G4 won't boot from any Linux disc I put in it and c key no longer boots cd
I have a G4 Powermac (sawtooth, DVD drive, 512 MB RAM, 30 GB HDD) which has started refusing to boot from any Ububtu discs I have all of a sudden.
I'll be more specific. I've previously been able to boot from Ubuntu 6 cds (originals from shipit, not burnt) as well as Ubuntu 7 (burnt disc). I haven't made any changes to the system that should stop it booting from them. Currently installed on the hard disc is System 9 and Puma. It is still booting ok from my System 9, Puma, Panther and Tiger discs; but when trying to boot from my ubuntu discs (I've tried all of them to eliminate the possibility of a stuffed disc) the screen goes black for a second as if it is starting to boot, but then it kicks me to the flashing folder screen you get when it can't find a startup disc. Oddly enough the background colour of this screen isn't grey like usual. It's orange. I've never seen that before. If I leave it sitting at this screen after about 30 seconds or so it starts up from the hard disc on its own.
Another odd thing: the c key no longer forces the machine to boot from the cd when held on power up. This is extremely odd, as holding down option brings up the startup disc selector, and cmd opt+shiftdel also works. I've tried everything I can think of. Used a different keyboard, reset the NVRAM (by cmd opt+pr and my manually going into open firmware and doing a "reset-nvram" and "reset-all"). I've tried the PMU reset switch on the logic board. I've tried using different drives. In all cases it still refuses to boot from cd when holding c.
I don't think that the mac refusing to boot while holding the c key is coincidental. I believe that whatever the issue is that's causing this issue is what is also causing the mac from not booting any Ubuntu discs. It's a very strange problem and upon searching around, it seems this doesn't seem to have happened to anyone else before. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I'll be more specific. I've previously been able to boot from Ubuntu 6 cds (originals from shipit, not burnt) as well as Ubuntu 7 (burnt disc). I haven't made any changes to the system that should stop it booting from them. Currently installed on the hard disc is System 9 and Puma. It is still booting ok from my System 9, Puma, Panther and Tiger discs; but when trying to boot from my ubuntu discs (I've tried all of them to eliminate the possibility of a stuffed disc) the screen goes black for a second as if it is starting to boot, but then it kicks me to the flashing folder screen you get when it can't find a startup disc. Oddly enough the background colour of this screen isn't grey like usual. It's orange. I've never seen that before. If I leave it sitting at this screen after about 30 seconds or so it starts up from the hard disc on its own.
Another odd thing: the c key no longer forces the machine to boot from the cd when held on power up. This is extremely odd, as holding down option brings up the startup disc selector, and cmd opt+shiftdel also works. I've tried everything I can think of. Used a different keyboard, reset the NVRAM (by cmd opt+pr and my manually going into open firmware and doing a "reset-nvram" and "reset-all"). I've tried the PMU reset switch on the logic board. I've tried using different drives. In all cases it still refuses to boot from cd when holding c.
I don't think that the mac refusing to boot while holding the c key is coincidental. I believe that whatever the issue is that's causing this issue is what is also causing the mac from not booting any Ubuntu discs. It's a very strange problem and upon searching around, it seems this doesn't seem to have happened to anyone else before. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
sad old G4 Power Mac :(
