Mac G5 newbie

Hi,

I am trying to fix a Mac G5.

When I switch it on it takes forever to boot (just showing the Apple sign and the little flower like animation).

I have tried Disk Utility and it reports errors, so I am trying to boot the Mac OSX disk. To run the disk utility repair from the disk.

This is where my problems seem to start. This is what I have tried...

- Pressing C with the Mac OS X disk in the drive
- Trying three different disks and doing the above
- Holding down the option key - only the Macintosh disk is visable
- I also reset the PRAM/NVRAM

If I let the Mac boot to the OS, I can insert a CD/DVD and they don't have any trouble opening files.
It seems like a boot problem.

Please help!

Thanks

I was a little confused reading your post...so let me restate what I think I understand...and please correct me if I'm wrong.

1. You said that if you try to boot from the hard drive it takes a really long time...but eventually it does boot to the desktop.

2. If you insert a "bootable" CD/DVD...this doesn't seem to work.

If this is correct...here is what I think is going on. First let me say it sounds like you've done some great troubleshooting so far.

It does sound to me that your G5's hard drive has some problems. If you eventually are able to boot from a CD/DVD to do some repairs on the hard drive...the repairs may or may not help. In the past I've had similar problems with hard drives...and sometimes the disk repairs helped & everything was fine...and sometimes the repairs were only a short term fix until problems returned. So just be aware that you may need to purchase a new hard drive in the future.

If after booting from a CD/DVD you are not able to fix the hard drive errors...then again, you may have to purchase a hard drive...but really that's not so bad since SATA hard drives are not that expensive.

As far as the problems booting from the CD/DVD's you tried. What sort of disks are these. Are they Macintosh OS install disks and/or "Grey" colored disks. If they are "grey" colored disks...these are model specific, and if your G5 can't boot from them...then they are probably from another computer...and won't work with your G5. You need "black" disks with a big "X" on them.

Also realize that the maximum OS you can run on a G5 is OS 10.5.8. If one of your DVD disks is Macintosh OS 10.6 "Snow Leopard"...this won't work on a G5.

Finally...please let us know what G5 computer you have. There are Powermac G5's & G5 iMac's. Let us also know your processor speed.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

Still not having it.

Hi pigoo3,

Thanks very much for your quick reply.

I do quite lot of Windows support and can normally fix them blindfolded and my hands tied behind my back! But I'm increasingly getting requests for Mac repairs, so I am jumping in the deep end ;-)

I totally understand about the hard drive maybe not being recoverable after running the full disk repair, but what I am concerned about is the boot disk not showing on start-up, because even if I get the new hard drive I wouldn't be able to install Mac OS X if it can't boot the disk.

The Mac is a G5 and yes, I do have 2 "grey" iMac OS Install Disks and one black OS X disk. I put the Black OS X disk in the dive and hold down the option key but only the Mac drive appears.

Is there anyway I can download a boot disk for a Mac and test to see if it is the boot disk that is the problem? (Ubuntu maybe?) Not even sure how to burn a bootable disk on a Mac :-/

Thanks for an help.

REBOOTTHAT said:

Hi pigoo3,

Thanks very much for your quick reply.

I do quite lot of Windows support and can normally fix them blindfolded and my hands tied behind my back! But I'm increasingly getting requests for Mac repairs, so I am jumping in the deep end ;-)

I totally understand about the hard drive maybe not being recoverable after running the full disk repair, but what I am concerned about is the boot disk not showing on start-up, because even if I get the new hard drive I wouldn't be able to install Mac OS X if it can't boot the disk.

The Mac is a G5 and yes, I do have 2 "grey" iMac OS Install Disks and one black OS X disk. I put the Black OS X disk in the dive and hold down the option key but only the Mac drive appears.

Is there anyway I can download a boot disk for a Mac and test to see if it is the boot disk that is the problem? (Ubuntu maybe?) Not even sure how to burn a bootable disk on a Mac :-/

Thanks for an help.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the background info...since you know computers pretty well I apologize for stating anything that you may have already known. Sometimes it tough to know how experienced someone is...so it's usually better to include too much info rather than too little.

Just so I'm clear...do you have a Powermac G5 "tower" computer or a G5 iMac? You mentioned that you have the 2 "grey" iMac disks...but I don't want to assume you actually have a G5 iMac.

In any case...whether you have an iMac G5 or a Powermac G5...if your G5 cannot boot from the grey disks...they are probably from another G5 computer. The discs are model specific. There were a number of different iMac G5 & Powermac G5 models...so if you have an iMac G5 & the grey disks say "iMac G5" on them...they could still be for a different model iMac G5.

As far as the "black" OS install disk you have...what version of the Mac OS is it?

There is also another possibility...and that would be that the CD/DVD drive on this G5 is bad...and that would explain why the G5 can't boot from the discs you are trying.

Lastly...if the G5 cannot boot from the black disk you have...and you do get a new hard drive for the G5. If you have access to a 2nd Macintosh computer...you could boot that 2nd computer from the "black disk"...and connect the G5 to this 2nd Macintosh in "Target Disk Mode"..to do the OS install.

Here are some instructions/info regarding target disk mode:

How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode
Mac 101: Target Disk Mode
Target Disk Mode - Mac Guides

Hope this helps...please let us know how things work out,

- Nick