is my G4 finally dead...

A

AlexAlexAlex

Registered
Hi,

I have an old G4 which I've been using as a good old back-up/workhorse.

G4 dual 500mhz, 1Gz ram, os 10.4 (with updated firmware), 2 x 120GB seagate baraccudas, ati radeon 9800 (256mb, 2xAGP compatible), standard mouse, standard keyboard

Just recently I was downloading a quicktime component to be able to play wmv or something (unfortunately I forget what it specifically was)... whilst also playing around in lime wire (it was sunday afternoon and wanted to watch a film...)

Basically in mid download, the computer seized up.

On restarting all i got was the taskbar. no rest of desktop.

So i went through the standard routines: pram, nvram resets etc

No luck.

Next I got out an old harddrive with OS 9.1 on it. Unplugged the 2 seagates and booted up.

I figured if i've downloaded some nasty thing by accident, a seperate harddrive and operating system should work fine.

No luck again.

For a brief second the picture I had on my old 9.1 desktop flashes up and then just a blank grey screen.

Nothing.

I can still move the mouse...but nothing else...

Any suggestions anyone????

Thanks!

Alex

PS I posted here rather a system based forum as it sounds like a hardware issue to me?? could it just be coincidence with the download and something failing physically... or something else yet again.... have I killed it a goodun this time...??
 
Do you have the original graphics card? It could be a bad card, or 9.1 having trouble with your new card.
 
Bingo!

tried the old rage128 and it seems to be intact in os9.1

so at least the machine itself lives on

thanks for the suggestion

now to find out if os X fairs any better...? I've not found any similar examples of problems where only the task bar can be seen...

perhaps i just need a full re-installation?
 
Perhaps. You might want to try installing on the old drive first, then connect the new drives as secondary and back them up. I had a conversation with a Genius who talked about how Limewire ruined his friends computer, and is generally just a poorly written app that causes problems. I don't know how true this is, but this isn't the first time I've seen a computer with Limewire die..
 
I had that problem with my G4 and a scsi card. When i first put it in, it worked like a bomb, however, like 10 days after my computer hit a serious lag. It would take litterally half and hour to boot up. and then alll funny stuff would happen when i finally did get in, like nothing would open, drop downmenus would be empty, like when i clicked on file, nothing was there.
I finally took out the scsi card, and everything was back to normal
 
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