20" G4 dead screen :( please help

Question

Hi guys,
A friend of mine has given me what he thought was a dead iMac G4, he thought it was dead as nothing appears on the screen. I've bought and connected a mini vga to VGA on it and run it through my 22" Samsung and it booted to the CD so I've installed Leopard on it and upgraded the ram to 1.25Gb, I'd really like to get the screen back working on it and have tried various things, reset the PRAM and the PMU but no joy. I'm thinking it could be the inverter anyone got any other suggestions or ways I could prove what is wrong as I don't want to buy the inverter to find out it is a dead screen although the screen backlight appears to work. I'm based in the UK so finding an inverter for a 20" may be difficult ??
I guess I could try fitting my 22" screen to the arm instead for turn it into a Mac Dome
Thanks in advance.
Pete

Answer 1

Hello schwebs900 and Welcome to Apple Discussions ...
<<I know I can boot off of the install disc, but does it matter if I use the install disc for my iMac?>>

System Specific Disk Restriction note: 
It is important to note, that installation of operating systems from a different Mac model will not always work right. Use only the disks which come with the Mac in question. Mac Update FAQ's: http://www.macmaps.com/upgradefaq.html#SYSTEMSPECIFIC
Tiger install DVDs are in short supply. Tiger is no longer available at the Apple Store but is still available for $129 by calling Apple Phone Sales @ 1-800-MY-APPLE (1-800-692-7753).Go here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2571
If you can find someone with another Mac, you might be able to back up your important files using Target Disk Mode, instructions here: Transferring files between two computers using FireWire
To transfer files using FireWire:
Shut down the first computer and leave the second computer on.
Connect the two computers using a 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable. (If both computers have higher-speed FireWire 800 ports in addition to the standard FireWire 400 ports, you can use a 9-pin to 9-pin cable with the FireWire 800 ports to transfer data at higher speeds.)
Open System Preferences, click the Startup Disk, and click Target Disk Mode. (Or, start up the first computer while holding down the T key.)
A disk icon for the first computer appears on the desktop on the second computer. Drag files to and from the disk to transfer them.
When you finish, eject the first computer's disk by dragging its icon to the Trash. (While you drag, the Trash icon changes to an Eject icon.)
Push the power button on the first computer to shut it down and disconnect the FireWire cable.
Carolyn