Mac G4 Tower Model: M8493 Problems

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Mac G4 Tower Model: M8493 Problems

Hi all:

I got this tower from a friend, who told me it was a stable machine. I had my suspicions, and they were proved correct when I tried booting the machine.
I swapped out the 80gb Seagate H.D.D. with a W.D. 250gb. I was also having serious problems opening the drive, so I had to use a paper clip, with the system shut down, and insert it into the hole at the left, lower corner of the front end of the drive.

However, I took my copy of Leopard and placed it in the tray and this is what happened: I received a kernel panic, and at the bottom of the monitor a bunch of data lines began appearing: R1= 0x23730670; XCP = 0x0000000C, etc.

Prior to this, I tried to install the OS and it stuck at the Grey Mac Screen with the Apple symbol. The circular, load was revolving for a long time until it stopped; however, I left the machine on for over 10 hours, and it was locked at this state.

I'm not sure if the optical drive is malfunctioning or there is another issue(s). I'm running the tower off a Toshiba monitor with standard PC peripherals.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Steve

G5 Quad P.P.C.; MacBookPro 17'', 2.16Ghz, intel core duo, Mac OS X (10.5.8), MacBookPro / HP Pavilion dv7-1264nr Entertainment Notebook, Customized Linux PC

Posted on Dec 21, 2010 9:47 AM

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Answer 1

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,284 points

Dec 21, 2010 11:04 AM in response to 6left

Welcome to the G4 world!

First, is the Leopard disk a full retail install disk or the grey system install/restore disk that shipped with another model Mac? If the later, they can be troublesome at beast and, if from an Intel Mac, they won't work at all because they have no system code written for a PPC Mac like our G4s. A full retail install disk has code for both PowerPC Macs and Intel.

What is the processor speed (should be on a label or sticker on the back panel)? The Leo installer looks for a minimum 867mHz processor. Some M8493s shipped with 733 or dual 800mHz processors and won't allow the installer to proceed.

Many optical drives that look like they are on their last breath can be perked up with a simple drive-cleaning disk. Work a try, because the cleaners are US$5 to $15 and a new drive isn't.

Is the new HD jumpered to "Master?" Most new WD drives come set to something else.

Did the computer work with the original drive?

If the computer has been stored off wall power fro longer than few days, the logic board battery is probably dead, and that can cause startup troubles. News ones are cheap online (like here) and install in minutes. If you are in a hurry, Radio Shack stores carry the proper battery as part number 23-026, but expect to pay 3 to 4 times the online price.

Starting with a fresh battery will eliminate the odd symptoms a dead one can produce and make further troubleshooting easier and more effective.

Keep us posted.

Allan

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Dec 21, 2010 11:17 AM in response to 6left

However, I took my copy of Leopard and placed it in the tray and this is what happened: I received a kernel panic...

Is that a Black Retail Install Disc, or a Gray Machine specific, Intel only Install Disc?

What are the 2z **-***-A numbers on it?

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Answer 3

6left Author

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Dec 21, 2010 12:29 PM in response to Allan Jones

Thanks for your post, Allan. Yeah, it's a retail OS X disc; not the grey disc that comes with Apple computers. I knew that wouldn't work.

It's the 2002 G4 model I believe. I checked the OS X installation on my G5 Quad PPC and it works fine. I also have a drive cleaning disc, as when I opened the computer, it was a complete mess: filled with dust and debris, but nothing that some compressed air couldn't take care of - well, visually at least.

The serial for this G4 is: XB216 *M8H. I went to the macmedic site -- I think that was the site -- entered the serial, and it told me that it had a 1.07Ghz processor. Not entirely certain about the number, but I know it exceeded 1Ghz, which is odd, as I haven't seen G4 models with that speed processor in my own searches.

Yeah, I figured the battery was probably shot, too. So your advice on getting another would be optimal; however, I want to really hone in on the exact issue(s).

According to the jumper identifications on the W.D. 250gb drive, no jumper indicates master. I know that isn't the issue due to the fact that when I start the machine without the OS X disc in the drive bay, it goes to the blue screen with mac-finder face and the question mark, which indicates it's picking up the H.D.D.

The computer did boot to its desktop with the old H.D.D., but it would list some hardware issues and the gray, multilingual screen would come up -- English, French and German -- prompting me to restart.

I may have left a few of your questions out, as I'm kind of in the middle of swapping a drive from a laptop.

Please let me know if you have any further advice. Much appreciated, Allan.

Best,

Steve

<Serial Number Edited by Host>

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Answer 4

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,284 points

Dec 21, 2010 12:52 PM in response to 6left

Thanks for clarifying. Using a gray disk seems to be the #1 cause of install problems around here, so I wanted to get that out of the way.

1 Ghz--rounded off or not--is good to go with Leo. You may need more RAM--I'd say at least a gig.

Check all cards inside to make sure they are fully seated.

Kernel panics can be either hardware or software related, but RAM problems rank high among causes of KPs. Here's an excellent article on KPs:

http://thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html

Might be good reading, as you don't have a lot of history on this computer yet.

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Answer 5

6left Author

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Dec 21, 2010 1:07 PM in response to Allan Jones

Allan,

Yeah, I had kernel panics with my G5 Quad when I had a couple of beers and upgraded my R.A.M. to 8gb. For anyone reading this post, DON'T drink and do upgrade work on your machine in the process.

Luckily, though one of the R.A.M. was only partially installed: half in, half out, I was able to resolve the issue by taking out all the R.A.M. and re-seating it.

What's most problematic with this machine is that I can't get the optical drive to open even when I hook the apple keyboard up to it and hit the eject button. I have to manually open the drive the way I described earlier, which ***** to say the least.

Just for the **** of it I'm going to take a linux distro, drop it in the optical drive and see what happens. I should also be able to get a good report on the system following this method, as I've done it on a number of different occasions.

Prior to doing this, I'm going to re-seat the R.A.M. and see if that resolves the kernel panics.

Thanks for your input, Allan.

Best,

Steve

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Answer 6

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,284 points

Dec 21, 2010 3:06 PM in response to 6left

Something to try for the chuckles: hold down the mouse button at startup and see if the drive door opens.

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Answer 7

6left Author

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Dec 22, 2010 8:00 AM in response to Allan Jones

Tried that early on, Allan. No luck. I think it's the optical drive, as I tried a linux distro and it wouldn't even move to the menu screen - nothing. Plus, when I hooked up my G5 keyboard -- well, the keyboard that came with the G5 -- the machine didn't distribute power it: held down the caps key lock and no green light.

This can mean a couple of things: either that keyboard isn't supported, which would be utterly bizarre, or the usb and firwire ports aren't working properly, which would lead me to think that there may be a logic board problem.

What do you think? Does this seem like a logical conclusion to make based on what I've posted?

Best,

Steve

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Answer 8

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,284 points

Dec 22, 2010 8:16 AM in response to 6left

Try the eject at startup thing again but with no keyboard and the mouse connected directly to a logic USB port. If that works, it points to the KB.

I'm not thinking incompatibility between the G4 and the KB from the G5. I've swapped Apple USB boards willy-nilly among our Macs and things still work.

Do USB thumb drives show up on the G4 if attached to the logic board (LB) USB ports?

I'm not willing to jump to any conclusions about the future of the LB until you get the new PRAM batt. Somewhere in there did you reset the PMU? One short push is all you need--a longer push (several seconds) could make the LB unresponsive.

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Answer 9

6left Author

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Dec 22, 2010 9:33 AM in response to Allan Jones

Yes, Allan. I reset the P.M.U. yesterday when I took out the R.A.M. and reinstalled it: I was hoping that would take care of the kernel panics.

I'm in full agreement with the PRAM battery. I just have to either run up to Raido Shack and pay their outlandish fees, or buy one online; however, I don't have the time to do the later, as I'm going away for a few weeks on next Monday.

When you say "try to eject at startup" that's a bit of a problem, as the only way I can open the optical drive is with a paperclip inserted into the hole on the bottom left side of the optical drive. Is there another option that I'm not aware of?

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Answer 10

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,284 points

Dec 22, 2010 10:59 AM in response to 6left

When you say "try to eject at startup" that's a bit of a problem, as the only way I can open the optical drive is with a paperclip inserted into the hole on the bottom left side of the optical drive. Is there another option that I'm not aware of?

No. It was a modification of using the "hold mouse button" to eject at startup but removing the keyboard from the mix, in hopes of seeing if the keyboard were somehow contributing grief.

I take it you checked the optical drive's cable for "seatedness." I had an older Mac tower where the 40-pin cable connector on the optical drive ever so slightly moved when I was messing about inside adding a hard drive. Took me forever to find that little tilt in the connector that indicated it wasn't fully seated.

I think I'm at the "grasping at straws" stage at the moment!

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