iMac G5 crashes on restart and wake from sleep.....

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iMac G5 crashes on restart and wake from sleep.....

I have an iMac G5 (2GHZ, PowerPC G5 (3.1) running tiger 10.4.6. Sometimes when the computer goes to sleep and I try and wake it up by pressing any key nothing happens and after a couple of minutes the fans come on full blast - I am forced to shut it down with the power button and then restart.
A similiar problem happens sometimes when I restart the mac, it just hangs at the black screen and no apple 'tone' is heard as with normal startup, the fans then come on full blast - I have to then restart as with the above example.
These problems only happen sometimes but are frequent enough to cause concern. I believe the problems might be linked to USB devices connected to the computer as on small scale testing it seems the problems disappear when I unplug all USB devices except the keyboard/mouse.
My current USB connections are keyboard/mouse, Nikon
Coolscan 5000ed scanner, epson photo r200 printer and canon powershot usb cable. No firewire devices are installed but I am connecting to the net via an ethernet cable.

Any advice/input on these issues would be greatly
appreciated.

many thanks,

Alex

iMac G5, 2GHz, 512MB (2nd Gen, PowerPC), Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Posted on May 2, 2006 4:50 PM

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Answer 1

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

May 2, 2006 7:10 PM in response to frozenshade

Are you connecting these through an external USB hub, Alex?

As you suggest, the problems are very likely to be relatd to a USB device. If you aren't using a USB adsl modem then next in line come hubs.

You might want to check whether any newer drivers are available for the Epson printer and Nikon scanner. I haven't seen these particular models mentioned here as problematic, but some of Nikon's earlier software was certainly flakey under Panther, so this may be a good place to look first.

Another possibility is Allumé's "Internet Cleanup" version 2, which produced these problems for some users under Tiger.

Cheers

Rod

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Answer 2

May 2, 2006 8:27 PM in response to frozenshade

Hello,
I am having nearly the same problem except that after my iMac gets "stuck" trying to wake up, nothing works, even the power button on the back. In the end I have to pull the power cord (ouch! :-0) and let it sit for a few minutes (I can't start it, it begins the startup sequence then the fans go full on and then it dies). I have a D-Link Bluetooth card thingy connected through a usb (1.1) hub and also I just started connecting to the internet via ethernet cable. Could either/both of these be the issue?

L

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Answer 3

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

May 2, 2006 9:05 PM in response to Lleyton Igawa

Does it still happen if you disconnect the USB hub and Bluetooth device, Lleyton?

Cheers

Rod

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Answer 4

May 2, 2006 10:29 PM in response to Rod Hagen

well i have disconnected so I will see what happens. it only happens every now and then so...

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Answer 5

May 3, 2006 7:08 PM in response to Rod Hagen

yup it happened again and yet again i had to pull the plug... 😟 could it be because i use ethernet?

L

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Answer 6

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

May 3, 2006 7:24 PM in response to Lleyton Igawa

Ethernet devices aren't usually the cause of this sort of problem, Lleyton, though very occasionally they can be. See what happens if you disconnect it BEFORE you put it to sleep.

Are you using a regular Apple mouse and keyboard?

Do you run any software like Internet Cleanup, or anti virus or disk checking software that runs in the background? It may be that something like this is causing problems if it still occurs with your peripherals disconnected.

Cheers

Rod

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Answer 7

May 3, 2006 7:45 PM in response to frozenshade

I have a similar problem, although with my 1st Gen 1.8 GHz iMac. I have tried disconnecting everything but the keyboard and mouse and this has still not solved my problem. I have taken it to a few repair shops and they have all said it was various issues with the Logic board (which has been replaced 3 times, to no effect). My current solution is to not put my computer to sleep.

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Answer 8

May 3, 2006 9:28 PM in response to Rod Hagen

ok sounds good. i'll try that out. I am using the apple (usb) keyboard and a pretty standard Logitech 3-button optical mouse. i have been using it for a long time though so i doubt that it is the cause.

Thanks
L

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Answer 9

Rod Hagen

Level 7

32,000 points

May 3, 2006 9:53 PM in response to Lleyton Igawa

pretty standard Logitech 3-button optical mouse. i have been using it for a long time though so i doubt that it is the cause.

Ahhh!

Logitech released a new version of their control centre a month or two back to cater for some changes in recent versions of Tiger.

Definitely worth checking for the update. THis may conceivably be the cause of your problems. http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/downloads/categories/US/EN,CRID=1792

[EDIT - I should add that quite a few people have been having problems with Logitech Mac drivers in recent times. see http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/14421 for some of the issues. Some people use USB Overdrive instead, for this reason)

Cheers

Rod

Message was edited by: Rod Hagen

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Answer 10

May 4, 2006 2:16 AM in response to frozenshade

Try doing a safe boot instead of pulling the plug.

Hold down the power button for about 3 to 10 seconds for a soft reboot. But when restarting try holding down shift on power up. This may help you get back on to the machine without pulling the plug. Also it may help narrow the possible problems if this works.

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Answer 11

May 4, 2006 7:52 PM in response to hockeyman

The power button doesn't respond even if i hold it for 20 seconds. Also I downloaded the logitech LCC app and it really didn't do anyhing. And then this unfortunate event happened again this morning 😟

L

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Answer 12

May 5, 2006 1:19 AM in response to Lleyton Igawa

If you have reset the PRAM and the SMU, try using the standard apple mouse with the computer since you said you had a logitech mouse. If that doesn't help then try using the disk that came with your computer that says Hardware test. Boot off of the CD/DVD like it tells you to and run the extended test. Tell us if it returns anything.

Also if this doesn't tell you the problem I highly suggest you take it in to an Apple store, if you are under AppleCare and if you don't have the extended AppleCare, I suggest you get it. My rule of thumb is if you have a problem within the first year or so you should get AppleCare for down the road if it fails again...

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Answer 13

imacg5

Level 1

11 points

May 5, 2006 5:46 AM in response to frozenshade

bring it to apple retail store and go to the genius bar to have them fix it

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Answer 14

frozenshade Author

Level 1

0 points

May 5, 2006 10:00 AM in response to Rod Hagen

Hi there,

I am not using a USB hub. All of my drivers for the USB hardware is the latest available. It seems as if Mac OS X has a problem with USB devices.
Any other input on this problem would be welcomed.

thanks,

Alex

Are you connecting these through an external USB hub,
Alex?

As you suggest, the problems are very likely to be
relatd to a USB device. If you aren't using a USB
adsl modem then next in line come hubs.

You might want to check whether any newer drivers are
available for the Epson printer and Nikon scanner. I
haven't seen these particular models mentioned here
as problematic, but some of Nikon's earlier software
was certainly flakey under Panther, so this may be a
good place to look first.

Another possibility is Allumé's "Internet Cleanup"
version 2, which produced these problems for some
users under Tiger.

Cheers

Rod

Reply

Answer 15

May 5, 2006 12:48 PM in response to Lleyton Igawa

Maybe this makes a difference or not but, I did have to have the bring it in a little while back to get its power supply replaced.
I don't have Apple Pro Care and unfortunatly the iMac is a rev a thus I got it some time ago and is no longer covered by its warrenty.

L

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