iMac G3 600 Shut Down/Won't turn back on

Question

iMac G3 600 Shut Down/Won't turn back on

My family owns an old iMac G3 600Mhz computer. It has 512MB RAM, a standard video card and 40GB Hard Drive. We've never had any trouble with it besides from a HDD failure that was professionally fixed.

Today, my older brother was using it for school work, and it suddenly shut down, for no reason. The power supply works fine, and nothing was wrong with any electrical equipment or outlets.

No matter what I do, I can't get it to turn on, or make any sound at all.

Here's what I've done so far:

*Pressed the Power Button, no noise, no screen flash, no nothing.
*Unplugged and plugged the power cord in, didn't work.
*Unplugged the computer, turned it upside down, opened the little slot on the bottom, and firmly pushed the little black reset button on the silver square. Closed it all up, plugged it back in, tried to turn it on, didn't work. no sound or anything.

Any idea what this could be? There are a lot of files on this computer, and while it's not ESSENTIAL that I get them off, it would be really good if I could.

What's the problem with it? Can I fix it?

The computer itself can be trashed, but my family needs the stuff inside it, so I was wondering if there was any way I could move the Hard Drive from this computer to my other iMac G3 600, which is identical to this one, except it has a VGA output on the back. Could this be done?

Power Mac G4 933 Mhz Quicksilver 2002, Mac OS X (10.4.10), 512MB RAM/60GB HD/128MB VRAM GeForceTi4600

Posted on Mar 11, 2008 1:20 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

spudnuty

Level 5

7,116 points

Mar 11, 2008 2:45 PM in response to infestedsmith

Infested,

My family owns an old iMac G3 600Mhz computer.. it suddenly shut down, for no reason.

Try testing the battery and if it's below 3.55 Volts, replace it.

What's the problem with it.

Try this, from Apple:
"Resetting the PMU on the Logic Board
Resetting the PMU (Power Management Unit) on the logic board
can resolve many system problems. Whenever you have a unit that
fails to power up, you should follow this procedure before
replacing any modules.
1. Disconnect the power cord and check the battery in the battery
holder (BT1). The battery should read 3.3 to 3.7 volts.
If the battery is bad, replace the battery, wait ten seconds,
and then reset the PMU (refer to the next step). If the battery
is good, go to the next step.
2. Press the PMU reset switch (S1) once on the logic board and
then proceed to step 3. Do
NOT
press the PMU reset switch a
second time because it could crash the PMU chip.
3. WAIT ten seconds before connecting the power cord and powering
the computer on."

I was wondering if there was any way I could move the Hard Drive from this computer to my other iMac G3 600, which is identical to this one, except it has a VGA output on the back.

Well all 600s had that VGA output. The first might be hidden under the oval gril on the back underneath.
Yes you can do that it's easy to do.
Email me for instructions.

The computer itself can be trashed

Nooo I can show you how to remove the logic board and send it to me if you're near Chicago. I will pay.
Richard

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Answer 2

Mar 12, 2008 7:22 AM in response to infestedsmith

Thanks for the great help! If I can switch the Hard Drives out and backup the data, that'll work great.

I found a fantastic tutorial on how to replace the hard drive, so I'll be doing that. I've already had experience in upgrading and replacing components in my own computer, so I'll have some skill to back it up with. 🙂

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