Failure to Boot G4 Flat Panel iMac w/20-inch display

My beloved iMac won't move past the initial gray screen with the running gear. I downloaded a couple of updates but had to leave before restarting, so I selected shut down. Apparently, this was a BAD idea. But I assumed that when I came back I could turn on the computer and everything would be fine.
I did get the door to open on the cd/dvd drive, so I inserted the restore cd #1. Then,I tried rebooting with the "c" key depressed, I also tried holding down the shift key while tryng to reboot. I disconnected all the other hardware beyond the mouse. The only thing I haven't taken out is my airport card.
Next I tried command option P - R - zapping the PRAM? several times, followed by trying to boot with the "c" key depressed. Still, no luck.
I also have attempted to reset the PMU - no easy task since the button can't be viewed. We did unseat the battery and reinstall it (I didn't replace it) and recoated the blocks with heat sink compound.
What are my options at this point? I'm very discouraged since I can hear what seems to be the cd/dvd drive spin up, yet the computer won't read the disk.

Try rebooting with only the option key held down and the restore CD in the cd/dvd drive. When the screen comes up with harddrive icon and Hardware test, run the test by clicking on the hardware test icon and then click the right arrow.
I'm currently doing the hardware test. I'll get back to you with my results, but the hardware test indicated it's not a hardware problem - everything passed.

Similar Messages

Superdrive replacement in flat panel iMac

I have seen this addressed in bits and pieces on many different forums, so I figured it was about time to try and get this information in a place where it could be easily found.
The problems encountered by many iMac G4 flat panel users with their superdrives seem to have only one common solution.......replacement of the drive.
There are numerous fixes that at best are temporary solutions to a problem that will only get worse until the drive fails completely.
This model iMac seems to be extremely susceptable to the accumulation of dust, which in turn causes the internal parts to overheat, which probably leads to premature failure of the laser components of the drive.
In 10.4, the common error is related to laser power calibration failure, in which the laser is unable to either read or write to the disk in order to determine the correct write speed for that disk.
Earlier versions list similar problems, but the wording is different.
Using a different type of media can be a temporary solution, if the problem is just beginning, but at best, probably a few burns is all you will get.
Using a lens cleaner will help in some cases, but also temporarily if internal dust is the culprit.
Other solutions, including burning to a disk image, then using disk utility to burn the dvd will also work, occasionally, as will creating a new user account.
The ultimate solution is replacement of the optical drive, and a good internal cleaning of the iMac.
Cleaning alone may solve the problem, however, since you already have the unit disassembled, and the optical drive removed for proper cleaning, it is best to go ahead and replace the drive, since the newer, dual layer, 16x drives are relatively inexpensive, some for under $40.00 US. Also a good time to install that new HD since it is removed along with the optical assembly, and even a little extra ram.
You should be aware that doing this yourself will no doubt conflict with Applecare, if you have it, but on older models without the warranty, most people should be able to do this themselves.
This URL .......http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/iMacg4/imacg4takeapart.html...........provides a take apart guide and step by step directions to replacing the components, and is very easy to follow. Make sure that if you don't have a second computer, that you print these pages prior to beginning disassembly of your iMac.
It is really not as complicated as it looks, and if you have any mechanical ability, and a little patience, it can be easily done within an hour.
Also be aware that if you install a dual layer drive, You will not be able to access the dual layer feature in iDvd unless you install a patch from this website........http://www.hardmac.com/niouzcontenu.php?date=2005-05-26#4090.............the file name is MBiDVD4ALLDUAL.sit.
This will allow you to use those dual layer disks with iDvd.
There are numerous drives that will work in your flat panel iMac, personally, I installed the Pioneer 110D, and so far, it has worked perfectly, including burning the dual layer disks.
The 110 is actually slightly smaller than the original drive, and was easier to install, than the other model was to remove. Most drives are standardized in size, and all mounting screws positioned in the same place, so as long as the drive you choose is not larger than your original, it should work.
I hope this helps a few of you out, I know about the time I spent searching for answers before finally giving up and just buying the new drive.
You sure won't regret being able to burn at 16x, or getting those ninety minute movies on one disk.
Good Luck
Pazuita

Hello Pazuita,
I think you meant to post this in the imac area of the Discussion forum, this is the Feedback forum.
The info you have complied would be best posted there.
Eme :~{)

Need to force CD/DVD drawer open on G4 flat panel iMac

Anybody know how to "force-open" the CD drawer on a flat panel iMac (G4 hemispherical base)? This one has a quirk - the eject button won't open the CD drawer until the OS has completely loaded. I just used software upgrade to update some apps and on restart, all I get is the spinning gear. I need to startup from the system CD, but I can't get the drawer open to insert it. Any ideas?

Hello and Welcome to Apple
Discussions.
You'll have to use the Open
Firmware method that a brody links to in his post
above.
The manual button to open the drive is
hidden on the iMac G4 and so not an option.
mrtotes
Since I'm getting a blank blue screen, Open Firmware is not an option. Any other ideas?

Airport for Flat Panel iMac

I have an original flat-panel iMac (800MHz/256Mb/80Gb)which I want to connect via wireless. Can I fit an Airport Extreme or do I need to find an original Airport card? Is there a USB wireless adaptor (OSX 10.2 )?

Hello and Welcome to Apple Discussions.
You'll need an original Airport card for the iMac G4 800MHz as the Airport Extreme card uses a totally different connector.
USB WiFi adaptors are generally unreliable for Macs as there is such a limited market for after-market Airport 3rd few 3rd parties have written drivers.
I would advise using a cheap Ethernet- Wireless Bridge. These are built in to many routers and convert the Ethernet connection on the iMac G4 to Airport. (Even though I have an Airport Express card in my iMac I actually use the Wireless Bridge in my Router). Here's one example (Belkin). The beauty of this is that no drivers are required.
You could also consider alternative technologies like Ethernet-over-Mains (link) .
HTH
mrtotes

Flat panel iMac G4 + projector + iMovie HD = problem

Has anyone been able to use iMovie HD on a flat panel iMac G4 that's connected to an LCD projector. I have a Sanyo XGA LCD projector hooked up in my lab and when I attempt to launch iMovie HD I get an error message that says the resolution needs to be set to 1024 x 720. Please change the settings in the Display preferences and relaunch iMovie HD.
The only available settings in the Display preferences are 640x480, 800x600 or 1024x768. I'd like to demo the application in class. Does anyone know how I can accomplish this?
Thanks

I have an iMac G5, and am projecting an iPhoto slide show using an InFocus X3 XGA LCD projector. They key is that the projector's resolution gets priority. So whatever the native resolution your projector has is the resolution you have to set your Mac to. My iMac has 1024x720 as an option, so your projector would probably work with my Mac. On the other hand, my MAC doesn't have 1024x720 as a display option, so your mac and my mac are different. Is it at all possible to get your hands on a different projector? Or a different mac?
My projector uses 1024x768 as its native resolution, and the slide show, while using the lower resolution than the native iMac 20" G5 screen resolution (1680x1050), still looks fine. (But not quite as good as it looks on the screen.)
Now, all that said, I am no expert in this, as I just got my projector last Thursday. But I did a lot of research prior to getting it, and I did read a lot about this problem of projector resolutions needing to MATCH an available resolution on the mac.
Sorry, I have a feeling I haven't been very much help.
--Julie
20" iMac G5 2.1 GHz PowerPC Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Difference between a Apple LED Cinema Display (27" flat panel) and a Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)?

May i know the difference between a Apple LED Cinema Display (27" flat panel) and a Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)? both products look the same to me, even the prices are the same, but the name of the product is different. Its so confusing! I want to purchase a secondary display for my 21" iMac, but idk the difference between the two.
furthermore, another question i have is, is 27" the largest display i can get? is there larger ones (just the screen, not the computer)?
please help, thanks!

rae90 wrote:
May i know the difference between a Apple LED Cinema Display (27" flat panel) and a Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)? both products look the same to me, even the prices are the same, but the name of the product is different.
One has thunderbolt capabilities, the other doesn't.
is 27" the largest display i can get? is there larger ones (just the screen, not the computer)?
No you can get a larger one. Maybe not an Apple one, but certainly another brand.

Can I use my G4 flat panel Imac as an external screen?

Ok this may be a really dumb question, but as I am not very technically minded I had to ask!!!! Is it possible to use my Imac flat panel as an external monitor for my 15" Powerbook???

Sorry but no, at least not in the sense you probably mean. You could take a video output from your PB and through a video converter take that into your iMac and display it. But to use your iMac as a true second monitor, as a real monitor would work, no, that's not possible.

Unable to re-install 10.4 onto original flat-panel iMac

After 10.4.7 update trashed my original iMac (another long story!!) I now find that re-installing 10.4 from full install disk fails repeatedly about two thirds through.
I have tried the following ;
Used disk utilities to completely erase hard disk overwriting with 0's
Run hardware diagnostics successfully - no faults detected
Tried re-installing original 10.1 software that came with computer.. again this fails about two thirds of the way through.
Have also used diskwarrior to repair disk.
After having tried all this about 10 times.. i'm completely at a loss what to do next..
Help !!!!
System in question is "old" 15" flat screen IMac 700 Mhz PPC4 512 Mb RAM 40 Gbyte HD that had been rock solid until 10.4.7 update......
Macbook 1.8 GHz 512 Mb Mac OS X (10.4.6) iMac PPC4 700 MHz 512 Mb

I have to ask if you have not ever used places like Apple Downloads, MacUpdate or VersionTracker to find and download software? or Google? Should probably throw http://wikipedia.org/ - just to be fair, too
I think a bootable FireWire backup is much more useful in the long term - while .Mac etc can help with some personal files, it won't let you book your Mac.
usually Apple wants you to remove 3rd party memory and peripherals or upgrades to diagnose a problem. Same goes for OS X, always good to have an "Apple only" clean install that you can rely on; have backed up (DMGs work fine too), as well as a "working backup" of your system.
Practice makes perfect. no one learns without making mistakes along the way. Which is why there is 'testing' your backup and recovery plans hopefully before there is a disaster. Although there is always the FEMAs and lots of bad examples of how not to do things.
http://www.memtestosx.org/

IMac G5 17-inch display slowly getting brighter

I have a 3-year old iMac G5. The 17" display is slowly getting a brighter and brighter white point and is noticeably blowing away subtle lighter colors. Adjusting brightness or recalibrating the monitor doesn't seem to work. Is there a way to fix this?

I have not read anything similar to your post here at the Apple forum...
You can try resetting your Display to Factory settings... Utilites > ColorSnyc Utility > Devices > toggle Display > iMac > Current Profile: Set to Factory - this should set your display as orginal, now you can go into System Preferences and calibrate a profile display to your liking...
You should also take a look at the Repair Extensions here: http://www.apple.com/support/exchange_repair/imac.html
Resetting the SMU: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301733 - this does resolve certain video issues
Rick

1GB Memory Modules in 1GHz 17" Flat Panel iMac?

Hello There!
On searching this forum I see that there has been some discussion of people going beyond the stated maximum memory of 2x512Mb by using 2x1GB DIMM's from companies like RamJet.
1. How many people out there have successfully done this?
2. Any problems mixing a factory installed 256MB module with a 1GB in the user accessible slot?
I like to buy my memory from Crucial and, whilst they will sell me the 1GB modules, they won't guarantee they will work or support me. I'm hoping you guys can give me a bit more confidence before I take the risk.
Thanks!

IanB,
1. I have 1.5Gb of RAM in my iMac 1.25GHz with no problems. There are numerous other users in these boards with >1Gb RAM.
2. iMac G4's use single channel RAM and so there is no issue with installing RAM in any combination.
3. iMac G4 <1GHz max out at 1Gb. iMac G4 ≥1GHz can take 2Gb. <p>
4. IMHO 1Gb SODIMMs are prohibitively expensive in the UK and probably not worth the extra cost. I've never used the full 1.5Gb RAM available in my system even with EyeTV, iMovie HD, Photoshop Elements and iDVD running together. I installed a 1Gb DIMM and 512Mb SODIMM which is a significantly cheaper combination.
5. Both my 1Gb DIMM and 512Mb SODIMM are from Crucial. The DIMM I bought as a unsupported/guaranteed as a specific part-number and the SODIMM I ordered through their iMac G4 page. Crucial only support Apple's specs even though they are essentially wrong.
regards
mrtotes
Off topic:
Ian B(ickerstaffe); you were right yesterday there are two Ian Bs!

Will the new mac mini work with the older Flat panel iMac globe speakers?

I am thinking it might be time to upgrade my 800mhz FP 17", and since i have an extra 22" monitor laying around being unused, i thought the Mac mini would be a drop in replacement...but then i thought about the imac FP speakers and i would like to keep using them...is anyone using these speakers with the mac mini?

The Apple 'Pro speakers' that were designed by Apple and Harman Kardon, use a proprietary 2.5mm mini jack connector and they would need an adapter to work.
Years ago there was a product called the 'iFire' that allowed those speakers to be used with other macs with a firewire port ..... Here's a site that I found that has more information than you'll need to know about the speakers and the adapter: http://maczealots.com/reviews/ifire/
At the time, the pro speakers technology was pretty cool ... combining power and digital audio into the one cable. I still think they look striking....
I did a bit of snooping around and couldn't find the adapter for sale (aside from a used one on Amazon for $199 ouch) .... I believe it has been discontinued.
I think you'll have to follow another route.....

Mac Mini to G4 iMac Flat Panel display ???

Just scanned some pages back in this forum and couldn't see this as a topic-so I'll ask.
I was wondering, if I had a 17" Flat Panel imac (even the 800Ghz version, or the 1Ghz or the !.25Ghz - or event the 20" [yummmmy] ) could I drive the mac mini via the iMacG4's highly versatile flat panel display ???
[ideally I'd love to be able to re-engineer the Flat Panel's guts with smaller but faster CPU etc - and as machine innards get smaller maybe this will be possible - because the screen tilt and swivel is so versatile; eh!)]
gregg

Hmm - why did myinnermostthoughts sudenly become a hyperlink - or is it a hyperjump into the final frontier of cyber-computing???
Anyway, but I had hoped to just plug a keyboard into 2005 'Twiggy" , use a VGA adaptor/er between the two machines, and use the 1.42 Ghz speed of the 'Twiggy' to display stuff (CS2 etc) on the Flat Panel's display (oxymoronic word usage here - I suppose). The Flat Panels do have an vga port - so why cant the cable go from the mac mini to the VGA port of the iMac ??? Are you saying ti's almost impossible - or are you refering to re-engineering???
Gregg

Imac 15" flat panel

Question, is there any web sites that show "How to put a larger display on 15 older Imac G4 Flat Panel Imac?" The type that look like a half ball, with the display on a pole. I would like to put a larger 19" analog LCD display on this Imac, one you can purchase at Best Buy or whatever?
ibook g3 800, G5 imac, FTP imac, Pbook 15" Mac OS X (10.3.9)

You'll generally get quicker and more accurate responses if you ask in the iMac area. This forum is intended for older, pre-PowerMac G3, hardware.
Anyway, Your Mac officially only supports screen mirroring, not "extended desktop" mode. So all you'd get is a larger copy of the same image you'd see on the iMac's internal screen. If that's what you want, all you need is the Apple VGA Display Adapter and a VGA monitor (most will work).
If what you were hoping for is to run the external monitor separately from the iMac's screen, there is a utility here that claims to enable extended desktop on some iMacs and iBooks. I do not endorse such usage since some people have reported that the hack completely messed up their systems, though, so use the hack at your own risk. Note as well that if you have problems with the system due to this hack, Apple may well not honor the warranty (since the hack constitutes an unauthorized modification, prohibited in the Apple warranty). But it has reportedly worked well for a number of people.
Regards.

IMac (15in flat panel) won't stay on

Hi, I have an 15in flat panel iMac that will shut off almost immediately after you turn it on. The computer and the screen both turn on for a few seconds and shut down. It seems as if the computer just loses power after you turn it on. I have replaced the power cord and reset the PMU. Could it be an issue with the PRAM battery? If it is how do you fix it?

Welcome to Discussions Nate - what you are having are called Kernel Panics and here is a link to Dr Smoke's Resolving Kernel Panics which should give you some help. If his suggestions don't work, you will have to take your computer in for repairs.
Do let us know how things work out,
Miriam

Installed airport card into my imac G4 flat panel and now it work

I purchased an airport card from Mac-pro as Apple does not sell them anymore. I installed it into my IMAC G4 flat panel as per the instructions. Now, when I turn on the computer the power light comes on, and the screen is black and it really isn't making any noise, as though it is not starting up. It was working just fine before I installed this card!!!! can anyone help??!?!?!?!?

The following Apple article provides the details of
installing an AirPort card in the Flat Panel iMac
G4s. You may want to double-check it to see if you
might have missed something in the the installation
process.
I installed the card properly, as per the instructions you forwarded to me. I did have some trouble getting the card to completly fit into place, one side seemed to go in easier than the other, but it did go in. Is there anyway to get this machine up and running again?

Failure to Boot G4 Flat Panel iMac w/20-inch display

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