Power Mac G5 - Black Screen and Mouse Cursor

Question

Level 1

0 points

Power Mac G5 - Black Screen and Mouse Cursor

Hello,

Today I came into my room to find that my Power Mac G5 (PPC) is not working. I restarted the computer and I get a chime, then I see the screen with the apple logo, it looks like it gets ready to start, but then it goes to a black screen and my mouse is visible in the top left hand corner of the monitor. Sometimes I can move the mouse and other times I can't. I tested the Hard Drive and found that it still works. I tried doing a safe boot by holding down the shift key, but the computer doesn't start. I left the computer sitting there for a good 10 minutes, but it never safe booted. Maybe I should have waited longer?

Anyways, I just got the computer about 1 1/2 months ago. It was working fine, up until today.

Note: somestimes the computer will go start to a white screen. I read it could be a video card issue, not sure if it is or not, but it's worth a shot I suppose.

Feedback and help would be great.

Thanks!

PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8), Power PC, Dual Core 2.0 GHZ Process

Posted on Jun 21, 2011 9:36 PM

Reply

Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,045 points

Jun 21, 2011 9:47 PM in response to derekdbess

Hi Derek,

Good tests so far, 10 minutes should be plenty, but if the HDD is really messed up, it won't ever boot. 😟

TRy holding the Option/alt key at bootup, does that show possible boot volumes?

Have you tried booting from your Intall CD/DVD?

Tough without a Tiger Disk, but try fsck...

To use fsck, you must run it from the command line. Unlike using your mouse to open an application to do something, you'll need to type a text command at the prompt (#) to tell fsck what to do. The Terminal application (/Applications/Utilities) and single-user mode are two examples of command-line interfaces in which you can type such commands. To use fsck:

1. Start up your computer in single-user mode to reach the command line. Hold CMD+s keys down at bootup. Note: If necessary, perform a forced restart as described in the Emergency Troubleshooting Handbook that came with your computer. On desktop computers, you can do this by pressing the reset/interrupt button (if there is one) or holding down the power button for several seconds. On portable computers, simultaneously press the Command-Control-power keys. If your portable computer doesn't restart with this method, you may need to reset the Power Manager.

2. At the command-line prompt, type /sbin/fsck -fy

(space between fsck and -fy important)

3. Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found: ** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK  If fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message: ***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****   Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).

4. When fsck reports that your volume is OK, type reboot at the prompt and then press Return.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214

Reply

Answer 2

derekdbess Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 21, 2011 9:58 PM in response to BDAqua

computer displays volumes when holding the option / command key at start up. It has a refresh icon the left, in the top middle it displays the harddrive volume, and then on the right it has a right arrow icon. When I click the refresh Icon it will keep displaying the mounted volume / drive. I click the arrow button and it takes me to the black screen of death 😟

I didn't try the Mac Leopard install disk yet. But I do know when holding the eject button, the cd case will eject, so the keyboard is working at the initial startup.

I have the hard drive out of the computer at the moment. I used a sata harddrive adapter to hook it up to my other Power PC G5 tower and it recognizes the harddrive, and I'm also able to move files from the harddrive to my desktop without any problems.

Is there a way to test the harddrive externally with a sata usb harddrive adapter on my working Power PC G5?

Reply