Little help?!
I have just got an old 2004 G5 and thrown a brand new hard drive in it. When i tried to install leopard (which i'm told would be the best operating system to use) it comes up with a blank blue screen! Help?!
I have just got an old 2004 G5 and thrown a brand new hard drive in it. When i tried to install leopard (which i'm told would be the best operating system to use) it comes up with a blank blue screen! Help?!
Did you format the hard drive using Disk Utility on the install disc?
I didn't have the option, after holding down C until the cog started ticking around the screen just turns blue
Was it working before you installed the new drive?
Apparently so it was from a business so they just took out their hard drive and disposed of it for security reasons. What sort of issues cause this blue screen is more likely to be hardware compatibility?
What color is the install disc you're using, grey or black? If it's grey that's a machine specific disc and needs to be for that machine, black discs are retail discs and should work.
Thats frustrating i just called up apple last week and they just sent out the grey disc. Wouldn't they have known this? and at least asked what model it was?
Mike would this cause this problem? If so i'll just get a black disc but if it might be something else i'd rather not spend the money?
Really appreciate your help guys i'm fairly new to all this
May e they sent you a disc for a Power Mac G5 instead of an iMac G5. There was only one model of iMac G5 in 2006.
Well that "could" be it or "maybe" it's a dead pram battery.
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-iMac-G5-17-Inch-Model-A1058-PRAM-Battery/ 976/1#.T8TAkWt5mSM
If you gave Apple the serial # of the computer, they would have sent the install DVD (or CD) for whatever OS the Mac originally shipped with in 2004. Probably Panther 10.3. But it should be the right disc.
Why do you think it's Leopard? Leopard wasn't around in 2004. Did you order Leopard from them? If you did -- and I'm not sure it's even available from Apple Phone Sales any longer -- it wouldn't have been the grey, machine specific disc.
You may need to go back and check the connections to the drive. Or it might be a failed SATA controller to the drive. It might not have been working when they disposed of it. Any way to find out?
Try holding down the option key then power on. This brings up the startup manager. Click on your dvd. Click on right arrow key.
At least, this will give an indication that you machine is alive.
For more information
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106178
Sometimes if volume doesn't boot in Startup Manager (what you get when you hold down the Option key at startup), you need to reset the Mac's PRAM, NVRAM, and Open Firmware. Shut down the Mac, then power it up, and before the screen lights up, quickly hold down the Command, Option, P, and R keys, until the Mac has chimed twice more after the powerup chime. Then, before the screen lights up, hold down Command-Option-O-F until the Open Firmware screen appears. Then enter these lines, pressing Return after each one:
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset-all
"The reset-all command should restart your Mac. If so, you have successfully reset the Open Firmware settings."
WZZZ good point i did give the serial number so they must have sent it for the right model. I did ask for leopard and they did send it? or thats what it said on the envelope anyway?!
No way to really know about the SATA controller but have checked the connections and they seem to be fine?
rccharles
Thanks for the advice i did all of this and your directions were perfect but still seem to end up blue screening it after it tries to load the operating system from the disc.
Not sure if this is relevant at all but it won't turn off from the main power button when it is in this state i have to pull the plug on it?
It should turn off if you hold the power button pressed for couple seconds. It works that way on most computer devices regardless if there is software installed or not.
Folks here did already mention resetting the PRAM but you could try to reset power management, to do that power off the machine and then press power button to turn on the machine but don't let go, keep the button pressed until the sleep led blink and you hear loud beep.
If you really have first generation iMac G5 (made in 2004) these machines are notorius of their capacitors going bad so whenever there is stange problem you should check the caps. Bad capacitors can cause all kinds of issues ranging from slight instability to completedly dead machine.
You could also try different memory stick combinations if possible.
Re. bad caps: Look for brown gunk at the top of the capacitors, or that the tops aren't completely flat. If you don't know what capacitors look like, they are short cylinders, about 1" tall.There are quite a few of them. You won't be able to see the ones in the power supply.
Little help?!