Glitchmanbeta
Level 1
(4 points)
Q: Power Mac G3 no output to screen
I recently bought a Power Mac G3 on ebay. I hooked it up and turned it on. It worked just fine. It booted into OS X 10.3 and OS 9 with no problems. I then unplugged the machine and opened it up to look inside it. I didn't remove or put anything in, and just closed the machine back up. I hooked it up again and now I'm not getting any output to the screen. Is this a failed graphics card or something more serious?
It's a Blue and White Power Mac G3 by the way.
PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.3.x)
Jeff
Level 6
(11,559 points)
Anytime that you buy an old computer like that, you should assume that it was probably disconnected from electricity for some time. Depending on the seller, it may have been in storage for months, or been on a pallet-load of old computers bought at auction. When disconnected from electricity for long periods of time, the battery on the motherboard becomes discharged, especially if it's an old one. It's a 3.6-volt, ½AA battery, as seen here. A very weak or dead battery can cause a number of startup problems, including no video to the display. Was the date & time set correctly, after booting it up for the first time. If not, it should be replaced.
The use of a third-party keyboard, mouse, display, speakers, etc. will not cause the symptom that you're experiencing.
