Hello,
My name is Thomas and I am new to this list. For starters I am a PC person who has recently acquired a sick Power Mac 5400/200 with the intention of setting it up for my Father to use for accessing the internet. Having said that it should be completely obvious that I don't have a clue how to fix this thing;) Basically what I have is a machine that was retired from a previous life which explains the word "Toss" written on top of it. Poor little Macintosh is just begging for some love which brings me here:)
If you can get it to work, you've a fine machine. With many different upgrade routes, too.
Okay down to the nitty-gritty! When I power the Mac on I get a nice sound and then a disk with a question mark which eventually turns into a disk with a happy face. By this time the Mac locks up and there is no mouse control, etc., just a happy Mac in the center of the screen. I suppose this little guy could have gone out with a smile on but that doesn't seem likely and I'm guessing that there is a problem with the OS.
Well, could be a corrupted System Extension or Control Panel. Try rebooting it and holding down the SHIFT key and see if that allows the mac to startup all the way.
Being a newb I have turned to the collective power of the i-net to get started and have discovered such things as "ctrl-command-start" to reboot and pressing C to boot from CD. Doing the latter nets nothing and the Mac goes through the question mark to happy face to lock up routine again.
Go to eBay and see about getting a cheap OS 8.6 install CD. Make sure it's a generic install CD. You can boot from it by holding down the C key on the keyboard during startup. If you can boot from the CD, then it's obvious that something is wrong on the hard drive... Maybe!
It might be worth the trouble to take a look at the logic board. Look at the back of the computer. See where all the ports are for keyboard and modem and SCSI devices are? OK, you need to get that plastic panel off. There could be as many as three Phillips head screws... or none at all on that back panel, If there are screws, remove them. Now, reach under the back and find the latches that hold the panel in place, gently pull them down a bit and towards you until they unlatch. Remove the panel.
Now, you're looking at the naked back plane of the Logic Board. See the little wire nahdle tucked up into place by the SCSI port. Release it from it's holder and pull. The Logic Board will slide out. As you look at the board, with the back plane facing towards you, on the left side you will see, I hope, three small circuit boards on vertical slots. The one farthest to the left is the L2 cache, the next two are the computer RAM. There may only be a cache card and ONE RAM card. If there are no RAM cards, that's likely the cause of the problem. The 5400/200 only had 8MB of RAM soldered in place on the Logic Board. That's not enough to boot with.
RAM is cheap. Buy more. 128 MB will set you back $60.00 at the very most. If you shop around, you can likely do it for $40 or so. You'll likely have to get a new PRAM battery too.
Oh, and blow all the dust off the Logic Board while you're at it.
So, assuming that adding RAM and a new battery fixes things, you're all set. If not, you MAY have a bad Logic Board. Get a replacement. A 5400/200 board will cost about $20 from the swaplist.. Or spend a little more and get a 5500/225 or 5500/250 board. It'll be a bit faster and have more Video RAM, so you'll have a bigger screen display. 1028 X 786, baby! It's what ALL the kool kids have these days!.
OR... the hard drive is corrupted. If so, boot from the CD and erase the internal HD. Then install OS 8.6 on the HD.
We will assume that fixes the problem. If not, you need a new HD. They're also cheap enough these days.
So, once you get it working, you'll need software. It's amazing what's out there that's free. So, for the web, get him Internet Explorer (some places are really picky and will only work well with IE. I only use it for my bank's website) everything else is viewed with iCab.
Email. Eudora! NOT Outlook Express! NEVER Outlook Express! You want him to use an email application that works with him, not one that needs to be wrestled to the ground and beaten with a stick. Eudora in Lite mode is just fine. Or you can pay the modest fee and use it in Paid mode.
Get him a proper 56 k external modem. US Robotics is a good brand and is Mac friendly.
Get a USB PCI card for the PCI slot on the Logic Board. Get a multibutton/scrollwheel mouse. Install the USB Overdrive software. A Mac with a multibutton mouse and USB Overdrive is a wonderful machine to use. Also, those USB ports are useful for things like digital cameras, printers and scanners.
Finally, once the thing is set up and running well. Bite the bullet, spend the money and get a Sonnet Crescendo 400Mhz or 500Mhz G3 upgrade card for it. It plugs into the L2 cache slot on the Logic Board and it will result in a MUCH faster and more powerful machine.
I've one installed in my 5500/225 and it's just a wonder! Everything is faster and better with this upgrade. The mac will be JUST FINE without it, mind you, but with it, it's just so much better.
Oh, get an MP3 application. It's really nice to be able to play CDs while working at the computer. Sure, you can play CDs via QuickTime, but the interface is rather basic. A proper "jukebox" application makes life easier. I use SoundJam MP. Look around on eBay for a CD. There is also a version of iTunes that, with a patch, will install and work on an OS 8.6 Mac. That's pretty good, too.
Oh, and that black rectangle on the front, by the headphone jack? That's the IR port for the Apple TV Tuner card remote control. If you can find the card package somewhere such as eBay, it'll allow the Mac to act as a television.
--
Chris Tucker
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.gis.net/~cht
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