PowerMac G4 Graphite White Screen Before Boot

So, I am in a special course in my school called Computer Maintenance, and every year we host an electronics drive, where people can recycle old computers and tvs, and the school goes through and picks out the good stuff, and then members of Computer Maintenance can go through and get some stuff for themselves personally, as long as we wipe the drive before taking it home. So I picked out an old PowerMac (All the other members are drinking the Mac haterade), booted it up, and left it in the classroom, and it worked fine. Later, I come back and it is off, and when I try to boot it, white screen. I heard someone may have kicked it. I tried replacing the battery onside it, because I saw that can cause white screens, but it did nothing. Any ideas?

ColtonB said:

So I picked out an old PowerMac (All the other members are drinking the Mac haterade), booted it up, and left it in the classroom, and it worked fine.

Click to expand...

By working fine...do you mean that it booted properly, it got to the Mac desktop, and you were able to "mouse-around"?

ColtonB said:

Later, I come back and it is off, and when I try to boot it, white screen. I heard someone may have kicked it. I tried replacing the battery onside it, because I saw that can cause white screens, but it did nothing. Any ideas?

Click to expand...

Let's hope no one kicked it...but you never know with "Mac-Haters" in the same room!

Regarding the white screen problem:

- Does the computer still make the "Happy Mac" bong sound when you try to boot it?
- Do you get any sort of flashing folder with a "?" on the display when you boot it?
- Just so we know...what OS version is on it?
- Can you hear the hard drive spin up when you turn the computer on?
- Depending on the answers to the questions above...you could try removing & reseating the ram AND removing & reseating the video card (maybe the ram or video card got unseated if someone really did kick it).

Also...check the connections on the hard drive...in case they got knocked loose.

HTH,

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

By working fine...do you mean that it booted properly, it got to the Mac desktop, and you were able to "mouse-around"?

Let's hope no one kicked it...but you never know with "Mac-Haters" in the same room!

Regarding the white screen problem:

- Does the computer still make the "Happy Mac" bong sound when you try to boot it?
- Do you get any sort of flashing folder with a "?" on the display when you boot it?
- Just so we know...what OS version is on it?
- Can you hear the hard drive spin up when you turn the computer on?
- Depending on the answers to the questions above...you could try removing & reseating the ram AND removing & reseating the video card (maybe the ram or video card got unseated if someone really did kick it).

Also...check the connections on the hard drive...in case they got knocked loose.

HTH,

- Nick

Click to expand...

It made the sound the first time it booted white screen, but after that it didnt.
It only shows the white screen.
Its is OS 9
I think the hard drive spins
Thanks!

Could you take a photo on your phone of the screen and post it up?

Ok, I honestly feel like an idiot, i was looking around the mac, jigglin everything, and checking all the connections were good, and that nothing had broke, and then, on a whim, i plugged the computer into another monitor and it worked fine. It was the stupid monitor that was making the white screen, not the mac itself. Yeah. Blonde moment. Cept I have brown hair.

ColtonB said:

Ok, I honestly feel like an idiot, i was looking around the mac, jigglin everything, and checking all the connections were good, and that nothing had broke, and then, on a whim, i plugged the computer into another monitor and it worked fine. It was the stupid monitor that was making the white screen, not the mac itself. Yeah. Blonde moment. Cept I have brown hair.

Click to expand...

The important thing is the problem is solved...regardless of the hair color of the user (blonde or brown)!

- Nick