Hi everyone,
Here is the scoop. This is just a basic Rev1 B&W G3 tower. This is the first Mac I ever owned and I got the machine, keyboard/mouse, original Panther CDs, and the matching monitor for $30 this weekend. Nice and cheap for the first one.
Issue/Symptoms:
G3 will not turn on. No power lights on the front panel or motherboard, no fan spinning, hitting the power button does nothing.
Background leading up to the issues:
I got it home and the first thing I did was replace the stock 13gb IDE with a 20gb I had laying around. Booted off the Panther CD just fine, partitioned the drive for MAC OS and began installing. While files were copying I left the room, when I returned, the machine had rebooted – I assume the OS installation did this automatically. The machine however did not boot the OS… it simply sat at a screen with the Apple icon and this little clock-wise spinning “star” thing (forgive me, I know this is painful).
I figured it did not like my hard drive so I figured I would shut it down and just install the OS on the stock drive. The machine would not turn off. I held the power button down for 10 seconds or so - nothing. So I eventually just pulled the plug.
I plugged in the original drive and hit the power button. Nothing.
Trouble shooting:
I went through all the basics. I unplugged all peripherals, different power outlets in the house, etc. I got out my volt meter and checked all the connectors in the plastic part from the power supply that plugs into the motherboard. I don’t know what voltages I was supposed to get on all the pins, but a few measured 5v and I think one measured 3v, others measure nothing. Power supply seems ok, but I’ll need to find some docs on what the voltages should be for all pins.
One thing I forgot to check last night was the voltage on the motherboard battery which I’ll do tonight. I assume a difference here than on a PC is that this battery needs to be working in order for the power button on the front panel to work? I have read mixed opinions on what happens if the battery is dead. Some say it will boot, but to a black and white screen. Some say it won’t boot at all. What “won’t boot” means specifically, they don’t say.
That’s what I have done. If someone has a link to the pinouts and voltages for the mobo connector that would be cool so I can confirm the p/s is ok. Else, I am open to ANY opinions on what it might be. I read about resetting the PMU button - yikes?
Thanks for reading this book…
Kevin
Here is the scoop. This is just a basic Rev1 B&W G3 tower. This is the first Mac I ever owned and I got the machine, keyboard/mouse, original Panther CDs, and the matching monitor for $30 this weekend. Nice and cheap for the first one.
Issue/Symptoms:
G3 will not turn on. No power lights on the front panel or motherboard, no fan spinning, hitting the power button does nothing.
Background leading up to the issues:
I got it home and the first thing I did was replace the stock 13gb IDE with a 20gb I had laying around. Booted off the Panther CD just fine, partitioned the drive for MAC OS and began installing. While files were copying I left the room, when I returned, the machine had rebooted – I assume the OS installation did this automatically. The machine however did not boot the OS… it simply sat at a screen with the Apple icon and this little clock-wise spinning “star” thing (forgive me, I know this is painful).
I figured it did not like my hard drive so I figured I would shut it down and just install the OS on the stock drive. The machine would not turn off. I held the power button down for 10 seconds or so - nothing. So I eventually just pulled the plug.
I plugged in the original drive and hit the power button. Nothing.
Trouble shooting:
I went through all the basics. I unplugged all peripherals, different power outlets in the house, etc. I got out my volt meter and checked all the connectors in the plastic part from the power supply that plugs into the motherboard. I don’t know what voltages I was supposed to get on all the pins, but a few measured 5v and I think one measured 3v, others measure nothing. Power supply seems ok, but I’ll need to find some docs on what the voltages should be for all pins.
One thing I forgot to check last night was the voltage on the motherboard battery which I’ll do tonight. I assume a difference here than on a PC is that this battery needs to be working in order for the power button on the front panel to work? I have read mixed opinions on what happens if the battery is dead. Some say it will boot, but to a black and white screen. Some say it won’t boot at all. What “won’t boot” means specifically, they don’t say.
That’s what I have done. If someone has a link to the pinouts and voltages for the mobo connector that would be cool so I can confirm the p/s is ok. Else, I am open to ANY opinions on what it might be. I read about resetting the PMU button - yikes?
Thanks for reading this book…
Kevin
