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AENewman · Jan 3, 2002, 11:57 PM

I have a Performa 476 that's rarely used, but today I tried to start it and it just sat there. The startup chime sounded normal, but the screen was black.

I tried to boot from a CD and from a floppy, but neither worked.

This Mac has been unplugged for several weeks at a time. I thought that a dead battery might be the problem, but that seems pretty unlikely.

Any ideas that might help are certainly welcome.

Thanks.

Avenir · Jan 4, 2002, 03:05 AM

Originally posted by AENewman:
<STRONG>I have a Performa 476 that's rarely used, but today I tried to start it and it just sat there. The startup chime sounded normal, but the screen was black.

I tried to boot from a CD and from a floppy, but neither worked.

This Mac has been unplugged for several weeks at a time. I thought that a dead battery might be the problem, but that seems pretty unlikely.

Any ideas that might help are certainly welcome.

Thanks.</STRONG>

does the light come on the monitor? does it stay a specific color (green/amber?) you might want to try another monitor, it could be the monitor or the video card even. I'd try that out next, the proceed from there.

Cipher13 · Jan 4, 2002, 07:54 AM

Your battery is dead, that's all. You could force it to boot up but there isn't any point; it's just a hit and miss process.

Replace the battery and you'll be right

Jansar · Jan 4, 2002, 11:14 AM

I'm not sure if this is correct, but you could try pressing a reset button found on your motherboard (as previously discussed in MacAddict). This is the best way of cleansing your system, as it even helps "revive" dead Macs.

AENewman · Jan 4, 2002, 07:29 PM

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Yes, all the lights on the monitor, CD, modem, and printer light up. The monitor light is a steady green. The fan hums, too.

I'll replace the battery ASAP. I thought a dead battery would only foul up the PRAM settings, but maybe it also fouls up other stuff, too.

I searched for the MacAddict thread, but found only a reference to the rest button on the CUDA board. I have no idea what that might look like on a 476, but I'll look for it. If you don't hear back from me in a few days, I got zapped.

It's odd, to me anyway, that it won't boot even from a CD. That's what really scares me about this.

Thanks again.

Cipher13 · Jan 4, 2002, 08:44 PM

Trust me, your machine is absolutely fine. Just replace the battery and it'll be in working order

jeromep · Jan 5, 2002, 04:55 AM

Not to pipe in when a topic is solved...

But once again, wierd acting Macs are often, not always, but often acting that way because of a dead PRAM battery. There is no recipe or consistant way that they act wierd, but they act wierd and replacing a battery is relatively inexpensive in the long run.

AENewman · Jan 8, 2002, 05:15 PM

I replaced the battery ($11 at RS) and rebooted. All is well.

Mac slowly booted to a Happy Mac, then automatically rebooted to another before displaying the desktop.

The only time I've had a battery problem was years ago. The Mac booted, but the time and date were wrong. I guess that battery was just weak, whereas this one was flat out dead.

Thanks for the help, guys.