DP Gigabit freezes during boot

podmatepodmate
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I have a Dual 450 Gigabit Powermac that freezes during OS boot.



This machine will not boot into 10.2 at all. The boot will start, but after 30 seconds or so everything freezes.



None of the HD's are SCSI.



I am using a known good 30gb Maxtor HD with 10.2.8 that was pulled from a B&W.



This machine will occasionally boot into 9.2. It will invariably freeze after a few seconds. Usually, the machine will freeze at some point during the boot process (usualy within the last steps).

I am using a known good 6gb Apple (Maxtor) HD with 9.2 that was pulled from a B&W.



I have also tried to install 10.3 onto a known good 40gb Seagate (no OS installed, but "initialized" by 10.2.8) and the install process will freeze at the screen where you are asked to select the drive to be installed on.







I have run the Version 1 Apple Hardware Test CD multiple times and everything passed.



I have switched out the stock DVD-ROM drive for a known good DVD-RAM drive with no change in behavior. I have also switched out the HD ribbon with no change in behavior.



I have verified that each HD is set to master.



The machine is stock with the exception of 1 256mb Cruical RAM stick that is a pull from a B&W (and was also tested in a quicksilver). Graphics is a stock ATI AGP card. No Airport, 3rd party PCI cards or SCSI drives/cards.



I am using the smurf keyboard and mouse from a B&W.



Ethernet cable is attached. No other usb or firewire devices are attached.



Monitor is VGA.



Any ideas on what my next steps should be in figuring out whats wrong with this PowerMac?



Thanks,

David

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Not to sound patronizing, but you didn't mention ever trying to reformat and reinstall the OS on any of the drives. Considering all the steps you've taken, I would not be surprised if you have done this already, but you didn't specifically mention it so I have to ask. If not, I'm stumped... seems like you've tested all the components other than the motherboard (I sure hope the motherboard isn't a problem).
  • Reply 2 of 5
    podmatepodmate Posts: 183member
    Thanks for reminding me.



    I did a fresh install on OS 9 on one of the drives. Didn't help. I forgot to mention that.

    I am unable to install either 9 or X with this system.



    The Apple Hardware Test sys that the Logic Board passes all of its tests.



    I'm now wondering if one of the CPU's is bad.



    Thanks
  • Reply 3 of 5
    opuscroakusopuscroakus Posts: 317member
    Does it always freeze at the same spot? What does it do when it freezes? Does it "freeze" or does the monitor go black or does it shutdown?



    Will the system boot from an OS cd? Have you checked the voltage on your PRAM battery to see if it's up to snuff? Is your firmware up-to-date?



    Unplug the system.



    Uplug all hdd's except for a known good boot drive. Reseat AGP card and remove 3rd party ram and reseat Apple's stock ram module.



    Reset the logic board by pressing (one time) the PMU button switch (close to the battery.)



    Wait a minute or two after pressing the PMU button before reconnecting power and booting.



    Boot system and reset the PRAM (Command+Option+P+R after boot tone)



    If the system is still freezing, in my experience it is usually the logic board that is bad even though it passes the AHT.



    Good luck and keep us posted. 8)
  • Reply 4 of 5
    dobbydobby Posts: 797member
    hold down the apple-v while booting (when you hear the chime) and you should see where the boot is hanging.

    I had a similar problem on a dual MDD giving me a nasty RPC timeout after doing the dev/fs dir shit.

    Turned out to be I had ran a configure over an app I was about to compile and hadn't done the make.

    I submitted a bug report.



    Dobby.
  • Reply 5 of 5
    podmatepodmate Posts: 183member
    It does not always freeze at the same point when starting up OS 9. But, once OS 9 (CD not HD) starts up it always freezes when I move the mouse.

    As soon as I move the mouse all of the files/folders disappear leaving me with only the OS 9 top nav bar. The mouse will still move around the screen but the nav bar will not respond to click events.



    The battery is new, I have also used a known good batter from another system.



    Thanks
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