Black screen on start up.

M

Mr_Spencer

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My son's iMac G5 suddenly went to a black screen on start up. I've been reading various posts about this, but in this case the power light goes off about 7-8 seconds after booting up, although I can feel the disc spinning if I hold the body of the Mac. Any ideas, please?
 
He got it off of ebay and it didn't have the Snow Leopard disc, would it start from a Leopard disc, which I have? Don't want to try it and lose the disc.
He has told me that as he got it cheap, and he uses a Macbook mostly, he's not too concerned apart from the 20+gb of pics he's got in iPhoto. Anyway of getting these off?
 
iMac G5 with Snow Leopard, this does not sound right.
Snow Leopard will not run on a PPC platform.

If your Leopard install disc is a black retail disc it should work fine, if it is a grey disc that is specific to another model of Mac then it will not work.
 
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I may be wrong about that, I'm seeing him later and will ask. I tried starting from my black Leopard DVD but still a black screen. I managed to get the disc out by starting up and holding the mouse button. I do have a spare monitor - would there be a way to start up with this attached? I'm guessing the screen has gone somehow. I'm grateful for the help, any more ideas, please?
 
When the computer starts up, do you hear the requisite "gong" sound? Can you detect any kind of hard drive activity, as if the computer is booting but the screen is not working? You may be able to hear something by placing your head very close to the computer as you turn it on -- a faint clicking noise should indicate the hard drive is working.

If you hear neither, then it may not be the monitor but the computer itself -- the iMac G5 computers were notoriously unreliable and were subject to an Apple recall at one point in their lifecycle. Apple no longer is replacing/fixing these computers for these problems:

http://www.apple.com/uk/support/imac/repairextensionprogram/

Here are the particulars on what was covered:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/05/08/19/apple_announces_imac_g5_repair_extension_program.html

You may want to check the serial number and see if you've got one of the affected machines within the ranges of numbers specified on that page.

If you're electrically-inclined and you find that the iMac G5 is, in fact, suffering from the component failures indicated, but you get no satisfaction through Apple, there is a DIY fix if you can solder:

http://jimwarholic.com/2008/07/how-to-repair-apple-imac-g5.php
 
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I hear the chime when it starts and I can hear the disc doing things as well as feeling it by holding the Mac. So I take it the hard drive is working. The serial number is just out of range unfortunately.
As I said my son is mainly concerned about getting his photos off - is it possible to remove the hard disc and connect it to another computer and copy them off?
 
Thank you so much for your help. The enclosures are only about £5 + p&p on ebay so I think we'll go that route.
As my son said last night he bought it about 3 - 4 years back from a friend who was emigrating and sold it cheap for a quick sale. He's got his money's worth from it and uses his Macbook most of the time anyway.
I might get round to trying to fix it sometime though.
Thanks again.
 
ElDiablo--I too have an iMac Power PC G5 refurbished and purchased "cheap" and am having a similar problem. Since your responses to Mr. Spencer seem to apply to my Mac too, I am adding my problem to this thread. Is that appropriate or should I open a new thread?

Specifically, my Mac, having gone to sleep automatically or manually, closes down altogether and must be rebooted. Since I spend most of my day at the Mac, i am constantly having to reboot. This is not only annoying but time consuming and the Mac has also slowed down considerably.

I have tested the disk and permissions on Disk Utillity and they are fine. I'm now going to the links you have offered above while I wait for your reply.

goldie

iMac G5; PowerMac 8.1; 1.8G; RAM 1.5g;.
 
Perfectly fine to use a thread that is directly related to your problem... just be careful of "thread hijacking" where you use a similar but different problem to "take over" a thread, thereby eliminating the person with the original problem's chance to get a resolution! :)

No danger of that here, though...

I suggest you check the serial number range in the document I linked to -- Apple, while having ended that program years ago, may still be willing to help you if you're affected by the "bulging capacitors" problem that plagued the iMac G5 machines.
 
El Diablo--- Thank you for your prompt reply. My Mac does fall into the "bad" category and in checking your referenced Jim Worholic's page --- :http://jimwarholic.com/2009/04/apple-imac-g5-power-supplies-capacitors.php --- I find there are many with these iMac G5 problems and thatI am totally unqualified to do the repairs myself.

However, since I will have to call in a technition to do the work can my specific problem (powering off when unattended for a short period of time) be ascribed to the MOB or to the Power Supply?

Also; can you recommend any National Tech Agency I could rely on for through and reliable work? I live in Chico CA and we have one of the highest Rated Computer Science Colleges in the country. Would you recommend that I solicit the services of an advanced student? Always looking to help the young people get a foot in the door and add to their usually short finances.

I notice that my cursor has disappeared from this page and fear a cascade of failures here. Fortunately I do have a backup eMac if this one goes out.

Thank you again for your prompt attention to our problems.

goldie
 
I can only recommend local (to me) repair agencies, but I'm a little more than a stone's throw from you -- I'm in Texas, which would be quite a trip for your computer.

Instead of a computer science student, look for an electrical engineering student. The "fix" for your computer involves nothing pertaining to computer science and everything pertaining to electrical engineering.

My vote would be to take it to a professional, though -- you may want to contact some local "TV repair" shops in your area, as they would be most likely to have the skills and knowledge to replace capacitors.
 
ElDiablo--- Yes, Texas is a little far for a commute :) Thanks for the advice, I'll get right on it, love this iMac it's a good step up from the eMac. Off for now.

goldie
 
I have connected my son's iMac to my G5 via a firewire cable and mounted it, enabling me to retrieve his photos and his music, which I've put onto an external hard drive. I guess this means it's the monitor part of it which is the problem. Any ideas as to what can be done to rectify it?
 
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