G5 PowerMac Booting Issues

Hi Guys,
I wrote a few days ago about Kernal panic issues I was having with my G5 2.3 Dual Processor PowerMac Tower running OS X 10.5.8.
By following the very helpful suggestions by other members, I was able to trace the problem to a faulty RAM module.
All was good.....until today.
I had been on the MAC earlier in the day and put it to sleep when I was done. I went to wake it up this evening and she wouldn't wake. I pressed the PWR button until it shut off and tried to start back up. It will not go past the gray apple screen. There is no spinning indicator. It just hangs on the gray screen. Then, the fans kick in and progressively get louder and louder. I tried booting into safe mode with no luck. I tried booting into target disk mode with my FireWire External DVD Drive with my OS X Install disk loaded in it....Nothing. It will not go past the gray apple screen. Sometimes when I push the power button, I'll hear the start up chime, sometimes not. Sometimes the white indicator light will light up, sometimes not. The keyboard does not light up, nor does the laser mouse. I tried a different keyboard and mouse, tried a different Hard Drive, swapped the video card, disconnected everything but the monitor and keyboard....Nothing. Even swapped the power cord and plugged it directly into the wall. I reset the PRAM and also pushed the PWR management reset button on the motherboard. I swapped out the RAM with different modules. Nothing but the same problem hanging on the Apple screen. Arrrrgggghhhh! LOL
Any suggestions or something else I could try?
Thanks! I appreciate any feedback or suggestions. I really don't want to have to chuck this MAC out the window!

I read your other thread where you initially posted about this problem with your G5. In that thread you said you purchased 6 gig of ram...where did you purchase this ram from?

Thanks,

- Nick

Run Apple Hardware Test - on one of your original install/restore CDs. Start with option key to get the test option.
This may apply to your model:
About the Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) diagnostic LEDs

Hi Nick,
Thanks for the reply. I purchased the RAM from Fry's Electronics. During my troubleshooting, I completely removed the ram and replaced it in pairs with different RAM modules.
As far as being able to get to the Apple Hardware Test, I can't get past the gray apple screen. There is no progress indicator, just a gray apple staring at me and the fans getting louder and louder. I have tried pressing the option key when booting with no luck. I was able to reset the PRAM however, but it didn't help.
Thank you for any input!
Rich

RLWeese said:

Hi Nick,
Thanks for the reply. I purchased the RAM from Fry's Electronics. During my troubleshooting, I completely removed the ram and replaced it in pairs with different RAM modules.

Click to expand...

Are you 100% sure that the ram you purchased is fully compatible with a Macintosh G5.

With the grey startup screen problem I would have suggested:

- booting from a CD/DVD
- that you might have a dead or dying hard drive
- swapping out the video card

...but you tried all of these.

I still think that there may be an issue with the ram...only because I don't know if the ram you got at Fry's is compatible with a Macintosh. The only other suggestion I can "throw out" as a possibility...is the PRAM battery still good? If not...they are very easy to source. They're those flat quarter sizes CR2031 batteries.



Worst case scenario is this computer may have more serious issue...such as the logic board is bad.

HTH,

- Nick

Rich,

By the way...I saw in your other thread about a Powermac G5 you said was a 2.0ghz Powermac G5...and in this thread you mentioned that it's a 2.3ghz Powermac G5. Are we talking about 1 or 2 computers?

- Nick

Thank you for the info, I hadn't thought about the pram battery maybe being the culprit.
My other post was a typo. Its a 2.3 Dual processor. The RAM is compatible with Mac, I even removed all of it and took RAM I had and tried it. Same problem.
I was able to get the Mac to boot off the Leopard Install DVD. I used Disc Utility and repaired permissions, verified disc, etc.
Shut down and she booted normally. All was good for about 10 minutes. OS X froze. The mouse would move but nothing else worked. Pressed the PWR button and forced a restart. Now I'm not getting any video on the monitor. Me thinks shes dead. LOL