User profile for user: bman0408
bman0408 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Powermac g4 sawtooth 3 beeps HELP!!!!

ok guys i need your help on this one... just bought a g4 it wont start and ive never done this before...

i just bought off craigslist what i believe to be a powermac g4 sawtooth 450 mhz.. after opening it, it appears to have a 20gig hd and two (factory installed??) 256mb ram dimms and two 128mb dimms. no airport. the problem im having is i go to boot it and get the infamous three beeps. no flashing light on the power led its just solid like it would if the computer were working... i attempted to remove the ram and try them each one by one but none worked.. then i removed the processor and reattached it without the large metal plate that mounts on top of it.. when i did this the computer started to turn on but nothing booted and no signal was sent to the monitor... replaced the metal plate and it went back to the three beeps at startup...

at this point im guessing the problem is a bad processor so i am attempting to bid on one on ebay that i was going to get anyways.. im bidding on a sonnet encore st g4 1ghz to replace it with.. if anyone knows what the problem is and if i am doing any of this correctly please let me know... thanks

Powermac g4 Sawtooth, Mac OS X (10.3.x)

Posted on Mar 8, 2008 10:53 AM

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16 replies
User profile for user: Texas Mac Man
Texas Mac Man
User level: Level 8
46,869 points

Mar 8, 2008 12:06 PM in response to bman0408

bman, welcome to Apple Discussions.

Didn't you observe the Mac operating before you bought it?

What OS is installed?

Just install one of the RAM modules while you are troubleshooting. Make sure it is fully seated in the connector.

Here's the info *Power On Self-Test Beep Definition*
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58442

3 beeps = no good banks

I couldn't find the definition of "no good banks". But I believe it's related to RAM.

Some things to try.

1. Since the Mac may have been unplugged from AC power for a while, the internal memory battery may be weak & needs replacement. (not the cause of the beeps)
2. Zap PRAM
3. If that doesn't work, reset the PMU.

See Mac PRAM, NVRAM, CUDA/PMU & Battery Tutorial

 Cheers, Tom 😉
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User profile for user: bman0408
bman0408 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Mar 8, 2008 12:18 PM in response to Texas Mac Man

yeah i tried those same things you suggested and still no luck... the screen doesnt load at all so i cant see if it is attempting to boot the few times i have heard it make the proper startup chime and then lately its just back to the three beeps the whole time... and yes i knew it was busted before i bought it, i only paid 40 bucks and i wanted to try to fix it...
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User profile for user: Billydelp4
Billydelp4
User level: Level 1
140 points

Mar 21, 2008 5:47 PM in response to japamac

HI

i know im jumping in this late but I saw that you wre bidding on a sonnet processor on ebay.

i hope you didnt win because you will need to have the machine running to install firmware updates and software before the g4 will even recognize the processor 🙂. I'm sure you know this but in case you didn't i thought i would toss it out just in case.

and I do believe sonnet would be a good choice for a new processor, they have excellent phone service and helped me out a good bit all the while with good attitudes.

hope you get this thing running! it's a lot of fun making it better yourself. and you learn a lot too.

Billy
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User profile for user: bman0408
bman0408 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Apr 1, 2008 5:29 PM in response to Billydelp4

hey guys.. figured i owed an update... the problem was a bad logic board... got one for $30 off ebay and were up and running with a 450 mhz g4.. 1 gig of ram, and the ati 9000 pro... it had os9.2 on it but when i booted it the previous owner, user "daddy" required a password to login, so i just said screw it and installed os.10.4 without worrying about what was on it... it works pretty well actually for a 9 year old computer with the original processor and 20gig hdd.. i decided to go ahead and replace everything in it now... so i have a few more questions... i went ahead and got a 1.0ghz sonnet g4 upgrade for the processor. (will that be fast enough to run leopard well?????) i also ordered a 160GB Hitachi/IBM DeskStar 7K160 ATA/6 7200RPM to replace the 20gig.. thinkin of keepin the 20gig as a time machine drive.... then i went ahead and got the ATI Technologies RADEON 9200 128MB MacEdition graphics card... those three have not arrived yet.. im hoping those will be enough to run leopard smoothly...?? finally i want to add a pci usb2.0 card and a pci wirless g card because airport is too freakin expensive to justify... also plannin on getting a dvd burner to replace the old dvd ram drive... any suggestions on that one?? something reletavely inexpensive... i have a new imac i dont need anything too fancy for this g4... now with all those new things will the original power supply be sufficent or is the computer going to crash / not boot?? because i really dont want to replace that power supply... thanks for your help guys...
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User profile for user: Dave Hamilton
Dave Hamilton
User level: Level 5
6,834 points

Apr 1, 2008 11:27 PM in response to bman0408

"i decided to go ahead and replace everything in it now... so i have a few more questions... i went ahead and got a 1.0ghz sonnet g4 upgrade for the processor. (will that be fast enough to run leopard well?????) i also ordered a 160GB Hitachi/IBM DeskStar 7K160 ATA/6 7200RPM to replace the 20gig.. thinkin of keepin the 20gig as a time machine drive.... then i went ahead and got the ATI Technologies RADEON 9200 128MB MacEdition graphics card..."

It's a good idea to install upgrades one at a time.
If something doesn't work right, it's much easier to deal with.
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User profile for user: bman0408
bman0408 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Apr 8, 2008 2:55 PM in response to macboy09

ok cool, yeah after installing all those previously listed upgrades, the 160 (128) gig hard disk, the ait9200 graphics card both went in and worked great, im using the 20 gig but right now cant use time machine because i cant use leopard... yes i made the terrible mistake of erasing the copy of macos9 when im installed tiger and as a result couldnt do the required firmware update to the computer to install the sonnet 1ghz processor... so i ordered an os9 disk on ebay and will install that onto the 20gig drive, boot it up run the firmware, install the card, install leopard, use the 20 gig for time machine, and then ill report back with the latest...

on a side note... i just recieved a free ibook g3 (white not clamshell) 500mhz 128mb ram, and a 10gig hdd. panther came loaded on it and it is painfully slow... im gonna up the ram to the max 640 mb... my question is.. i want the laptop basacally for web browsing and maybe occasional word processing... would it be best to up the ram and keep panther, upgrade to tiger, or take the route im about to attempt tonight and install xubuntu.. final choice use the mac os9 disk and have it be a nice os9 laptop.... suggestions please??
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User profile for user: oemk
oemk
User level: Level 1
10 points

Apr 17, 2008 4:58 PM in response to Enyap

OK,

....A Very timely discussion. I just had the same Hitachi IBM/Deskstar 7K 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB installed also on my 2002 vintage 17" 800 G4 iMac. I also have read that I would be limited to 128 GB of that drive AND I was also told that by tech support at OWC where I bought it from.

BUT after having it installed the capacity under Get Info says it is 148.91GB, which is actually more than the supposed limit on this system and reasonably close to what would be expected on a 160GB drive.

What goes,

Thanks. OEK
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User profile for user: Enyap
Enyap
User level: Level 1
0 points

Apr 22, 2008 4:31 PM in response to bman0408

I've got a G3 500 iBook as well, and in my experience Panther is probably the optimum OS for that machine. You'll want to upgrade the ram whatever you do, it does make a fair bit of difference. You could run Tiger on it reasonably well with max ram but you would want to disable Dashboard with a utility like Tinkertool, Dashboard uses loads of resources.

I only use mine for checking my email and calendar on the move, hitting a link occasionally is ok but surfing the web for any length of time is a little bit frustrating, and you can pretty much forget about any sites that use Flash.

Just a word of advice while I'm posting, don't use the iBook on the bed or anywhere the bottom can get really hot, and try not to carry it around while it's on. Just in case you don't know, those iBooks suffer badly from video chip problems, the solder can easily break away from the logic board if the chip gets too hot and/or the logic board flexes. There's no easy fix either, it usually requires a new logic board.
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Powermac g4 sawtooth 3 beeps HELP!!!!

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