Is it time to junk my mac mini g4?

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Is it time to junk my mac mini g4?

My old 2005 Mac Mini 1.25 GHz is running leopard and I'm only using it to record surveillance videos. I'm using the Security Spy application which still supports Leopard on G4 Macs. A short time ago, this Mac Mini developed a boot problem: It continually resets after the gray Apple logo screen with the rotating wheel or gear. It goes back to the power on chime and never boots to a desktop. I've tried booting to the Leopard OSX install DVD, but nothing. I've tried a variety of boot options with no success. I'm thinking that this ancient hardware is now useful only as a door stop (since it's tool light to be a boat anchor).

😟 I assume it's probably not worth spending anything on, even to have its problems diagnosed.

I would appreciate any input from the learned Mac community. Thanks!

Posted on Mar 20, 2012 5:32 PM

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Answer 1

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BDAqua

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Mar 20, 2012 5:56 PM in response to SarahCat

Hi,

Have you opened it & blown the dust out yet? Re-seated the RAM?

Might boot it into Target mode & use another FW Mac to look at the Hard Drive or Logs. 🙂

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Answer 2

SarahCat Author

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Mar 20, 2012 6:13 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for the quick reply!

No, I haven't opened it up since I upgraded the RAM and optical drive years ago, but that seems like a gooe idea.

The idea of using another Mac via FW also sounds like it might yield more data, too.

I think I'll try your suggestions.

Thanks again!

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Answer 3

SarahCat Author

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Mar 20, 2012 6:17 PM in response to SarahCat

***CORRECTION: "....good idea, not gooe idea...."

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Answer 4

BDAqua

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Mar 20, 2012 6:21 PM in response to SarahCat

I've been booting my PPC Minis for years using Firewire drives, the Internal drives died way too soon. 🙂

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Answer 5

SarahCat Author

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Mar 20, 2012 11:34 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for the information!

The cleaning was needed and I reseated the RAM, but it appears that the boot problem was a hard disk or OS installation problem. The reason that the DVD boot didn't work before is that a Snow Leopard disk was in the Leopard sleeve. I located the Leopard DVD in the Snow Leopard sleeve and the Mini booted. I'm doing a reinstall of Leopard and then determine whether or not to replace the hard drive (probably will).

Does the 2005 G4 Mini have a SATA or PATA hard drive?

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Answer 6

BDAqua

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Mar 20, 2012 11:42 PM in response to SarahCat

Good work, hanks for the report! 🙂

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Answer 7

SarahCat Author

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Apr 3, 2012 12:49 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for the morale support!

I booted Leopard from the install DVD and attempted to install the OS onto the existing hard drive. The process executed for about one hour but did not succeed (no bootable hard drive resulted). Before I spend a few bucks on a new PATA drive, is there any way to verify that the hard drive itself is the problem, other than the fact that I can boot for install from the DVD and that the existing hard drive is about 7 years old?

I'm thinking a new drive would probably fix it, but if there could be another hardware problem, it's probably better to scrap this mini for parts. Again, input and opinions would be very welcome! 😎

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Answer 8

SarahCat Author

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Apr 3, 2012 12:52 PM in response to SarahCat

I have an unused 320 GB Firewire Drive, can I use that with my G4 Mini and use it as the target drive to load the Leopard OS. In other words, just ignore the possibly flakey internal hard drive?

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Answer 9

BDAqua

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Apr 3, 2012 1:27 PM in response to SarahCat

Oh yes, that should work... unless the internal drive really goes bonkers & prevents booting... but you'll still have all your stuff on a movable drive. 🙂

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