> My 8600 refuses to start up. I had to do a hard > shutdown 2 weeks ago. Then I got it to start up a > couple of times from a zip rescue disk (wouldn't read > any system disk). Then, the same day, just no start. > No chimes. > > I've tried the following things: > replace the PRAM battery (granted, I'm not sure if the > replacement was good either since I found it in some > supplies) BTW, can anyone tell me which way it's > supposed to go into the slot -- I swear it came out > reversed from what the icons indicate.
The PRAM battery in the 8600 is 3.6 volts, and if the voltage drops by more than about 15% the computer will begin to exhibit problems -- the greater the voltage drop, the bigger the problems. The battery is supposed to go into the holder just the way the icons indicate: positive to + and negative to -. If you don't have a meter to check the voltage, then your best bet is just to buy a new battery...they cost about $11 at your local Radio Shack. > Unhooked the HDs, zip, cd, and tried to start. > Took all the ram out and tried to start. The 8600 didn't come with any built-in RAM, so if you remove all the DIMMs, the computer will not start up, regardless of the battery. > Took the Sonnet G3 upgrade card out, reset the CUDA, > put it back in (I don't have another to test that > part) > > Any ideas? The HDs spin up, if the disk is in the Zip > it tries to go -- > But absolutely NO chimes at all. Have you checked to see whether there are any SCSI conflicts, i.e., more than one device on the same SCSI address? Have you checked to see that the speaker leads are connected (yeah, that's a long shot). > Appreciate any help. Power supply? Mother board? Any > "easy" way to test those things? If the drives power up and the fan turns on, then it's unlikely that there's anything wrong with the power supply. A motherboard problem isn't out of the question. TechTool Pro may supply you with a few answers as to the health of certain components on the MB, including RAM. If you're able to boot from the TechTool Pro CD and run the program, then we can assume that the CPU is OK, too. Also, if you have DiskWarrior, boot up on that CD and check-out your boot drive (that is, if DiskWarrior is able to see it). But the first thing I'd do is make absolutely sure the battery is good. I've worked on a lot of Macs that were DOA, but were able to be resuscitated by simply plopping in a new battery. The older Macs -- pre G3 -- were more prone to this sort of problem. And, as an afterthought, try zapping PRAM at startup to see if that has any effect. Good luck. herb -- PCI-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> PCI-PowerMacs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/pci-powermacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/pci-powermacs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
