Powermac G5 start up issues - Where do I heat?

Hey guys I have a 2GHz dual G5 powermac and the person I bought it from said that all you need to do is use a hair dryer to heat around the ram slots.

To do what exactly? This computer is having running issues? If it is having RAM problems I would not consider a hair dryer a long-term or even reliable short-term solution. In fact, I wonder if blowing hot dry air might even cause static build-up which might fry something in the computer.

Maybe there's a loose connection somewhere, either between the chip and the motherboard or inside the chip itself. Heating causes things to expand into contact with each other which then stay heated and expanded when the computer is running. If I'm right about the reasoning then it would be where the RAM chips plug into the main board and/or the chips themselves. I doubt you'll be able to target things that finely though.

This sounds like an invitation to a kernel panic. You'd be better off re-seating the chips in case there is corrosion or they are just loose. If it's the chips themselves you should replace those.

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

Heat the whole RAM area, very easy to see when you pull the Side covers off.

Hi Limnos-

FYI, the hair dryer trick is a long time work around/trouble shooting technique, almost as old as the transition to RoHS solder problem that it addresses.

It isn't a RAM problem, but a solder problem that this addresses.

This trick has been used by several dozen people who have reported back here, and can be found being discussed and recommended web wide.
There are numerous threads in AD alone that deal with this topic.

There isn't a static issue, and it may be the only chance of reviving a machine, short of a new logic board.

So weird that its just in that general area....

There is a high concentration of solder pins around the RAM slots, which simply due to the number of, have a higher chance of failure due to weak solder issues.

there has to be a permanent fix for it.

A more permanent fix is to remove the logic board and use a heat gun or oven to reflow the solder, or, manually heat each pin with a soldering iron.

If you do some searching with Google or such, you will find discussion on the different methods.

Good news! 🙂

As japamac says, it's because the G5s were amongst the first to use lead-free solder, after time of expanding & shrinking, it looses connection.

Heating may simply expand the solder till it connects, or if lucky melts it back into place.