Power Mac G3 draws power but won't boot, no chime. New battery was no help.

A new battery assures you that the PRAM can remember. But what it remembers may be junk.

Open the side door, find the tiny button nearest the battery, press and hold it for a quarter minute (avoid momentary presses). Then try to start again.

If no joy, press and HOLD these four keys on the keyboard:
Command Option P R
then press the button to power on, continue to hold the four keys until you have heard four sets of chimes, then release. This has been said to cause reluctant Blue & White G3s to start.

Let us know your results.

Hi,

I had more or less the same problem as Eric except that my G3 does chime. But nothing happens after that. (The screen goes to sleep). You can hear something working but after the chime-nothing.

I too put in a new battery and I tried pressing the little button-well, actually, there are 2 little buttons next to the battery and I wasn't sure which one of them I should press so I pressed both!

But still nothing. I can start it up and use it by doing the P-Ram thingy but I'm aware this obviously isn't a long term solution.

I'm a bit useless with computers so any suggestions on what I should do in layman's terms would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

i dont speak imac-

I don't think you get anywhere by holding down BOTH buttons at once, but you should be able to make progress by pressing-and-holding one button, then the other. If yours in an iMac rev A or B, or original 5-colors, this labeled map showing CUDA button may help:

http://macgurus.com/products/motherboards/mbppcimacorig.php

The reset to the PRAM with the keyboard:
With power off, hold down four keys:
Command Option p r
press the power key or power button
continue to hold down the four keys until you have heard the chimes four times.
The parameters should now be set to factory defaults.

These parameters are used before your Hard drive is accessed to make your Mac's startup pleasant and painless. When the PRAM backup battery goes dead, the parameters can easily get corrupted. If resetting the PRAM is needed more than once in a blue moon, you need a new PRAM Backup Battery.

These 3.6 volt non-recharging batteries, 1/2 the length of AA battery, will last three years or more in regular use. If your Mac is on a power strip that is switched off at night, battery life will be much shorter.

Although somewhat dated, this web site has some information on Mac batteries, and some international sources:

http://www.academ.com/info/macintosh/

Message was edited by: Grant Bennet-Alder