Possible fried Geforce 4 MX Card or bad logic board unsure of which.

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Topazkitty

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Hi, I have a PowerMac G4 Quicksilver. I was trying to experiment with different mac graphics cards yesterday. They didn't work out so I put the original back in. But When I did I kept dropping the screw and it landed behind the fan, got wedged between the graphics card and ram and all kinds of other places. This happened because of mistake on my part. Long story short, I did get the old card and I tried booting the up the Mac. It chimed and then made a loud buzzing noise like something was frying. I left it alone for the night and tried it again today. It started up okay with everything in it but no video. It responded to keyboard commands to boot off of CD, and I reset the PRAM successfully. Now, I think there is a hardware issue but I can't figure out if its the logic board or graphics card.

Thank you so much the for the help.
 

pigoo3

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Now, I think there is a hardware issue but I can't figure out if its the logic board or graphics card.

Maybe it's both:(

Pretty much the only way to verify (for a "Do It Yourselfer")...is to get your hands on a known good compatible video card...and install it.

- If it still doesn't work...then the problem is probably the logic board.
- If it does work...then the "old" video card is/was bad.

* Nick
 
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Topazkitty

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Ok Then, The only way I can test is getting another compatible card from ebay.

Also if the logic board is bad would it be able to open the CD drive, boot off CD, and make general hard drive noises like loading the OS?
 

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Ok Then, The only way I can test is getting another compatible card from ebay.

Pretty much. This would be the least expensive route. :)

Of course I should mention. Your Powermac G4 is really only worth about $20-$25 bucks (depending on the exact model)...so unless you REALLY need to get this computer working again (and money spent on it is a concern)...watch what you spend!;)

I have a guy locally currently selling literally dozens of old Powermac G4's. From the slower 400mhz variety all the way up to 1ghz models. He wants about $12 each for them (if I bought a bunch of them). Probably about $15-$20 each if I only wanted one.

So like I said...they aren't worth a whole lot.

Also if the logic board is bad would it be able to open the CD drive, boot off CD, and make general hard drive noises like loading the OS?

Logic boards are funny-complicated things. Sometimes they don't work at all (after an accident)...and sometimes they partially work. Still (fully working logic board or not)...you still need to address/test the video issue (with a known working card).

- Nick
 
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Topazkitty

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Thanks, for the help, I have to consider what do with it. I got it for free so that's a good thing. I has a 867 Mhz processor, supports big drives, and has two hard drives in it.
 

pigoo3

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I has a 867 Mhz processor, supports big drives, and has two hard drives in it.

And is 13 years old.;) What do you use it for?

- Nick
 
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Topazkitty

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Its my only Mac so I use it to play with osx leopard to learn the is and right now I was trying to get Debian wheezy ppc to work on it but it doesn't like nvidia cards for that.
 

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Its my only Mac so I use it to play with osx leopard to learn the is and right now I was trying to get Debian wheezy ppc to work on it but it doesn't like nvidia cards for that.

Thanks for the info...I was just curious.:)

As I mentioned...be careful how much you spend trying to get it to work. It's very possible (and likely with a computer like this) that you could spend more cash trying to get it to run...then the total value of the computer (if it was working). The exact same money spent to get it to run again...could probably purchase an even better computer (or the exact same model) that is working 100%.

And if your budget can handle it...you could get something even better than a Powermac G4 altogether.

Good luck,

- Nick
 
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Topazkitty

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I bought an Ati rage 128 for a g4 tower on eBay for 10.50 I don't plan on spending more than that. Hopefully it works if not I'll keep it as a spare part. This computer is just a side project I have a good desktop right next to it thank you for helping me.
 

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Let us know how things turn out.:)

- Nick
 
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Topazkitty

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Mac Update

Hi, I got the new Mac card today, put it in the computer, and so far it works like a charm. Also the ATI card I chose has considerably better linux support when it comes to open source drivers.
 

pigoo3

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Hi, I got the new Mac card today, put it in the computer, and so far it works like a charm. Also the ATI card I chose has considerably better linux support when it comes to open source drivers.

Hey...that's awesome the problem was the video card...and not the logic board! Congrats!:)

- Nick
 

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