Resetting SMU PRAM & NVRAM iMac G4 Flat Pannel

I posted another ? in a different forum but have not received any help so far. I've been reading about different potential 'fixes' to issues which I seem to be having with my iMac G4 Flat Pannel.

Some background info:

My computer froze up and I could not get it to respond with keyboard commands and it would not restart or shut down when I held the back button down either. I decided to cut the power on the power strip, and when I restarted my computer, I heard the fan come on, but my screen was completely black. There was no 'power on' light on the monitor this time either and the computer no longer responds to the keyboard and my mouse no longer lights up..

I'm hoping someone can help with some questions I have after having read about resetting various buttons..

First, will resetting the PRAM result in loss of any data on my computer?

Second, do G4 iMacs have a SMU reset button, or is this only on G5 models?

Third, will resetting the NVRAM result in a loss of my data?

Lastly, does anyone else have any suggestions to help fix my problem; does it look like my computer is dead?

Thank you for any help! =) *april

iMac 15" Flat Pannel 700 MHz PowerPC G4 1GB SDRAM, Mac OS X (10.3.x), i love my little bubble computer

Posted on Mar 25, 2008 9:41 AM

20 replies

Apr 10, 2008 2:23 PM in response to mrtotes

Are you still around, mrtotes? I apologize it's taken me so long to respond.

Though my iMac does not have a start up chime nor does anything come on the screen, I went ahead and tried your open firmware method instructions after pushing the power button.. still nothing happens except I can hear/feel the fan after the power button is pushed.

mrtotes

Level 6

11,856 points

Apr 14, 2008 12:57 PM in response to Goonie Girl =)

I need to apologize too: have been away on holiday. 🙂

This doesn't sound good and I'm struggling to know what to suggest next. I don't remember if you have another Mac that you could try Firewire Target Disk Mode with?

mrtotes

Apr 16, 2008 3:25 AM in response to mrtotes

I think you are a bit off here - the iMac is clearly not booting the Open Firmware, how should this be related to a full harddisk? Goonie Girl stated the computer does not chime (which means it does not boot the firmware or is set to mute), shows no image (if it booted the firmware at least the Apple or Mac Logo should appear) and does not respond to keyboard input (so neither target disking it with "t", loading to bootmanager with Alt or resetting PRAM with Command-Alt-P-R can work).

mrtotes

Level 6

11,856 points

Apr 21, 2008 9:18 AM in response to SmartMarc

Okay, and I admitted the same in my post of 1 Apr.

mrtotes

Aug 9, 2008 7:38 AM in response to Goonie Girl =)

I replaced the internal DIMM and it still did not fix my problem.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Resetting SMU PRAM & NVRAM iMac G4 Flat Pannel