Just yesterday i solved a similar problem on this model powerbook for a client. I hear the dvd drive at startup but dont hear the hard drive spin up. Powerbook g4 rebooting problems december 2009 forums. Hi all im new here and new to os x even though i have ipod, ipad etc my problem is that i bought an old retro powerbook g4 a18 1. When you get to the screen to select either mac or windows, boot into the mac os, go to prefs startup disk and pick the mac. Powerbook g4 only boot safe mode hello i have powerbook g4 with cpu 1. If you have the same problem with a fully charged battery, you most likely need a new logic board. I searched many forums around the web for days trying to find similar issues andor cure. Clues to the causes of mac startup problems can be found by analyzing when in the boot process the system fails. Unfortunately the ram slot issue is a hardware problem which has to do with these older. Mac repair guides for apple macbook, ipad, powerbook iphone. If you have insufficient ram for your computer to boot the operating system, you may get the flashing question mark.
Buy 4alldeals 1gb ram memory upgrade for the ibook g4 and powerbook g4 apple notebooks ddr 333, pc2700, sodimm. Fix macbook stuck apple logo spinning wheel not loading start up. Jun 06, 2018 good afternoon, i recive the community of macrumors to help me relive my old powerbook, i want to know if anyone has an idea of the reason for not starting, i have a powerbook g4 1. If your systems ram is not working correctly, then you will likely see one. Try taking out your liion batteries and just use the ac, and see if you have a problem.
Some screens, such as the prohibitory symbol or question mark, mean that you need to resolve an issue before your mac can finish starting up. Faced with a dead mac pro and a flashing power led, adam determines that he needs to reseat the memory in his mac. I have tried resetting the p ram, trying to start it in safe. Powerbook g4 only boot safe mode apple ios macos help. The powerbook g4 is a series of notebook computers manufactured, marketed, and sold by apple computer, inc. I hear the chime, get a gray screen, but no apple logo or spinning wheel. Hp notebook pcs troubleshooting black screen displays.
If your mac has issues related to settings stored in nvram or pram, resetting it might help. My powerbook g4 will not start up in target disk mode. If you have insufficient ram for your computer to boot the operating system, you may get the. For all mac models, startup is complete when you see the finder menu bar, desktop, and dock. Buying a powerbook g4, dan knight, the book page, 11801. Try taking the ram out and give the connectors on the modules a. Aug 11, 2011 hello, i have a powerbook g4 al the spec are as follows. Powerbookibook lower ram slot failure revisited cnet. Feb 16, 2010 i need help in deciding to bury or repair a portable. If your mac doesnt support userupgradable memory the retina macbook pro. One of the troubleshooting methods i have tried is booting with just one stick of ram and also swapping the ram into different slots. If you dont have enough ram for your computer to boot the operating system.
Feb 15, 2008 when i boot powerbook g4 displays the grey screen and the apple logo and goes no further. How to install memory in the powerbook g4, powerbook g4 memory types, maximum ram. Jul 23, 2010 how to fix common mac startup problems macrx by adam rosen. The screen will stay there as long as the computer is on, and it will go no further into the startup. Pram parameter ram stores similar information, and the steps for resetting nvram and pram are the same. The charger board really only sends power to and from the batteries. My powerbook g4 15 3mhz 1gb ram 120 gb hard drive starts with the startup chime but gets no screen image. When you press the power button, the powerbook checks its memory before it starts up. Last night i shut down my computer and for whatever reason i also unplugged ac adaptor. I need help in deciding to bury or repair a portable.
Its obviously old, but was refurbed 3 years ago and has functioned well for their needs, but i understand the battery has been terrible for a year holding only seconds of charge and requiring the ac charger all the time. The harddrive recently died in it and so i just grabbed one from work to put in here. I tried removing the ram and trying all the reset combos but nothing. The powerbook with better specs turned out to have a failing lcd, so i decided to do a transplant and tear down the one with worse specs and re purpose some of its parts for the better machine. Hello all i have been having the same problem and i think i found the answer. Also i have the os x cd and i seem to be unable to boot from the cd. Pb g4 1gb ram, 1 slot only, 2nd slot is broken will not boot, hangs at grey apple logo with grey spinning thingy then. Prior to this problem, it was taking a very long time to start up but. Travel technology mac powerbook g4 boot problems on the road greetings, this may not be the best place to ask for help, but i know there is some great knowledge here. Mac powerbook g4 boot problems on the road flyertalk. As others have commented on this site, the defective memory modules must have been finding their way into production much earlier than apple claim. Heres why im ordering one, and how im configuring it. When i press the startup button, i get the white screen with the grey apple, but thats it. It was still usable and this issue i assume is unrelated to the main problem.
This morning i plugged in the ac adaptor and booted up. There is an incompatibility between the kensington startup adb extension part of kensington mouseworks and the trackpad control with mac os 9. Powerbook g4 titanium mercury troubleshooting ifixit. Ati radeon 9800 pro graphics card ati 32mb graphics card 5 nothing new installed prior to this occurring. The apple symbol shows and the wheel turns but it never stops and nothing loads answered by a verified mac support specialist. About a week ago a random problem occurred with the startup sequence. Ram or downgrading to an older operating system will fix this. Anyways, it was working fine for me and then about a month ago it kept getting slower and slower the programs. I dont get thr little revolving wheel that usually signifies the startup process is working. Mar 25, 2003 if you have your pb plugged in and it has the problem, it most likely is not involved with the charger board. When you try to turn on a computer, one of the first hardware tests performed is the memory check.
More on powerbook g4 titanium and aluminum screen problems cnet. Now read all the furom everywhere it say for most situations, a restart is sufficient. Mac powerbook g4 problems booting from cd and start up freezing. How do you upgrade the ram in the powerbook g4 models. Mac powerbook g4 problems booting from cd and start up. If your mac doesnt start up all the way apple support. During its lifetime, the powerbook went through several major revisions and redesigns, often being the first to incorporate features that would later become standard in competing laptop. Atech apple 2g kit 2x 1g powerbook g4 earlylate 2003 2004 m8793lla a10 m8980lla a1046 m8981lla m9110lla a1052 m9421lla a1095 m9422lla m9462lla a1085 m9676lla a1106 m9677lla memory ram.
Hi guys, i have a friend with a powerbook g4 15 powerbook5,8, powerpc g4 1. Nov 08, 2018 if your mac has issues related to settings stored in nvram or pram, resetting it might help. She said that she left it running the other night, went to bed, then in the morning the screen was blankblack, and the fan was in overdrive. Teach you how to upgrade your powerbook g4 memories. Worth a shot but it doesnt work might be hardware issue around the power connector. If the computer has stopped responding, try these steps, in order, until the computer responds. Problems may be related to the power supply, battery, hard drive, logic board, os. The laptop used to only boot up if it had sat for a longtime.
Took powerbook to apple store and technicians ran diagnostics for several days, couldnt identify problem even though computer wouldnt start after they ran full set of diagnostics. The powerbook known as macintosh powerbook before 1997 is a family of macintosh laptop computers designed, manufactured and sold by apple computer, inc. Oh, the memory slot problems have been with us a looong time. Hello, i am having some problems with my powerbook g4 and i am hoping someone can help me. Jun 14, 2003 doing that also might solve the problem with always booting up into startup disk selection. I am planning on buying it from this website but dont want to spend the money on ram if the problem doesnt have to do with ram. I brought my mac powerbook g4 with me, but didnt use it until the last night when i ended my trip in liberia, cr. I was doing some research and the os couldnt be found. Powerbook g4 wont start up apple ios os help fix mac. Powerbook g4 problems the powerbook g4 is a series of notebook computers released by apple, inc. The startup manager displays a rather cryptic set of icons indicating available startup volumes, including any netboot volumes that are available. I have a customers g4 ibook to repair and the fan runs at full speed and there is no chime or display. I had a client with two 500mhz tibooks with the problem.
Hello, my name is eddie and i just got a powerbook g4 1. If you have insufficient ram for your computer to boot the. How much ram of what type do these systems support. If the start up test cannot access the memory chips, the testing stops and no additional actions can be taken. This powerbook doesnt turn on every now and then, regardless of how many times you press the power button. The only fix is to put the drive in an older powerbook, open password security, go to setup, and click the reset button, and then put the drive back in your book. Powerbook g4 wont boot from any kind of external drive. In other words, when you press the power button the leds may glow for a moment and a fan may start to spin, but then all action stops. The problem started when i decided to buy an external case and install a drive with leopard in it so i can boot from it in leopard without messing with my internal drive. Powerbook g4 freezes at startup apple ios os help fix mac. Mac os x updates can introduce ram recognition problems. Does the laptop need ram in order to display video, or is it a video card issue. Ive had my g4 for almost 4 years now and have had no problem until today. I tried to start it without the battery, and it went well for five minutes, but then froze and the screen started to go brighter and brighter.
Powerbook g4 powerpc wont boot up diagnosticsadvice please. Ive been using this particular laptop for about a year with absolutely no issues until a week or two ago when i noticed it would only recognise 1gb instead of 2gb of ram that are installed. I have a old powerbook g4 received from family, and this is my first apple notebook. After the startup chime the powerbook would essentially appear to be dead, did all the steps above but nothing helped until i took out the ram. More on powerbook g4 titanium and aluminum screen problems sign in to comment. Mar 29, 2006 my powerbook g4 laptop does not boot up. Specifics regarding the memory for each powerbook g4 model is provided on the specs page for every system, but general information regarding the type of sodimm modules, number of memory slots, and maximum supported ram also are provided below. Isolating where the problem is occurring is key to finding the solution. Just yesterday i solved a similar problem on this model powerbook for.
I took the thing apart and inspected it but it looked fine. My computer decides to freeze at the grey start menu with the apple icon. Powerbook g4 powerpc wont boot up diagnosticsadvice. This should make the computer use mac os by default, with no special keys needing to be held. Hi im new to the threads and in need of some help, i have an older powerbook g4 with a 1. After playing with the ram i was able to start up in open firmware by. The powerbook g4 runs on the riscbased powerpc g4 processor, designed by the aim appleibmmotorola development alliance and initially produced by motoro. We delete comments that violate our policy, which we.
On some macs with iomega zip drives, holding down option at startup when there is a zip startup disk inserted will cause the mac to boot from the zip disk. Recently, the hard drive in my powerbook g4 started making horrible clicking noises, i immediately turned it off. I have tried several troubleshooting methods including different startup key combinations to reset power management, etc. It alternately flashes a question and a smiley face on the screen. Mar 24, 2020 startup screens can vary by mac model, operating system macos, and more. Ive found fiddling with the memory resolves the problem, but it comes back. I left it in sleep mode yesterday and found it turned off this morning, though it was plugged to the charger. Nvram nonvolatile randomaccess memory is a small amount of memory that your mac uses to store certain settings and access them quickly.
I actually want to boot linux but since that is not working im thinking some one might know on the apple end. Jan 03, 20 i have a old powerbook g4 received from family, and this is my first apple notebook. Aug 05, 2008 mac powerbook g4 problems booting from cd and start up freezing. The powerbook g4 was known for its modern design, long battery life and superior processing power. I have a powerbook g4 and recently it would not boot up past the mac os x loading screen and will stop at printing services. The powerbook g4 runs on the riscbased powerpc g4 processor, designed by the aim appleibmmotorola development alliance and initially produced by motorola. Powerbook g4 startup apple ios os help fix mac iphone. Power book g4 boot problem i have a powerbook g4 and when i press the power buttion the computer makes the apple start up sound and the apple logo with a loading symbol appears but that is all that happens the computer after awhile restarts and it happens again also it sounds like the fan and hard drive are spinning up and keep. How to fix common mac startup problems macrx cult of mac. Solve mac startup problems by reseating ram tidbits. When i start up the powerbook it stops at this point. I dont have the orginal cdsdvds from the powerbook g4. If you do, you can pretty much rule out the charger board.
The powerbook with better specs turned out to have a failing lcd, so i decided to do a transplant and tear down the one with worse specs and. If you have the same problem with another power adapter, your problem is most likely the dcin board. Hi guys, i have a friend with a powerbook g4 15 powerbook5,8. My powerbook g4 s ram has come unseated quite a few times.