chris catalano

Q: iMac G5 won't startup

Hi All,

 

I've been using this machine without issue for years and years. I had a problem with a file not being able to be saved, so I decided to restart. That's where the trouble started. It wouldn't get past the Apple logo. I tried a few more times and sometimes it would get to the blue screen after the Apple logo and freeze there. I was able to boot into safe mode once and did a permissions repair, but the machine wouldn't restart after that. I also got it to boot into Target mode and connected it to my laptop to grab a few files. After that I've not been able to get it to start up. Also, now when I boot into Target mode and connect it to another computer, the drive never mounts. I get the Firewire logo on the iMac screen, but the other computers don't see it as a mountable drive. I've done the SMU reset, PRAM reset a bunch of times, but no change. I've booted off of the original OS DVD that came with it and run disk utility a bunch of times and it never detects any hardware issues. I opened up the back and pulled out the CR2032 battery and tested it, it still shows it at 3v. I've then tried to reinstall the system from the original dvd. Twice now I've gone through that process and when the installation completes it attempts to restart and again, it gets as far as the blue screen after the Apple logo and then just stops.

 

I can't think of anything else to try. Anyone have any other suggestions for me?

 

Thanks,
CJ

Posted on Jun 20, 2016 4:20 PM

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Q: iMac G5 won't startup

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  • by chris catalano,

    chris catalano chris catalano Jul 13, 2016 7:43 AM in response to theratter
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    Jul 13, 2016 7:43 AM in response to theratter

    This is what I've done:

     

    Replaced the original HD with one from a PC

    Booted from OS X install dvd (10.4)

    Used Disc Utilities to format/partition the HD

    Installed the OS

         ->After the first part of the install completed the machine rebooted (or tried to reboot). It would not complete the start up process unless I forced it into Safe Boot.

    The install process continued and asked for Install DVD 2.

    The installer completed.

    I ran Software update a bunch of times and was able to update to 10.4.11.

     

    At this point I cannot restart the machine unless I invoke Safe Boot. I don't think it is hard disc related as this is the same thing that happened with the original HD. Also, if I leave it off overnight and try to reboot in the morning, the first few attempts never get to the startup screen. I'll get either a black screen and fans starting to rev, or I'll get the grey screen but never get to the Apple logo, or sometimes I'll get all kinds of weird video patterns (kind of like a closeup up of corduroy material). I've run Apple Hardware Test and everything always passes. At this point I just don't know what else to do.


    Thanks.

     

    theratter wrote:

     

    Did you insert Disc 2? If so what happened? If still not booting, then you need to start again. See the following:

     

     

  • by theratter,

    theratter theratter Jul 13, 2016 12:49 PM in response to chris catalano
    Level 4 (3,907 points)
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    Jul 13, 2016 12:49 PM in response to chris catalano

    Exactly what Mac model do you have? What version of OS X does the installer disc install? Does this computer have an Intel or PPC processor? How was the PC disk originally formatted before you used it? Is the disk you replaced still working or has it died? You said you were able to update to 10.4.11. How did you accomplish that? Do you have a full installer disc for 10.4.x?

     

    Note that my installation instructions are for Snow Leopard - 10.6.x - that may not be compatible with your computer.

  • by chris catalano,

    chris catalano chris catalano Jul 13, 2016 1:03 PM in response to theratter
    Level 2 (292 points)
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    Jul 13, 2016 1:03 PM in response to theratter

    Its an iMac PPC G5 8,2. The installer disk is 10.4.

    I put the PC hard drive in the machine, booted from the installer DVD and ran Disk Utilities to format it as a Mac drive. I don't think there's anything wrong with that disk. The original HD is still here, I suspect there's probably nothing wrong with it. I updated using Software update. No problems there either.

    theratter wrote:

     

    Exactly what Mac model do you have? What version of OS X does the installer disc install? Does this computer have an Intel or PPC processor? How was the PC disk originally formatted before you used it? Is the disk you replaced still working or has it died? You said you were able to update to 10.4.11. How did you accomplish that? Do you have a full installer disc for 10.4.x?

     

    Note that my installation instructions are for Snow Leopard - 10.6.x - that may not be compatible with your computer.

  • by theratter,

    theratter theratter Jul 13, 2016 11:06 PM in response to chris catalano
    Level 4 (3,907 points)
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    Jul 13, 2016 11:06 PM in response to chris catalano

    Put the originally drive back. Follow the instructions here: Installing Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. You can also follow this procedure:

     

    1. Boot the computer using the OS X Installer Disc that came with your computer or if you have a retail version of Tiger boot from the Tiger DVD.  Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.  After the chime press and hold down the "C" key.  Release the key when you see a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
    2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button.  When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu if using Tiger.)  After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive size.)  Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.  Set the number of partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Partition button.
    3. After partitioning has completed click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.  Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled, if supported.) Click on the Option button and select the Zero Drive option (single pass) then click on the OK button.  Click on the Erase button.  The formatting will take from 30 minutes to a couple of hours depending upon the capacity of the hard drive.
    4. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer.  Proceed with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
    5. When the installation has completed your computer will require a restart after which you will be running a fresh install of OS X.  You can now begin the update process by opening Software Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your installation current.

     

    If you use a PC disk that was formatted NTFS, then you need to reformat it as FAT32/MSDOS before you can partition and format it for the Mac. Also, be sure the partition scheme for the Mac is APM.

  • by chris catalano,

    chris catalano chris catalano Jul 14, 2016 5:40 AM in response to theratter
    Level 2 (292 points)
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    Jul 14, 2016 5:40 AM in response to theratter

    What is the benefit of doing this again? The old PC disk was reformatted by DU and the OS installed fine on it.

  • by theratter,

    theratter theratter Jul 14, 2016 4:15 PM in response to chris catalano
    Level 4 (3,907 points)
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    Jul 14, 2016 4:15 PM in response to chris catalano

    Sometimes Disk Utility cannot correctly partition a PC disk formatted NTFS. It may go through the motions but the disk may not be setup properly. Or if your old disk is OK just return to it. Clearly, there is something not right with how either disk is functioning as a boot disk for your computer. Without actually seeing what you have done nor the results makes it difficult for me to know how to assist further.

  • by chris catalano,

    chris catalano chris catalano Jul 28, 2016 8:52 AM in response to theratter
    Level 2 (292 points)
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    Jul 28, 2016 8:52 AM in response to theratter

    Ok, I finally had a chance to get back to this.

    I've reinstalled the original Hard Disk. I followed the instructions above to boot from the installer dvd, run Disk Utilities, partition the drive, erase the drive and install the OS. After the OS installed the machine attempted to restart. It would not complete the startup at that point and I had to use the power button to turn it off. I tried several more times to start it up. Sometimes I'd get the Apple logo and get to the blue screen where it would hang, other times the fans would just start revving up. I tried about 5 or 6 times over a few days to get it to start up. Today I tried again. After the startup chime the installer DVD was ejected. My guess was that the second installer dvd was needed to complete the install. However, the screen was black so I couldn't be sure. So I inserted DVD 2 anyway. The computer sounded like it was accessing the DVD, then about a minute later it was ejected and some music started playing. It wasn't any music I've ever heard come out of a Mac. Then when that faded out a voice came on and talked about a "Voiceover" tutorial. And sure enough a tutorial started where it instructed me on how to use some key commands to do various assisted functions (all this is happening with a totally black screen by the way). So I followed some of the activities, but figured this was really going anywhere, so I used a quick push of the power button to put the machine to sleep. I then tried to use the keyboard to wake it up, but still just a black screen. I'm guessing the machine is 'awake' but the screen is black for some reason.


    Have no idea what to do at this point....

  • by theratter,

    theratter theratter Jul 29, 2016 11:03 AM in response to chris catalano
    Level 4 (3,907 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 29, 2016 11:03 AM in response to chris catalano

    Make an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar for service. If needed find an Apple Store - Find a Store - Apple.

  • by chris catalano,

    chris catalano chris catalano Jul 29, 2016 4:01 PM in response to theratter
    Level 2 (292 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 29, 2016 4:01 PM in response to theratter

    Not for a computer this old.

    theratter wrote:

     

    Make an appointment at the Apple Genius Bar for service. If needed find an Apple Store - Find a Store - Apple.

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