Glitched up/Hacked Tiger???

My Powermac g4 Running Tiger has been behaving erratically lately. When I shut it down, it kernel panics. When I boot it up, there is a question mark in my dock by the name of "iMovie HD" when I only have iMovie 3. It takes about 5-6 minutes to boot up...and before I had all these problems, there was an absolute major glitch. I booted it up, the startup chime sounded weird, like distorted. I heard a ton of noise coming from the harddrive and it booted into this weird version of Tiger. The login text, instead of saying "So and so's Computer" said "E84SS49FTDS4"

I logged into my account and it displayed this glitched up version of the "Aqua" BG. My Dock was all Question Marks and they all said "DMG337"

I, as you know, can't open up question marks, so I didn't.

The Apple Menu seemed fine, but instead of the application name next to the Apple menu, it said "DMG337" and the options on the drop-down were all "RAE754".

The only cursor it displayed was the "Spinning Beach-ball" and I just had enough so I just shut it down.

Any ideas on what to do?? I have plenty of other Mac's, but I don't want to part with this one just quite yet as I have had it for at least 5 years.

I dont have the original OS Disks for it. So dont suggest restoring the OS.

Welcome to M-F

Shame you havnt got the original disks as i wasnt going to say restore but to use it to Repair Permissions via Disk Utility ...

I would still do it through the OS, or dl MainMenu 1.7.4 ~ Free

Once installed goto Configure and uncheck Spotlight Reindexing andRemove .DS_Store Files .... Then execute. Sit back and wait til its done. Restart and see where your at

Cheers

Update 0.1

Ok I tried that and it didn't work. I went to a last resort and backed up all my data. Then I zeroed out the HD. I replaced it with a 120 Gig HD. I put in different memory, I even put in a new processor, which was a pain. I received new Tiger discs off my friend and installed it. It went fine, but when I booted into the OS, I had the same major glitch I had before (see above), and all the other minor glitches it has had. Is this not hardware OR software related? Do I just have a bad computer?

Sounds like a failing logic board alas.

potter4563 said:

Is this not hardware OR software related? Do I just have a bad computer?

Click to expand...

I wouldnt say you have a bad computer. You have a Mac that is anywhere from 7 to 10 years old. In that life span things tend to fail over time .. . . . . Sounds like it has had a good run though . . . .
Its old and nothing last forever, so to call it a BAD computer is stretching it a bit ;P

harryb2448 said:

Sounds like a failing logic board alas.

Click to expand...

I concur

I think both Harry and TattooedMac are correct in their diagnosis. I am curious though, which Mac is it? What are the specs? My Digital Audio 667Mhz G4 did something sort of like that, but the real problem with my DA was the PMU chip and it rebooted and did the startup sound 3x in a row then shut down! They it would boot and reboot sometimes 1/2 way through the boot. It went nuts!

Found a mint Logic board on Ebay for $15 and it's like new! It's just a backup system but there are times I need it, so was glad to get it working once again.

dtravis7 said:

I am curious though, which Mac is it? What are the specs?

Click to expand...

Its a Powermac G4 Sawtooth, 800 MHz 1.5 GB Ram, with 120 GB HD. I just went to a garage sale and found a logic board for it...replaced it, after a long time of getting everything out and in. I booted it up and I still had the same problems...What else could it be??

This is a real shot in the dark, but did you reinstall OSX after the new Logic Board? Maybe OSX is messed up due to the issues with the old board? Again just a guess since you have changed RAM, Logicboard and Hard Drive. It really does not sound like the video card.

Well it is not a Sawtooth as they came out in 400, 450 and 500MHz only. If it is 800MHs it is a Quicksilver and much newer model than a Sawtooth. Suggest not spending too much on it.


http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g4/stats/powermac_g4_800_qs.html

Harry, I think he has an upgrade G4 CPU in that machine.

I have replaced everything in this computer, Logicboard, HD, RAM, Processor and Video Card...I do have the G4 Processor Upgrade. Then...I found the problem...I have replaced everything but the Airport. I took that out and replaced it. I reinstalled OS X and everything seems to be working fine Thanks for all the help!!

Glad to hear you have it working. I think I remember a bad Airport card causing issues in a machine a long time ago.

Anyway thanks for reporting back as it might help another user down the line.