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Graphic failure on my iMac g5 (PPC)

tengo una iMac g5 power PC que va muy bien, pero a veces sale glitch en la pantalla, pueden ser unas pocas rayas o toda la pantalla ilegible y cubierta por glitch, y aveces llega a haber un Kernel en pánico, teniendo que verme obligado a reiniciar el ordenador del botón, dándome cuenta de que aunque lo reinicie sigue igual o menos, pero sigue, y tengo que dejarlo un rato descansar para que vuelva a poder ser utilizable. necesito una solución urgente. Muchas gracias. La gráfica es una NVIDIA FX 5200. adjunto imágenes.

Posted on Jul 21, 2024 1:31 PM

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6 replies

Jul 22, 2024 4:15 AM in response to Afalaguera

Afalaguera wrote:

Pero quiero decir, no es asimismo de la pantalla, porque sino saldría siempre, creo que es algo de macOS, porque yo instale una distro de Linux para PPC y no pasó nunca, y la tuve más de un mes, y ahora que volví a instalar macOS, me volvió a salir. Incluso no se superpone con otros diálogos o ventanas, creo que lo hace el sistema operativo adrede.


Automated translation (from Spanish):

"But I want to say, it's not also on the screen, because otherwise it would always appear, I think it's something about macOS, because I installed a Linux distro for PPC and it never happened, and I had it for more than a month, and now that I'm back on install macOS, it came up again. It doesn't even overlap with other dialogs or windows, I think the operating system does it on purpose."


I don't think that the Mac operating system is doing it on purpose, because you once ran Linux. This is much more likely to be a hardware failure, one that is showing symptoms under the Mac operating system – but not yet under Linux, because Linux may have accessed the hardware in a somewhat different way.


I don't know how accessible the clock battery is on your Mac, but one possibility is that the clock battery needs to be replaced, and is causing the Mac to have problems retaining video settings. I had a Mac much older than yours which refused to turn on the screen at all when its clock battery died. Fortunately, I had read about that problem, with that model. I went to a store, got a new battery, put it in, reset PRAM or NVRAM (whichever was appropriate), and the machine was good as new. (That machine has been in storage for years, and presumably will appear dead the next time anyone unpacks it, for the same reason.)


Automated translation:


No creo que el sistema operativo Mac lo haga a propósito, porque alguna vez ejecutaste Linux. Es mucho más probable que se trate de una falla de hardware, una que muestra síntomas en el sistema operativo Mac, pero aún no en Linux, porque es posible que Linux haya accedido al hardware de una manera algo diferente.


No sé qué tan accesible es la batería del reloj en tu Mac, pero una posibilidad es que la batería del reloj necesite ser reemplazada y esté causando que la Mac tenga problemas para conservar la configuración de video. Tenía una Mac mucho más antigua que la tuya que se negó a encender la pantalla cuando se agotó la batería del reloj. Afortunadamente había leído sobre ese problema, con ese modelo. Fui a una tienda, compré una batería nueva, la puse, reinicié la PRAM o la NVRAM (lo que fuera apropiado) y la máquina quedó como nueva. (Esa máquina ha estado almacenada durante años y, presumiblemente, aparecerá muerta la próxima vez que alguien la desempaque, por la misma razón).

Jul 21, 2024 7:28 PM in response to Afalaguera

Automated translation (from Spanish):

"I have an iMac g5 power PC that works very well, but sometimes a glitch appears on the screen, it can be a few scratches or the entire screen is unreadable and covered by glitch, and sometimes there is a Kernel in panic, having to be forced to restart the button computer, realizing that even if I restart it it remains the same or less, but it continues, and I have to let it rest for a while so that it can be usable again. I need an urgent solution. Thank you so much. The graphics card is an NVIDIA FX 5200. I attach images."


Based on the information that your machine is an iMac G5 with NVIDIA FX 5200 GPU, it would appear to be one of two models discontinued over 19 years ago.

  • iMac G5 (17-inch) (August 2004 – May 2005)
  • iMac G5 (20-inch) (August 2004 – May 2025)


To the best of my knowledge, Apple does not carry repair parts or provide repair service for such old machines. It might be possible to buy a replacement machine of similar vintage on the used market, or to find some third-party shop that can scrounge up parts for a repair, but that seems like a bit of a long shot.


Hopefully you have backups of your data, or will soon be making backups, while you still can. You might be looking at having to replace that old Mac with another machine.

Jul 22, 2024 1:23 AM in response to Servant of Cats

Pero quiero decir, no es asimismo de la pantalla, porque sino saldría siempre, creo que es algo de macOS, porque yo instale una distro de Linux para PPC y no pasó nunca, y la tuve más de un mes, y ahora que volví a instalar macOS, me volvió a salir. Incluso no se superpone con otros diálogos o ventanas, creo que lo hace el sistema operativo adrede.

Jul 21, 2024 7:31 PM in response to Afalaguera

Automated translation of my reply (to Spanish):


Según la información de que su máquina es una iMac G5 con GPU NVIDIA FX 5200, parecería ser uno de los dos modelos descontinuados hace más de 19 años.

iMac G5 (17 pulgadas) (agosto de 2004 - mayo de 2005)

iMac G5 (20 pulgadas) (agosto de 2004 - mayo de 2025)


Hasta donde yo sé, Apple no vende repuestos ni brinda servicio de reparación para máquinas tan antiguas. Podría ser posible comprar una máquina de reemplazo de una antigüedad similar en el mercado usado, o encontrar alguna tienda externa que pueda conseguir piezas para una reparación, pero eso parece una posibilidad un poco remota.


Esperemos que tenga copias de seguridad de sus datos o que pronto las haga mientras pueda. Es posible que tengas que reemplazar esa vieja Mac por otra máquina.

Jul 22, 2024 9:28 PM in response to Afalaguera

Definitely a hardware failure.


The iMac G5 had a lot of problems with bulging & leaking Capacitors in their power supplies and their Logic Boards. I don't recall all the various symptoms associated with bad capacitors since it has been too long ago, but there were multiple symptoms. IIRC, these iMacs also had LCD Panel issues as well.

Graphic failure on my iMac g5 (PPC)

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