From: "Greg Shafritz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [1st] Mysterious death of Apple Workgroup Server 9150 - HELP!
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 03:16:55 -0500

I have a stock Workgroup Server 9150/120 with 256 MB RAM installed
that mysteriously stopped working in a way that I have NEVER
seen before!

(NO startup chime, no image or blank raster on the screen,
no Sad Mac or error code, no error tones... NOTHING!

The fan spins...
.. the power light comes on...
.. the hard disk spins up to operating speed...
.. and that's ALL it does... it stays like that indefinitely.

This could be your power supply in that the 12V could be good and the 5V output bad. If you have an ohmmeter, try measuring the 5V line while the machine is turned on and see if it is within about .1 or .2 volts of 5V.

In these cases it is much more likely that your motherboard has failed in some way.

As I mentioned on the PCI list, first make sure that the power cable to the motherboard is properly connected. Pull out all your RAM (there's 8 MB on the board) and the Cache module. Leave them out. Pull and replace the ROM module.

Your whole troubleshooting goal should be to get back to a chime. You can disconnect or remove anything else that isn't needed to get to a chime, such as SCSI cables and NuBus cards. Of course, the PDS terminator must stay.

Was your speaker working properly before the failure? Speaker failure would stop you from hearing the chime, but you should still get video eventually, unless you had a very improbable dual failure.

If the voltage is good and pulling and replacing the ROM after removing everything else, doesn't help, then I'd guess that you have a failed motherboard. Remove the heat sink and peltier cooler. Examine the CPU at an oblique angle to a light source. Are there cracks in the plastic around the metal die? PPC601 chips have a lovely failure mode where they simply crack. That's wouldn't explain why you'd fail right at a restart though.

It is also possible (as I mentioned on PCI List) that your CUDA chip has failed. Really the only way to test for that is to replace it. A fairly simple operation for one with reasonable soldering skills. This would correspond a little with your symptoms. The CUDA controls the power-on. If it failed in a certain way, the machine might still operate until it was time to cycle power.

Finally, it is possible that any of the other main chips on the board have failed. Again, without sophisticated test equipment, it would pretty much take trial and error replacment approach to identify which one. All of the chips on the motherboard can be scavenged from 7100s except the AMIC chip.

If your MB is dead, I'm interested in it. I have a use for the Fat AMIC chip, one of these days (want to convert a PCC Power 120 into a 5 NuBus slot machine).

After their "auction" a few years ago, Shreve Systems still had some 9100 motherboards on hand. Maybe they're willing to be reasonable about the price by now (they wanted more than the going price for an entire 9150 back then). You may wish to give them a call.

DT&T Macintosh Services, Fremont, CA was doing board level repair on 9100s back in 2001 or thereabouts.

I think MacResQ also provides or provided that kind of service.

I'd suggest buying a used board on Ebay, but I have a search stored on 9100 and 9150 on Ebay and while power supplies are common, the motherboards rarely come up.

P.S.: Please send your reply to me off list, as I'm in "digest mode"
        and I might not get it for a week or more if you post it to the list
        (the last 1st PowerMacs Digest came out TWO WEEKS ago!)

That just means that there's been *no* activity in two weeks. The digest gets sent out daily (I believe) if there is anything to send.

Jeff Walther

--
1st-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and...

Small Dog Electronics    http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives |
-- Sonnet & PowerLogix Upgrades - start at $169  |  & CDRWs on Sale!  |

     Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html>

1st PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/1st-powermacs.shtml>
 --> AOL users, remove "mailto:";
Send list messages to:   <mailto:1st-powermacs@mail.maclaunch.com>
To unsubscribe, email:   <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
For digest mode, email:  <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subscription questions:  <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
List archive:            <http://mail.maclaunch.com/lists/1st-powermacs/>


---------------------------------------------------------------
iPod Accessories for Less
at 1-800-iPOD.COM
Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal
www.1800ipod.com
---------------------------------------------------------------

Reply via email to