Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Hawkeye_a · May 9, 2010, 08:47 AM

Got m hands ona Rev.B iMac(bondi) and it worked just fine for 2-3 days. Today i tried instaling some software off a CD onto it, and it just hung, and i couldnt reset it. So i turned the power off at the outlet and turned it back on a few minutes later.

But now the iMac will not power on, absolutely nothing.

Could anyone suggest how i can diagnose/fix it ?

Cheers

angelmb · May 9, 2010, 09:51 AM

Have you tried this?

Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

Hawkeye_a · May 9, 2010, 04:34 PM

angelmb,
Nothing. it seems "dead", almost like a fuse is bust. i know the battery is dead cause the date always gets reset to the earliest after i unplug it. But now it just doesnt seem to power up at all.

reader50 · May 9, 2010, 04:42 PM

Dead battery would cause some older Macs to fail to boot with a black screen. Not sure if the Bondi iMac fell into that group.

Do you get any power light flashes, or beeps when you try to boot?

Getting it to power on will be good. But it's old enough that many things are suspect. Hard drive, optical drive, power supply caps for starters. Any / all of those could cause the iMac to hang, and they're all old enough to spontaneously fail.

seanc · May 9, 2010, 05:42 PM

Dead PRAM batteries will cause PPC Macs to fail to power on at all.
Had this happen to me plenty of times.

Eriamjh · May 9, 2010, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by seanc

Dead PRAM batteries will cause PPC Macs to fail to power on at all.
Had this happen to me plenty of times.

Absolutely correct. A dead battery renders the Mac dead.

The bigger problem Bondi iMacs have is a faulty high-voltage coil. Symptom is as soon as the imac display tries to come on, total shut down occurs. Parts cost more than the typical Bondi is worth.

Hawkeye_a · May 9, 2010, 06:47 PM

@reader50
absolutely nothing. no lights or sounds anywhere on the unit. imagine a unit that isnt plugged into power, thats what it's like now.

Cheers guys, will be looking into replacing the battery...... any advise/suggestion would be appreciated. Im just a bit worried about being so close to the CRT when taking it apart.

It lasted an entire weekend, was hoping it lasted longer than that

seanc · May 9, 2010, 06:51 PM

Yeah, don't touch one CRT.
You could wear gloves if you want to be extra safe.

reader50 · May 9, 2010, 07:10 PM

Last time I checked, OWC has the best price ($5 + s&h) on PRAM Batteries. Radio Shack used to be my recommendation, because they are usually closer. Then RS jacked the price up to $20.

Eriamjh · May 9, 2010, 07:11 PM

You don't have to come even close to the CRT to pull out the CPU tray.
Here's a good set showing removing the battery: Link

The Battery is a 3.6V 1/2AA. $5 at OWC. Probably cheaper on Ebay, but you gotta pay shipping.

Hawkeye_a · May 10, 2010, 05:44 AM

Sheeeee livvveessss !!!!!

Cheers guys !!!

Hawkeye_a · May 10, 2010, 09:22 PM

It all seems fine (*knock on wood*), but i can't seem to get the CD tray to line up with the opening in the front. it seems indented in the machine by a few millimeters. Any suggestions guys ?

reader50 · May 10, 2010, 10:15 PM

If you're willing to open it up, there may be some adjustment range in the drive mounting screws. Loosen up the optical drive and slide it forward the few millimeters you need. Then tighten.

Hawkeye_a · May 11, 2010, 08:13 PM

@reader50
Cheers for your response dude.

A friend of mine who used to service em, came over and we opened it up. It was a rather mysterious fix....
On the unit that slides out(with the CD drive/HDD/etc), right above the HDD, where the CD drive sits, there's a metal wire that the CD drive needs to hook onto, near the middle-rear. The front mounts of the CD drive hook onto the frame of the unit.

The metal wire is what holds the drive in place.

It was a bit tricky as it's not apparent what's going on when you just look at it, as the CD drive covers the metal wire, and can be dislodged relatively easily when the unit is pulled out.

Thnaks for your help guyse... i might start a thread posting my progress with the unit. Right now, it's got OS8.1 on it, with ClarisWorks 5

Eriamjh · May 12, 2010, 05:35 AM

Another imac saved from a fishbowl future... Enjoy.

PS: Don't put OSX on it. It will drag. Stick with OS8/9.

andi*pandi · May 13, 2010, 07:36 AM

good job there, another bondi lives! My bondi is in the basement, awaiting the day I can replace the hard drive, or some other PITA fix.

Thanks also for the OWC link, I think my eMac could use a new battery, as it is also refusing to boot. Sigh.

The Godfather · May 13, 2010, 07:45 PM

Install Fedora or Debian in it. PPC is still supported by Linux OSes.

Hawkeye_a · May 15, 2010, 12:50 AM

Its running well so far *knock on wood*. OS 9.2.2 (Software update still works

), 233 Mhz, 64MB RAm, 4GB HDD.

Got iTunes on there, and ClarisWorks5 and Office01. MSN messenger seems to be working fine, as does the Starcraft demo

I've managed to share my internet connection off my MacBook using ethernet and it just works (0 setup on the iMac).

Ive been trying to use IE and Netscape on the iMac, but they both seem to be performing dismally..... pages dont render correctly, frequent crashed, etc. Any recommendation on where to get a better browser ?

Some pics i took last night using my iPhone

Cheers

AKcrab · May 15, 2010, 12:57 AM

Give netscape a try. That was my browser of choice back in the day.
Old Version of Netscape for Mac Download

Hawkeye_a · May 15, 2010, 01:34 AM

AKcrab, I've got Netscape v.4.7, will try one of the newer versios...also that site looks like the gold mine ive been looking for for classic apps

Cheers

reader50 · May 15, 2010, 01:38 AM

iCab has downloads for Classic.

Hawkeye_a · May 15, 2010, 03:08 AM

That's gold Jerry.. GOLD !!