Macintosh12354
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Power book G4 boot problem

I have a PowerBook G4 and when I press the power buttion the computer makes the apple start up sound and the apple logo with a loading symbol appears but that is all that happens the computer after awhile restarts and it happens again also it sounds like the fan and hard drive are spinning up and keep spinning up. How do I fix it?

PowerBook

Posted on Mar 16, 2014 6:40 PM

by Kr15_UK,Solvedanswer
Kr15_UK Kr15_UK
Level 1 (25 points)
A:

Hi there,

 

Before we start troubleshooting I love to do basic resets first.

Some of them may seem unnecessary in this stage but I like to ensure that some weird glitch doesn't affect any future troubleshooting.

 

1. Unplug your charger and remove battery. Hold power button for 30sec.

(people call this cold reset, apparently this discharges any capacitors or so holding any current)

2. Battery back, charger plugged. PMU reset (power management reset). Press the power button and hold it for few sec, sleep light will rapidly blink and 50/50 chance that it will make non-Mac like beep.

3. Power it off and then back on - before anything came on the screen press Command+Option+O+F

This will enter into the OpenFirmware management screen.

Type reset-nvram Enter key, and reset-all Enter key. After this it will restart.

4. And now lets do PRAM reset. Command+Option+P+R - press and hold after powering on your Mac.

I do like to squeeze out 3-4 startup chimes. Some people say its too much but better a bit more than little too less.

 

Now we can start troubleshoot on why its not booting. (Still give a go to boot after all those resets, you never know)

 

Easiest way to understand why it's not booting and where it hangs is to boot your Mac into the Verbose boot mode.

Command+V on startup. Screen will turn black and you will see some Unix like booting.

Please let me know how far does it gets and what it says.

Make a picture if you wish. That's even better.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Regards,

Kris M

Posted on Jun 5, 2014 2:57 PM

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Macintosh12354

Q: Power book G4 boot problem

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  • Helpful answers

  • by a brody,Helpful

    a brody a brody Mar 18, 2014 7:34 AM in response to Macintosh12354
    Level 9 (66,899 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Mar 18, 2014 7:34 AM in response to Macintosh12354

    It may need the PRAM battery replaced:

     

    http://www.ifixit.com/ may explain how to fix it.

     

    It may need the hard drive repaired with the older version of Alsoft Disk Warrior from http://www.alsoft.com/ if your data is backed up.  If it isn't an older version of Prosoft Data Rescue may be needed from http://www.prosofteng.com/ to recover data.

  • by Macintosh12354,

    Macintosh12354 Macintosh12354 Jun 4, 2014 9:31 AM in response to a brody
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 4, 2014 9:31 AM in response to a brody

    The hard drive does not make any odd noises but when I tried to boot from a OSX install disk it did not boot. And the pram battery is fine I replaced it.

  • by Kr15_UK,Solvedanswer

    Kr15_UK Kr15_UK Jun 5, 2014 2:57 PM in response to Macintosh12354
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jun 5, 2014 2:57 PM in response to Macintosh12354

    Hi there,

     

    Before we start troubleshooting I love to do basic resets first.

    Some of them may seem unnecessary in this stage but I like to ensure that some weird glitch doesn't affect any future troubleshooting.

     

    1. Unplug your charger and remove battery. Hold power button for 30sec.

    (people call this cold reset, apparently this discharges any capacitors or so holding any current)

    2. Battery back, charger plugged. PMU reset (power management reset). Press the power button and hold it for few sec, sleep light will rapidly blink and 50/50 chance that it will make non-Mac like beep.

    3. Power it off and then back on - before anything came on the screen press Command+Option+O+F

    This will enter into the OpenFirmware management screen.

    Type reset-nvram Enter key, and reset-all Enter key. After this it will restart.

    4. And now lets do PRAM reset. Command+Option+P+R - press and hold after powering on your Mac.

    I do like to squeeze out 3-4 startup chimes. Some people say its too much but better a bit more than little too less.

     

    Now we can start troubleshoot on why its not booting. (Still give a go to boot after all those resets, you never know)

     

    Easiest way to understand why it's not booting and where it hangs is to boot your Mac into the Verbose boot mode.

    Command+V on startup. Screen will turn black and you will see some Unix like booting.

    Please let me know how far does it gets and what it says.

    Make a picture if you wish. That's even better.

     

    Thanks.

     

     

    Regards,

    Kris M

  • by billy macl,

    billy macl billy macl Mar 28, 2015 7:12 AM in response to Macintosh12354
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 28, 2015 7:12 AM in response to Macintosh12354

    IIf that didn't fix this, it is likely the hard drive failed, same thing happe to me.