turn my Mac off. Then, I pressed the same button again to turn it back on; and it booted up fine. A few days went by, and everything was normal. Then, the same thing happened again upon restart, except that this time, powering the computer down and then up again manually didn't return the computer to a normal state. I repeated the process several times without luck, so I began to troubleshoot. It occurred to me that the problem could be the monitor, since I could hear the startup chime and the fan. I waited several minutes to give the computer time to boot, and then I entered the key combination I use to open iTunes. I waited another minute or so to give iTunes more than enough time to boot and I hit the space bar to play. No sound. Next, I tried restarting manually with the Shift key depressed to boot up in Safe Mode. No luck. The screen remained black and the computer remained unresponsive. Then, I tried holding Command-S during restart to bring up the Terminal in Single-user mode. Again, no luck. After that, I tried hitting the eject button to use my Disk Warrior or Tech Tool Pro disks to troubleshoot, but pressing the eject button failed to open the tray, so I couldn't insert either disk. Lastly, I tried hooking up an external boot drive to see if the computer would restart using another drive. No luck. With each troubleshooting attempt, I heard the startup chime, the screen remained black, the fan began to blow harder as the computer remained on for a few minutes, and my Mac failed to respond to any input commands. I was in the middle of a project, so I decided to give up and use my G4 to make music. Then yesterday, I decided to try powering up my G5 again; and it booted up fine. Now, I'm scared to turn the thing off or restart because I don't know if I'll be able to access it again. However, if I'm going to use my G5 to make music, I've got to restart in order to access the SCSI drives I record my audio on. So what gives? Does anyone here have any idea what's going on? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted October 18, 2008 Members Share Posted October 18, 2008 Geeez Geoff. None of that sounds very promising. Could it just be the graphics card? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted October 18, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 18, 2008 Anything's possible, but it seems to me that a bad graphics card wouldn't prevent iTunes from playing or the eject button on my Mac's keyboard from working. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kalab Posted October 18, 2008 Members Share Posted October 18, 2008 Agree on the Video Card. Perhaps it needs to be reseated. Maybe remove any other PCI cards (SCSI?) and see if they are the problem. I recently had a Mac Pro vid card die on me. Other suggestions: Try zapping the p-ram. Start up the G5 then immediately hold Command-Option-P-R keys. Keep holding them till you hear it chime 2 more times. You could also target the G5 HD through the G4 and then do some maintenance to the G5 HD. Turn of both Macs, then connect them with a firewire cable. Turn on the G4. After G4 is running turn on G5 but hold the T key on the G5 till its HD mounts on the G4. The G4 will see it as an external FW drive and not a system drive. Then you could try TechTool/Disc Warrior. Sadly when I got my G5 years ago it soon experienced a similar problem and Apple had to replace a faulty component on the motherboard. I had AppleCare so it was covered. It was a long time ago and details are very fuzzy in my memory. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted October 18, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 18, 2008 kalab, thanks for your troubleshooting suggestions. Since all of them turning off or restarting the G5, I'm going to wait to try them until I'm ready to chance the G5 failing to restart again. I used to routinely zap the P-RAM during OS 9 days, but I don't know if I've ever done it under OS X. I've certainly wondered if there's a faulty component on the motherboard. My AppleCare has long expired, but I may have to resort to taking the G5 into the Apple Store anyway... Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted October 18, 2008 Members Share Posted October 18, 2008 Geoff, do you have everything backed up regardless, just in case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted October 18, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 18, 2008 I actually had just finished backing up the G5 when it stopped working. That's the silver lining. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 18, 2008 Members Share Posted October 18, 2008 I am definitely no computer expert. When this occurred with my G4 a while back, it ultimately was because I had an improper setting on my replacement CPU from OWC (they had it on the wrong setting from what they stated it was when it shipped; they shipped three CPUs in a row with the wrong setting to me). I initially discovered this because I put in the old original CPU and the computer worked perfectly fine, leading me to think that the three OWC CPUs that weren't working properly were the problem. So I mention this because these were the same symptoms that I experienced with my G4. Perhaps there's some easy way to test whether it is this or not but replacing it with the original or somehow otherwise testing for this? This might not help now because this involves turning off the computer, but maybe it's something to think about? These problems - especially when they start off as intermittent ones - are so aggravating, especially when you rely on that thing for your livelihood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted October 18, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 18, 2008 Thanks, Ken. My G5 has the same CPU it shipped with. My only add-ons have been an extra hard drive, more RAM, and a PCI card for my SCSI drives and those have been installed for years. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the stranger Posted October 19, 2008 Members Share Posted October 19, 2008 Did you try kicking it, or slapping it real hard on the side? Always worked with analog equipment. There you go, another reason to use analog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 19, 2008 Members Share Posted October 19, 2008 Hmmmm....well, I hope you can figure it out soon. I know you have a computer care regimen that's quite good, so I'm not sure what this would be then, unless the CPU is indeed faulty now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Magpel Posted October 19, 2008 Members Share Posted October 19, 2008 Ugh, sorry Geoff. Hope your back up and running quickly and inexpensively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 19, 2008 Members Share Posted October 19, 2008 Did you try kicking it, or slapping it real hard on the side? Always worked with analog equipment. There you go, another reason to use analog. I have a 15 year old Mac at work - one of those old ones that people turn into fish tanks - and it buzzes occasionally. A solid slap and it goes away for a while. I hope you get your computer fixed up easily, Geoff!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted October 19, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 19, 2008 Thanks, guys. Did you try kicking it, or slapping it real hard on the side? stranger, remind me not to get on your bad side! Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cooterbrown Posted October 19, 2008 Members Share Posted October 19, 2008 A Mac with problems? Say it ain't so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scud133 Posted October 19, 2008 Members Share Posted October 19, 2008 Check the power cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dreabfly Posted October 21, 2008 Members Share Posted October 21, 2008 Hey Geoff, None of that sounds good. I've never had the black screen problem, but I have had plenty of endless cycling. I would suggest the following: Onyx - I know there are a lot of disk cleanup tools out there, but I use this one because film editors swear by it and since I've started using it, I've noticed significant performance improvement on my system. Check it out: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/11582 Sometimes a clean install is the only way to go when you are up against this wall. The fan in perpetual work mode makes me think it could be a disk problem - that has happened to me before. I know it's a total pain - but have you tried either a total disk image recovery or a clean install? Cheers! Andrea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted October 21, 2008 Members Share Posted October 21, 2008 I'm curious to hear what happens after you try Kalab's advice. Those sound like totally appropriate actions to take. My gut says "hardware" and "power supply" because that's the one element that has to deal with large amounts of power on a system-wide basis. Also, a power supply has multiple leads and voltages. If one of the rails dies, the computer can seem to work but then certain critical components aren't getting the voltage they want. Virtually all hardware problems I've experienced with Windows machines have been power supply-related. All Mac problems I've experienced have traced back to the motherboard. If it is the motherboard, replacing one isn't that big a deal as long as you take notes on how to put it all back together again. Good luck Geoff! And I bet you're really glad you back up your data!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted October 28, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 28, 2008 Good luck Geoff! And I bet you're really glad you back up your data!! Yes, I am. Thanks, Craig. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted October 28, 2008 Author Members Share Posted October 28, 2008 Sometimes a clean install is the only way to go when you are up against this wall. The fan in perpetual work mode makes me think it could be a disk problem - that has happened to me before. I know it's a total pain - but have you tried either a total disk image recovery or a clean install? I haven't because I can't access the disk. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 28, 2008 Members Share Posted October 28, 2008 Do you have a good tech guy to go to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tremolounge Posted October 28, 2008 Members Share Posted October 28, 2008 I've had similar things happen in the past (long ago), and it turned out to be the little backup battery on the motherboard. But it doesn't seem like a G5 would be old enough to need a new battery. Still, it would be a cheap fix to try; you can get a battery at Radio Shack or BestBuy (it should be in a holder next to the PCI slots). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted October 28, 2008 Members Share Posted October 28, 2008 I think the battery is only about $4 and easy to replace. That was something that someone suggested when I was experiencing similar problems that I mentioned on the first place in this thread. It didn't end up being the case, but it's always worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geoff Grace Posted November 1, 2008 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2008 Update: I took my G5 to the Genius Bar at my nearest Apple Store. The guy I saw there was able to rule out the power supply and the video card. He said it was either the logic board or one of the processors. Either way, it would cost as much, if not more, to repair my Mac as to buy a refurbished G5. I'm still weighing my options, but I'm leaning toward buying a new Power Mac. I don't think I want to invest $1,000 or more in old technology. Best, Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted November 1, 2008 Members Share Posted November 1, 2008 If it's as simple as replacing a processor or logic board and it's relatively cheap, you could do that. If it costs $1000 or more to actually fix it then, yeah, I'd strongly consider a new computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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