new mac user with a new emac... it's broken!

hi!

i've finally switched, and i've got a mac!

it's an old emac my friend had in his basement. he's got a new powermac dual g5, he didn't need the emac, so he gave it to me!

there's just one problem: the unit does not power on. the power cable is snuggly plugged in, but there is no power running through the unit. no noise, no "sad mac", nothing.

what do i do? it's too cool to just throw away, and it's kinda expensive to have aple fix it, i think.

what can i do?

is it still under warranty? it sounds like it might be just the power supply, which souldnt be too expensive to replace.

i don't think it's in warranty. its a G4 800 with 128mb ram and a 40gb drive. pretty old.

no, it's not under warranty. What could i do?

i heard that there is some reset switch inside it, and possibly a battery to replace in case of this event. i'm probably wrong. i don't know a thing about macs!

usually computers have a main motherboard battery but i dont think it would prevent it from powering on..

Unplug the power cord and tilt the eMac so you can access the bottom. Under the small access plate in the bottom of the eMac is a small, round button. It's near the end of the RAM slots, usually gray in color. Push and hold the button for 2 seconds. This will reset the power management unit. The battery mentioned above is also under this plate. Since this is an older model and it has not been used for awhile there is a good chance you'll need a battery also. Occassionally a dead battery can also cause start up problems so it would be worthwhile to replace it as well. You can test it with a voltmeter. If it reads less than 3.5 volts (no load) replace it.
You should also check http://www.macintouch.com/revive.html. It is a collection of things that people did to revive dead macs.

wow, thx for the advice.

just one more question. i haven't taken off the back plate yet, but what type of battery is it? AA? AAA? i dunno :/

It's called a 3.6 volt 1/2AA lithium battery. It's about half the length of an AA (hence the 1/2AA) but slightly fatter. This will give you a picture of one: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/BAA36VPRAM/. There are several brands (in different colors) but they are all the same specs. You can get them at most computer or electronics stores, even Radio Shack.

Just a suggestion, have you checked the fuse in the plug?

I didn't think americans had fused plugs?

Do they not? Ahhhh sorry - it was just a suggestion, I forget that everyone on here is more or less USA based sorry :headphone

No problem, was just a bit confused myself there for a minute

Good suggestion though!