Dead iMac G3 suddenly won't power on. PRAM battery or Power Supply?

iMac G3 350 slot load USB only running 10.4.11
i love this little guy.
it's been running almost non stop for a few years as a file server... only restarted maybe a dozen times during that period. i can't remember ever shutting it down.
i had to move it recently. might have been unplugged from a wall socket for a minute or so. plugged it back in but left it powered off for a few days.
went to turn it on recently and nothing. not a chime, not a light, not a click or hard drive spin-up. zero. pushed the PMU reset button once. still nothing. i've taken the PRAM battery out for now.
my question is this: is it possible the power supply is dead and a PRAM battery will not fix the iMac? is there any way to tell before spending money on a new battery i may not need?
thanks!

Hello Nicholas,
I recently retired my hard working 350 slot so I know how great the computer can be.
Unplugging for a moment should not have affected the battery.
I would respectfully suggest you start with the simple things such as:
1. - Make certain the power source is not on a switch and that it is good
2. - Be certain the power chord is fully seated in the back of the computer and wall socket.
3. - If trying to start from the keyboard button, try using the button on the face of the computer
perhaps the keyboard is not fully plugged into the usb port.
I always like to start with the simple things when I have a problem.
Now that the battery is removed it could cause a bit of a problem. I think I would install the battery
and check the above mentioned ideas. If still no power, then I would replace the battery.
It doesn;t seem logical that the power supply would just go as a result of the board.
I would try to get the computer up and running.
One last tip.......when my slot load was starting to go it acted odd. I would let the computer sit for a day or two and it would then start. It was irratic at best but the old computer allowed me a few last
boots so that I could back up to my external.
It is a great computer and sounds like it served you well it deserves a few chances.
I hope you replace the battery, plug and it re-starts. Keep it plugged in once the battery is replaced/returned .....Best of Luck Jim

Similar Messages

  • MacBook won't start. PRAM battery?

    So with a good power cable and full battery (used battery from another MacBook but didn't help) my MacBook wont power up. No fan, hard drive, white front light, or anything. I've had the computer for about 5 years, and it stopped working out of the blue. Should I replace my PRAM battery?

    So with a good power cable and full battery (used battery from another MacBook but didn't help) my MacBook wont power up. No fan, hard drive, white front light, or anything. I've had the computer for about 5 years, and it stopped working out of the blue. Should I replace my PRAM battery?

  • How to replace PRAM battery in Power Mac 9600?

    Greetings. Need to replace the PRAM battery in a Power Mac 9600. Purchased a new battery, but can anyone tell me exactly how to remove the old one? Don't want to break the black plastic "cradle" it sits in. Thanks very much.

    You need to remove the cover/retainer that snaps over the top of the battery holder. Using a very small screwdriver, insert its flat tip between the outside of the socket's positive metal contact and the battery retainer's end. Gently pry outward against the plastic retainer to unsnap it. You may need to do the same at the opposite end to completely pop it off. Once that's removed, you can actually grasp the battery by its sides and roll it up and out of the holder. Otherwise, insert the same small screwdriver under the lip on the outer rim of the battery's positive end, and pry/lift it out of the holder.

  • How to get data from hard drive in dead iMac?

    I have an old slot-loading iMac (350Mhz G3 blueberry) that just died, probably a dead power supply or something. Won't turn on at all. I don't care about restoring it, I just want to take the hard drive out and grab data from it. I've found instructions for removing the HD ... but any tips on the best/cheapest way to hook it up to get data from it? It's EIDE I believe from what I've read so far. Thanks for any help.

    Hey Richard.....Thanks for the reply to my question about my wife's dead iMac.....
    Her iMac had been acting up lately, mostly to do with her Outlook Express freezing up in OS9. I dunno if OS9 was freezing or if the application was failing. Regardless, I would have to quit OS9, restart Outlook which at the same time restarted OS9. All would be fine for a while, a day or two and then the scene would repeat itself. But I think that issue is separate from the iMac being "dead". Often we have power outages in the area, more than we should. I had the iMac plugged into a battery backup, some APS product I think it is. I believe it is only good for less than an hour as we have other devices drawing on it too. Most of our power outages are of short duration, just enough to be aggravating, sometimes having to reset clocks, etc...And a couple times, I would have to reset the time and date on the iMac so this told me that the PRAM battery was below minimum voltage. But the iMac would ALWAYS restart, even with the low battery. But the most recent outage, about one hour duration, did in the iMac, somehow or other. I do believe the battery backup basically fully discharged. So I removed the battery, could not find a new battery locally so I drove to the big city and paid the local Apple service dealer a visit. I got ripped big time price wise, embarrassed to say. So I get home, put the battery in the holder, depressed the CMU reset, the powerbutton illuminated as did a green LED by the memory modules for less than three seconds and then quit. I also heard the HD trying to spin up and a high voltage THUMP which I assume is the CRT trying to ignite. If I unplugged the iMac, removed the battery, plug in the power again and hit the power button, the iMac would repeat the same short on period and then quit. So it did not seem to make any difference if there was a battery in place. I read somewhere to pull the battery, pull the AC cord, hold down the power button to dump any current (?) and let the unit sit for 24hrs. After that length of time, I was supposed to replace the battery, depress the CMU reset, wait ten seconds and then feed it AC. Well, when I pressed the power button, I heard life for maybe five seconds, maybe a second longer, then a beep and then it shut down. I pulled the AC cord, pulled the battery, re-inserted the battery, depressed the CMU reset, waited a few seconds, plugged in the AC cord, depressed the power button and I am back at the under three seconds of "power-up" and then nothing, dead, no beep, nothing. I think maybe it is a waste of time trying to mess with this unit, looking for a newer iMac on eBay, the snowball series with the 17" LCD, might be time better spent. Hate throwing stuff away, that's why I am up to my ears in junk, maybe u know that scenario. The wife likes my 19" ACER LCD screen, hooked up to this old dual 800mhz, though she dislikes the noise and the tower. But we both agree the large LCD screen is much easier on our aging eyes than the old iMac CRT. Anyway, I appreciate your help, always GREAT to correspond with an Apple fan.....John Bauer

  • P45 MS-7516 worked great for 2 years, suddenly won't post.

    MB: P45 Diamond MS-7516 (v1.0)
    CPU: Intel Core2 Quad Q9550
    RAM: Tried many types in differing slots.
    PS: Antec 500w
    Video: ATi HD4850
    This setup worked great for close to two years, and today it suddenly won't POST. Immediately after pushing power button (most) all of the MB's LED indicators light, no beeps, no video output, but all fans spin. It stays like that until I turn off power supply.
    Here's everything I've tried so far:
    I switched out memory, tried one stick up through four in all configurations.
    I checked power supply with DMM and all is correct.
    I tried 2nd power supply (375w).
    I reset CMOS, the correct way, via battery and jumper.
    Triple checked all connections.
    Removed MB from case and set on cardboard.
    Reseated the CPU and tried a different heatsink.
    The labels on the MB's LEDS are very hard to read. Can't really see which numbers line up with which lights. It looks like pretty much all of them are on.
    1 on and blue
    2 on and red
    18-22 (top right) all on and blue
    4 on and red
    9-16 (that whole 4 group thing) Each group has one Red on.
    And there's a few more I'm leaving out. Basically they're all on.
    I don't know if this is relevant, but immediately before this problem started (remember pc worked great for 2 years) I was booting up Linux off a Sandisk thumbdrive. Ran into some boot issues, hard reset, and then wouldn't reboot or even POST from power on.
    There have been no power surges or electrical storms.
    Judging from my process of elimination, I think it must be the CPU or MB. I'm hoping I don't need to replace both. Any ideas?
    Thanks

    Thanks, that makes perfect sense.
    But given that this MB worked for so long with one PS, and just out of the blue stopped working, and that another PS (one which the store uses specifically to troubleshoot) was tried, and that all other components (RAM, VGA, CPU) have been replaced and the MB still has same behavior, it seems extremely likely that the MB is to blame. Am I wrong in that assumption?
    I'm also assuming, from the lack of responses regarding the MB's diagnostic LEDs, that having them all lit is not a meaningful code. Is that assumption correct?
    Thanks all!

  • IMac G5 (iSight) won't power up

    My iMac G5 with built-in iSight will not power up regardless of what is plugged in. I've disconnected power, waited, etc. Nothing I do seems to work. Disconnected my cable modem, firewire & USB devices... no change. I noticed 2 days ago my fans were LOUD while it was asleep. This happened once before. I powered it off and eventually powered it back up. I've tried various outlets as well and still won't power up. Last night the machine was just fine, even an hour after I put it to sleep. This morning... a dead iMac?
    I've had this new iMac since Dec. 2005, about 5 months now. Is there anything else I can do myself to troubleshoot, or should I call Apple (who apparently has the Memorial Day off today). Or do I bring it back to CompUSA? Or possibly the Apple Store here in town?
    iMac G5 (iSight)   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

    Hi David - I had this big fear before going on travel. I started this thread Shut Down and people thought I was crazy or something. I don't believe your machine's problem is unique but systemic. In a few short weeks of playing around with my machine, it already exhibited some unusual behaviors in regards to power issues, Spinning Beach Ball - and in the last few days there have been quite a few posts regarding power up issues in particular invovling the iSight model (in my opinion the iMac G5 maybe turning into the Ford Explorer of the Computer world)
    I will be returning from travel in another week or so and hope my machine will successfully boot up... I'll keep you posted, Good luck, Rick
    iMac G5 iSight 20" - 30G iPOD in Slimming Black - HP Pav and Toshiba Sat   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

  • IMac turned off suddenly, won't boot from hard drive/CD drive

    Hi guys.
    Here is what I have:
    27" iMac with:
    Core i5 2.7
    4GB RAM
    Mountain Lion
    Win7 on Bootcamp
    Lion is installed, but I have the Snow Leopard install disc.
    The system had just been recently reformatted so there wasn't really much on the computer itself other than an update to Mountain Lion and a Win7 install via Bootcamp. Other than that, nothing was recentlly installed.
    What happenes is I was browsing and all of a sudden it completely shut down. No warning, nothing. Completely shuts down.
    Okay.. weird... but when I try to load Mac back up, the Apple logo appears and then after a while of supposedly loading, the screen goes to a plain white screen until I force the computer off. Something similar happens when tryin gto boot into Windows: I get to the "Starting Windows" screen but after that everything goes black and I have to shut down manually.
    Great. Now I'll just go into recovery and fix all of this right? Wrong. Can't boot into recovery either. Similar end result: white screen.
    Last thing I tried is reinstall OS X Snow Leopard. After loading for about 1-2 minutes, the usual white screen appears after trying to boot from the disc.
    I am at a loss. I don't think its the hard drive, because the problem occurs even when trying to boot from the disc. My suspicion is the RAM has gone bad. But, before I go the hardware route, is there any suggestions or recommendations anyone could make first?
    In advance, I really appreciate anyone who replies and tries to help.
    Thanks.

    Xmotox,
    I had the EXACT problem today. EXACT. Discs wouldn't boot, I did get the application disc to run the AHT but it said all was fine.
    I called my buddy who said something about unplugging for a minute then holding power button while plugging the power supply back in. I thought it would be futile since we already did all the SMC reset procedures to no avail, PRAM reset didn't do anything, etc, etc... But what do you know, up pops the disc utility and my iMac is now restoring from time machine. It's not done yet, so I can't say it worked... BUT it's the farthest we got tonight. Could not get disc utility up via CMD-R or OPTION keys... but powering down, unplugging for a minute or so, then holding power button while plugging the power supply back in did the trick. Hope this helps!

  • Movies suddenly won't play on iMac w/ Maverics

    All movies (YouTube, Vimeo, my own on internal or external drive) suddenly won't play on iMac.  Just started happening 3 days ago.

    They just didn't play from browsers, my own mp4's,  or .mov files, iMovie wouldn't work either; but solved it today by simply re-loading OS 10.9.2.   Everything works fine now. 
    THANKS! 

  • I have new MacBook Pro with OS 10.10.  My MAIL program was working but suddenly won't recognize my VERIZON FIOS server.   FYI, the MAIL programs on my iPAD and old iMAC continue to work. No answer yet from Apple Support HELP!!!

    I have new MacBook Pro with OS 10.10.  My MAIL program was working but suddenly won’t recognize my VERIZON FIOS server.  FYI, the MAIL programs on my iPAD and old iMAC continue to work. No answer yet from Apple Support HELP!!!

    Additional Information. 
    On my Mail Accounts setup it was set to "verizon.net" on incoming.
    Now it faintly reads, "incoming.yahoo.verizon.net"
    This came up automatically ....  I did not do it and I cannot change it

  • IMac desk model just went black and dead. no fans, etc. won't turn on.

    IMac desk model just went black and dead. no fans, etc. won't turn on.  What is it?

    Reset the SMC > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964 If it doesn't work, take your computer to an Apple Store or reseller

  • Lacie external hard drive suddenly won't mount on iMac 27"

    Help! My back up Lacie suddenly won't mount. It shows up on my disk utility (but faded) and I tried to repair it with no benefit. I thought it might be a Lion problem, but my other Lacie is working fine. I tried using a different USB cable and unplugging everything, rebooting etc. Any help would be much appreciated.

    There may be hardware problem with the drive. However you can try resetting the SMC. Don't be afraid to reset it 2-3x if the first time doesn't work.
    SMC RESET
    Shut down the computer.
    Unplug the computer's power cord and all peripherals.
    Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
    Release the power button.
    Attach the computers power cable.
    Press the power button to turn on the computer.
    PRAM RESET
    Shut down the computer.
    Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
    Turn on the computer.
    Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
    Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
    Release the keys.

  • IMac Mid 2010 won't power up

    I moved my iMac a bit towards me and as a result the power cable became disconnected and the iMac was turned off (not gracefully). I reconnected the power cord, but now it will not startup at all. It won't react to the power button, the hardware does not react at all.
    I tested the power cord and it does deliver power, so the problem is in the iMac. I was wondering if there is a fuse somewhere that I could look at or anything else I can do/check.
    G

    It required a number of attempts (4 to be exact) consisting of
    - unplug power cable
    - wait more that 15 seconds
    - plug power cable
    - wait more than 5 seconds
    - press button
    But on the 4th attempt it booted. Doesn't feel very trustworthy, though.

  • IMac G4 20" won't power up

    My trusty iMac g4 20" 1.25 ghz computer will not power up .  I get no light, sound, nothing, when I push the power up button on the back of the computer.  I have pushed the PMU button (under the bottom cover by the airport card) and still nothing.  It's acting like the power supply has failed. I can pull the PSU, no problem and see them used on ebay for around $30.00.  Can anyone tell me how to Bench Test a Power supply unit for these computers. 
    Note, I do not see any swollen capacitors on the Logic board or on the power supply itself.  So no obvious signs of damage.
    I just hate to start buying parts (willy -nilly) for this computer when it's so old, but would if I could prove the old part to be bad. 
    I've been waiting for  the next generation of iMac before I upgrade to a new computer.  (Any day now right?)

    I have essentially the same problem. I don't have a solution, but I will post data from some of my tests, and hope someone can clue us in on whether it's the PS, logic board, or a loose chip.
    I have a 20" iMac G4 1.25 GHz unit (with the white pod body). At first, it would start not turning on when I hit the power button, but after hitting it many time it would turn on, and then stay on fine and even restart fine, but if you turned it off and left it off several hours, it would be hard to start again.
    Next, it shut crashed in the middle of working a few times, on hot days and would not restart until later when everything cooled off.
    Finally, it will not start at all.  The fan comes on, the CD drive makes a noise, but no HD movement is obvious and there is no "beep".
    I looked over the power supply and only the 100uF 25V capacitor had a bulging top, so I replaced it.  One of the bigger caps near the output has a black mark on the metal on top of it, but it looks like ink and i see no signs of bulging or a crack in the "cross" on top.
    I tested the power supply somewhat.
    The +5V and +12V that go to the disk drives looks okay. (the red and yellow wires vs. black ground wire in the connectors)
    Testing the green wire going to the motherboard connector, it has about 25V
    The blue wire is about 3.6V
    The white wire is about 9.8V
    (all positive voltages as compared to the black ground wire.)
    My power supply looks quite different from the one you have here:
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-iMac-G4-A1065-20-1-25GHz-Power-Supply-614-0260-/33 0784955606?pt=PCA_UPS&hash=item4d0451dcd6
    Mine has lots of metal heatsinks and the blue and white wires come out of the PCB from a different spot and some of the components look different.  Also, my motherboard is green whereas yours is blue.  Also, on mine, I can't see how to unplug the big cable connector from the motherboard. It looks kind of like everything is soldered on. I don't see two parts to unclip where the big black connector is.  So, I tested all those voltages on the power supply PCB while it was still attached to the motherboard.
    I tested the PRAM battery and it is ok.
    Do you have any suggestions as to what is wrong?
    Basically, the Hard disk drive doesn't spin up and the computer doesn't beep. Only the fan comes on and the CD make a little sound when I hit power. (and then when I hold in the power button for 5 secs, the fan turns off).
    One more clue... I just unplugged the data connector from the hard disk to the motherboard. When it is unplugged, the drive spins up, but when it is plugged back in to the motherboard, it doesn't try to spin at all.
    Thanks for any help!

  • IMac G5 suddenly turned off!

    Hi,
    My iMac G5 suddenly turned off and looked like the power cable disconnected. But I am sure outside of the iMac, the power is no problem.
    After this, I tried to power on my iMac G5 with the power button, iMac got a loudly beep sound with the light flashing. Although it can startup to the login window, but when I login to system, again, the iMac was dead with the same situation.
    Then power on again, same sistuation was still there (loudly beep sound with the light keeping flashing. Now, after login, the system seemed to be good till now (2hours).
    Anyone can help me to figure out the porblem? Is it possible that iMac got the high temperature (because here my room is a little bit hot)
    Thanks!

    Welcome to Discussions - which model do you have (how to identify your iMac)? It may be that your power supply unit is failing, see if you qualify for either of these Rev A and Rev B repair extension. You might also try cleaning the air vents and vacuuming the inside of your machine (don't open it if it's an iSight). Some people train a fan on the rear of their iMacs if their rooms are very hot, it helps keep the computer cool.
    Miriam

  • IMac G5 (PowerPC) won't turn on

    Hi there,
    My old iMac G5 (PowerPC) won't turn on. Its been having problems for about a month where it would randomly turn off (not shut down, but completely turn off). It would also take about 3 or 4 tries before it would start up. Now I can't even get the computer to turn on at all.
    I've created a bootable start up disk, but that's essentially useless until I can get the computer to power up.
    I've tried unplugging all peripherals and unplugging the power cord for 10 secs then starting up while holding the ON button on the back. It starts up for 1 sec, then cuts out again.
    I've taken a look at the logic board. There are no bad caps.
    Could it be some bad RAM? Could that prevent my computer starting up?
    Does anyone have any advice?
    Thanks!!

    Add another IMac G5 to the dead. The only thing that happens with this system is LED 1 is green but LEDs 2,3,4 are all dark. There is no fan, no hard drive noise, no flash of light. Caps physically appear intact in both PS and Logic board. Hard drive removed, DVD drive removed, RAM reseated, switch checks out ok on an ohmmeter check. There is voltage across the power switch contacts but no reaction at all from the computer when the switch is closed. CMOS battery checks good with proper voltage.
    I had two other systems that have bad caps, one in the PS and the other in the logic board. These were mixed to give me one good system and the other with both bad PS and LB. I have replacement caps to try to bring the salvaged system back to life but this third, totally dead system has no indications of what might be happening. Pushing both internal switches on the logic board, with AC attached and not attached, has no effect. All the standard key combos (Terminal, Single User, Safe Boot, Command X etc.) has no effect.
    Anyone have a guess or suggestion?

Maybe you are looking for

  • Maverick HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless - Scan is black after saving

    it seems to be a common issue that after a major release upgrade the same issues come up again which are already solved in former releases. It's a pity that there is no learning effect. After my upgrade to Maverick the Wireless AnyConnect VPN didn't

  • I can't see my links in the Links window. What should I do?

    I've upgraded all my Adobe programs to the new CC version. After few days something happened to the Links window in Illustrator. Even if my file contains images they are not appear in the Link window. What should I do? Thanks

  • No connection Ipad-Itunes

    I have just upgrade my Ipad to OS5. Now when I connect my Ipad to the same Windows 7 computer I  immediately get the message : " This Ipad cannot be used because the Apple Mobile Device Service is not started." Well I have no idea how to start this d

  • HT4847 I have apps in my backup on my iPhone how do I release them as usable apps again?

    I had all my apps I liked on my iPhone when I was syncing iTunes somehow I thought I had lost them but I had backed my apps up on my phone. So they are in my backup I just want to restore them to my iPhone where I can use the apps. There is a place t

  • Can't use the Calendar, Book, and Card functions

    I have updated my iLife programs to iLife 08 and cannot use the Calendar, Book, and Card functions as the program says the themes have not been installed. However, after looking in the Library/Applications Support/iPhoto folder, the themes are there