Q: Light blinks 3 times on startup for Power Mac G5 (June 2004)
The MAC froze then the fans went crazy, so I held the power button down to shut it off. After pressing the button to start it up, the light at the power button began to blink 3 times and a red light inside the MAC stayed on. I have (4) 1gb memory sticks and I have taken them out in pairs to see if this resolves the problem. No. I even put the memory that came with the MAC back in, didn't help. I took all memory out and got 1 blink.
What does the 3 blinks mean?
If it is memory, how can 6 sticks of RAM be bad?
Posted on Nov 21, 2013 7:37 PM
Hello,
1 beep = no RAM installed
2 beeps = incompatible RAM types
3 beeps = no good banks
4 beeps = no good boot images in the boot ROM (and/or bad sys config block)
5 beeps = processor is not usable
In addition to the beeps, on some computers the power LED will flash a corresponding number of times plus one. The LED will repeat the sequence after approximately a 5-second pause. The tones are only played once.
Note: In this case, a flash is considered to be 1/4 second or 250 ms or greater in length.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1547
If you're sure the RAM is good, try the Hair Dryer trick...
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=13240047#13240047
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15223603#15223603
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15499912#15499912
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15613068#15613068
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3270112
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16053892#16053892
No power light at all...
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3692775?tstart=0
It can show on any G5, and even many other computers & electronic devices of the period.
http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/pmg5.html
http://lowendmac.com/ppc/power-macintosh-g5.html
And see this last one in particular...
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16781690#16781690
Heat gun better...
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3916312?tstart=0
Posted on Nov 21, 2013 8:33 PM