Donald Mckelvey
Level 1 (25 points)

Q: G5 startup light flashes 3 times then after a pause flashes 3 times etc.

I have a Power Mac G5 1.6 GHz which froze today. I had to shut it down by pressing and holding the startup button. Now when I try to restart it by pushing the startup button the light on the startup button flashes 3 times then after a short pause it flashes 3 times again and this repeats over and over. The chimes don't play and the screen doesn't light up. I tried pushing the Cuda/ PMU but that didn't help. Any suggestions?

Mac Mini (2nd Gen), Mac Pro (2 X 2.66 GHz), Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Aug 12, 2010 8:36 AM

by BDAqua,Solvedanswer
BDAqua BDAqua
Level 10 (123,790 points)
A:
Strange as it sounds, try heating the area around the RAM slots with a Hair Dryer for 3-5 minutes, see if it boots then.

Posted on Aug 12, 2010 3:22 PM

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Donald Mckelvey

Q: G5 startup light flashes 3 times then after a pause flashes 3 times etc.

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  • by mndrummerman,

    mndrummerman mndrummerman Oct 3, 2010 12:45 PM in response to Donald Mckelvey
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 3, 2010 12:45 PM in response to Donald Mckelvey
    FYI - Reseating the memory and moving them to the outer bays allowed my G5 to restart successfully!

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Oct 3, 2010 12:49 PM in response to mndrummerman
    Level 10 (123,790 points)
    Oct 3, 2010 12:49 PM in response to mndrummerman
    Hi mndrummerman, and a warm welcome to the forums!

    Thanks for the post/info!

  • by Bru-Hed,

    Bru-Hed Bru-Hed Oct 5, 2010 12:45 AM in response to Donald Mckelvey
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 5, 2010 12:45 AM in response to Donald Mckelvey
    Just wanted to THANK anyone and everyone who mentioned the hair dryer fix. Good lord, I couldn't believe it would work but it did. Unfortunately it proved to be only temporary.

    The machine lasted a couple hours before freezing, and then it got worse and worse...to the point where it would freeze up halfway through start-up!! Sitting on the floor aiming a too-hot-to-hold hair dryer at its guts for several minutes several times per day just got too annoying. (Once the hair dryer shut off because it got too hot--yet still not hot enough to start the G5!)

    I was able to keep it on long enough to order a new iMac, thankfully. But here's hoping this one lasts longer. The fact that Apple only lets me buy an extended warranty to three years speaks volumes about their confidence in their products. The fact that a crappy 1990 Chrysler or GM had a better warranty on its engines for FREE (with lots more moving parts, too) is a bit disturbing and just sad. (Can you imagine GM or Chrysler turning down your money for an extended warranty?) Even my 20-year-old VCR still works!

    But the point is, the fix helped for awhile and I can use it again when I transfer my old data to the new machine, and I wanted you all to know there are lots of folks out here who don't regularly post but appreciate your help--very, very much!!

    I wish I could reciprocate. I'm just an artist/writer/advertising guy, but if anyone needs help in those areas I'm happy to offer it!

    Best to you all, and may our new Macs last longer than our new cars!

    Best,
    Mike

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Oct 5, 2010 11:08 AM in response to Bru-Hed
    Level 10 (123,790 points)
    Oct 5, 2010 11:08 AM in response to Bru-Hed
    Hi Mike,

    I wish I could reciprocate...


    I think your post was/is helpful, thanks for posting.

    BTW, my 1979 Ford Van is still running, my 2007 iMac is dead.

  • by Bru-Hed,

    Bru-Hed Bru-Hed Oct 6, 2010 12:32 AM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 6, 2010 12:32 AM in response to BDAqua
    Thank you, BD! Glad to hear about the Ford, but not the iMac. At least the latter is cheaper to replace!


    Best,
    Mike

  • by Loretta Shigo,

    Loretta Shigo Loretta Shigo Nov 22, 2010 3:08 PM in response to Loretta Shigo
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Nov 22, 2010 3:08 PM in response to Loretta Shigo
    Thanks to all who replied to my "in the darkest hour of G5 woes" posts!

    I bought a new iMac and I am totally happy. There was too much wrong with the G5. I love to tinker and would have enjoyed scrounging parts, but I have too many other interests to spend my time on.

    I really appreciate this forum and all the helpful posts and enthusiasm from all. Thanks again !

    Now my WD external is making noise and I need to replace that. (sigh!)
    Any suggestions on an external HD that is bootable?

    Loretta

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Nov 22, 2010 3:22 PM in response to Loretta Shigo
    Level 10 (123,790 points)
    Nov 22, 2010 3:22 PM in response to Loretta Shigo
    Thanks for the report!


    Re: G5 startup light flashes 3 times then after a pause flashes 3 times etc.
    Posted: Nov 22, 2010 3:08 PM

    Thanks to all who replied to my "in the darkest hour of G5 woes" posts!

    I bought a new iMac and I am totally happy. There was too much wrong with the G5. I love to tinker and would have enjoyed scrounging parts, but I have too many other interests to spend my time on.

    I really appreciate this forum and all the helpful posts and enthusiasm from all. Thanks again !

    Now my WD external is making noise and I need to replace that. (sigh!)
    Any suggestions on an external HD that is bootable?

    Any of these...

    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ministack/

    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/usb/eliteclassic

    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATAFW800_FW400USB

    Get one with Firewire/800 for best speed.

  • by Donald Mckelvey,

    Donald Mckelvey Donald Mckelvey Dec 25, 2010 3:37 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Dec 25, 2010 3:37 PM in response to BDAqua
    In an earlier posting in this forum I described the demise of my G5 Power Mac. I later replaced it with a new but refurbished iMac. Now I am left with a beautiful but dead G5 Power Mac. Presumably it just needs a new motherboard but I'm not willing to take a chance on a used motherboard from e-bay. So what else might I do with this beautiful but dead machine? The power supply works, the fans work, the optical drive and the hard drive work, so I'm thinking that I should be able to build a new computer inside that case and use the existing power supply, fans and drives. Perhaps something based on the Intel i3 processor. I realize that I most likely would not be able to run a Mac OS on it but perhaps I could run Ubuntu. I suppose I'm being simple minded about this but let me ask if any of you have ever attempted anything like this?

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Dec 25, 2010 7:41 PM in response to Donald Mckelvey
    Level 10 (123,790 points)
    Dec 25, 2010 7:41 PM in response to Donald Mckelvey
    Anything is possible, but you'd need to machine the case & rewire the Power Supply, just for starters.

    There's plenty of room for a few Mac Minis inside, in fact just one would be faster than the G5... or sell it for parts.

  • by enriquerueda,

    enriquerueda enriquerueda Feb 15, 2011 10:21 AM in response to Donald Mckelvey
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 15, 2011 10:21 AM in response to Donald Mckelvey
    I did the hair dryer trick and my G5/DP2.0Ghz is working again. I am backing up in an external hard drive that I can plug into my laptop next time I have problems.
    What I did was to blow hot air to the area with the memory, I did not took the memory chips off. Just blow for about 4 minutes. Then I place everything back and it has been working for the past hour.
    Not to mention I try all other trick before, memory off, change memory sockets, unplug all other external devices, reset, clean dust, re-seat video card, pray for Steve Jobs, and finally hot air did it. But, I do not trust this old lady anymore. What should I get?

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Feb 15, 2011 11:02 AM in response to enriquerueda
    Level 10 (123,790 points)
    Feb 15, 2011 11:02 AM in response to enriquerueda
    Thanks for the report!

    What should I get?


    Depends on your budget, but I'd suggest a new iMac, (which is way faster than our G5s), or a used/older Mac Po, which looks much like a G5 btw.

  • by amirmano,

    amirmano amirmano Sep 13, 2011 7:31 AM in response to Donald Mckelvey
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 13, 2011 7:31 AM in response to Donald Mckelvey

    PROBLEMS: 3 blinking white light, no initial apple tone, black screen

     

    HARDWARE=POWERPC G5 2.7 GHZ 8GB RAM, started w 3 blinking white light, after 5 years of flawless performance

    WHAT DIDNT WORK=changing cmos batter, resetting SMU switch,switching video card

    WHAT WORKED=took all RAMs out (they are after market rams...), cleaned the ram slots with pressurized air very well till it had icefrost on it, followed by immediate hot blower to dry everything, then slightly buffed the golden tips of RAMs, then hot blower to RAM slots, then reinstalled the RAM and since working very well

     

    drmirman

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Sep 13, 2011 9:42 AM in response to amirmano
    Level 10 (123,790 points)
    Sep 13, 2011 9:42 AM in response to amirmano

    Great to hear, thanks for the report!

  • by Orleapon,

    Orleapon Orleapon Jan 23, 2013 7:46 AM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 23, 2013 7:46 AM in response to BDAqua

    This just saved me, thank you so much ^^

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