1st gen iMac G5 resurrecting from the dead? (strange clicking sounds)

I have a first gen iMac (pre-iSight) that I bought a few years ago brand new. But the past 8 months or so I've been having a very strange power problem where occasionaly pressing the power button does absolutely nothing... WAIT! I know you hear about this problem all the time but before you click 'back' I'll have you know I too have read countless of these types of power problems on forums, but this one seems different!
Sometimes after unplugging, waiting for a few minutes, then replugging the power supply (while all other cords disconnected) it'll all of the sudden turn on. I recently checked inside the computer as one tutorial suggested to see if the first of 4 LED lights turn on when plugged in, and it does, meaning it's not power supply failure. The biggest problem with the whole thing is that is that the "unplug-then-replug"(sometimes upwards of 15 times) doesn't always work, and always seems to happen at varying degrees of inactivity depending on how long the computer has been off.
I've been doing this for 8 months, afraid to turn my computer off not knowing for sure i'll get it back on (which can take up to a day sometimes). And my resurrection methods seem to be more and more futile, as today and yesterday i've had no luck. LASTLY -- and this really confuses me -- I usually hear a very faint but rapid clicking noise when I plug in the computer (before I even turn it on, never happens when it's actually on) after its been unplugged for a while. The sound seems to be coming from near the bottom of the computer, so I cant imagine that it's that dreaded "Hard-drive Death" symptom (since the hard drive isnt even running).
Please, if you can, offer me some insight regarding these issues, I've looked everywhere and it seems I'm the only one having them! I'm almost to the point of gasp! actually finally going to the apple store and paying them to fix it.....

Hmm, the fan? How would I go about checking that? I want to try everything I can.
DEVELOPMENT: I got the computer on last night (using it right now)! I think it was off for almost exactly 24 hours since the last time I had it running. The most frustrating thing is that I don't really know what I did differently to get it to boot up again. That whole day I was just checking it about every hour or two, unplugging and replugging the power (at one point I opened the back and tried pressing those two tiny buttons under the fan, one is an internal power switch, and the other some sort of reset button, nothing noticeable happened with either, although the clicking sound that occasionally showed up hasn't reared its head lately). I think my computer is almost at its end, and now that its on I'm going to try my best to keep it running. One more slip into a coma and it might not make it out...

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Everything from internet video to DVD playback on my 1st Gen iMac G5 is choppy and getting more so as time goes on. Can anyone tell me if this is a symptom of the defect that's covered under the extension plan or is this just some other problem?

Check the version in the Application Folder!
(I have had no problems at all after installing QT 7.5 on my G5 iMac in case you think it can't work at all.)
It is possible that something in either your pre-existing setup or your method of installing updates, are the root causes of whatever problems you are having with QT 7.5 particularly with choppy playback. Out of date plug-ins and add-ons could also be playing a part. Some users have found choppy playback to be associated with improperly loaded plug-ins and add-ons from third party vendors as well as those included by Apple with prior versions of Quicktime.
Third-party add-ons include DivX, Flip4Mac, or FLV components, while the included plug-ins are AppleIntermediateCodec.component, and AppleMPEG2Codec.component. The files for these are located in the root library, therefore a faulty component will load improperly for all users, resulting in choppy playback even when a user creates a new account. Some may need updating or just reinstalling to work with QT 7.5.
You should therefore:
Remove and re-add all quicktime components and plug-ins.
Navigate to /Library/QuickTime/
Move all plug-in ".component" files from the folder (to the Desktop, for instance)
Launch QuickTime and quit it again
Place the ".component" files back in the QuickTime library folder
Launch QuickTime again, and the choppiness should be better.
A few more things to try but in each case first close all applications and repair permissions.
1 Try opening then closing GarageBand, or launching then quitting the "Audio MIDI Setup" application located in Applications/Utilities. Failing that, go back to Audio MIDI Setup, and under the Audio Devices tab, make sure the Audio Output Format is 44100.0 2ch-16bit.
Restart your Mac.
2 Go to the Library on your main hard disk and find the Internet Plug-Ins folder. Try removing the following files:
QuickTime plugin.plugin
Quicktime plugin.webplugin
Restart your Mac.
Re-install the Quicktime 7.5 update
Go to Home/Library/Receipts and delete the file Quicktime 7.5 pkg.
Download from the Download page on the Apple site the correct version of Quicktime 7.5 for your Mac.
Install it and restart your Mac. Repair permissions.
3 If still no luck, it is time to look carefully at your plug-ins and add-ons. The safest way is to download and re-install all of them. The ones you need in order to see and hear virtually everything the web has to offer are:
RealPlayer 11 (which is no longer in beta) for Mac from:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/15540
Flip4Mac WMV Player from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx (Windows Media Player for the Mac is no longer supported, even by Microsoft)
Perian from http://perian.org/
You should read this support page http://perian.org/#support in case you need to delete older codecs.
Adobe FlashPlayer should first be uninstalled using the appropriate uninstaller available here: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_14157&sliceId=2 and then the latest version obtained from here: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1ProdVersion=ShockwaveFlash and installed.
(You can check here: http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/about/ to see which version you should install for your Mac and OS.)
You should also ensure that you have downloaded and installed all the correct version for your Mac of all recent Security Updates.
(N.B. Security Updates require both a restart and a permission repair.)
In Macintosh HD/Library/Quicktime/ delete any files relating to DivX (Perian already has them). However it should be noted that Perian is not an internet plugin and will not play DivX files imbedded on a website. For that you will need the DivX Player browser plugin available from http://www.divx.com/divx/mac/
Now go to Safari Preferences/Security, and tick the boxes under Web Content (all 4 of them) to enable Java.
Lastly open Audio Midi Setup (which you will find in the Utilities Folder of your Applications Folder) and click on Audio Devices. Make sure that both Audio Input and Audio Output, under Format, are set to 44100 Hz, and that you have selected 'Built in Audio'.
Important: Now repair permissions and restart.
There is an additional 'fix' you could try if you are having problems with Flash and Quicktime, depending on which type of Mac you have:
On Intel Macs, make sure that you are not running Safari in Rosetta. You can check this, and change it, in the Get Info window.
On PPC Macs, go to the Hard Disk/Library/Internet Plug-Ins folder, and drag the file 'QuickTime Plugin.webplugin' to the desktop. Quit and restart Safari. If things have improved you can trash that file. If they haven't put it back, as the lack of this plug-in can cause QT content in some widgets to cease functioning.
If none of the foregoing worked, then you should consider and archive and install before repeating all of the above.

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HI,
I too have a 1st gen iMac G5 20". It too recently started showing artifacts on the screen. For example when moving a window parts of the screen would get messed up. The problem became worse to the point where it would get stuck on a blue screen during boot (mouse and pointer still working). I took the cover off and saw three leaking capacitors on the mother board. They were in the group of 5 near the middle bottom of the board. I had them replaced, but unfortunately, this did not fix the problem or improve it in anyway. At the moment I have no idea what the problem is. Is this in anyway similar to your problem?

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Here's a picture: If the HTML won't work here, just visit the site.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c384/digidan/G4-HDD-annotated.jpg
I realize it's a bit difficult to see, but it's the best I have at the moment. See the circled screw, and how it's "bumped back" from the rest of the sled? Also note the short IDE cable.
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If you're only going to have (2) hard drives
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bracket's position. Sonnet's "TCB-AGP" ribbon cable kit, includes custom-made
cables having adequate spacing between the two drive
connectors, allowing them to be mounted side-by-side.
This eliminates heat issues caused by placing one
drive on top of the other, preventing the
dissipation of heat generated by the lower drive.
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I called 1-800-MY-APPLE to find out what change was made in 2007 that was not present the year before. No one had an answer for me, they just shuffled me around to different departments while I listened to the same lame songs repeat over and over again.
On hold 1:01:55
Don't need to walk around in circles
Walk around in circles, walk around in circles
Walk around in
Doom da doom da doom
What I'm doing, I'm doing
Doom da doom da doom
What I'm doing, I'm doing
(The phone hold system at Apple should really get an iPod.)
I eventually spoke with CPU Senior Advisor, J.T. Thornton, and I asked him to explain which mandatory feature was added to the 2007 iMacs that wasn’t present in the 2006 models. He pulled up the technical specifications of the 2006 iMac next to the 2007 iMac, and even he was unable to identify what changed in 2007 that would cause the incompatibility. He went on to explain that it was probably an algorithm that caused my Mac to be incompatible.
I asked (somewhat facetiously) if the algorithm was if build year<2007 then FAIL, and then to my surprise, he agreed with me.
Why isn't there a smarter algorithm to determine compatibility? I can clearly see that my system exceeds the minimum system requirements, with the exception being, of course, the year it was built.
Planned obsolescence, anyone?

all-in-one-obsolescence wrote:
My machine works every bit as well as it did when it was new, and my computing needs have not changed enough to justify buying a whole new computer.
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1st gen iMac G5 resurrecting from the dead? (strange clicking sounds)

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