The Apple Blog

soundguyrob · 06-20-2008

Hello Everyone, new guy here. My older G4-running OS X, was a perfect little guy until I dropped him last fall. Local guy here in Indy replaced my drive and put the chassis in a jig to correct. It has worked flawless since. (and always before)The only prob is the battery sits a little wierd in its holder.
Here's my prob, a couple of weeks ago, surfing-and the screen froze. power off and hold did nothing. I finally had to remove the battery.
Now it wont power- no chime, but the keybaord caps lock and num lock lights respond. I found my way to your site on a search and found a thread, and I got the mac to power on! but....then I had to do a second restart while I got all the applications in order and its back to the same problem. I tried holding shift while I power. Are there any other "tricks"?
Sorry If this is a 'dead horse thread' I searched for an hour on here for any clues before my post so please don't flame me!!! Thanks in advance. Rob

**baseballboy828** · 06-20-2008

You probably need to bring it into an Apple Store or AASP (Apple Authorized Service Provider) to get it fixed. There's really no magic fix for this issue if you can't see the display.

houltmac · 06-21-2008

Assuming you have tried the following I would have to agree with BBB.

Reset PRAM (any sound?)
Reset NVRAM
Boot to another device
Use another display to make sure it's not just a display issue

soundguyrob · 06-23-2008

Reset PRAM (any sound?)
Reset NVRAM
Not sure how to do these,
I dont think its the display since I did by chance get it to power up by holding shift. It came on but it was in a wierd place. The date said 1969, air card wasn't detected, I restarted and it was fine. Then about 5 mins later, it asked to restart again since it updated and Im back to where I started.
I know I need to mail it to my guy here in Indy, just hoping it was something trivial. This is what I get for bragging about the reliability of mac to all of the PC programmers here at work. GRRR.

**Yuiichi** · 06-23-2008

Here is an Apple Support article detailing how to reset the PRAM and NVRAM. Hope this helps!

soundguyrob · 06-23-2008

Thanks, I will try that shortly, I think I tried that when I dropped it last year, I'll let you know.

entica · 06-23-2008

Wow! I'm having this *exact* same problem with my dual G4. I have tried *everything* possible. Even ordering and replacing the battery. Nothing has worked. I did somehow get it to boot by fluke one time but it was acting strange and just like above, stopped working after about 5 minutes. It has never booted since then. This gives me hope that it's not terminally dead but something to do with the electric soft start the g4's have.

I live nowhere near an apple tech so it's just been collecting dust the past few months. I've given up on it. I have no idea what to do from here on... anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,

E.

**baseballboy828** · 06-24-2008

Just to point out, the G4 is pretty old. It is not unusual for it to have some issues, especially if it was damaged from a fall.

soundguyrob · 06-25-2008

Update- resetting the PRAM and NVRAM didnt help, I am taking it somewhere soon. Thanks for the help..

**Raven** · 07-01-2008

Dropping any laptop, especially an older laptop, is always a recipe for trouble - and doesn't much reflect on the reliability of the machine, unless you have something designed for that (a Toughbook or something). Old, new, Apple, Dell - drop it and you're hosed. (Says the repair tech who has a whole stack of dropped machines she's working on this week.)

06-20-2008	#1 (permalink)
soundguyrob Operator Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Indianapolis Indiana Posts: 4	Hello Everyone, new guy here. My older G4-running OS X, was a perfect little guy until I dropped him last fall. Local guy here in Indy replaced my drive and put the chassis in a jig to correct. It has worked flawless since. (and always before)The only prob is the battery sits a little wierd in its holder. Here's my prob, a couple of weeks ago, surfing-and the screen froze. power off and hold did nothing. I finally had to remove the battery. Now it wont power- no chime, but the keybaord caps lock and num lock lights respond. I found my way to your site on a search and found a thread, and I got the mac to power on! but....then I had to do a second restart while I got all the applications in order and its back to the same problem. I tried holding shift while I power. Are there any other "tricks"? Sorry If this is a 'dead horse thread' I searched for an hour on here for any clues before my post so please don't flame me!!! Thanks in advance. Rob Last edited by soundguyrob; 06-20-2008 at 12:44 PM. Reason: typo

06-20-2008	#2 (permalink)
baseballboy828 Assistant Store Manager Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 2,252	You probably need to bring it into an Apple Store or AASP (Apple Authorized Service Provider) to get it fixed. There's really no magic fix for this issue if you can't see the display. __________________ iMac Intel Core Duo 17" 1.83Ghz, 2GB Crucial RAM ::Twitter : Ben Drucker Photography: Professional Photography Services :: Interested in a free trial Smugmug account?

06-21-2008	#3 (permalink)
houltmac Mac Genius Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 1,121	Assuming you have tried the following I would have to agree with BBB. Reset PRAM (any sound?) Reset NVRAM Boot to another device Use another display to make sure it's not just a display issue __________________ MacBook Pro 15", 2.53GHz, 4GB RAM, 320B 7200rpm HD \| iPhone 3G 16GB (Black)

06-23-2008	#5 (permalink)
Yuiichi Assistant Store Manager Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 2,021	Here is an Apple Support article detailing how to reset the PRAM and NVRAM. Hope this helps! __________________ My Mac(s): MacBook, white - 2.0 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 80 GB HDD Cake for you? The Macversity - Mac + School = Love.

06-24-2008	#8 (permalink)
baseballboy828 Assistant Store Manager Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 2,252	Just to point out, the G4 is pretty old. It is not unusual for it to have some issues, especially if it was damaged from a fall. __________________ iMac Intel Core Duo 17" 1.83Ghz, 2GB Crucial RAM ::Twitter : Ben Drucker Photography: Professional Photography Services :: Interested in a free trial Smugmug account?

06-23-2008	#4 (permalink)
soundguyrob Operator Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Indianapolis Indiana Posts: 4	Reset PRAM (any sound?) Reset NVRAM Not sure how to do these, I dont think its the display since I did by chance get it to power up by holding shift. It came on but it was in a wierd place. The date said 1969, air card wasn't detected, I restarted and it was fine. Then about 5 mins later, it asked to restart again since it updated and Im back to where I started. I know I need to mail it to my guy here in Indy, just hoping it was something trivial. This is what I get for bragging about the reliability of mac to all of the PC programmers here at work. GRRR.

06-23-2008	#6 (permalink)
soundguyrob Operator Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Indianapolis Indiana Posts: 4	Thanks, I will try that shortly, I think I tried that when I dropped it last year, I'll let you know.

06-23-2008	#7 (permalink)
entica Operator Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1	Wow! I'm having this exact same problem with my dual G4. I have tried everything possible. Even ordering and replacing the battery. Nothing has worked. I did somehow get it to boot by fluke one time but it was acting strange and just like above, stopped working after about 5 minutes. It has never booted since then. This gives me hope that it's not terminally dead but something to do with the electric soft start the g4's have. I live nowhere near an apple tech so it's just been collecting dust the past few months. I've given up on it. I have no idea what to do from here on... anyone have any ideas? Thanks, E.

06-25-2008	#9 (permalink)
soundguyrob Operator Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Indianapolis Indiana Posts: 4	Update- resetting the PRAM and NVRAM didnt help, I am taking it somewhere soon. Thanks for the help..

07-01-2008	#10 (permalink)
Raven TAB Author Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Greater Bostonia Posts: 522	Dropping any laptop, especially an older laptop, is always a recipe for trouble - and doesn't much reflect on the reliability of the machine, unless you have something designed for that (a Toughbook or something). Old, new, Apple, Dell - drop it and you're hosed. (Says the repair tech who has a whole stack of dropped machines she's working on this week.) __________________ PowerMac DualG5 2 Ghz, 4GB RAM, 820 GB hard drives 15'' MacBook Pro, 2.16 Ghz, 2 GB RAM - oh, and the Apple IIe

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search