Title: Re: FireWire problem in Mac Mini G4
Thanks, Bruce, Alex, and Kris for your suggestions. Followup report so far:

1. Console does not say anything when I try to put the computer to sleep. When I do that using the keyboard power button and selecting "Sleep" in the dialogue box, the dialogue box disappears but nothing further happens.

2. I think that FireWire on the Mini and on the external drive may both be kaput. I plugged the external drive into a Mac Pro and it did not show up. I also plugged a different external drive into the Mini and it did not show up (does show up on the Mac Pro).

3. I did a safe boot and reinstalled the OS 10.4.11 combo updater; did not resolve the problem.

Next move I think will be to back up my files (via USB or Ethernet), erase the HD, and re-install the OS. If all else fails, I will take Bruce's suggestion and delete the FW driver so at least the computer will sleep. Or maybe I will do that now. It is a PITA to have to shut the machine down all the time.

Herb Goodfriend                                                                                                                                                                                                    



 FireWire problem in Mac Mini G4
  • Herbert Goodfriend <bon...@mailforce.net> Jan 15 09:55PM -0500  

    I have a Mac Mini G4 1.5GHz running MacOS 10.4.11.
     
    A few days ago, two problems started:
     
    1. The machine would not go to sleep. Neither pressing power button,
    nor selecting Sleep in Apple menu, nor using keyboard power button
    (dialogue box appears, but selecting Sleep does nothing. The machine
    can be shut down or restarted.
     
    2. The machine did not recognize its external drive, which is
    connected via FireWire.
     
    Tried booting into single user mode, while booting up shows message:
     
    FWOHCI Error trying to clear PHY ports.
     
    then
     
    FireWire(OHCI) AppleID 31 built-in now active, GUID 001124ff
    fed33758; max speeds 100.
     
    Apple System Profiler shows FireWire Bus, but connected device does not show.
     
    Ran TechToolPro and the FireWire test could not be run. It was greyed
    out, and the information panel that appears when pressing the "i"
    button says "FireWire Not Available."
     
    Any suggestions appreciated. Also is there a connection between the
    sleep issue and the FireWire issue?
     
    Thanks.
     
    Herb Goodfriend
 
  • Alex Sciortino <zeosr...@gmail.com> Jan 15 08:02PM -0700  

    What does it say in console around when you try to go to sleep?
     
    Ð Alex Sciortino
    http://windows8sales.com/
     
     
     
     
     
     
 
  • Bruce Johnson <john...@pharmacy.arizona.edu> Jan 16 04:29AM  


    > Apple System Profiler shows FireWire Bus, but connected device does not show.
     
    > Ran TechToolPro and the FireWire test could not be run. It was greyed out, and the information panel that appears when pressing the "i" button says "FireWire Not Available."
     
    > Any suggestions appreciated. Also is there a connection between the sleep issue and the FireWire issue?
     
    I had a G4 powerbook that had burned out FW chip (as in small melted hole in the circuit board!). It wouldn't sleep, and had similar entries in the console.
     
    What I did to allow it to sleep was to remove the FW driver from the /System/Library/Extensions folder. Firewire didn't work, but everything else did.
     
    --
    Bruce Johnson
     
    "Wherever you go, there you are" B. Banzai, PhD
 
  • Kris Tilford <ktilfo...@cox.net> Jan 15 10:49PM -0600  


    > then
     
    > FireWire(OHCI) AppleID 31 built-in now active, GUID 001124ff fed33758; max speeds 100.
     
    > Apple System Profiler shows FireWire Bus, but connected device does not show.
     
    I used to boot old Macs via Firewire external drives, I've seen most problems. Where the verbose dialog says "max speeds 100" it should say "max speeds 400" if things are working right. The times I've had a "100 vs 400" issue it turned out to be System software related if I remember correctly. I'm not sure what I did to fix it, but doing a "Safe Boot" (Shift key at boot) followed by a reinstall of the "10.4.11 PPC Combo Update" couldn't hurt anything, and may fix the issue. If you boot in verbose mode (Cmd-v keys held at boot) and see it say "max speed 400" when no Firewire devices are attached, this theoretically means it's working now as it should, problem hopefully fixed?
  •  
  • If it's a hardware issue, it could be a problem with the external Firewire enclosure, when a Firewire bridge board (the circuitry in the external enclosure that adapts Firewire-to-ATA) goes bad, it can cause issues with the Firewire ports on the Mac itself. I don't think it's likely this problem is hardware on the Mac itself. If the external enclosure has multiple Firewire ports, try a different port with the cable, sometimes single ports go bad. If you attach the external, and it doesn't show up again, I believe you'll need a new external HD enclosure, or new HD itself within the enclosure. You can check the enclosure on another computer to see if it mounts. In rare circumstances bad enclosures can kill Firewire ports on computers permanently, so it's probably best to troubleshoot your Mini first, and if the Firewire port on the Mini can be confirmed to still function normally, only then try troubleshooting the enclosure on the Mini or another computer. If the physical port on the Mac is non-functional, be careful, the enclosure may be bad and kill computers it's attached to.

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