08-14-2010, 04:03 PM

hello. i have one of those old blue G3 Power Mac's from quite a while back and buying a new computer really isn't an option for me at the moment. What happened is that this computer had 512mb ram and i had apparently foolishly decided that it should have 1gb. it had 4 card slots so i figured "whatever!" right?

Well.... since then i've removed the 2 cards that i had previously inserted and its back down to 512 but when i power it on, it sounds like everything is whirring properly inside, but the screen wont come on. i tried the whole "p-ram" reset thing that i heard about somewhere but to be honest with everyone. im VERY new to Mac computers, in fact, i'm quite a PC user attempting to convert into mac's and i'm very confused.

i dont even really believe that i did the p-ram thing right, any assistance you could give me would be golden, and thank you in advance.

Addition: I suppose i should also put that i don't know if the ram that i have in it is actually PC or MAC ram or if it really matters, did i mess up my motherboard by trying to put in too much ram?

Is there a way that i can distinguish PC from MAC ram by any kind of model number on the hardware?

08-14-2010, 04:10 PM

You reset the PRAM by holding Command+Option+P+R keys down all at the same time after the startup sound and keep them down till you hear 2 more startup sounds.

The Blue and White Powermac G3 takes PC100 SDRAM. Each slot will accept a 256 Meg PC100 stick. 512 Meg sticks will not work.

Do you know what RAM sticks you inserted?

I just worked on a G3 B&W that had dirty RAM slots. I cleaned them out with some electronic cleaner and by inserting and taking out the RAM a few times, and it came alive. Also be sure your PRAM Battery is not dead. It should be 3.6 Volts DC.

Also if nothing else works try Resetting the CUDA. This is for the G4 PCI Graphics but the motherboard is exactly the same and it works for the G3 B&W also.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=95065

08-14-2010, 04:13 PM

HOORAY! Nevermind, i actually figured the problem out...

As usual... the problem was caused by stick of old kingston ram that apparently i was trying to use in conjunction with another type of ram... i feel so stupid.

both sticks of ram were dual-channel SD-Ram, but the kingston was one of those buffered valueram sticks and the thought never crossed my mind that i've done this before and they never work one buffered, and one not.

08-14-2010, 06:46 PM

Be aware Macs do not use PC memory. You do need low density modules and the cheaper high density PC memory will not work, or will fail after a short period of time. Go to OWC and check out the specs of what memory you need for the G3.

http://eshop.macsales.com/Descriptio...osh%20G3%20B&W

08-16-2010, 10:24 PM

nevermind "delete"...

08-17-2010, 12:13 AM

Originally Posted by tjb

im VERY new to Mac computers, in fact, i'm quite a PC user attempting to convert into mac's and i'm very confused.

I'm so glad you got the issue sorted out, but I have to wonder: if you're checking out the Mac world, why use a machine that is at least 10 years old?

I mean, if I decided to check out Windows 7, would I buy a PC that was 10 years old?

For playing around with some of the basic concepts, your B&W may be "okay," but you're not getting anything even remotely like "the modern Mac experience." That B&W might as well be linux for all its similarity to a recent Mac.

I'd strongly recommend picking up a used Intel Mac of recent vintage as a far better use of your time and money.