These models will, over time, develop a sticky power button, which can cause this to happen. When you hold down the power button for five or six seconds, the computer will shut down, which is about the timeframe you are describing. Since it will sometimes boot correctly the next morning, it sounds like the button will spring back on its own after several hours.
You can fix it by removing the bottom case, popping out the plastic power button and stretching the spring a little to add some resistance. If it's the button itself sticking, you might take some light sandpaper and sand the button hole a little, making a little more room. See http://www.scienceman.com/pgs/archive26_imacpower.html for more info -- Bryan C. Forrest Macintosh Specialist & Asst. Network Administrator LifeNet http://www.lifenet.org. On Oct 22, 2004, at 5:41 PM, Dan Crutcher wrote: > I have a slot-loading iMac (366 Mhz?) that will give me the start-up > "boooong," then the hard drive will chatter for about two seconds, > then nothing for about five seconds, then it shuts down. Will do this > over and over again, as long as I want to try it. If I let it sit > overnight, it sometimes will go ahead and start up the first time I > try it the next day. > > Any clues as to what might be causing this? > > > > | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will > | be October 26. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. > | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> > | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup> > | The next meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will | be October 26. The LCS Web page is <http://www.kymac.org>. | List posting address: <mailto:macgroup at erdos.math.louisville.edu> | List Web page: <http://erdos.math.louisville.edu/macgroup>
