This is a lovely 700Mhz G3 (the last G3 made) that has no trouble running 10.3 with 500MB of RAM. Normally.
Alas it has started to fail, and in ways that defy ready diagnosis. I'm hoping someone here can help. With increasing frequency, the computer shuts down without warning. The video goes, there is an audible "thunk," and the hard drive goes silent. It's definitely not just the video that's out. iMac won't reboot right away, but will eventually after shutdown. But often (though not always), after a time that typically ranges from 10 - 60 minutes, the video returns and the hard drive starts to spin again. It's completely frozen, but will reboot at that point. Once rebooted it often will run without incident for days. But, the behavior is variable. Sometimes it won't boot for days. Using the CD drive often seems to bring on this shutdown--but not always. I think I can rule out a software problem. I have repaired the disk, the permissions, run Disk Warrior, and reinstalled OS X. I have zapped the parameter RAM. The firmware is up-to-date, as far as I can tell (also this is a recent prblem). I have reset the NVRAM in open firmware and the PMU on the mother board. The battery seems fine. I've played will all sorts of variation on the power-saver preferences, about going into sleep (or not) and turning off the hard drive (or not). I've removed and reinstalled the two RAM chips and dismantled down to the hard drive (and reassembled), checking for anything loose. I didn't want to go further without some idea of what might need to be replaced. Something in the video side? The power supply? I've already gone ahead and bought a replacement iMac, but if this one can be saved I'd like to keep it as a spare. So I'm hoping someone has had this same set of odd behaviors, or can diagnose the problem based on my description. Thanks for any comments! Adam --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
