Q: My Mac freezes after I moved it.
I moved my office to a new location, and one of my computers is a Mac G5, running OS 10.4.11. It's an editing computer, with FCP 6 and a 2.5tb Xserve raid.
This Mac powered right up, and looked normal, but it's frozen. The mouse pointer is stuck in the upper left corner, and nothing happens after it boots up. It sees the Xraid, but it's frozen whether the Xraid is on or not. I can't get it to open the cd drawer to boot off the install disc, or anything else. Help!
Dual 2gig G5, 4 gig RAM, Mac OS X (10.4.11), FCP 6 QT 7.1.4
Posted on Aug 30, 2016 5:30 PM
Since you just moved the iMac (and assuming nothing else changed on the iMac), one thing different is the way (and where) it is connected to power. Check how it is now connected to power. If it's plugged into a power strip (surge suppressor), and there are many other peripherals (like that Xserve, a collection of power adapters, a printer, etc.) connected to the same power strip, the iMac may not be drawing enough power to operate reliably. Try connecting the iMac to a separate wall outlet, or to another power strip with fewer items (and not the Xserve), to see if that makes a difference.
Another possibility, since this is an older iMac, is the PRAM battery (if it's never been changed). It may have been weak but still (barely) working at the old location. But when you unplugged it (for moving), the PRAM battery, which provides power to hold some of the Mac's key settings when disconnected from power, drained completely. A dead (or weak) PRAM battery can cause startup issues, like what you describe. You can try doing the Reset PRAM ("NVRAM") procedure to see if it makes a difference, and at least gets the iMac to complete startup.
Posted on Aug 30, 2016 10:44 PM