# HELP ASAP! Is my G4 dead??????



## FunkSkunk (Jan 16, 2006)

Help fellas!! I come into work today, press the button on the front of my Dual 450mhz G4 and I don't hear the usual symphony greeting!?   So I try again, but the button only flashes and still nothing, so I wait a minute and then hit the hard restart button... nothing.....??? WTF?   OK so i turn off the power strip powering the whole setup, wait a minute, turn it back on, press the power button on the G4 and same crap- NOTHING?  

(when i say 'nothing' i mean i get no image at all on the screen, no sound from the speaker and no response from any button pushing on the keyboard or tower)

  OK so now i'm curious, maybe its the monitor, switch it out with some crappy old one... nothing still, the monitor brings up a generic no signal graphic but it does come on, so I don't think the monitor is dead. On the main monitor i still get a green light then it goes to orange, which i assume means that it is on, but not getting a signal.                 Ok, back to the G4... So this time i open up the side of it and then hit the power button and this is what i see....

Fan comes on
Red light on the mother board that comes on
thats it

I put my hand on the hard drive in hopes of feeling it spin up but i feel nothing, (I have no clue if you could actually feel it start up, but i'm trying to think of anything!) Everything attached to the G4 turns on though... the scanner, burner, zip drive, monitor... Any ideas whats going on with this thing? yes i turned if off like normal on friday, no hard shutdown or anything, and it turned off fine as normal.

Could the graphics card just have died? Is this a motherboard issue? Hard drive??? computer just dead???? (this might not be a bad thing, since I've been begging for a new G5 anyway   )   My boss just needs to know something ASAP! because we are losing money every minute this thing is dead!!!  Any ideas of a solution would be great.    

Here's some tech info on the Mac
g4 dual 450 mhz, maxed out on memory, 17inch monitor, os 9.2.2 (or whatever the most recent classic is....)
***i did search for this problem previously but didn't get anything similar.***


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## FunkSkunk (Jan 16, 2006)

anyone have any ideas????????????????????????????????????


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## FunkSkunk (Jan 16, 2006)

Forgot to add, i've also tried to open the DVD/CD tray and it doesn't respond.


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## adambyte (Jan 16, 2006)

I would be willing to bet a small but significant amount of money that the "clock battery" in your G4 is dead. Everything you've described sounds like symptoms of that.

The clock battery is a wee little battery you'll find inside your Mac somewhere on the motherboard. It is a 3.6 Volt, approximately $6 battery that can be found at most any Radio Shack. Replace it and boot up.


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## FunkSkunk (Jan 16, 2006)

yep thats what the tech guy said on here,.... Just went to radio shack (paid $15) for the new 3.6volt battery. Hit the reset switch and still the same issue!? the tech response guy said it may be something else if that didn't work, but he hasen't said what yet. UGH! this stinks.   thanks for the input though.


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Jan 16, 2006)

You need to reset the PMU on the computer after replacing the motherboard battery:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=95037


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## FunkSkunk (Jan 16, 2006)

Yeah, i did push the reset button after i installed the battery. thanks for the tip though.          I still have the same problem


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## FunkSkunk (Jan 16, 2006)

Just tried, disconnecting the FireWire CD Burner, and that didnt do anything, still same symptoms.

Also, tried individually disconnecting each memory and in sequence restarting after each one. Still no luck.    could it just be my video card is dead?? somebody has got to have some ideas?


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## FunkSkunk (Jan 16, 2006)

ok went to apple, read some info.... tried disconnecting all of the peripheral stuff from the G4 - BOOTED RIGHT UP!   weird.   reconnected everything, hard restarted, because i could get any port to recognize a mouse or the keyboard. Seems fine now.     amazing, well again, another reason why macs are superior to PCs. I would have had to do some crazy ass thing in DOS and then took it to the 'Geek Squad' and then finally found out it was something stupid, but no mere human could have fixed!    With the Mac, just a little help, some ideas, and some free trouble shooting and its back up like nothing happened! THanks guys!!!


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## adambyte (Jan 16, 2006)

FunkSkunk said:
			
		

> ... (paid $15) for the new 3.6volt battery.



THAT, my friends, is inflation.

I miss the mid-nineties. 

Glad it's up an running, again. Now go make more money.


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## Shakes (Feb 21, 2006)

Hey Funk,

Did you find a solution to your problem ? I have a G4 AGP and I'm am experiencing exactly the same problem. All the same symptoms, and I've tried all the same things you have. Can you tell me if you found out your problem ? Please email me directly. Will highly appreciate your help.

Shakes


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## tbohlman@mindsp (Feb 21, 2006)

I had the same problem, and had to unplug my cpu, and find the reset button in the motherboard, hold it down 5 seconds, rehook up the machine, and presto, it has worked ever since.  Have you tried that?  Ted


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