MDD Won't power up when Connected to 15 Pin PC monitor?

W

Windsong

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I'm looking at an auction to replace and have parts etc for my MDD 1.25.

There's an auction for a complete system (ends in one day), that says this...

"This system works fine when connected to a ADC monitor, but does not power on when connected to a 15pin PC style monitor. We tried changing video cards, power supply, processor and nothing seemed to change. I don't know if this is a problem with the system board or if it just a setting."

Anyone have an idea why this might be? :confused:

I'd LOVE to snag this, if I can feel safe I might be able to resolve the issue.
My own MDD (on another thread here) has a bad power supply (it's second), but CPU and motherboard have been replaced.

"standard 15 Pin" ... isn't that a VGA connector?
I didn't think any MDD's had AGP cards with 15 pin connectors in them.
I'm thinking they have the wrong video cards, even the alternates they're swapping with, and they're causing some kind of power issue with the motherboard.
Why else would the system power up when switched back to the ADC monitor, right???

My MDD came with an ATI Radeon pro 9000 which had only an ADC and a DVI connector,
so I have no idea where they're getting the "15 pin thing" from.

Could this be as simple as the video cards they're trying are PC video cards?:)
They haven't responded to my Q about what video card they're using (yet).

The auction ends in a day, so I'd love to get some help with this one.
Thanks DJ and all who've been helping me work my own MD problem, btw.
Tom

Any ideas?
 
Windsong said:
"This system works fine when connected to a ADC monitor, but does not power on when connected to a 15pin PC style monitor. We tried changing video cards, power supply, processor and nothing seemed to change. I don't know if this is a problem with the system board or if it just a setting."

Anyone have an idea why this might be? :confused:

I'd LOVE to snag this, if I can feel safe I might be able to resolve the issue.
Click to expand...

Doesn't make much since that it would power through ADC but not (I assume they are talking about) DVI. Could be as simple as the DVI monitor they are using is flaky. If its exactly the same machine and its cheap enough I'd buy it, but don't offer enough money where you will be out an uncomfortable sum of money if it doesn't work.
 
Hey DJ,
I was hoping I'd be you...

That's the reason I asked
I'm NOT assuming they're talking about DVI.

There are a lot of tech surplus places that get Macs every once in a while.
I'm also assuming that they don't have an ADC to VGA adaptor, and I don't think any MDD came with a video card with two connectors:
1. ADC
2. VGA
They didn't say they had the ADC to VGA adapter.

The real question is I went to read up on ADC and it supplied power up to 100w.
If they're getting power & signal through that port, is there any
OTHER reason (feedback, short etc) that might indicate a bad PSU connector pin...
or some other incompatibility that the card might cause?

I remember reading here somewhere that the MDD was very picky when it came to it's AGP cards, AND that if you didn't have the right one it could cause all manner of ill will from the machine.

THIS MORNING SEARCHING FURTHER
I found that if they were using a Gforce4 (which was the only other option on MDD's) it DID have one ADC and one VGA port. DVI could only be achieved through an adaptor.

So possibly a bad VGA port itself in combination with a wiggy PC monitor could be a bad combo.

I've had improperly seated AGP cards that caused startup problems. I'm not enough of a techie to know why, but I have read over the years...
"Problem starting up, pull the AGP card and see if the computer starts up".
So they might have bad or incompatible cards,
or the AGP slot itself is dirty/compromised in some way.Hmmmm....:rolleyes:

"PC techs" tend to say odd things if they don't know about Macs, and the special AGP graphics card requirements.
That my guess.

Just wondering if anyone's ever heard of this kind of thing interrupting the startup process.
 
OK, its a MDD, I was still assuming you were talking about the DP PowerMac G5 that we were talking about last week. I have to say that's a flaky video card or flaky monitor they are using. I'd question the source of these "other parts" that they installed as well as the history of the monitor. Other things come to mind such as are these the same symptoms the machine had before they starting throwing parts at it?
 
They still haven't replied to my question about their procedure ...
And I LOVE the line about throwing part at the thing ... what a visual...
"Hey Verne" I got a old Micron P2 PCI card... lets try that!!!

But the picture of the MDD listed shows it sitting on a product display desk in a vast shelved warehouse. They sell parts, cards systems, raid stuff, one of those places that gets stuff off lease & resells.

Very little Mac stuff in their auctions.

I'm inclined to agree that they're making making some really basic mistake, i.e. swapping out the incompatible card with another incompatible card.
I doubt they have a bad monitor. They sell hundreds of them a day. They probably have an array of monitors they use to test systems that come in the door.

My best guess is that they assumed any Mac G4 graphics card would be interchangeable with any other.
When I was researching how to repair my own MDD, one big info tidbit showed up on almost every webpage I read...

The AGP graphics cards for the MDD G4 were NOT interchangeable with even other G4's... it has that funky "mini-stick" slot up front.
Workarounds to make other G4 graphic cards work included taping over pins & even re-soldering & flashing in some cases.

If they say the computer works fine again when connected to an ADC monitor (which draws a lot of power from the card), I have to interpolate that a DVI monitor connection which doesn't require nearly as much power from the card (right?) ought to work.

Wish they'd reply, but I'm going to give it a "deep thought" and make an offer.. just not a high one.
I know I need a power supply and I have already a new motherboard & CPU, so essentially I'd be getting all "them other parts".... fans switches etc. for repairs.

I started the thread because I wondered if someone instant might pop up and say... "I know that symptom! It's means the what's-e-who has been reverse connected in the socket" or...
"That almost always means the AGP slot is bad or dirty."

So, it's not a big risk, since I'm not offering more than the cost of a power supply, which I already need.
T
 
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