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)

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Ah.
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Have you checked the Energy Saver settings? System Preferences / Energy Saver.
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Turn on the computer.
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i love this little guy.
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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:
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2. - Be certain the power chord is fully seated in the back of the computer and wall socket.
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I always like to start with the simple things when I have a problem.
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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.
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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.
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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)
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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).
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I have heard reports suggesting that a problematic PMMU can cause the logic board battery to run down in a matter of days. At least, I recall an Apple Knowledgebase article about Power Mac G4's that said a crashed PMMU, if left in that state, drains battery in 4-6 days. I don't know if this applies to the iMac, but logic board batteries are cheap and worth a try.
If you have already updated the firmware for OS X, then there is no need to do it again. The current firmware updater is the one that's posted to Apple's site. It has not changed since 2001.
You can try the usual things that people try when machines don't power on: reseat RAM, swap out RAM, remove and reinstall the logic board, blow on it, whack it, dust it (not with a vacuum -- with canned air), check connections, check fuses on the analog board, disconnect all drives, replace the drive with a test one to see if the drive is the problem, etc.
If these are not the problem, you can repeat some steps (to see if it is an intermittant fault). Otherwise, you will need to download the appropriate service manual from this page:
http://www.whoopis.com/computer_repair/
Detailed therein is the way in which you can test (using a voltmeter, and with extreme care) whether the analog board/the power supply are good. Conducting this test will require you to have the machine powered on and will put you inches away from 26kV of voltage used to drive the CRT (at the back of the tube and on some of the components). Personally, I have never done this because I consider it too risky. If you are experienced with electronics, go ahead, otherwise I'd wait until someone else on the forum take a look at this and suggest things that I might have missed.
Based on what you said though -- clicking sounds, and power off shortly after powering up, I am guessing an internal short somewhere is causing a safety mechanism to trip out and power down your computer, esp. when it will ignore the power button. Check for a loose screw (pick it up and jiggle it, do you hear a loose part?) Check for things that might be causing a short. If you don't see anything obvious then it might be a component failure (specifically, a capacitor, a chip, or the flyback transformer we talked about earlier) that is causing the shorts. Tracing component-level faults in an iMac is beyond my technical expertise.
The iMac I picked up curbside has a screw loose. So far I haven't been able to find it, but it isn't causing any shorts, so I just left it.

IMac G5 (iSight model) won't start up - video included

http://s1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc449/langdonX1/?action=view&current=imac071 .mp4
An imac 1.9Ghz G5 won't boot up at all. When you press the power button you hear a sight whirr and then a faint high pitched hum. Sometimes the power light turns on for a second in unison with the attempt. I tried to reset the SMU but that did nothing.
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from your linked article:
This article does not apply to iMac G5 (iSight) computers.
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<<If you look at MacInTouch, you will find reams of complaints about MacMall. You have to be very firm with them, and threaten all kinds of dire things.>>
I'm sure they're all criminals, but I have one salesperson who cuts me some deals, so sucker that I am I go back. I once had a G4 problem with a defective RAM slot - inserting the stick bent the contacts both sides across the middle, and I was going to be stuck for a new m-board on a machine that had only booted once, and they weren't very nice to me about it, until by chance they noticed the same thing in other machines of similar serial number. With their testimony, Apple gave me a "one time only" repair on it - how very generous of them.
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Fred

IMac G5 (iSight) won't power up

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