Power Mac G4 MDD strange startup problem

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Yiannis Author

Level 1

99 points

Power Mac G4 MDD strange startup problem

Hello ,

I have an old G4 MDD dual 1Ghz which is been used by my 6 years old son for gaming and watching movies.

I had Tiger 10.4.11 on a IBM deskstar HDD and Leo 10.5.8 on a seagate HD.

Everything was fine until some days ago, when my mac didn't boot from the first try…..black screen.

After a second attempt , booting was just fine.

I have now two system disks (IBM deskstar HDD) with 10.5.8 installed.

Mac is not booting always from first attempt….it takes two more with or without the option key pressed to choose a startup disk.

I have done all the usual…….reset PMU-PRAM…replacing battery,replacing cables,cable select the drives and now forced one to master and second to slave.

I have run Service Diagnostics 2.1.5………..ALL TESTS PASSED.

Still not booting normally….

Any suggestions please??

Thank you all!🙂

PS:It is also loosing very often internet connection via ethernet……..I think it's not a router problem as all my other macs are working normally.

PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8), 2g Ram-1GHZ MDD

Posted on Oct 6, 2014 10:24 AM

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Answer 1

Yiannis Author

Level 1

99 points

Oct 22, 2014 6:59 AM in response to BDAqua

Yes I do have a multimeter.TI will check the usb ports (back only G4 MDD).I am sure that there will be no power if the mac do not start up properly.

I n the mean time here are the results:

1)Its not the PSU

2)Its not the memory

3)Its not the power button

4) Its not the HDs

5)Its not the cable

6)Its not the battery

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

239,363 points

Oct 22, 2014 10:08 AM in response to Yiannis

I'm thinking there should be power to the USB ports if it's plugged in, as I recall I could start mine using an old USB KB that had a power button.

Have you tried starting it with the Hard Drives disconnected?

Using the external PSU did the drives spin up?

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Answer 3

Yiannis Author

Level 1

99 points

Oct 22, 2014 10:19 AM in response to BDAqua

Yes the drives did spinup using external PSU.

I was trying to reset the nvram so here what I did..

Boot into open firmware by holding apple-option-o-f

type reset-nvram

set-defaults

reset-all

After reset-all there is an auto restart but my mac didn't startup……….just the fans and black screen……..

ps: what to expect without any drives connected on startup?The fans are working and the red light inside the motherboard is on……..

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

239,363 points

Oct 22, 2014 11:00 AM in response to Yiannis

So, it is seeing the KB at startup & theres is some screen output!

Mac OS X: How to start up in single-user or verbose mode...

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1492

See if we get any output & if so what the last few lines say.

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Answer 5

Yiannis Author

Level 1

99 points

Oct 22, 2014 11:09 AM in response to BDAqua

Just now I have manage to start it up (after several attempts) pressing the option key.

I am letting it for 5min and see what will happen.

Also it has another strange behavior now………sometimes after the startup sound it shuts down..😟

EDIT : I just pressed the arrow button to continue and it shut down…..

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Answer 6

Yiannis Author

Level 1

99 points

Oct 22, 2014 11:17 AM in response to Yiannis

Here is what I got is single user mode

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Answer 7

BDAqua

Level 10

239,363 points

Oct 22, 2014 11:23 AM in response to Yiannis

Did you try the /sbin/fsck -fy ?

Can you try Verbose Mode instead of Single User mode also?

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Answer 8

Yiannis Author

Level 1

99 points

Oct 22, 2014 11:24 AM in response to BDAqua

"Did you try the /sbin/fsck -fy ?"

type that while in single user??What is it??

I will try verbose now……..hold on please...

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Answer 9

Yiannis Author

Level 1

99 points

Oct 22, 2014 11:34 AM in response to Yiannis

Verbose mode big photo and before restarting to verbose mode I got that on the small picture

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Answer 10

BDAqua

Level 10

239,363 points

Oct 22, 2014 11:34 AM in response to Yiannis

type that while in single user??What is it??

Yes, Single User Mode, is a Disk Repair routine, we're interested if it fails or not, repeat until it shows no errors fixed.

(Space between fsck AND -fy important).

Verbose mode hopefully gives us clues as to where the startup fails.

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Answer 11

Yiannis Author

Level 1

99 points

Oct 22, 2014 11:37 AM in response to BDAqua

So does the picture above shows any valuable info??

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Answer 12

BDAqua

Level 10

239,363 points

Oct 22, 2014 11:57 AM in response to Yiannis

Might try answer #3 here...

http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/90288/mac-crash-after-installing-xcode

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Answer 13

Yiannis Author

Level 1

99 points

Oct 22, 2014 12:50 PM in response to BDAqua

I have found all the files except

"/System/Library/Extensions/CHUDKernLib.kext"

Shutdown the computer……..trying to start up………………………………..blackscreen and blowing fans……….😊

Tried also the "/sbin/fsck -fy"

"The volume XXX appears to be OK"

The volume is OK but I am not!!!! 😠😟😕

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Answer 14

BDAqua

Level 10

239,363 points

Oct 22, 2014 12:48 PM in response to Yiannis

What does Verbose mode report now?

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Answer 15

Yiannis Author

Level 1

99 points

Oct 22, 2014 1:25 PM in response to BDAqua

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