Power Mac G4 MDD Intermittent Boot from Internal HD?

I have a Power Mac G4 MDD with a 1.42G Dual Processor, 2GB Ram using a 500GB HD operating OS 10.5.8 The problem I am having is that my computer will boot just fine for a week or so then all of a sudden it won’t boot up at all from the internal HD. Here are the symptoms; I get the ‘chime’, then the grey screen appears with the black apple logo and I see the ‘spinning gear’. The spinning gear stops (after about 15 secs) then it goes to a light blue screen and just sits there forever. I usually see this ‘blue screen’ for about 2 seconds just before my desktop appears on the screen during a normal boot. I could go home tonight and it might boot up just fine, I don’t know, but it’s very frustrating. Things I have tried – ( I have two MDD’s so it’s pretty easy to troubleshoot) but still no successful boot sequence.
1. Reset PRAM
2. Changed MOB battery
3. Attempted a boot from another known good HD
4. Removed the 500 GB HD and installed in another MDD and it boots every time.
5. Replaced Motherboard with a known good spare I have.
6. Swapped out RAM modules
I’m not sure what’s next? Processor?, Power Supply??, Video Card??
Maybe someone out there has seen or witnessed this strange occurrence on their MDD?

I have not reseated ALL the connectors but I will try that first tonight. I removed the AC last night so when I get home I will power it up and try again. When I can get it to boot reliably, it's usually been following an AC outage overnight or a couple of days.
Thanks,

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Power Mac G4 400 AGP boot from CD/firmware question

Hello-
What is the firmware that I need for 9.0.4? I have 9.0.4 installed, but I want to erase and do a clean install and then move on to 9.1 and on. My system profiler says that my BootRom is 3.2.6f1.
I'm trying to boot from a CD (via inernal CD drive) and I'm not having any luck and I'm wondering if it's a firmware problem. My machine displays the start up disk on the desktop and will open its contents, so it seems that the cd drive is ok. When I hit the apple dropdown menu and restart, I press the "C" and all I get is grey. I get the start up chime, but then grey. I also tried the Start up disk function and was able to choose the OS disk for start up, but to no avail.
My start up disks did not come with the machine, but they are Apple G4 9.0.4 and the person I bought them from said they were intended for a G4 400 AGP computer, which I have. I might add that I have the 9.0.4power pc enabler installed as this was a school machine networked for school use. i don't know if this would make any difference. The problem may be the disks, but obviously, I'm hoping not.
Any help would be big help, thanks in advance.

Hi, veesh678 -
Early models of the G4 (AGP) models came with OS 8.6; later models came with an installer for a model-specific version of OS 9.0.4. The latter disk will have a blue-gray label, be named "Power Mac G4" with a subtitle "Software Install", and has a part number of 691-2657-A (the part number will be in fine print on the right-hand side of the label).
Non-current firmware will not preclude the machine from booting to that CD; a retail OS 9.0.4 Install CD (white label, gold 9, no model named) probably will not work, although a retail OS 9.1 or 9.2.1 Install CD should work fine.
The current firmware version for the G4 (AGP) model is v. 4.2.8, which can be downloaded from this article -
Article #120068 - G4 Firmware Update 4.2.8
Note that to install that version the machine must be booted to OS 9.1 or OS 9.2.x from its hard drive, and the firmware update must be run from the same hard drive.
Before installing firmware update v. 4.2.8, download and run DIMM First Aid (it's a free download) to verify the compliance of the RAM in the machine.

Power Mac G4 MDD - Has difficulty booting after shut down

I have a Power Mac G4 MDD (1.25Ghz) that is having issues when it is shut down. The power button on the front of the machine does not start the computer every time. Sometimes it works, sometimes I need to wait a while before it will work. When the button is pressed, it does not light up or anything.
I have noticed that if I sleep the computer it always seems to wakeup when the front button is pressed. But if I shut down the G4, is does not always bootup.
I have also performed multiple restarts when performing software updates, and they always seemed to work fine.
I have changed the Saft battery inside - it was at about .4v
I have performed a CUDA/PMU reset using the button on the motherboard, and followed the Apple procedure. (disconnect power, and accesories, press reset button, wait 10 seconds, reconnect, restart) It did not restart right away, had to wait 20 minutes or so.
The G4 has a new installation of Tiger, with all of the updates.
I have not checked the PSU, but plan on doing that soon. Just seems odd that it only has issues when the machine was shutdown. Seems to start after it sits for a while, but last night I was switching monitors, and shut it down, switched monitors, and it would not re-boot.
Any ideas?

With the "sometimes" nature of the problem, it could be the front panel board, a much cheaper replacement than a PSU. An Apple tech told me that one way to test the front panel board was to find one of the first Apple USB keyboards for the original iMac. The early ones have a power button like the old ADB boards that overrides the internal board/button. He said that, should the Mac start reliably from the old keyboard, then there is trouble with the front panel board. The Apple model number for the USB board with power button is M2452.
Very helpful forum member japamac has a test procedure for the MDD PSU on his site here:
http://jcsenterprises.com/Japamacs_Page/Blog/D275729F-09DA-4FBB-96B3-BEEEB2C0461 9.html
You'll need a multimeter to check the voltage levels.

Power Mac G4 MDD No video past boot

I was just given a Power Mac G4 MDD and it's been so long since I've worked on a Mac, except for my 8GB iPod Touch, 16GB Verizon iPhone 4, and 16GB iPad 2, I just can't seem to get this thing running.
Problem:
After pressing power button, I get the start up chime and the loading circle at the bottom of the Apple screen then it flashes a blue screen and the display does black and displays input not supported.
I have a 19" wide screen Acer LCD screen connected capable of at least 1440x900
What I've tried:
CMD-OPT-P-R
C
SHIFT
CMD-OPT
CMD-OPT-A-V
CMD-OPT-SHIFT-DELETE
I still have nothing. Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance for the assistance!

Power Mac G4: Display Compatibility...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1825
You say a Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup), did not work?

Power Mac G4 MDD won't wake from sleep mode

I have a Power Mac G4 MDD 1.25GHz with a 15" Apple display and running 10.4.
I can not wake the computer up from the sleep mode. It will not respond to the mouse moving, a mouse click, a keyboard key, the power button on the display or the power button on the computer.
The only thing I can do is force the computer off by holding in the power button (on display or computer) and restarting the computer.
The computer is set to go to sleep after 1 hour of no use (or the issue happens if I put it to sleep).
Any thoughts would be great.

This is for a Mac that won't sleep.
Here is KB article HT1776 with their tips.
Mine follow;
USB devices and hubs often cause Macs to not sleep or wake quickly from sleep (notably HP printers and scanners, HP all in ones, and Cannon scanners). Disconnect all USB except for keyboard and mouse and try. If it sleeps, add one back at a time testing after each one to find the culprit.If you've set your Mac to receive faxes, it may not be able to sleep. It might also have a damaged preferences file.
If you use your Mac for faxing, open System Preferences. click Print & Fax, click the Faxing tab, and uncheck the Receive Faxes On This Computer box.
If that doesn't work or you've never faxed on your Mac, go to Finder/Hard Drive /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration and delete the com.apple.PowerManagement.plist and com..apple.AutoWake.plist files (if your Mac asks, type your admin. password).
If the latter file isn't present in the folder, go to user name(probably your name)/Library/Preferences, delete the com.apple.systemuiserver.plist file, and reboot your Mac.
Hope this helps!
P.S. One member here reported this (Michael Gleason);
"I have had this problem with my IMac G5. It is surprisingly irritating. LaCie's Silverkeeper backup software was the cause. By default it gave itself permission to wake up the computer to check if a backup was needed. Do you have this or a similar program installed which has scheduled activities including wake-up permissions as an option?"
Dave Hamilton provided this link, xlr8yourmac.com, to a member, which addresses failure of deep sleep with some users that updated and added new FireWire and USB cards.
Also, here is Apple doc.#305262 about PCI cards and sleep.
tomhorvat adds this; After few days of messing around I found out that I had desktop background (wallpaper) set to change every 1 minute.
After unchecking "Change picture..." in system preferences (under Desktop/Screen saver), my powerbook went to sleep all by itself.
Tristan Currier noticed this; "I have a Canon printer(shared) and my imac would not sleep. I opened up printer/fax in system prefs and noticed it said the printer was in use when it was off. Opened up the printer queue and noticed about 7 pending documents. Deleted them all and now it sleeps.
Check the printer queue!"
Good Luck!  DALE

Power Mac G4 Mdd Hardware Advice

I was gifted a Power Mac G4 MDD that had been taken out by a power surge due to lightning.
The power supply was bad. Installed a new one. Didn't get a hard drive. Had a OK pc one that is partitioned
and formatted fat32. Have 10.2.8 OSX install cd's and Norton Utilities cd for 10.2 and older. Does not seem
to want to boot from them. It will boot to open firmware. Otherwise it just shows the finder face flashing
to a question mark then back. Have done the remove battery and CUDA thing. Did the reset-nvram, set-default,
reset-all,zapped pram, checked ram in a pc then replaced, removed processor board and reseated,
tried using a pc cdrom. Nowjust wondering if it's the logic board or the board with the processors?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Power Mac G4 MDD Model M8570 PMG 1.42dp Serial# xb3230mrn1y Logic Board 630-4633 Processor board
has the square firewire port.

Is the CD disc a full retail copy with either a white background with furry looking X or is the disc a gray colored disc?
If gray disc, does it say anything about Apple PowerMac restore discs?
Gray restore discs are Mac-machine specific and if it is for a PowerMac G4, it may or may not be the right restore discs for that model PowerMac.
Also, It wouldn't hurt to either find a known working external optical to borrow or purchase an external optical drive to try and boot the disc from to confirm whether or not the PowerMac's internal optical drive is working or not.
If you have to purchase an optical drive, I recomend this website and this drive.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MRF82SD24S/

My Power Mac G4 MDD has no DVD drive how do I pair it install OS X on my new HD.

My Power Mac G4 MDD has no DVD drive how do I pair it install OS X on my new HD.

Hi, two ways...
Put the Install Disc in another Mac tathas Firewire, put the other Mac into Target mode...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
This turns the other Mac into a big Firewire DVD drive, then boot the MDD holding the Option Key, select the Install Disc in the other Mac to boot the MDD from.
Or an external FW DVD...
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MRF82SD24LS/
Oh, & a thiird way...
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/optical-drives/superdrives/powermac/mdd

Power Mac G4 Won't Boot

I have recently received an old Power Mac G4 MDD. It will not boot. When I press the power button, the light will come on for as long as I press the button. There is no chime, and the fans do not spin. Nothing happens except that the light comes on until I release the button. I have tried the logic board reset and the PMU reset. I am not sure of the operating system or anything about the processor as it will not boot. It does have a hard drive and a cd drive. Thank you for your help.

Hi cessna.ian, and a warm welcome to the forums!
First thing to try is replacing the PRAM Battery, 4 years is close to their lifespan, far less if left unplugged from the A/C...
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/BAA36VPRAM/
Then, How to reset the SMU/PMU on a Earlier G3, G4, G5 models...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1939

Power Mac G4 MDD problems with Hardware test Memory errors

I have been troubleshooting slowness and unexplained lockups on my Power Mac G4 MDD. I've had the system since 2002. I tried to run hardware test (the disk that came with my system), and I get an error message at startup:
Invalid Memory Access at %SRRO: 00034870
%SRR1: 00003030
I run mac-boot, and get another memory error
Invalid Memory Access at:
%SRRO: 056106dc
%SRR1: 00003030
Does this mean my memory has gone bad? I don't get any other screens for testing hardware.
The lockups are varied, but many seem to deal with Safari. I have also repaired disk permissions and repaired disk. I then get security error messages when I restart, and I choose to fix them, and things are fine for a while, but then it slows down some and starts locking up again.
Thanks for any suggestions,
Marbot61

Hi Marbot61,
You might be interested in the thread "error when booting from AHT CD" on this forum. Since four different users have had the same error message in two days, perhaps ram chips are actually ok, and there is something else going on with the AHT CD boot process.

Power Mac G4 MDD: OS 9? Graphics? CDs?

Hi,
I've rediscovered my old Power Mac G4 MDD in my cellar - how can I find out
a) if it can boot OS 9 (native), and
b) what graphic card is installed as the system profiler displays "no info", the graphic card only states GeForce 4 on the cooler and none of the serial numbers written on it reveal any info in google
c) where I can get the original CDs that came with the system
Would be great to get some guideance.
Thanks in advance!
Power Mac G4 MDD, 1.25 GHz, 2GB RAM, OS X 10.5 Leopard

a) There are 3 different 1.25GHz G4 MDD models http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g4/index-powermac-g4.html Only the FW800 model can't boot into OS 9.x
b) I have the 1.25GHz 2003 model. The System Profiler info on the graphics card shows:
NVIDIA GeForce4 MX:
Chipset Model:    GeForce4 MX
Type:    Display
Bus:    AGP
Slot:    SLOT-1
VRAM (Total):    64 MB
Vendor:    nVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID:    0x0184
Revision ID:    0x00a3
ROM Revision:    2032
c) The original Install/Restore disc is no longer available from Apple. I looked at my disc and P/N 691-4679-A is what you need. Do a search.
 Cheers, Tom

Apple Mouse not working on Power Mac G4 MDD, works on other computers

I cannot get my standard Apple optical USB mouse to work properly with my Power Mac G4 (MDD). When I plug it in, the lights on the mouse work but the cursor does not respond. No movement, no clicking. However, when I plug the mouse into another one of my Macs, it works fine.
The Power Mac's System Profiler recognizes it as "USB Device," the mouse is unresponsive, and there are no mouse options in the System Prefs (keyboard & mouse). My Power Book's System Profiler recognizes it as "Apple Optical USB Mouse" and it works perfectly.
I am running 10.4.6 on both machines but I have had the problem with multiple versions from 10.3 up. I also bought another USB mouse (a Kensington) and had the same issues.
I've run through the standard USB troubleshooting like trying devices one-at-a-time and trying each USB port (on the Power Mac, the keyboard, and the back of a Cinema Display) as described in KB #300543 and KB #58033 but to no avail.
One thing that did stand out in #58033:
If the device shows up in System Profiler, even if the device doesn't work, the issue is usually due to software. Your best solution is to try updating the drivers, creating a new user, or reinstalling the system software.
Is there any way to update an Apple driver? I've only seen software for 3rd-party mouse drivers. I would try to create a new user but it doesn't seem to be possible using only keyboard shortcuts. And I would like to avoid reinstalling the system software!
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Power Mac G4 (MDD) Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Have you tried other mice on your computer?
I seem to recall a problem like this when Speakable Items is turned on. I'm also going to dig into a little research on this.
Try checking that out. Make sure it is off.
The other things to try are logging in as another user and see if the problem remains. If so, there is a bad preference in your user preferences.
Lastly, if all else fails, try downloading USB Overdrive and see if it takes over the mouse function and provides you with a usable mouse.
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/13443

Power Mac G4 MDD with 1.5 GB RAM slows to a crawl

My Power Mac G4 MDD has been getting slower and slower for the past couple of years, and now it takes forever to do a lot of things that it did quickly before. Today it even told me it didn't have enough RAM available to open Photoshop, even though I only had maybe three other apps open and I have 1.5 GB of RAM.
I had originally suspected the hard drive was fragmented, and I ran Disk Utilities on it, but that didn't help. Maybe I need a better disk utility? Also, the RAM message I got today leads me to believe it could be memory related.
Wat's going on and how do I fix it?

Hi
I'd start by checking the basics if you haven't already.
If you run the Activity Monitor application located in the Applications -> Utilities folder and click on the System Memory tab you can monitor the memory usage as you use your applications. You can use it to check the full 1.5GB is still being recognized and see how much you have free at any time. The following article helps explain the memory usage shown:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107918
If you click on the Disk Usage tab you can also monitor the disk space usage and see how much you still have free. Although the message refers to RAM, it may be as a side affect of not having enough free disk space for the virtual memory. I'd always make sure you have at least 5GB of disk space free for the OS temporary files and virtual memory use etc.
Finally it may be worth running the OS X maintenance scripts. These would normally get run in the small hours of the morning assuming the computer is still switched on and not asleep. However, they can also be run manually at any time, either from the command line using Terminal or from a third party front end such as MacJanitor. More information can be found here:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/maintscripts.html

Power Mac G4 MDD Random Power Shut Down

I am located in Thailand and have a Power Mac G4 purchased in November 2003. Last month the computer shut-down at random times and during various types of operations. CPU and hard drive temperatures were well within range, the installed battery tested at 3.5 volts. A new UPS was purchased with surge protection, no software was provided or appeared necessary. Often times the computer would re-start if I let it set for 30 minutes or more. Sometimes if the power plug was removed and re-inserted or the UPS re-set, the computer would start.
Associated hardware consists of Canon Printer, Mac keyboard, Kensington turbo ball, stand alone backup hard disk, flash card reader, ViewSonic moniter (8 to 10 years old), flash card reader, USB hub and audio system. Am connected to the internet via a router with one other computers on the line.
The problem has occurred with and without the attached hardware except for the monitor, keyboard and turbo ball which had to be attached to operate. The keyboard, turbo ball and computer where serviced by local Apple service center. The keyboard and turbo ball checked out OK. After sever attempts since the shutdowns were random and could not be forced, the service center after much testing and waiting decided the logic board need replacement which was done (400+ USD). A new power supply was ordered but they stated it did not need replacement.
Since the new logic board was installed and run for three days with no problem, the computer was returned with 90 day warranty. The problem almost immediately returned but has run OK for long periods of time before a random shut-down occurs. The shop was contacted and we are continuing to observe the problem but I hate to give up the use of my only computer for another month, like the last repair.
The following chart is a play by play account since the repairs.
The shop and I are completely stumped and any comments would be appreciated
*Power Mac G4 MDD Random Shut-down Problem*
Note 1: shut-down is same as pulling the power plug.
Note 2: below is complete list of events, on dates not shown, computer working normally.
DATE TIME EVENT
May 9, 2008 noon Picked up computer from Phuket Alpha after replacing logic board and
complete check-out. (Power supply not replaced)
May 9, 2008 evening Shut-down several times, could re-start a couple of times and then shut-
down and could not re-start.
May 10, 2008 all day Computer working OK.
May 17, 2008 5:34 AM Shut-down.
Turned off UPS, turned on UPS and computer started by itself without using
Mac start button.
Shut-down minutes later, would not re-start using any method i.e., re-set
UPS, pull-out power plug etc.
May 18, 2008 noon Turned on computer, OK.
May 19, 2008 1:30 AM Selected sleep from Apple drop down menu, computer shut-down.
May 19, 2008 4:30 AM Turned off UPS, turned on UPS and pressed start button on computer, started OK.
May 19, 2008 1 hr later Shut-down while using Safari
May 19, 2008 evening Started computer OK, then placed in sleep mode.
May 19, 2008 8:00 PM Pressed space bar to wake-up Mac, computer immediately shut-down and
UPS alarm came on. Re-set UPS and computer came on with high-speed
sound of (fan or hard-drive) which ran for several minutes (estimate at
least 5). Computer then worked OK for many hours.
May 22, 2008 6:30 AM After using all night, computer shut-down while using Safari.
May 22, 2008 1:00 PM Pressed Mac start button and computer operating OK.

Hi-
Welcome to Discussions!
Replace the power cord. If this doesn't alleviate the condition, (from your description) I would consider the PSU to be the most likely suspect.

Power Mac G5 won't boot with Lion?

After installing Lion, my early Intel 2010 Power Mac G5 won't boot. There were no problems for the first 2 days. The third day my G5 wouldn't boot at all. Not using Lion's recovery function, many attempts to boot from a previous system disk, and firewire target mode. The keyboard seems to be dead after attempting to boot except for the DVD eject key. All I get is a grey screen with an icon of a folder with a question mark within the folder. This icon blinks on and off continuously. Since the keyboard isn't working, I can't reset the PRAM, start in safe mode, or any other keyboard commands. The failed boot doesn't even get far enough for the Apple window to open. I replaced the hard drive and accomplished nothing except for spending even more money and time.
This is VERY frustrating! Has anyone else had a similar problem with booting after Lion't installation??
Thanks.

1) you have a Mac pro Early 2009, remember this. It avoids confusion here in forum
2) you're HDD's OS cannot be found by the firmware of the Mac hence it results to a question mark
perform the following(recommended to use a USB keyboard)
a) startup manager
press and hold option on startup. Do u see your HDD?
b) if you have a back up of your data then you can boot to the install disk and perform an erase and install
repairing the permission will not work since the disc's OS is different from the HDD's OS.

OS X 10.4.11 will send but not receive faxes on Power Mac G4 MDD

OS X 10.4.11 will send but not receive faxes on my Power Mac G4 MDD. Perhaps I should remove the relevant .plist preference file(s). But which one(s) is it /are they? Or is there something else I should do?

Thank you for your reply, BDAqua. I have set the fax feature to answer after 3 rings, but the phone rings only once when someone is trying to send a fax. The phone icon in the menu bar changes to "ringing ..." but nothing more happens. The phone line on which I receive faxes is dedicated to that use. I phoned in to its number earlier today from another phone. I heard it ring once and then it went to the busy signal. I then disconnected the fax phone line from its wall jack, connected a phone to the jack, and phoned in to it. The phone now rang and rang as it should. So this confirms the assumption that the fault is in the computer, presumably in the Print & Fax software. I should also mention that I don't find com.apple.print.FaxPrefs.plist in /Library/Preferences.

Power Mac G4 MDD Intermittent Boot from Internal HD?

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