My apple G4 is not booting up. It's crashing every time. What should I do?

Question

My apple G4 is not booting up. It's crashing every time. What should I do?

My power mac G4 won't even boot up. It's crashing every time. What can I do?

iPhone 4, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jan 25, 2012 4:45 AM

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Answer 1

varjak paw

Level 10

170,206 points

Jan 25, 2012 8:39 AM in response to vicky from st albans

This forum is for questions about Apple Remote Desktop, Apple software for managing networked Macs. You'll be more likely to get help with your issue if you ask in the PowerMac forum:

https://discussions.apple.com/community/desktop_computers/power_mac

When you repost, please include full details - your exact model of PowerMac, configuration, error messages if any - so that people have full information on which to base a diagnosis.

Regards.

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Answer 2

Jan 26, 2012 12:00 PM in response to varjak paw

I'm not sure of the exact model. It's a power Mac G4 and is 7/8 years old. Operating system 10. something - can't tell without turning it on. It makes the right noises to start off with - the chord sounds and the fans start whirring. Then it stalls at different points of booting up. I sometimes get nothing on the screen or sometimes it stalls with a blank screen or on the apple. A couple of times it has booted up properly so its a bit random. When it has booted up everything seems fine. The only error message I have had says 'this computer was not turned off properly. Please restart'. Any ideas?? Thanks, vicky

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Answer 3

varjak paw

Level 10

170,206 points

Jan 26, 2012 12:33 PM in response to vicky from st albans

Again, I'd suggest you post in the PowerMac forum. You'll be much more likely to get help there.

Regards.

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Answer 4

TeenTitan

Level 4

2,640 points

Jan 28, 2012 8:46 PM in response to vicky from st albans

Have you tried opening Disk Utility and running a Disk Verify of the macintosh hd? Dose it report back any errors?

In disk utility, what dose it list the SMART status of the Macintosh HD?

Have you considered backing up the file you need onto an external hard drive? I mean what if it stops booting? is there any thing you would regret not having? if so, I would really suggest backing up.

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

239,435 points

Jan 28, 2012 9:02 PM in response to vicky from st albans

Could be many things, we should start with this...

"Try Disk Utility

1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.

2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)

*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*

3. Click the First Aid tab.

4. Select your Mac OS X volume.

5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."

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

Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.

(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)

If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.

Does it boot into any of these modes?

Holding Option/alt key at bootup.

Holding SHIFT key at bootup.

Target mode...

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

Does it boot to Single User Mode, CMD+s keys at bootup, if so try...

/sbin/fsck -fy

Repeat until it shows no errors fixed.

(Space between fsck AND -fy important).

Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck...