i broke my sawtooth 400 :(

T

tkdragon

Registered
last night i was taking apart my computer (sawtooth g4 400) so i could get behind the plastic side panels and clean it out. after 5 years of never having cleaned it, it needed it. but now that i've put it back together, it won't boot up at all. when i press the power button, i don't get a start up chime and nothing appears on the monitor. the HDs don't seem to be engaged either. all i get is the green light on the power button and the red light on the mother board. yes, i've made sure all the connections are in place. the only thing i can think of that i did that (wasn't that smart) could have done anything was i saw a smudge on top of the processor so i gently tried to wipe it clean with my cotton t-shirt.
i can't think of anything else i could have done but if you need to know anything else specifically that i'm not mentioning now, please ask.
has anyone done this before or just happens to know what the heck is going on? thanks.
 
I'll have to second the idea that static electricity may have done it -- did you shield yourself or discharge by touching the metal in the case before mucking around the inside? Did you take your computer apart on the floor, and if so, was it carpet?
 
Try resetting the PMU. Open the case, find the little battery, and look for a small button next to it. Push it (once) and see if your computer will restart.
 
i tried resetting the PMU and it still doesn't work. what do i have to do to get it working? buy a new processor?
 
I pulled apart a 6500 once, cleaned the whole thing maticulously (sp?) with water and cue tips on the mother board - oh and a toothbrush (on the case ;)) and put it together and... Bupkiss. Nada. No bong - and the 6500 bongs so nicely.

I pushed the PMU and no soap. Checked all the connectors and tried again, no soap. I took it in to my friendly Appleman and he pushed the button, held it down for longer than I had, and .... bwwoonnngggg. He's friendly so he didn't hit me with the minimum service charge. ;)

I don't think you fried anything, unless you were in Montana on a cold windy day with 2 percent relative humidity (static city).

Check all your cables and reset the PMU again, hold it down for thirty seconds or so.

*******
Just a thought. Is the battery working? Did the machine keep time when shut down? I don't know if that will affect PMU resetting---
 
i've tried holding it down for 30 seconds, a minute... nothing seems to get it up and running. however, now that i've held down that button, the HDs are engaged, as they were not before. i'm not sure if that means anything.
anyone know of any sites that sell processors that will fit in my computer?
 
The battery may be the culprit -- you can find these online at various resellers like owcomputing.com.

Have you tried resetting the PRAM by holding down command-option-p-r when you turn on the machine? Keep holding down those keys and let your computer restart 3 times.
 
I had this happen to my Quicksilver. I've also seen it happen to my dad's Quicksilver. It always happens after the computer has been powered off, after several weeks of uptime.

When it happened to mine, I nearly cried. I called work, said I'd be late, and busted it over to the apple store.

The guy plugged it in, and the same problem happened. So, he unplugged it, opened it up, and pressed that PMU reset button for about 10 secs. Probably less, but it wouldn't hurt to press it for 10, would it?

And then, w00t! It powered right up.

I would try this (make sure you're pressin' that button for a few secs, and make sure its unplugged from the wall). Then, I would bring the battery to radioshack, and see if they have a replacement. They'll say they don't, but if you look at the bottom of the battery carrousel, you'll likely find it.

So yeah, PMU reset, new battery.

If you really can't get it, try and buy a new ROM for it - its the ROM that would be run after the button is pressed, but before the chime.

I'd seriously find an apple store at that point, btw.
 
For some reason, I'm inclined to say that the beige G3 doesn't have a PMU reset button... I can't find any information on it at http://info.apple.com. I thought they were called CUDA instead of PMU on the beige G3, but don't know that for sure... PMU and CUDA may not even be related!
 
well, i bought a new processor from OWC. i thought it would fix my problem, but now i just have a fast, broken machine. so, i think i should try the battery next. i'll go down to radio shack or check on OWC to see if they have one.
i'll see how it goes. thanks for all the input :) :D
 
If the battery is drained, it will cause video/startup/performance problems. You CAN do a reset similar to a PMU reset by removing the battery for 24 hours or so.
 
so, i went to radio shack and i bought a new battery. i got home and put it in but nothing different happened. still just the fans and green light turn on, nothing else. i'm starting to get a little concerned... :(
 
i'm calling apple tech support tomorrow. i tried today but it was past business hours :rolleyes:
hopefully it will all unravel tomorrow. :confused:
 
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