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Level 1

9 points

PPC G5 CRASHING SOON AFTER STARTUP.

POWER PC G5 DP 2.7. (2004) OSX 10.4.11

G5 has been pretty stable for some time. Recent hints of trouble were random failure of USB stylus for Cintiq display. Sometimes OK, sometimes not. This happened over months.

A few days ago video quit. Replaced video card. This restored video but keyboard, mouse and Cintiq stylus did not work. Startups would mostly end with gray screen. When startup managed to get to desktop, screen would freeze after a few minutes.

Shutdown and startups would have to be by power button.

Connected G5 to my other computer by fierier and set G5 as Target disk. Used Disk Utility on other computer to fix permissions and Tech Tools to check volume which was OK. Checked PRAM battery which is still 3.6v. Zapped PRAM, Reset PMU button, reseated RAM cards and video card, checked all internal connections.

After some of these steps, I managed to get to a full startup which produced a dialog box that my Date and Time were wrong and needed to be changed. When I changed them in Prefs and Saved the change the screen would freeze up. Other restarts only produced a gray screen.

I am running out of ideas and options.

The last failed restart produced text on the screen. (for the first time) which I am including here. Maybe it will help in figuring out this mystery.

Thanks for any help

PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11), G5 DP 2.7GHz

Posted on Jul 31, 2015 11:20 PM

48 replies

BDAqua

Level 10

239,375 points

Aug 17, 2015 11:02 AM in response to Ron Wilson3

I think it would be best to find a cheap G5 that works, I've seen them for less than the Logic board or PSU separately!

Or, the much more expensive option of an older Mac Pro & the incredible cost of new SW!

ChitlinsCC

Level 7

20,924 points

Aug 17, 2015 11:16 AM in response to BDAqua

BDAqua wrote:

I think it would be best to find a cheap G5 that works, I've seen them for less than the Logic board or PSU separately!

Or, the much more expensive option of an older Mac Pro & the incredible cost of new SW!

I did an accounting once (a long while ago) comparing the $$ spent on hardware v. software - mainly to see what I had had to spend to keep up with the new hardware & OSes but also to get a handle on what the total expenditure was... I was not shocked to find that the software expenditure was 3 times the hardware! (almost to the penny)

*I agree with your strategy, BD -

Ron! - best of luck.

ÇÇÇ

Ron Wilson3 Author

Level 1

9 points

Aug 17, 2015 11:59 AM in response to ChitlinsCC

Thanks again for your experienced input. You reinforced my conclusion. I ordered another refurb G5 DP2.7 today. Yes, the cost of SW takes the breath away. Makes one think twice about using existing software investment if it still does the job. The many threads I have read recently informed me that I am not the only one hanging on to a G5 with OS 10.4.11 for all the above reasons.

I wonder where the bold new world of "online software" (read rental) will take us.

The saga with my existing G5 has been bizarre with a lot of twists and surprises. One minute I think I got it figured out. The next it is a total puzzle and seemingly hopeless. Thanks for hanging in there with me. You do a lot of good for a lot of people.

PPC G5 CRASHING SOON AFTER STARTUP.