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

Screen artifacts and hanging - attempting to revive my Powermac G5

Hello all,

Background
About a year ago my Powermac G5 2Ghz Dual Proc (2.5GB RAM) started having kernel panics once in a while, then random screen artifacts in the form of lines and dots started appearing all over, then it wouldn't go further than the Apple screen (artifacts included from that moment every time I tried to start the computer). I didn't take the time to resolve the issue then, and figured it would be a OS problem. Now I'd like to resolve my problem.

First, I turned the computer on without a system drive or install disc in in, to see if the lines would appear, which they did, plus a folder with a blinking question mark, which is supposed to in case there is no start-up drive. Here are two pics of the screen artifacts:

(My VGA adaptor has contact issues so the screen had a completely relaxing yellowish tint to it that doesn't bother me at all at no time during any of these processes).

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn56/juergenalbum/Powermac%20G5/IMG2505.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn56/juergenalbum/Powermac%20G5/IMG2510.jpg

Unfortunately, I can't locate my original install DVDs, so I borrowed copies for OS10.5 and 10.4 install DVDs from a friend (not originals). I'll keep looking for my originals tonight.

Installation
Installing 10.5 didn't work, as the computer would show this when tried to boot with the dvd:

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn56/juergenalbum/Powermac%20G5/IMG2512.jpg

So I tried running the 10.4 dvd copy.

Screen artifacts yet again:
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn56/juergenalbum/Powermac%20G5/IMG2507.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn56/juergenalbum/Powermac%20G5/IMG2506.jpg

From the DVD, I formatted the hard drive with Journaling Enabled. After it was done successfully installing 10.4, I rebooted. Upon rebooting, it only gets to the light blue screen after the grey apple screen before it hangs indefinitely.

I reset PRAM and NVRAM, clicked the SMU reset button, but no joy. I read through a bunch of threads related to problems associated with screen artifacts (where I found the PRAM/NVRAM/SMU reset solutions), but haven't stumbled on anything that might tell me what is going on.

It had 2x1GB and 2x256MB of RAM installed, I tried booting up with all 4 sticks, then only the 1GB sticks, then the 256MB sticks, with the same hanging at the light blue screen every time.

Message was edited by: juergenw

Message was edited by: juergenw. Fiexd tiepose.

MacPro, Mac OS X (10.4)

Posted on Jun 17, 2010 2:46 PM

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16 replies
User profile for user: BDAqua
BDAqua
User level: Level 10
250,259 points

Jun 17, 2010 3:46 PM in response to juergenw

Hi juergenw, and a warm welcome to the forums! 🙂

Try a Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), that'll disable the advanced Video Drivers & may work to get booted.

Installing 10.5 didn't work, as the computer would show this when tried to boot with the dvd:


Was this a copy of a Black Retail Leo Install Disc, or a Gray Install Disc?

Let us know about the Safe Boot.
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User profile for user: juergenw
juergenw Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jun 17, 2010 6:30 PM in response to BDAqua

BDAqua wrote:

Was this a copy of a Black Retail Leo Install Disc, or a Gray Install Disc?

Let us know about the Safe Boot.


Thanks for the warm welcome!

Unfortunately Safe Boot didn't do much more than turning the light blue screen off for a few seconds, then on again.

japamac wrote:
Hi-

The screen artifacts are from a burnt graphics card.
Time for a new one.

The message in the kernel panic screen is consistent with trying to use a system specific, gray install disc.
A retail disc is necessary.


Also unfortunately, all my friend had was copies (bad, I know). I probably need to check a few places still for the dvds that came with the mac (which places, I will find out once I find the right one, I guess).

If I'm not mistaken, there's a Nvidia Geforce 5200 inside. Even though this model is a few years old, is my best bet to just get the same card again, would anyone have suggestions as to what to get? The computer will mainly be used for audio recording and editing. I'm not planning on spending more than barely necessary to get it running as smoothly as it originally did. 🙂

Being in Paraguay, this means I have to order one from amazon or somesuch - do the screen artifacts establish that the cart is the culprit?

Thank you for the suggestions so far, BDAqua and Japanmac, and thank you in advance to other who wish to participate in this thread!

Juergen
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User profile for user: japamac
japamac
User level: Level 7
24,400 points

Jun 17, 2010 7:12 PM in response to juergenw

If I'm not mistaken, there's a Nvidia Geforce 5200 inside. Even though this model is a few years old, is my best bet to just get the same card again, would anyone have suggestions as to what to get?

The FX 5200 is a real minimal card in terms of performance.
Replacing it with a better card would make your computer more enjoyable.
do the screen artifacts establish that the cart is the culprit?

Every screen like that which I have seen has been caused by a bad graphics card.

As for replacement options, there are many:
http://www.jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/Blog/4B4B7BA2-7ABB-47F1-87AC-B03D379 42BEE.html

I would recommend a Radeon 9800 series card or better, though even a Radeon 9600 would be much better than the Geforce.
The prices are comparable, so there isn't ant reason to limit yourself to the 5200.

Amazon or such won't have any Mac compatible cards available.
Most cards are available on eBay, and this is definitely the most economical.
There are some "retail" supplies, but the cards are mostly used or reconditioned, and the prices are twice (or more) that of eBay prices.

The following are ebay searches of cards being sold by those that offer worldwide shipping:

Geforce 5200

Radeon 9600

Radeon 9800

Geforce 6800
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User profile for user: juergenw
juergenw Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jun 18, 2010 2:00 PM in response to juergenw

I guess I can put a better card in. If I could only find my install discs.

I decided to take the mac to the shop tomorrow and see what else they diagnose on it. If memory serves me right, there were some electrical ups and downs before the screen started freaking out on me, which makes me think perhaps other parts of the comp might have been affected.

Is perhaps a faulty video card the reason the mac crashed many times before I wasn't able to run it anymore back when I stopped using it?
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User profile for user: juergenw
juergenw Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jul 6, 2010 11:07 AM in response to japamac

I found a buyer for my mac, so I went ahead and decided to purchase this guy: http://cgi.ebay.com/NVIDIA-GeForce-FX-5200-Mac-PCI-256MB-Xserve-video-card-/1604 49366626?cmd=ViewItem&pt=PCCVideo_TVCards&hash=item255b870a62#rpdId

..and then I realize that it has 2 VGA ports, and not DVI/DCA ports! Needles to say I'm feeling a little stupid now.

I looked at some female DVI to male VGA adaptors, and found out there are several DVI types (-I, -A, -D).

Would anyone know which one of the 3 types is compatible?

Thank you so much again for y'all's help!!
Juergen
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User profile for user: japamac
japamac
User level: Level 7
24,400 points

Jul 6, 2010 3:15 PM in response to juergenw

Hi-

The linked card is a PCI card, not an AGP card.
If you install it, put the new card in one of the other slots next to the FX 5200. It +will not+ install in the AGP slot. The PCI slots are 2-4 as shown on the diagrams on this page:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1305?viewlocale=en_US

Also, remove the FX5200 from the AGP slot after installing the PCI card.

The VGA ports will only work with VGA monitors.
You cannot adapt VGA to DVI.
No adapter will work
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User profile for user: juergenw
juergenw Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jul 6, 2010 4:12 PM in response to japamac

Oy vey. I didn't plan on spending money learning a lesson today, but there it is. With video cards, there's AGP and there's PCI, and apparently some cards that get bought under stress only have VGA connections, which means you can't go from VGA to DVI. I'm going to go buy another card, again.

Thank you so much for your time in helping me out, I do appreciate it.
Juergen
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User profile for user: japamac
japamac
User level: Level 7
24,400 points

Jul 13, 2010 5:11 AM in response to juergenw

Hi-

The linked card is a converted WinPC card, but should work without issue.
The 6200 is generally regarded as a good Core Image supporting graphics card.

There is one anomaly of the Geforce 6200 that can cause a startup stall in Leopard of several minutes.
There are two solutions for this.

One is the use of a modified ROM which disables the temperature sensor of the graphics card.
This type is a plug and play, no worry card.

The other solution, for cards that don't have the modified ROM, is to remove the AppleHWSensor.kext from /System/Library/Extensions and trash it.
This takes care of any boot delay issues.

It would be good to contact the seller and ask if the kext removal is necessary or not.
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Screen artifacts and hanging - attempting to revive my Powermac G5

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