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We have a PowerMac G4 that won't turn on.

The power button lights up once when we try to turn it on (only after the power cord has been unpugged and plugged back in). We tried to reset the CUDA and that didn't work. Ultimately we want the computer to work again, but we need to get some financial files off of the hard drive. Please help!!

PowerMac, Mac OS 9.0.x

Posted on Dec 11, 2012 4:57 PM

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Posted on Dec 11, 2012 5:19 PM

The first thing you may want to look into is the battery on the logic/motherboard. You can have it tested for free at Radio Shack. If it test bad that would at least tell you the battery may be the cause. This is what the battery looks like.


http://www.newertech.com/products/pram_3_6v.php

30 replies

Dec 11, 2012 6:56 PM in response to slstaer

if the hard drive is still functional, and as long as you don't have File Vault or some other file encryption on the drive, you could just remove it from the machine and access the files on another computer using an external cable adapter like this:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/U3NVSPATA/


to see how you can open up the machine and remove a hard drive: here are some videos on how to install a hard drive in various Mac models:

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/

Dec 12, 2012 8:01 PM in response to slstaer

You can access the files on the drive from a newer computer and OS, but the problem with using a newer OS is that some files can only be opened by a particular version of the application that only runs under an older OS version. For example, say you have tax-prep files from year 1998 in OS 9 and those can not be opened by current tax software 2012 under OS X. You can usually import or translate files from one year's version to the next years, but over many years you have lost any backwards compatibility. If you have Excel spreadsheets from version 1998 you may be able to open them with 2010 version of Excel, but maybe not with 100% translation of all features or formatting, hypothetically.


If your G4 was running OS 9 and the files you need can only be opened by running the original version of the software under OS 9, then your best bet would be to search your favorite local classified ads for a similar vintage computer that is in working condition, and use the external hard drive with that computer. If you consider the worst-case that the G4 requires some major repair like a motherboard or power supply. Grab a used working model similar to yours and get back in business, that may be cheaper and faster than trying to figure out what is wrong with this one and fixing it, if you are facing some kind of fiscal-cliff or deadline for accessing your data files.

Dec 13, 2012 4:19 PM in response to slstaer

We found a vintage machine Power Mac G4 running OS X tiger and we put our hard drive In it and started it and it started running. It did the start up screen for OS 9.2 which is what we were running. It started initializing and icons came up on the bottom and then the screen went blank. The tower continued to run but the screen would not turn on. Any ideas?

Dec 13, 2012 4:52 PM in response to slstaer

You just posted as I did. It's not the power supply in the vintage G4 you picked up, monitors don't draw power from the computer power supply. They plug into a separate outlet on there own. The first thought right now is a hard drive failure. Is the hard drive making any unusual sounds? You'll have to open the case and listen to it, it should have a smooth running spinning sound.

Dec 13, 2012 5:23 PM in response to slstaer

bummer, I was hoping that you could get another machine in working condition, rather than have two machines to troubleshoot. Did the new machine even boot up under it's original OS?


First thing, is make sure the machine you picked up is working as-is, or send it back, if you still can. You could boot into that drive's OS X, and use your old drive OS 9 System Folder for Classic, try launching your old OS 9 apps under classic. Classic under OS X might not fully support your software, some old software may require booting into OS 9.

We have a PowerMac G4 that won't turn on.

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