Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
On Feb 7, 2010, at 11:08 PM, Jim Scott wrote: On Feb 7, 2010, at 8:48 PM, Kevin Avery wrote: I do have one more idea, I have a Powermac G4 dual 450 running 10.4.11 and I just picked up a PowerMac G5 1.6 running Leopard 10.5.8. Is there any way I could use either of these machines and put the hard drive I want to put in the iMac G3 in it and load the OS on the drive then install it in the iMac. I am thinking that this would not work. I don't really want to spend any money on this old machine. I may just give her my old G4, I just picked the G5 up last week and have switched back to Mac from my Windows based notebook. I certainly missed using OS X on a daily basis. I wish I could buy a new MacBook, but it just isn't in the budget! If there is any way I could load the OS from another computer please let me know. Would Firewire target mode be any help? Somehow I don't think so. Put the hard drive you want to use into the iMac. Then hold down the T key while powering on the iMac. If a yellow firewire icon starts bouncing around on a blue screen, you're in business. Connect the iMac to your Power Mac G4 with firewire cable, then start up the PowerMac and use its Disk Utility to partition t the iMac's hard drive. Once that's done, use the G4's DVD to install OS X 10.4 on the iMac. Of course, if the iMac won't boot into firewire target disk mode, you can try installing 10.4 on the hard drive while it's in the Power Mac, then move it to the iMac. That would/should work, assuming you set the iMac hard drive to slave while in the Power Mac and then set it to master for use in the iMac. Again, good luck! Jim Scott Thanks, I think I will give this method a try! take care, Kevin -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
On Feb 7, 2010, at 8:48 PM, Kevin Avery wrote: > I do have one more idea, I have a Powermac G4 dual 450 running 10.4.11 and I > just picked up a PowerMac G5 1.6 running Leopard 10.5.8. Is there any way I > could use either of these machines and put the hard drive I want to put in > the iMac G3 in it and load the OS on the drive then install it in the iMac. > I am thinking that this would not work. I don't really want to spend any > money on this old machine. I may just give her my old G4, I just picked the > G5 up last week and have switched back to Mac from my Windows based notebook. > I certainly missed using OS X on a daily basis. I wish I could buy a new > MacBook, but it just isn't in the budget! > > If there is any way I could load the OS from another computer please let me > know. Would Firewire target mode be any help? Somehow I don't think so. Put the hard drive you want to use into the iMac. Then hold down the T key while powering on the iMac. If a yellow firewire icon starts bouncing around on a blue screen, you're in business. Connect the iMac to your Power Mac G4 with firewire cable, then start up the PowerMac and use its Disk Utility to partition t the iMac's hard drive. Once that's done, use the G4's DVD to install OS X 10.4 on the iMac. Of course, if the iMac won't boot into firewire target disk mode, you can try installing 10.4 on the hard drive while it's in the Power Mac, then move it to the iMac. That would/should work, assuming you set the iMac hard drive to slave while in the Power Mac and then set it to master for use in the iMac. Again, good luck! Jim Scott -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
Great Suggestions from everyone. I really appreciate it. I have pretty much determined that the CDRW drive is bad. When I unplug it's data cable the machine boots right to the question mark folder screen, there is no 15 minute delay, it is at that screen in probably less than a minute. I do have a firewire case that is made for hard drives, I hooked an apple branded working cdrw/dvd read only drive to it and hooked it up via firewire to the iMac and it would not recognize the firewire drive when I booted holding the option key, nothing showed up. I guess that firewire case can not recognize the optical drive because it was not recognized by my G5 either. It does work fine with hard drives. I got this G3 machine for free, I was kind of hoping to set it up for my mom, she is older and does not currently have a computer. I think I may just give this one away to someone who wants to work on it or send it to the electronics recycler if no one around here wants it. (I am in St. Louis MO, any takers?) I do have one more idea, I have a Powermac G4 dual 450 running 10.4.11 and I just picked up a PowerMac G5 1.6 running Leopard 10.5.8. Is there any way I could use either of these machines and put the hard drive I want to put in the iMac G3 in it and load the OS on the drive then install it in the iMac. I am thinking that this would not work. I don't really want to spend any money on this old machine. I may just give her my old G4, I just picked the G5 up last week and have switched back to Mac from my Windows based notebook. I certainly missed using OS X on a daily basis. I wish I could buy a new MacBook, but it just isn't in the budget! If there is any way I could load the OS from another computer please let me know. Would Firewire target mode be any help? Somehow I don't think so. Thanks for all of your advice and counsel. take care, Kevin -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
On Feb 7, 8:43 pm, Clark Martin wrote: > > What should I try next? > > Voodoo, swinging a rubber chicken over it, threats, cajolery what ever > works. The rubber chicken idea sounds like a useful tip. But where does one get a rubber chicken? Felix -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
On 2/7/10 3:11 PM, Elliott Price wrote: I think his problem is that it *doesn't* have an HD, and he's trying to boot it from the optical drive... Check to make sure the CD is a CD, and is bootable by that iMac. If it's a system specific disk that's not for an iMac G3, that could be causing the trouble. Are you sure it's a DV model? If it's a 350Mhz Indigo model, it'll only run 10.3, and not 10.4 (without Xpost facto) The sticker on the bottom lists the system stats. You might see if you can find an OS 9 disk to try out, since all G3 iMacs can boot into OS9, and OS9 was only on CD. There are 350 MHz Indigos with firewire. AFAIK machines without firewire will still boot the DVD, they just won't let you install. As the subject indicates, it's a 600MHz. His main problem so far is getting the video working so the OS isn't an issue... yet. -- Clark Martin Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting "I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway" -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
On 2/7/10 12:52 PM, Kevin Avery wrote: OK, here is the status so far; All of the troubleshooting have done in the past on this iMac has been in the dark, now in the daylight the "white screen" looks sort of grey. I was able to boot it into Open Firmware, I actually could see the words on the iMac screen. So I issued the above statements one at a time, hitting return after each one, no help, still a white/grey screen Was the OF screen faint (ie low contrast)? In the normal boot process can you see the flashing question mark on a folder (or any other start screen graphic), even faintly? If you can then all you have is poor contrast and you need to adjust the video controls. It might just be a matter of using the keyboard to adjust the brightness if it will boot or more likely you'll need to open up the case and tweak a pot on the video board. A web search should provide the needed info. I have reset the PRAM using Option-Apple-P-R and let it bong 4 times, same result. Hooking up an external monitor shows "input signal out of range", that is on 2 different 15" flat panel LCD monitors, one is an NEC and the other is a Compaq. I have no other monitors in the house to test with. Those should likely work. They need to be able to display 1024x768 at about 75 Hz. I have been holding down the C key when trying to boot, i am pretty sure that I dont need to at this point because I should be getting the folder icon that comes up when it can't find a boot device. Correct, you need to get the video working before you worry much about booting the OS (other than above if it gets you to where you can adjust the video settings). I have also removed and reseated the RAM. And I actually have removed the third party RAM and left in just the 128mb of Apple branded RAM. Still the same result. Good idea. I removed the battery, it is definitely bad, it tested at 0.66 v DC, and is supposed to be 3.6 v DC. I tried to boot it without the battery and have gotten the same white/grey screen result. iMacs should boot okay without a battery. I appreciate all of your time and advice. What should I try next? Voodoo, swinging a rubber chicken over it, threats, cajolery what ever works. -- Clark Martin Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting "I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway" -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
If you think Graphite is hard to nail down re colour, try to distiguish between Blueberry and Bondi! To me the Apple Gods should have named Indigo as Blueberry... where I come from blueberries are purple, not aqua... Kevin Avery wrote: Sorry I called this thing indigo or blue, I stand corrected, it is Graphite. Sorry, it looked sort of blue to me. And the guy that gave it to me told me it was a DV model. My mistake for not verifying it before posting. I apologize. -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
On Feb 7, 2010, at 4:17 PM, Kevin Avery wrote: > My guess is hold down option on boot and choose the firewire drive? > > The disks I have are from the iMac 600 I had a long time ago. The iMac is > long gone but I still had the CDs. :) That one might have been a DV model > though, I know for sure it was a 600, just not sure if it was SE or DV or > anything else it could have been. Yep, hold down option as soon as it chimes/gongs. OS 9 and OS X requirements changed during the availability of 600 MHz G3 iMacs, and your disk set might not work with the "new" 600. Best of luck to you, Kevin. Jim Scott -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
On Feb 7, 2010, at 3:11 PM, Elliott Price wrote: > I think his problem is that it *doesn't* have an HD, and he's trying to boot > it from the optical drive... > Check to make sure the CD is a CD, and is bootable by that iMac. If it's a > system specific disk that's not for an iMac G3, that could be causing the > trouble. > Are you sure it's a DV model? If it's a 350Mhz Indigo model, it'll only run > 10.3, and not 10.4 (without Xpost facto) The sticker on the bottom lists the > system stats. You might see if you can find an OS 9 disk to try out, since > all G3 iMacs can boot into OS9, and OS9 was only on CD. Oops for me too. I had to go to my Google webmail folder to find the original post, which said the seller took out the hard drive. Doncha hate that? You're right, Elliott. If he's trying to boot from a machine-specific grey disk that's not for that *exact* model of iMac, it won't boot from an optical drive. Also, if the drive is CD, a DVD won't work either. Or the drive could be faulty, or the CD/DVD could be faulty. There are so many variables that the mind boggles. If the iMac were mine, I'd take off the bottom case and the EMI shield. Then I would verify that it's a 600 MHz board by reading the factory printing on the right side of the board just above the drive tray. Then I would pull the drive tray and look at the label on the optical drive to ascertain exactly which one it is: CR- (CD read-only); CW- (CD read and write); DVD (DVD read-only). Then I would put a retail copy of OS 9.2.1 in the drive and try to boot it. Some 600s will boot from 9.1 while others need 9.2, and the only way to know which one works is to try. The good news for Kevin is that it's either a drive issue or a "right" boot CD issue, based on everything he's reported. Jim Scott -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
Looks like it is a broken optical drive. I disconnected it and it went straight to the folder icon. There is no hard drive. Sorry I called this thing indigo or blue, I stand corrected, it is Graphite. Sorry, it looked sort of blue to me. And the guy that gave it to me told me it was a DV model. My mistake for not verifying it before posting. I apologize. This is the one I have; http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/stats/imac_se_600.html iMac SE 600 I have a firewire device that I am going to try to put a DVD drive on and try to boot from it. How do I boot from firewire on this? My guess is hold down option on boot and choose the firewire drive? The disks I have are from the iMac 600 I had a long time ago. The iMac is long gone but I still had the CDs. :) That one might have been a DV model though, I know for sure it was a 600, just not sure if it was SE or DV or anything else it could have been. So my current plan is to see if it will boot from the firewire DVD, if it does then I will put a hard drive in it and load the OS. I will keep you all posted. Thanks for all of your help with this, I really appreciate it. take care, Kevin On Feb 7, 2010, at 5:15 PM, Elliott Price wrote: Oops - Just realized that the subject states that it's a 600Mhz one. Duh. :P Still, I would suggest that you check the disk to make sure that it's compatible with the computer, it might not be. Or, your optical drive might just be broken; that could cause the long loading time that you've described. -Elliott Price Quoit - Macintosh Computer Services hobbittech.com/quoit -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
Oops - Just realized that the subject states that it's a 600Mhz one. Duh. :P Still, I would suggest that you check the disk to make sure that it's compatible with the computer, it might not be. Or, your optical drive might just be broken; that could cause the long loading time that you've described. -Elliott Price Quoit - Macintosh Computer Services hobbittech.com/quoit -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
I think his problem is that it *doesn't* have an HD, and he's trying to boot it from the optical drive... Check to make sure the CD is a CD, and is bootable by that iMac. If it's a system specific disk that's not for an iMac G3, that could be causing the trouble. Are you sure it's a DV model? If it's a 350Mhz Indigo model, it'll only run 10.3, and not 10.4 (without Xpost facto) The sticker on the bottom lists the system stats. You might see if you can find an OS 9 disk to try out, since all G3 iMacs can boot into OS9, and OS9 was only on CD. -Elliott Price Quoit - Macintosh Computer Services hobbittech.com/quoit > which is why it's taking time for the blue screen to show up. I'm going to > guess your hard drive is bad. Try another one. > > Jim Scott > -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
On Feb 7, 2010, at 1:45 PM, Kevin Avery wrote: >> >> OK, here is the status so far; >> >> All of the troubleshooting have done in the past on this iMac has been in >> the dark, now in the daylight the "white screen" looks sort of grey. >> >> I was able to boot it into Open Firmware, I actually could see the words on >> the iMac screen. So I issued the above statements one at a time, hitting >> return after each one, no help, still a white/grey screen >> >> I have reset the PRAM using Option-Apple-P-R and let it bong 4 times, same >> result. >> >> Hooking up an external monitor shows "input signal out of range", that is on >> 2 different 15" flat panel LCD monitors, one is an NEC and the other is a >> Compaq. I have no other monitors in the house to test with. >> >> I have been holding down the C key when trying to boot, i am pretty sure >> that I dont need to at this point because I should be getting the folder >> icon that comes up when it can't find a boot device. >> >> I have also removed and reseated the RAM. And I actually have removed the >> third party RAM and left in just the 128mb of Apple branded RAM. Still the >> same result. >> >> I removed the battery, it is definitely bad, it tested at 0.66 v DC, and is >> supposed to be 3.6 v DC. I tried to boot it without the battery and have >> gotten the same white/grey screen result. >> >> I appreciate all of your time and advice. >> >> What should I try next? >> >> Thanks, >> Kevin > > One more update. > > I left the room to do something else and had left the iMac on. I was out for > about 30 minutes and when I got back I had the blue screen with the > folder/question mark icon flashing. > > So, I rebooted with the power switch and held down the C key, I did not hear > any noise from the CD drive and about 10 minutes after the bong the screen > went from grey to white. Then it went about 5 minutes later it went to the > blue screen with the flashing folder/question mark icon. I was holding the C > key down the whole time since just after the bong. > > The battery is still out. The external monitor still says signal out of > range. > Put the battery back in. Press the PMU reset button (tiny black button in tiny silver box directly below the battery holder and roughly in line with the bottom RAM slot) once. Disconnect the hard drive. Try it again. If no go, connect the hard drive and disconnect the optical drive. Try again. It sounds as if one or the other of your drives is sending signals on the IDE bus that confuse the logic board, which is why it's taking time for the blue screen to show up. I'm going to guess your hard drive is bad. Try another one. Jim Scott -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
On Feb 7, 2010, at 2:52 PM, Kevin Avery wrote: Try an Open Firmware reset of the video RAM. snip set-defaults reset-nvram reset-all Just to head off future confusion, I'll be pedantic here. This procedure dies NOT reset the 'video RAM'. That is volatile, its contents go away when the computer shuts down. OK, here is the status so far; All of the troubleshooting have done in the past on this iMac has been in the dark, now in the daylight the "white screen" looks sort of grey. I was able to boot it into Open Firmware, I actually could see the words on the iMac screen. So I issued the above statements one at a time, hitting return after each one, no help, still a white/grey screen I have reset the PRAM using Option-Apple-P-R and let it bong 4 times, same result. Hooking up an external monitor shows "input signal out of range", that is on 2 different 15" flat panel LCD monitors, one is an NEC and the other is a Compaq. I have no other monitors in the house to test with. I have been holding down the C key when trying to boot, i am pretty sure that I dont need to at this point because I should be getting the folder icon that comes up when it can't find a boot device. I have also removed and reseated the RAM. And I actually have removed the third party RAM and left in just the 128mb of Apple branded RAM. Still the same result. I removed the battery, it is definitely bad, it tested at 0.66 v DC, and is supposed to be 3.6 v DC. I tried to boot it without the battery and have gotten the same white/grey screen result. I appreciate all of your time and advice. What should I try next? Thanks, Kevin One more update. I left the room to do something else and had left the iMac on. I was out for about 30 minutes and when I got back I had the blue screen with the folder/question mark icon flashing. So, I rebooted with the power switch and held down the C key, I did not hear any noise from the CD drive and about 10 minutes after the bong the screen went from grey to white. Then it went about 5 minutes later it went to the blue screen with the flashing folder/question mark icon. I was holding the C key down the whole time since just after the bong. The battery is still out. The external monitor still says signal out of range. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Kevin -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
On Feb 7, 2010, at 12:52 PM, Kevin Avery wrote: > OK, here is the status so far; > > All of the troubleshooting have done in the past on this iMac has been in the > dark, now in the daylight the "white screen" looks sort of grey. > > I was able to boot it into Open Firmware, I actually could see the words on > the iMac screen. So I issued the above statements one at a time, hitting > return after each one, no help, still a white/grey screen > > I have reset the PRAM using Option-Apple-P-R and let it bong 4 times, same > result. > > Hooking up an external monitor shows "input signal out of range", that is on > 2 different 15" flat panel LCD monitors, one is an NEC and the other is a > Compaq. I have no other monitors in the house to test with. > > I have been holding down the C key when trying to boot, i am pretty sure that > I dont need to at this point because I should be getting the folder icon that > comes up when it can't find a boot device. > > I have also removed and reseated the RAM. And I actually have removed the > third party RAM and left in just the 128mb of Apple branded RAM. Still the > same result. > > I removed the battery, it is definitely bad, it tested at 0.66 v DC, and is > supposed to be 3.6 v DC. I tried to boot it without the battery and have > gotten the same white/grey screen result. > > I appreciate all of your time and advice. > > What should I try next? Here's what the Apple Service Manual says about a grey screen: Troubleshooting Symptom/Cure Tables: Startup Problems Before the Finder Gray Screen In a “Gray Screen Raster” situation, you will get a normal startup boot chime and the system will have a green LED. The display, however, will have a solid gray screen with no cursor or desktop displayed. Possible Cause Possible Fix Corrupted system software. - Boot off the system CD that came with the unit. Do you see a normal screen display now? Yes: Reinstall system software. (You must use the system software CD that came with the unit to get the correct version of Mac OS.) No: Go to next step. The PMU chip or logic board needs to be reset. - Press the PMU chip on the logic board with the AC power cord disconnected. (See “The PMU Chip” and “Resetting the PMU on the Logic Board” mentioned earlier in this chapter.) - Connect the power cord and power on the system again. Do you have power to the system now? Yes: Test the unit with MacTest Pro and return the computer to the customer. No: Plug in the AC power cord and reset the PMU chip again. Do you have power to the system now? Yes: The battery is likely bad, check the battery. No: Go to the next step. Bad video cable connection. - Verify that the CRT video board and video board cables going to and from the power/analog board are securely attached. If the problem persists go on to the next step. Bad SDRAM - Reseat/replace the SDRAM with known-good SDRAM. Bad logic board - Replace the logic board. Bad power/analog/video board - Replace the power/analog/video board. Bad CRT -Replace the CRT. The fact you're getting a chime/bong indicates the iMac is passing the basic system startup check, which is located in the ROM chip. You've replaced the battery, but may not have pressed the cuda (PMU reset button) to do the PMU reset. You may have a bad PAV board. OF video pretty much says the logic board, CRT and video cable connections are OK. Your two LCDs may not be capable of displaying the OF video output, which is pretty low res. I'll be they could display video if you could get the iMac to boot from either the optical drive or the hard drive. Try this, which has worked a couple of times for me when I ran into a similar startup problem: 1) Disconnect the optical drive and try to boot from just the hard drive alone. Don't press any keys. 2) If that doesn't work, reconnect the optical drive, put a boot disk into it, and try to boot the machine while holding down the Option key. If that gets a screen with a choice of boot drives, select one. 3) If that doesn't work, disconnect the hard drive and see if the machine will boot from the optical drive. I've had cases where something in either the optical drive or hard drive was kaflooey (tech term) and was preventing a boot. It took a lot of trial and error and, finally, "what the hell, might as well disconnect one" before I had success. If none of the above work, disconnect both hard drive and optical drive and try to boot from an external hard drive via firewire, or a boot disk in an external firewire optical disk. Connect your external monitor during this attempt. If none of the above work, buy another iMac and use yours for parts. Life is too short to keep beating yourself up over a 8-9 year old computer. Jim Scott -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowend
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
Try an Open Firmware reset of the video RAM. snip set-defaults reset-nvram reset-all Just to head off future confusion, I'll be pedantic here. This procedure dies NOT reset the 'video RAM'. That is volatile, its contents go away when the computer shuts down. OK, here is the status so far; All of the troubleshooting have done in the past on this iMac has been in the dark, now in the daylight the "white screen" looks sort of grey. I was able to boot it into Open Firmware, I actually could see the words on the iMac screen. So I issued the above statements one at a time, hitting return after each one, no help, still a white/grey screen I have reset the PRAM using Option-Apple-P-R and let it bong 4 times, same result. Hooking up an external monitor shows "input signal out of range", that is on 2 different 15" flat panel LCD monitors, one is an NEC and the other is a Compaq. I have no other monitors in the house to test with. I have been holding down the C key when trying to boot, i am pretty sure that I dont need to at this point because I should be getting the folder icon that comes up when it can't find a boot device. I have also removed and reseated the RAM. And I actually have removed the third party RAM and left in just the 128mb of Apple branded RAM. Still the same result. I removed the battery, it is definitely bad, it tested at 0.66 v DC, and is supposed to be 3.6 v DC. I tried to boot it without the battery and have gotten the same white/grey screen result. I appreciate all of your time and advice. What should I try next? Thanks, Kevin -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
On Feb 7, 2010, at 10:15 AM, Bruce Johnson wrote: > > On Feb 6, 2010, at 11:26 PM, Jim Scott wrote: > >> Try an Open Firmware reset of the video RAM. >> > snip >> set-defaults >> reset-nvram >> reset-all > > > Just to head off future confusion, I'll be pedantic here. > > This procedure dies NOT reset the 'video RAM'. That is volatile, its contents > go away when the computer shuts down. > > the 'nvram' stands for 'Non-Volatile RAM', that is, stuff that stays > remembered between shutdowns, and is stored in special memory chips on the > computer, kept alive by the PRAM battery. (PRAM, stands for 'Parameter RAM' > and is another name for NVRAM, as it stores the parameters the computer needs > to boot up to it's previous state, hardware wise, like video settings, boot > disk, and the current date and time, when they're set differently than the > defaults. If a Mac ever gets past the initial boot stage (you see the gray > apple or the gear) the PRAM is not the problem. > > This procedure WILL reset the video settings, so it'll work IF the problem is > that the display settings are set to something the display cannot handle; > however, I've never seen mis-set screens go all white, they usually switch > off...what typically happens is the computer 'bongs' the screen comes up, > then immediately switches off. Some monitors (the iMac screen does not do > this afaik) will display a warning that the signal is out of range. > > Having to do things like this is most often a sign that the battery that > maintains these settings is dying. The lower than nominal voltage makes it > easier for the data in the nvram to get corrupted. > > Some Macs will boot just fine without such a battery (at the cost of having > the boot volume, display settings and date and time reset to the default > every boot time) but most require that trickle of voltage to turn on. > Bruce, Thanks for the clarification. Since you are a professional, your knowledge and experience, and especially your ability to express things clearly, are always appreciated. Thank you. My terminology wasn't correct, but you correctly state my real objective, which was to give an Open Firmware path to "reset the video settings," which aren't that difficult to corrupt. The causes of corrupted video settings depend on the computer's architecture as much as they do on things like improper shutdowns, faulty hardware and the presence of a clock/PRAM battery. White iBooks, for example, don't have a clock battery. They also tend to have video chip problems. That is why the Open Firmware resets on a dual USB iBook often will bring up video on the screen again when all else fails. In my hobby, which is resuscitating Macs and giving them to kids, schools, the needy, etc., I deal almost exclusively with "troubled" Macs whose histories are unknown. If a Mac doesn't chime and boot to the desktop the first time I push the power button, or if it does boot but has "problems", I automatically do the Open Firmware resets noted above. Many times, that's all that is needed to clear things up. Several times, it has let a slotloading iMac with a white screen hang boot normally on restart. (Yes, CRT iMacs do not display a "signal out of range" warning.) Since most of the Macs I work on currently tend to be first- and second-generation iMacs, the very first thing I do with a "new" patient -- after that initial power-on test and Open Firmware resets -- is to test the battery for proper voltage. I actually had one yesterday that showed absolutely no voltage whatsoever. Usually there's still a little bit left. If a battery replacement is needed, I put in a new one, push the cuda button (only once!), then try to start the iMac again. If it boots and runs, I then watch carefully for color shifts (usually the video board), snaps/crackles/screen flashes/etc. (usually but not always the flyback transformer), and screen geometry. After 15-20 minutes of running time, I adjust the screen geometry to factory default and readjust the focus. I do all this in OS 9 since OS X's video demands make it impossible to get a "crisp" screen focus. iMac DV models have a built-in external VGA port, which I've used many times as a diagnostic tool. If the external video is OK and the built-in video screen isn't, then I know the problem isn't in the logic board but is somewhere in the PAV circuitry. So if the iMac DV 600 in this thread can deliver OK video to an external monitor so that the Open Firmware screen can be seen, then that alone has narrowed the white screen hang reasons considerably. Jim Scott -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send
Re: Indigo iMac DV 600 stops at a white screen
On Feb 6, 2010, at 11:26 PM, Jim Scott wrote: Try an Open Firmware reset of the video RAM. snip set-defaults reset-nvram reset-all Just to head off future confusion, I'll be pedantic here. This procedure dies NOT reset the 'video RAM'. That is volatile, its contents go away when the computer shuts down. the 'nvram' stands for 'Non-Volatile RAM', that is, stuff that stays remembered between shutdowns, and is stored in special memory chips on the computer, kept alive by the PRAM battery. (PRAM, stands for 'Parameter RAM' and is another name for NVRAM, as it stores the parameters the computer needs to boot up to it's previous state, hardware wise, like video settings, boot disk, and the current date and time, when they're set differently than the defaults. If a Mac ever gets past the initial boot stage (you see the gray apple or the gear) the PRAM is not the problem. This procedure WILL reset the video settings, so it'll work IF the problem is that the display settings are set to something the display cannot handle; however, I've never seen mis-set screens go all white, they usually switch off...what typically happens is the computer 'bongs' the screen comes up, then immediately switches off. Some monitors (the iMac screen does not do this afaik) will display a warning that the signal is out of range. Having to do things like this is most often a sign that the battery that maintains these settings is dying. The lower than nominal voltage makes it easier for the data in the nvram to get corrupted. Some Macs will boot just fine without such a battery (at the cost of having the boot volume, display settings and date and time reset to the default every boot time) but most require that trickle of voltage to turn on. -- Bruce Johnson "Wherever you go, there you are" B. Banzai, PhD -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist
