Imac G4

The usual way to open the optical drive tray, is press/hold 'C key' as Mac boots.

This can work to allow insertion of a system disc; or start from utility disc, etc.

• Boot a Mac from a CD / DVD | osxdaily

https://osxdaily.com/2010/04/12/boot-your-mac-from-a-cd-dvd/

Some versions may have a small hole to insert a straightened paper clip

& could carefully be used to bypass the mechanism, to open the door.

There's also a key on original G4 keyboard, with an 'up-arrow' to use to open

the optical drive tray. I've owned some of these; a early dual-boot 800MHz G4

iMac w/17-inch display. And few 1.25GHz iMac G4; won't dual-boot OS9.2/OSX.

Some fairly good helpful guides to take these apart, to replace RAM and drives;

are still available. One had disappeared awhile ago; but it's back now:

• iMac G4 Take-apart for Drive and Ram upgrades - xlr8yourmac

https://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/iMac_g4/imacg4_takeapart.html

• iMac G4 - (flat panel) a take apart by Mr Totes | mrtotes.co.uk

http://www.mrtotes.co.uk/page1/page1.html

There's a few more surviving links and information online that could

help try & restore the iMac G4; somewhere I've still an offline Service

Manual from when I contacted someone to help me (at Apple.) And

the only people here were 'authorized resellers/service' independent

business; who didn't help fix my iMac G4.

Here's another link for about outdated hardware that may be useful:

• Hardware - iMac G4 - http://imacg4.weebly.com/hardware.html

http://imacg4.weebly.com/ - home

The clock PRAM battery on the logic board is a bear to replace;

while that can be essential to make the iMac G4 start correctly.

[Also you'd need Thermal Paste for the processor cooling conduits.]

Those are known as 1/2 AA 3.6V Lithium. ~ I used to buy them by

the gross; @ 50¢ each; as I repaired/donated many dozens of Macs.

'Usual locations' may no longer stock them; perhaps AASP has some.

Although I'd bought an Extended AppleCare plan, each attempt to

troubleshoot my new/refurbished Mac (then drive 200 miles, to see

if they could fix damages they had caused; & then head back home.

Did that trip nearly 1,000 miles; to no avail. Finally someone at Apple

in California called the independent reseller/service (in Anchorage)

and told them, they should just repair the Mac as I asked. It was the

first Mac I had, new enough to have a warranty. Previous ones were

repaired and restored by me; in a small town in the Kenai mountains.

Hello PoblemBrian,

We understand that your Power Mac G4 is not starting up as expected. Due to the age of your Mac, which is considered Obsolete, we'd recommend reviewing the following:

Obtaining service for your Apple product after an expired warranty - Apple Support

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