Imac G5

G

gibbleguts

Registered
I have a 20 '' g5 imac. Nothing but problems since day one. I had the motherboard replaced under warranty. This fixed the problem I had with the display being snowy on start up, but many problems still persist.
It freezes up on me at least 2 or 3 times a day. If I leave it running and it goes into sleep mode, I return to find the fan running like a 747 jet engine and the screen frozen. Also, when I surf the web I'll start getting low memory alerts popping up. It just seems to be running way too hot. If I have a dvd or cd in there
it seems to freeze up even more often. Not to mention that the disc is so hot upon ejecting, that you almost need oven mits to touch it. I've had several macs,
and been happy with them all. But this by far the most problematic computer I've ever owned...mac or pc.
I've run the hardware test with no reported problems.
I even put new ram in, but still the problems persist.
Any ideas? Should I demand a new one before the warranty runs out in 6 months. If so, should I ask for a
replacement or should I forget the imac g5 altogether
and go for a tower model. Do you know if there are
problems with this model in general?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Signed
(A Very frustrated )
Dan G
 
It may take a while to get the problems completely sorted out, but your best bet is to take advantage of the warranty and get it fixed. There is a known problem of overheating in the first generation iMac G5 machines, as well as "bloated" capacitors that can cause the exact symptoms you're describing -- random freezes, etc.

Call Apple and act on the warranty. They'll either fix or replace your computer if there is truly a problem with it. If it doesn't get done the first time, call again. It sucks to be without a computer for any period of time, but I'm sure you'd like a working computer two weeks from now rather than a broken one today! ;)
 
Great advice thanks. I just increased my ram from 500mb to 1.25 GB
I'll see if that helps with the freezing and overheating. If not I'll get back on
apples case. Thanks again for your wisdom.
Dan
 
One thing...I did have the motherboard replaced under warranty.
Do you think the new mb would solve any of the problems you mentioned?
Thanks
Dan
 
Have you installed the new motherboard?

One way to see if you've got the "expanding capacitors" problem is to look at the motherboard -- specifically, next to the power supply and the graphics unit. Check for ones that look like these:
http://www.pbase.com/johncoggi/image/40667989

If you find any capacitors that are not completely flat on top or seem to be bulging, you can get your iMac serviced under warranty and that'll fix the problem.
 
I did have the new motherboard installed under warranty.
I had a look inside, and the capacitors look ok compared to the
ones in the photo you directed me to.
My machine hasn't frozen up on me since I added the
new ram but I still get low memory errors when web pages
with lots of graphics load.

Here's exactly what pops up:
Error: The program was unable to load an image because of
low system memory.

I've got tons of harddrive space and lots of ram now (1.5G )
so it can't be lack of memory can it?. Any idea what what would cause
the low mem errors.

Thanks alot for your help.
Dan
 
How many programs are you running simultaneously? How many windows/tabs do you have open in Safari (or your browser, whatever), and what sites are they? Gaming sites tend to be heavy on Java, JavaScript, Flash and other memory-hogging web-type stuff...

Does Apple System Profiler report the correct amount of RAM you've installed in your system? Have you made any "tweaks" to the system, like moving the swap files to a different partition or anything like that?
 
Yes my profiler does display the correct ram. No, I haven't done any tweeking or partitioning. I have been making a point of closing all apps when surfing through
heavy graphic'd sites since I've been getting the errors.
The sites that I get the errors on are my own. ...
http://www.gibbleguts.com
http://www.dailycartoons.com
http://www.cartoonfeeds.com
They are cartoon and flash sites, but most of the graphics and flash are relatively
small. Cartoon panels are gifs around 25k and under, and the flash is all 500k and under.
I have 2 other imacs a 400 mghz g3, a 800 mgz g4 flat panel, and a g3 power mac.
I can surf through my sites with the lesser macs without any error messages. That's why I thought there must be a problem if the new g5 imac spits out memory errors and the old machines run happily without a glitch.
Just one of those things I guess ;o) The important thing is that it hasn't been freezing up since the ram upgrade. Thanks again for your help. I really appreciate it!
Dan
 
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