martijnsnoek

Q: Powermac G5 1.8Ghz June 2004 won't boot anymore

Hi all,

Past week i've bought a second hand PM G5. At first it seems to be all ok, but right now its not working anymore.

I've managed to install the OSX on the first evening i've had the PM G5. After installing evrything seemed to be fine. But after 30 minutes surfing on the internet, it froze. I had to give it an hard reset by holding down the power button.

After turning it of, it won't boot anymore. after a few times trying with 10 secconds between it, i unpluged the powercabel for 2 minutes. Wile turning it on after 2 minutes, it was booting , but it stopped booting after 1,5 minute and froze.. after hard resetting it, i've managed to boot it right. The OS seemed to be ok again, but after 5 till 10 minutes it froze again.

Right now it won't boot anymore... it starts (without the front light, this light only blinks fast once i turn it on, but after that no more. Sometimes it won''t even flash.


I've been buzzy replacing some components to get to know if it was a hardware fail. I've first replaced the PSU with two other PSU's from the PM G5, but won't do a thing.
The i've replaced the memory with 4 kind of difrent pairs, but won't do a thing either. At last i replaced the Logic Board, this won't even do a thing about it.

Of course i replaced the PRAM battery first, but also this won't help me.

I've tested it in AHT, but evrything was working well, according to AHT. I've managed to get the system log, but nothing scarry though here also, only some 122 errors some times. (download the system log here: http://www.mijnbestand.nl/Bestand-F4DDN66WLRCI.log )

I've reset al things possible like PRAM reset, PMU reset. Nothing seem to be working.

What can i do next to get this thing work?? I'm getting nut's here..

Please help..

Thanks a Lot

MArtijn Snoek

Macbook Pro/ Powermac G5, Mac OS X (10.6.6), 1.8 GHZ DP 8GB memory

Posted on Mar 3, 2011 12:51 PM

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Q: Powermac G5 1.8Ghz June 2004 won't boot anymore

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  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Mar 3, 2011 1:05 PM in response to martijnsnoek
    Level 10 (123,735 points)
    Mar 3, 2011 1:05 PM in response to martijnsnoek
    Hi martijnsnoek, and a warm welcome to the forums!

    Can you count the beeps or flashes?

    1 beep = no RAM installed
    2 beeps = incompatible RAM types
    3 beeps = no good banks
    4 beeps = no good boot images in the boot ROM (and/or bad sys config block)
    5 beeps = processor is not usable

    In addition to the beeps, on some computers the power LED will flash a corresponding number of times plus one. The LED will repeat the sequence after approximately a 5-second pause. The tones are only played once.

    Note: In this case, a flash is considered to be 1/4 second or 250 ms or greater in length.

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1547

    So, with the info you given, two things come to mind...

    Bad solder joints around the RAM slots, try heating that area with a Hair Dryer for 3 to 5 minutes, then see if it starts.

    If you can get it running, Get Temperature Monitor to see if it's heat related...

    http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12381/temperature-monitor

    And/or iStat Pro...

    http://www.islayer.com/apps/istatpro/

    If you have any temps in the 70°C/160°F range, that's likely it.

    BTW, have you blown the dust out of it since you got it?
  • by martijnsnoek,

    martijnsnoek martijnsnoek Mar 4, 2011 3:19 AM in response to martijnsnoek
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 4, 2011 3:19 AM in response to martijnsnoek
    Hi there,

    Thanks for the tip. The thing with the hair dryer works strangely enough. But if the system is on for about 2 a 2,5 hours. It's frozen again and got blowing with the fans really fast!

    When i woke up this morning it was like there was a plane starting of in my room.
    I've turned of the G5, and tryed to start it up again, it started but immediately froze.., also with the clock.

    after that i couldn't get it boot from then. I got the hair dryer again an got it on the memory modules for about 1,5 minutes. After this tryed to start it again. It started like normal...

    So could it be something with the heath?
  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Mar 4, 2011 10:17 AM in response to martijnsnoek
    Level 10 (123,735 points)
    Mar 4, 2011 10:17 AM in response to martijnsnoek
    The G5s were one of the 1st computers to use lead-free solder, and the solder tends to lose contact from expansion & cooling, for a few that Hair Dryer has been a permanent cure, for others just temporary.

    I think I'd try the Hair Dryer for a longer period, hoping to reflow the solder.
  • by martijnsnoek,

    martijnsnoek martijnsnoek Mar 6, 2011 6:24 AM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 6, 2011 6:24 AM in response to BDAqua
    Hi There,

    Thanks for your reply. I have an technican witch can solder SMD. He will give the memory chip new solder trents, so it won't fail anymore. The rest of the system runs fine.

    Thanks a lot for your reply.
  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Mar 6, 2011 10:48 AM in response to martijnsnoek
    Level 10 (123,735 points)
    Mar 6, 2011 10:48 AM in response to martijnsnoek
    Great, let us know if it works please.
  • by Rekrab,

    Rekrab Rekrab Mar 13, 2011 8:22 AM in response to martijnsnoek
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Mar 13, 2011 8:22 AM in response to martijnsnoek
    I'm having very similar issues with my G5. Surprisingly the hair dryer worked for me as well. We'll see how long it lasts.
  • by Rekrab,

    Rekrab Rekrab Mar 13, 2011 11:18 AM in response to Rekrab
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Mar 13, 2011 11:18 AM in response to Rekrab
    Rekrab wrote:
    I'm having very similar issues with my G5. Surprisingly the hair dryer worked for me as well. We'll see how long it lasts.


    Update: No luck. It lasted about 15mins and froze. Tried to start it back up again and was unable to get past the Apple logo screen & fans kicked in full force.
  • by Leon Buijs,

    Leon Buijs Leon Buijs Jul 15, 2013 1:43 AM in response to martijnsnoek
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 15, 2013 1:43 AM in response to martijnsnoek

    Hi Martijn,

     

    I'm have the same problem. How did it your fix work out, did new solder trents help or not? If so, what parts exactly dit you re-solder?