[shelbydodgeimp]

Hello all,

I have a 2002 (dual boot) mirror-door powermac g4: dual 1.25ghz G4, 2GB ram, 120GB HD, superdrive, etc. I bought it used late this summer.

I cant get it to work right! Nor can the local apple retailer/repair shop, or apple tech support (by phone).

Basically it will boot, work for about 5-15 minutes- and then freeze. When booting off of a OS9 install on a firewire drive, it will work- BUT, OS9 wont find the built in sound interface (so no sound at all) and will freeze whenever anything system extensive is run (games like medal of honor, seti@home, etc).

So that said, here's what I've tried:
-Fresh reformat, OS 10.4 install on one particition, 9.2.2 on the other (both using retail CDs).
-Zapping the pram
-Making sure the battery is ok
-Making sure the firmware is up to date.

That said, nothing will fix it! The local shop has had it for about a week, they are starting to suspect maybe the hard drive is dead, but I doubt thats the problem since things arent any better when booted off of a "known good firewire device". Any ideas?

I talked to some PC users I know who are into overclocking, etc- and they looked at the computer's pictures (just google mirror door g4 and you can find pictures of it) and said maybe its overheating, since it only uses one pathetic heat sink for two processors (and no fans on the heatsink at that).

Any ideas?

The place I bought it from, although its a apple retailer, won't tak it back and would not respond to my problem (just ignored me until the 90 day warrenty expired a week or two ago). I spent $1,500 USD for the computer & firewire drive ... and a couple hundred in shop diagnostic fees so far, and I have for now ended up with an expensive paperwieght!

If anyone can figure out whats going on, I'd be indebted to you forever!

And no, this is not my first mac (new or used for that matter), I have a couple dozen here- but this was the first bought at the place I got it from, and also my first G4 era powermac.

[iWatts]

I have a single boot (OS X) MDD dual 1.25 which had similar problems shortly after I acquired it in 2003. It would work for some time (minutes sometimes, hours other times) and would then totally freeze without warning. Apple fixed it under warranty. I can't remember the exact solution but I believe it required a new board or replacement processor(s). Either way, there was no quick fix.

Your's might be different. Have you tried taking the extra RAM out of your machine? These machines can be unexpectedly fussy about the RAM installed.

[shelbydodgeimp]

I have tried testing the ram and removing all but the original 512mb stick, even tried substituting different sticks in there by themselves in case maybe it were just one stick, didnt make a difference.

I am starting to think it is the motherboard, its certainly beheaving like the ROM/bios is shot, and I dont suppose you could replace either on a mac w/out junking the whole board.

If it is the motherboard, I can see why the retailer I bought it from wouldnt return my emails until their 90 day warrenty expired.

[SSharon]

Have you ruled out heat issues?

[shelbydodgeimp]

I am in the process of looking into heat issues.

Its the original aluminum Apple heatsink & thermopaste.

Should I assume that since its what Apple used, and I cant find anyone complaining about this model heat damaging stuff, that the processors are being cooled properly?

[Footy]

Yeah check that your PSU fan is running. If not it's a fairly easy fix for 9 bucks.

[shelbydodgeimp]

Ok, update, talked to the shop today. They ruled out cooling, the fan is working and everything so no worries there.

They say that they're almost certain its either the motherboard or the cpu module, so they're gonna track down both and try swaping one in and seeing which is the problem.

IF it is the CPU module, are there any cpu upgrades for the mirror door g4's on the market? I know you can get 1.3-1.8 ghz dual processor modules for the older G4 powermacs (AGP, quicksilver, dual audio etc etc), but I am having trouble finding one for the Mirror Door. If I am gonna spend the money of replacing the cpu, I might as well go for something a lil more powerful.

My other question, since the retailer I bought it from blew me off and would not fullfill their warrenty, does Apple have any policey reguarding who they allow to be "apple retailers"?

[chefpastry]

It seems you are not alone with your MDD problems. Check the following two threads:

http://forums.macnn.com/65/mac-desktops/275291/g4-mdd-kernel-panic-at-startup/

http://forums.macnn.com/65/mac-desktops/275338/hardware-problems/

[Footy]

Originally Posted by shelbydodgeimp

IF it is the CPU module, are there any cpu upgrades for the mirror door g4's on the market? I know you can get 1.3-1.8 ghz dual processor modules for the older G4 powermacs (AGP, quicksilver, dual audio etc etc), but I am having trouble finding one for the Mirror Door. If I am gonna spend the money of replacing the cpu, I might as well go for something a lil more powerful.

My other question, since the retailer I bought it from blew me off and would not fullfill their warrenty, does Apple have any policey reguarding who they allow to be "apple retailers"?

I thought for sure I was going to find a processor upgrade over at OWC for you but nope not a one listed. Man that seems odd. Checked the Powerlogix and SonnetTech sites too.

It couldn't hurt to contact Apple about the Retailer blowing you off.

[shelbydodgeimp]

Ok, I have an update-

I finally got my computer back, they gave up! The shop got 10.4 installed fresh on the hard drive, and gave me back the machine

It still crashes- generally I'll be working and suddenly the clock will stop (i have it display seconds and the seconds wont continue counting).

So I say "uh oh, this isn't good"- and about when I finish that statement, the computer freezes up and requires a hard boot (aka turning on and off the powerstrip).

I know its not the RAM, since they're brand new, I have 5 sticks of 512 that I have tried in there one at a time to see if maybe its the ram, it isn't.

Every utility the shop had, the computer passed the hardware tests- the hardware test CD, tech tool, norton, diskwarrior, etc.

Any ideas? Is the general take on this the processors? Why are the processors dying on this model (the dual 1.25ghz g4 MDD)? Did apple screw up with an other one of their designs and feel they shouldn't have to fix the problem? (I ask because I know all too well what its like to be the unlucky owners of the Powerbook5300, TitaniumG4 powerbook or the logicboard-killing icebook...).

[chefpastry]

shelbydodgeimp:

I don't know exactly what the problem is. I've tried swapping everything (RAM, motherboard, video cards, etc) with known perfectly working parts and my dual 1.42GHz would still display the same symptoms as yours. By process of elimination, I'm guessing that it has to be the CPU module. I'm currently waiting for a new one to be delivered to see if it solves my problems. I'll report back once it has been installed and tested.

[chefpastry]

Damn! I received the new module shortly after my previous post and ran home to install it. It turns out this one is even worse than my old module!!! I couldn't keep this one running for more than 2 minutes before it Kernal Panics! Apparently, this one has a bad cache on the second CPU (at lest that's what the panic logs are reporting). So, I guess I'll have to go through the process of sending this one back and waiting for yet another...

[shelbydodgeimp]

I am not getting kernal panics.

The place I bought it from is still ignoring me. After talking to customer service I got their tech guy to send me an email, I emailed back twice, again no response.

Does apple have any way to report apple-retailers who operate like this? it looks to me like they knew the unit was bad, sold it to me, then ignored me until their 90 day warrenty expired.

[anjy]

shelbydodgeimp I also have this problem...

It's been quite awhile since this thread was started, but if you still have your PowerMac G4 MDD... I once came across a thread that suggested moving the hard drive from the ATA-100 to the ATA-66 connection (under the optical drive bay). This worked for him.

Changing the drive position didn't solve the problem for me, but I've found that turning off one processor helps. Just today, actually, I re-seated the processor card, cleaned-off old thermal paste, and applied new paste.


***One thing I noticed... There was A LOT of thermal paste added before, to the point where is was seeping under the plastic. I have a feeling that this could be the problem, which seems related to overheating, as the computer seems to freeze during processor intensive usage/spikes.


My PowerMac is still screwy, but that drive trick might work for you, if you've tried everything else. Also, you might want to check the amount of thermal paste that was put on the processors.


General help on the topic:
http://forums.macnn.com/90/mac-os-x/248286/the-thread-computer-freezes-panics-crashes/

This link might also help in the future:
http://www.macgurus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19016

GOOD LUCK!


My PowerMac works, but the constant to even just minimal freezing is horrible, especially since my iBook has never once frozen. I just want to work smoothly! Maybe one day we will all get to the bottom of this.