PowerMac G5 Troubles

[crouch]

Hi all! So I picked up a PowerMac G5 a few months ago with no OS for pretty much pennies... And I'm starting to see why!

When I'm trying to install an OS (OS X or Linux) I get dots across the screen towards the end of the loading process.

Now I thought it was due to me using a copied disk of OS X (I know, it's **** hard to get hold of a copy that supports powerPC though!) so thats when I tried Linux and had the same issue, about 5-10 minutes into loading I get these dots.

https://imgur.com/a/L0x7D < Pictures of what I'm seeing.

Now since I got this for pretty much nothing and I'm short on cash to buy replacement parts left right and centre I'm after a bit of advise on where to start with this issue?

Any clues?

Thanks,
Nick

 

[pigoo3]

My first thought is it could be the video card which is replaceable on it's own.

I guess it also depends on how the seller of this G5 described it's condition. If they said "no problems"...or "I don't know"...regarding operating condition. If "I don't know"...many times that can mean they do know...but just don't want to say. But if the price was basically pennies (super cheap)...then hey...it is what it is.

Only way to really know what's up is to swap known good parts for suspected bad parts. I would start with the video card if I wanted to troubleshoot further.

- Nick

 

[harryb2448]

You can take your chances with a video card from eBay, but make sure it is a Mac compatible card, and right for you model.

There are literally dozens of various G5 models, from dual processor 2GHz models released in 2003, up to Dual Core 2.5Ghz models released in late 2005. Guessing what card for your model is just that, a guess. Some models use nVidia and others ATI Radeon cards. For startyers, remove your card, check what it is, clean the contacts up, rep-insert into the slots firmly and try a reboot. Goodness how long it may have stood in the corner gathering dust.

 

[crouch]

My first thought is it could be the video card which is replaceable on it's own.

I guess it also depends on how the seller of this G5 described it's condition. If they said "no problems"...or "I don't know"...regarding operating condition. If "I don't know"...many times that can mean they do know...but just don't want to say. But if the price was basically pennies (super cheap)...then hey...it is what it is.

Only way to really know what's up is to swap known good parts for suspected bad parts. I would start with the video card if I wanted to troubleshoot further.

- Nick

Thanks, I thought it might be either the GPU or I know others have had graphical issues and it was a capacitor on the motherboard.

A new GPU will cost me about the same price as the whole PC itself (40 GBP), I'll have a look into a cheap card and take it from there. I did try test it in my PC but I assume the card is flashed to Mac and wont work in a PC.

The PC was sold as booting but not fully tested as it has no HDD.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[harryb2448]

Nick never buy a computer without the hard drive. First indication it has problems and owner has moved the drive to another machine.

Did you give it a good clean and reseat it?