G5 Problem Booting Up

When I hit the start button sometimes the system has a hard time getting to my desktop. Sometimes the fan just races loud and sometimes when I walk away for a bit the screen is blank and the fan is running full tilt. What's Up?

What Mac? When was it made? (year) What is your OS version?

Once it does boot up, are there other unusual symptoms?

Got the original discs? If so see if you can boot from the install disc and run Repair Disk from there, or if no joy try Apple Hardware Test on Disc 2. Not good news for a machine ten to twelve years old alas.

harryb2448 said:

Not good news for a machine ten to twelve years old alas.

Click to expand...

I don't see any text in white... ????
What did you conclude that from?

The unit is a G5 and Im running 10.5.8
Age is uncertain and I do not have the disc.

toMACsh said:

Once it does boot up, are there other unusual symptoms?

Click to expand...

What about that?

Once it boots up things run fine. But if I leave the unit running sometimes the monitor is black and the fan is racing. Also it needs to be started twice but not often.
Thanks

Could be a bad video card but that's hard to pin down unless you have the disks to do the hardware test as Harry indicated, or a spare video card you can try. Anyway, with a machine that old (Harry is correct about approximate age) your best bet is to try to find parts on eBay or maybe from:

Mac Repair - Mac Parts and Service for Apple Macbook, iPhone, iPad

I had similar behavior with my Mac my dual 2 GHZ G5 (giant tower). If you have the 10.5 discs around it might be worth a completely clean install. I was getting kernel panics which I was sure was a hardware issue. The machine ran fine for another year or two after that.

Were there kernal panics shown on the screen in a message? I am not getting any messages on the screen. I don't have a disc for 10.5 and would like to try a clean install.
Anyone have 10.5 the would like to part with.
David

You can find Leopard disks on eBay. However, you're going to need the retail version (black color) and that's likely going to set you back around $75 to $100 depending on the scarcity. Plus I don't believe a clean install is going to resolve your problem as it looks more like a hardware fault.

OK, thanks. So far after saving all my document the machine has been running fine all day. I don't think it's a video card issue but could the ram be bad?

Sometimes the fan just races loud and sometimes when I walk away for a bit the screen is blank and the fan is running full tilt. What's Up?

Click to expand...

That's not a memory problem. It appears to be video related, but since it's working OK for now you'll just have to keep your eye on it. Let us know if you need more assistance.

G5 Booting problem

Well she fired up today with out any trouble. If I do have problems would a new video card be the only related part to replace? What I mean is the card the only thing in that area that might need replacing.
You guys are great!

That's an old machine so there could be other problems with it. Your current symptoms (blacking out and fan running full speed) might be video related and a new card cures it, however, you should be thinking about replacing the G5 with something a lot newer. Don't know about your $ situation, but a new iMac would be a great replacement.

G5 Not booting up

So my unit ran a few days without problems but today started after several attempts.
Would resetting the PMU help without messing things up more.
I appreciate everyones help. My G5 was built early in 2005.

Would resetting the PMU switch help with out messing things up more?

Resetting the PMU should not upset things any more than they already are.

Running great

After a couple weeks of heavy use my G5 has been running perfect. Not sure why but I'm happy. Thanks for all your help.
David