Bill Barber wrote:
> Hi,
I was getting no power at all because I had to replace the PRAM battery.
After pressing the CUDA, I now am getting power to the computer. That leaves
the possibility of the ide drive being absent or a possible memory problem.
I didn't' touch the ram, so I am still thinking that it is because there is
no ide drive.
___________________
If the machine powers up and you get the chimes, the RAM is OK as far as that
check
goes. I have gotten the power up and chimes even if there is no battery on
different
machines. Perhaps the corrupted or non-helpful pram interferes with the video
start
somehow if the battery is low or exhausted and the pram gets recorrupted (?).
I had my original starmax sit for 6 months while I thought it had a bad power
supply. No
power, no chimes, nothing. I bought a second starmax and switched supplies:
nothing.
I went back to the used one just I bought and it didn't start either. So I had
2 machines with
no apparent power, no video, no chimes--same symptoms Bill and Flicker
described.
In taking out the board from the second machine, I found a loose red wire. This
turned out
to be a broken wire from the battery that someone severed when they pushed the
mother
board back in before they sold it to me. I was surprised to find the battery
there. Since I
couldn't get a battery, I soldered 3 AA's together to give me the 4.5V
necessary. I pressed
the CUDA switch. Bingo, I was off to the races.
It appears to me, the PRAM gets messed up by low voltage (or no voltage) and
pressing
the CUDA switch takes the PRAM back to default, but if the battery is still
low, it may get
corrupted again; then again, I just may not know what I'm talking about.
Nevertheless, the machines, once in normal status, definitely start up without
a drive, show
the screens and would be happy to have an OS to read, but they still need a
good battery.
Did you check the voltage on the replacement battery, is the battery connection
properly positioned, are all the other connectors in their proper places, is
the monitor pc or mac in a card, does the monitor work on another machine ???
I'm done, I'm tired, me go now.
Bob Wulkowicz
--
StarMax is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and...
/ Buy books, CDs, videos, and more from Amazon.com \
/ <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/lowendmac> \
Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html>
StarMax list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/starmax.html>
Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/starmax%40mail.maclaunch.com/>
Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks!
<http://www.applelinks.com>
