On Oct 14, 2010, at 12:02 PM, [email protected] wrote: > > > On Oct 11, 11:37 pm, wren <[email protected]> wrote: >> Hi all, >> >> I have the eMac 1.25 gHz with 1 gb of ram. Owned since new. Replaced >> motherboard once under warranty a few years ago. >> >> Had been running 10.3.9 until May. Installed Tiger 10.4.11 and have >> been using it smoothly ever since. >> >> Last week, I got my first ever kernel panic. Screen said, "you must >> shut down ... " etc. I ran everything I knew how to for diagnostics - >> which was only the Utilities and then Onyx to clear all caches and >> tidy up stuff. It ran smoothly after this so I thought it was okay >> again. >> >> Today it crashed with same kernel panic. But - when I forced reboot, >> it would only show the apple icon and spinning thing - then slowly it >> went to a blue screen. Blue screen flickered, but did nothing to >> finish booting. >> > <snip> >> It came up with a memory error: Erorr code 2MEM/104/4:DIMM1/J1 >> > <snip> >> Thanks, >> -Lynn / Wren > > Unfortunately this sounds like the all too common capacitor fault that > affects many of the 1.25Ghz eMac's, open the door on the underside and > have a look at the capacitors (aluminium cans about 1 inch high and a > quarter of an inch in diameter with either a black or brown label ). > if any are bulged on the top or leaking (white or brown crusty > deposits on the top or around the base) then they need to be changed > as the problem will only get worse until you can only boot in safe > mode.
One test for bad capacitors is to boot the eMac in safe mode, which puts less stress on the graphics card and the logic board. If your eMac runs smoothly in safe mode, then it's a very good bet that you've got the common bad capacitor problem. (Google "eMac capacitors" and you'll learn more.) Looking at the three capacitors you can see inside the user access panel isn't foolproof. There are about 11 other capacitors you can't see. Looking at them for signs of failure requires taking off the cone-shaped back cover and then the silver Faraday shield on the bottom. If you see even one leaking/bulging caps, the Apple fix is to replace the logic board. The more reasonable fix is to further dismantle the eMac, remove the logic board, and remove/replace all 14 or so caps. I've restored several eMacs to good operating health by buying a capacitor kit online, then replacing them myself. I'm just an advanced amateur, and learned everything I needed to know from online searches, including how to dismantle the eMac and how to go about desoldering/soldering. If you like a challenge, this is relatively easy. Good luck! Jim Scott -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, 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] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
