[D'Espice]

OK this one is really driving me nuts. I have purchased, about a week ago, a used iMac G3/350 SlotLoading. It worked fine first, I installed 10.3 (after updating the firmware to 4.1.9 of course) and it worked just fine. I know that the battery is dead and also, when booting 10.3, while the screen is still grey with the dark-grey Apple in the middle, there are vertical black lines running down. They disappear after it gets blue though, so I never really cared about that.

However, major trouble started last saturday. I turned it on, and the monitor started some weird flickering. Also, it somehow started to move upwards, so that the menubar was not visible anymore. After a while, all of a sudden, it got back to normal and worked for many hours.
On sunday, similar problem. I turned it on, everything was great. But then again, all of a sudden, it did the same thing it did yesterday, really bad too. Then again, about 15 minutes later, it all got back to normal again.

What seems to be the problem? Is it the analog board? I thought only the tray loading iMacs had problems with the analog board, what else can it be? I bought the iMac as a birthday present for my girlfriend, so you can guess how pissed I am right now
Can anybody help? If it's the analog board, is there a cheaper way to fix it other than having it replaced?

Btw, it did the same weird thing on monday but has been running fine since tuesday morning but I'm not sure what to do.

[Will C]

Sadly it could be the analogue board - I had to have mine replaced a couple of years back on a DV400 which is similar, though you may have just a dry joint - if you know what that is, and know the correct safety stuff about CRTs you may be able to fix it if you can find it.

I am being vague here as I would have a go at fixing it myself as I am an electronic engineer but I don't want to explain how to do it as it can be dangerous for the uninitiated.

It could also be a 'warm-up' fault where the electronics become stable when warm, though it is often the first sign of impending problems - sorry.

[Geezus_Aach]

hi. i have a 400dv-on it right now! think maybe it could be heat related? got it in a well vented area? mine runs warm~

[Trytti]

If you believe you can change the analog board yourself, I have one for the same computer for sale cheap. There are web sites that will describe how to do the work in detail if needed. I bought one some time back and things changed and I never installed it.

[D'Espice]

Originally Posted by Trytti

If you believe you can change the analog board yourself, I have one for the same computer for sale cheap. There are web sites that will describe how to do the work in detail if needed. I bought one some time back and things changed and I never installed it.

Lovely! Doing that will be no problem (I guess ). Define 'cheap'? How much would shipping be, in this case it's unfortunately to Europe (Germany)

I am however still neither sure nor convinced it's the analog board. It started doing it again (after about a week of working just fine) and it's really annoying. Also, there's a high-pitched noise every now and then that seems to be coming from the back of the iMac... maybe that's the problem, or at least related to it in one way or another.

@geezus_aach:
Definitely not heat-related. Sometimes, it starts doing it when I turn it on. Sometimes when it's already been running for hours.

[Trytti]

I was figuring $20 US. Also in the box is a power supply too. I did a quick UPS check at 5 pounds to Germany and it was $82.75.