G4 won't boot up

edenhurst123 · #1 March 26th, 2008, 01:26 PM

Hi everyone. So here is my situation. My g4 power pc of around 7 years has seemed to cease booting up. I'm wondering if this could be a simple troubleshooting fix before I take her in to a mac store.

Basically when I go to start no noises are emitted, like from the fan and the indicator light lights up then dies down. Nothing after that. I've already reset the smu, could it be the pram battery or the logic board? I have some pretty important data there that I need to retrieve.

Thank you for your suggestions!

VirtualTracy · #2 March 26th, 2008, 11:48 PM

What Mac OS are you running on your G4? Do you have the original install disc/s or a Full Retail Version of them? They will come in handy.

Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck.

Mac OS 10.3.9 or earlier.

Twenty steps to help diagnose and fix system issues

nixgeek · #3 March 27th, 2008, 12:45 AM

First and foremost, try and replace the PRAM battery that's inside your Power Macintosh G4. It's been 7 years so I'm sure it's about time to replace it. The battery looks like a half-AA sized battery and they cost about 5 bucks or so at Radio Shack.

Once you buy a new one, make sure that you insert it at the proper polarity (make sure of the proper polarity before you take out the old battery). After its inserted, there should be a PMU button next to it. Push that button once AND ONLY ONCE, and then plug everything in and try to restart the Mac.