EMac Hard Drive Issue?

Open the optical drive door with your fingernail. The serial number and specs are located on the inside of the door:

Before we try anything else we need to determine if this eMac is among those with a fatal logic board flaw. If the serial number falls within one of these ranges:

• G8412xxxxxx- G8520xxxxxx
• YM412xxxxxx - YM520xxxxxx
• VM440xxxxxx - VM516xxxxxx

the chances are very high that the computer will no longer work long enough to recover files normally. Not that the computer in the image falls within the ranges of "as good as dead."

Post back and we can consider workabouts if it won't run.

PS: We have two eMacs and I've had to move them all over the house. They actually weigh just shy of 50 pounds!! I call ours "The Chiropractor's Friends."

The good news is that your eMac is much older than the large group that suffered the Black Plague. And it doesn't sound like the usual video cable symptoms the very earliest eMacs could exhibit.

Does if start up if you press and hold the SHIFT key as soon as you hear the startup chime? That's a "safe mode" boot and often computers will start that way when regular booting fails. If you get a workable desktop by doing a safe mode boot, you should be able to copy the needed files to a thumb drive.

Hi Brian,

My first Mac was an eMac. I believe all the model info etc is on the inside of the Superdrive flap where the silver apple logo is.

As far as your boot up issue. It seems as though the operating system is corrupt. I would try booting as a firewire drive and plugging into another Mac. Start it up while holding down the T key and transfer any files that may be visible, if any at all.

More info for booting to "Target Disk Mode" (booting as a firewire drive) is at the following article:

Use target disk mode to share files between two Mac computers - Apple Support

Hope this helps!

eMac - Technical Specifications

>and found the Mac OS X Snow Leopard install DVD version 10.6.3

Unfortunately, this operating system is not compatible with a PowerPC Mac (such as the eMac). See, for example, http://lowendmac.com/2002/emac-2002/ for supported system versions. You will need either a startup disc for exactly this eMac, or a retail disc (not a machine-specific disc for another Mac).

Allan suggested starting up in safe mode. If this does not work, you may want to check the condition of the internal backup battery (pp. 45-48 in the manual at https://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/0/MA476/en_US/eMac_OriginalUserGuide.pdf). A bad/weak battery can cause startup problems with some computers.

See also p. 50 in the manual.

Well, since you don't have another Mac that makes this option not really viable but just for the sake of consistency, please see the firewire port boxed in red below:

If you did have another Mac, that is what I would recommend and I wouldn't discourage you from trying to connect to any computer (Windows or otherwise) with this method. Assuming you have the ability to connect the firewire of course.

Sorry there isn't a simpler solution but I do think this would be your best bet. Probably proceed with Allan though.

That is an Apple accessory called the "eMac Tilt & Swivel Stand."

The stand is held on by four Allen-head screws with fairly large-diameter heads. I believe you need a 4mm Allen wrench. With the eMac "face-down" as shown in your images. you should be able to push the circular base to access all four screws.

Removing the stand gives access to the RAM door where you can reach the two RAM slots as well as the PRAM battery. If the computer has been off wall power for a while the PRAM battery is surely dead, That can affect startup. The battery is a 3.6V 1/2-AA lithium like this:

NewerTech 3.6V Lithium PRAM Battery For Select Apple Desktop Systems

Yeah, booting to FireWire does allow you to bypass startup.

In order for the Cat5 method to work, you would need to specify network settings and hence would need a bootable operating system.

FireWire to USB is a good idea. Not positive it would work though.

A bootable USB would let you diagnose the issue with your built-in hardrive but the OS dvd should also be bootable. Hold C on startup. As the following article states:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201255