Weird happenings.......

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Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hi there, new to this board, so big hello to everyone! I was talking to someone and sounding very desperate (I am) and he recommended I post here. So here goes.



I have a 15 month old G4 933 quick silver MAC and a Mitsubishi diamond plus 220 monitor. About a week ago I turned on the G4, it sounded as normal, but no screen, apart from 'diagnosis check' on the monitor (suggesting to me that the G4 wasn't communicating with the monitor). I had to restart it 3 or 4 times before it came up with the desktop. Over the next few days it took more and more restarts, until eventually, no matter how many restarts, no desktop. Strangly although the MAC sounds like it starts up the light from the pro mouse worked but not the keyboard. The CD draw did not open and the shift/caps light did not come on (the keyboard is ok). When the desktop didn't come up on the monitor, if I were to press the power button this would turn the G4 off, not send it to sleep. The few times the desktop did come up I tried resetting the monitor to factory settings, but no luck. I phoned apple (although the warranty is up now) and they said it could be the video card or worse - mother board.



The weird thing is, it's started to work again. Also, just before this started to happen, I could not sync my Palm, they couldn't see each other, no matter what I did, no it's working. I don't understand it. Could it be a bug? Someone even said heat! Incidently, I did run Norton earlier on. Should I run this again, as some say it's worth doing it 3 or 4 times. Or could this be a hardware problem? (Obviously I'm worried this could be very expensive)



Sorry this is so long, and any thoughts are really really appreciated



All the best



Colray

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Try zapping the PRAM (Parameter RAM) by turning your computer on, and before you hear the startup chime, hold down the following keys: command-option-P-R.



    That's the key with the Apple on it, the option key, and then the P an R letter keys. This will erase some settings, but it has helped me on previous occasions. (Don't hold down the keys at one, bu hold down the first key, then, while still holding down the fist key, press the second, and while still holding down both, press the third, etc)



    Another solution:



    Unseat the Graphics card and any RAM you have installed, blow on the RAM and the slots to clear any dust, and then seat the RAM/cards again.



    And another:



    Press the CUDA button for no more than 2 seconds, wait a couple minutes, then try booting your machine again. The CUDA looks like this:





    And if all else fails, try disabling KEXT (kernal extensions) at startup, by pressing the shift key.



    I hope this helped.
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  • Reply 2 of 10
    cubedudecubedude Posts: 1,556member
    It's "Mac" not "MAC".
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  • Reply 3 of 10
    Hey Placebo



    thanks for the reply. I'll try those (the guy at apple got me to try the CUDA button before), and see what happens......



    thanks



    Colray
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  • Reply 4 of 10
    Quote:

    Originally posted by CubeDude

    It's "Mac" not "MAC".



    and this is an important distinction not just because we're picky, elitist bastards, but rather that MAC stands for "Media Access Control". For example, networking devices tend to have unique MAC addresses, or hardware address.





    ...



    and we're picky, elitist bastards
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  • Reply 5 of 10
    stoostoo Posts: 1,490member
    The Mac is a bit new, but could it be a dodgy clock battery?
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  • Reply 6 of 10
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Stoo

    The Mac is a bit new, but could it be a dodgy clock battery?



    Maybe the CUDA zap didn't work because of the low battery....those are under $5 at RadioShack.
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  • Reply 7 of 10
    Erm, sorry about the 'Mac'. My hurried, but rather desperate email I'm afraid.



    Hi Stoo,



    I guess the only way I would know would be by changing it, correct? The really strange thing is it's behaving itself now (can't decide whether to leave it alone or try these suggestions). Two days ago and after speaking to Apple, I thought the worst.

    I wonder if it could be an intermittent fault of the hardware kind?
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  • Reply 8 of 10
    Is the battery something I could change myself??
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  • Reply 9 of 10
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by LoCash

    and this is an important distinction not just because we're picky, elitist bastards, but rather that MAC stands for "Media Access Control". For example, networking devices tend to have unique MAC addresses, or hardware address.





    ...



    and we're picky, elitist bastards




    "Tend to"? I have yet to meet the networking device without it... (also, shouldn't it be "mediUM access control"? and not any networking device, but only those that use shared media, as defined in the data link layer?).
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  • Reply 10 of 10
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    Hey LoCash- here's a quote for you (by me): "The essence of language is comprehension."



    Take that, picky bastard.
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