Power Mac - Blinking light, no video - Mac-Forums.com

amagab · 07-05-2007, 05:29 PM

Okay, so someone donated an old Power Mac to me and said they didn't want it anymore.....that's all info I got.

I haven't checked the specs yet but I'd though I'll give it a try and power it up.

I hooked up everything, powered it up, hear the fan, but there is no video being projected on my monitor and the power light in the front is blinking. Should it blink? Is that normal? If not, what could be the problem.

I know this is vague but if anyone has any ideas to the blinking light I'll appreciate it a lot.

Thanks!

dtravis7 · 07-05-2007, 05:31 PM

We really need more info. What does the machine look like? Tower? Is it Gray plastic? Silver metal? Blue and White Plastic?

amagab · 07-05-2007, 06:15 PM

It's silver metal. I don't know much about Power Macs but it looks like my boss's G5. It has DVI, 400 and 800 FireWire, etc.

So does anyone know what it means when the small white power light in the front is blinking?

Thanks!

dtravis7 · 07-05-2007, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amagab

It's silver metal. I don't know much about Power Macs but it looks like my boss's G5. It has DVI, 400 and 800 FireWire, etc.

So does anyone know what it means when the small white power light in the front is blinking?

Thanks!

My friends PowerMac G5 like yours did that with bad RAM or RAM that was not seated. Try taking all the RAM out and putting it back and be sure it seats.

Do the fans come on full blast also?

amagab · 07-05-2007, 06:30 PM

Thanks for your replies. The fan does come one but I'm in a noisy room so I can't tell it it's full blast. I guess I'll open the darn thing and check out the RAM. I also read somewhere else to reset the PRAM.

Thanks again! I'll get back later with updates.

dtravis7 · 07-05-2007, 06:34 PM

APPLE-OPTION-P-R for the PRAM. Hold it till you get at least 2 startup chimes.

amagab · 07-06-2007, 10:14 PM

I tried resetting the PRAM with the key combination but no response and no chimes.

I replaced the RAM and now the blinking changed. Now it blinks three times every few seconds. Fan is still high speed. I still cant reset the PRAM.

So does anyone know what the three blinks sequence mean?

Thanks!

amagab · 07-06-2007, 11:02 PM

I also want to add that there is a red light on inside close to the RAM slots.

Anyone!

dtravis7 · 07-06-2007, 11:50 PM

Will search for it again, but there was one with blinks and it was the Power Supply. Will find it and post it for you.

Edit: Search this page and see if anything fits. If so, bad power supply

http://www.macintouch.com/readerrepo...html#15feb2006

amagab · 07-07-2007, 12:47 AM

Thanks for taking your time trying to help me with this.

Okay, I found a very helpful article about the lights:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302527

I don't think it is the power source as my computer does power up and runs the fans and I hear other things going as well.

The three blinks indicate I inserted incompatible RAM.

I have to investigate further after I buy the correct RAM. I'll update this thread asap.

I'll be back!

Thanks!

Persona · 11-07-2009, 05:46 AM

I have a Power Mac G5 Dual Processor (1.8 GHz, with 4 DIMM slots). I had the same single blinking white light, then it would stay still for a while, then blink again once every few seconds or so. For me, the problem wasn't that i installed bad RAM. Instead, problem was in that I did not push in the RAM cards that I installed far enough into their slots. *When you push them into their respective slots, they have to click into place and the little locks on the side must click into the little wedges on either side of the cards. If you don't push them into place correctly (like I did not on my first try), you will probably get a blinking light and your monitor will not show an image.