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lordshaq · Aug 1, 2003, 09:37 AM

we have been having strange issues with a Revision 2 B&W G3 after two upgrades.

We replaced the stock video card with an ATI Radeon 7000 from OWC, and the Powerlogix 800 Mhz G3 ZIF from them as well.

Scenario: We swapped video cards, machine boots up into OS X just fine. -- Shut down, swap CPU with G3/800. Hit the power button... No startup tone or anything, baffled. We swap back the stock G3/400 ZIF and.. well, SAME THING! No chime, no boot. So again we put back the G3/800.. no chime, nothing. -- WE try resetting CUDA, replacing stock video card, etc, to no avail. We finally removed some of his memory and... all of a sudden, it boots with G3/800 just fine! Everything is good to go, even after we replace the ram back in the machine...and Radeon.

Fast forward a week later (last night), and now the machine is failing to boot, no chime, no nothing, the hard drive powers up and then.. nothing. We tried the memory trick, nothing. Reset CUDA, nothing. Removed battery for 10 minutes, nothing. Does anybody have any suggestions or insight on this issue?

Could it be a defective Powerlogix ZIF? Yet strangely enough the machine would not even boot back up with its old G3 400 ZIF! Yet I have verified the G3 400 ZIF works fine (tried it in another blue and white G3) WE are totally frustrated with this situation...

Any help would be appreciated

kentuckyfried · Aug 1, 2003, 11:44 AM

Hey, you had the same problem as I had. No chime, no boot, no anything...

I think it might be defective Powerlogix chips. Whatever the case, Powerlogix is claiming that I screwed up b/c I didn't put the heat sink on and let it run for seconds.

which is complete BS b/c the first several times I installed/re-installed it COMPLETE with heat sink, I was getting the problems you are talking about.

I don't know what to say...I just got a new G3 logic board after having a dead blue and white for about 4 months, and I'm going to have my friend install it and see if the g3 can be revived.

dhaker · Aug 29, 2003, 02:42 PM

It's a little black button on the mobo.

Help when I installed my OWC G4 550 into a B&W G3.

dhaker · Aug 29, 2003, 02:44 PM

Sorry, just saw that you did that. ;-)

kentuckyfried · Aug 29, 2003, 04:15 PM

The problem got fixed after I dropped in a replacement g3 motherboard.
Cost me $75.

Anyhow...I'm still out of $300.

Still pissed at Powerlogix of course, but what can I do?

tooki · Aug 29, 2003, 05:27 PM

I was gonna suggest trying a fresh PRAM battery.

tooki

normyzo · Aug 30, 2003, 08:27 AM

Originally posted by kentuckyfried:
The problem got fixed after I dropped in a replacement g3 motherboard.
Cost me $75.

Anyhow...I'm still out of $300. Still pissed at Powerlogix of course, but what can I do?

Where did you get one for $75????? eBay has been around $120 for a long time now, was $160 earlier this year...

I've got a dead B&W that simply turns on, no chime, just fans and light. I've replaced everything in it, and the only thing it can be is the mobo. A friend of mine had the same problem and gave me his mobo, but no dice. I've wanted to buy a new board for a long time now but they've been too expensive.

Thanks,
Dan

kentuckyfried · Aug 30, 2003, 05:29 PM

There's a get together at a local junior college every second Tuesday of the month where lots of people come to sell all sorts of electronic stuff. One of the macnn readers here directed me to one of these sellers.

Mind you...$75 only got me the board, literally. He kind of jacked me by stripping the board completely bare (took off the firewire module, the pram battery, hell...even the damn jumpers). My dad was the one who actually picked it up, he doesn't know anything, otherwise I would've argued the price down. Luckily, the board worked completely, otherwise I'd be an irate buyer and go after him.

Ziutek · Sep 4, 2003, 10:06 AM

I've got the exact same problem. Installed the G3/900 ZIF, as per instructions, no chime, nothing upon reboot. I even called Powerlogix who told me to change a jumper and then try it. Still no joy. Powerlogix has told me to return it to OWC, which I will in the next few days.

Put the G4/500 back in, and nothing. Pressed the CUDA switch, took the battery out over night, nothing revives this machine. I will try taking some memory out, but really don't see how that'll help.

Truly a frustrating experience. I have had five or six different ZIFs in this machine over the three years that I've had it, and not a single one ever had problems like this.

Now my problem is how do I verify what is fried, can't put the ZIF in another machine because I dont have one, and do not have another ZIF to test the Logic board. Very frustrating, especially after waiting the two weeks to get the G3/900.

I know I'm gonna get screwed here big time!

kentuckyfried · Sep 4, 2003, 03:38 PM

^ Do you have a friend with a zif machine? I was fortunate enough to have a friend at local university who let me plug in my original g3 chip into one of the lab computers, and found that the g3 still worked ok.

I don't know exactly what happened...but yeah, somehow, installing that zif upgrade is dangerous. Any slip up, and the computer goes down.

With technology improving so quickly nowadays I am probably going to opt to get a new computer next time instead of getting burned trying to install an upgrade.