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Scoo · Jun 11, 2003, 03:18 PM

Major Problems! Help!

My Mac:
G4 PCI (yikes) with Radeon Mac edition
PowerLogix 550 Zif upgrade
1 GB RAM

Frequent lock ups and/or unresponsive UI, frequently after Safari crashes.

New hard drive with low level reformatting and a clean install of OS X 10.2 doesn't help.

Zapping PRAM doesn't help.

Disk Warrior rebuild doesn't help.

FSCK finds no problems.

Unplugging USB hub doesn't help.

Is it a hardware component failure? Could the PRAM battery be causing this? I can't afford a new Mac!

I'm out of ideas, any and all suggestions welcome. The idea of putting my old buddy out to pasture is breaking my heart.

Scotttheking · Jun 11, 2003, 03:26 PM

It could be the power supply, or the power coming in to the system.

Xaositect · Jun 11, 2003, 04:23 PM

Try pulling out the extra RAM, just leaving one DIMM in. If the problems persist, swap that DIMM. If the problems go away, add back the DIMMs one at a time until you find the culprit.

Also, you can try a full reset. Unplug everything from the computer (outside ports only, leave the drives and internal components attached) then pull the battery. Wait 20-30 minutes, put the battery back in, and power back on.

If you suspect power problems, get a small UPS. It will cost under $100 and remove that concern.

If none of the above works, try disconnecting the CD drives, powering back on and see if the unit runs correctly. If problems persist, reconnect the CD and disconnect the hard drive, Then boot off a test CD (an OS CD or an AHT CD if you still have it) and run the machine for a while. If this corrects it, the problem is with the disconnected drive (or, less likely, the controller on the logic board or cable to the drive).

If after all that you still have problems, it's the logic board or processor.

Good luck, and post back if you need more help!

Scoo · Jun 11, 2003, 06:20 PM

Originally posted by Xaositect:
Try pulling out the extra RAM, just leaving one DIMM in. If the problems persist, swap that DIMM. If the problems go away, add back the DIMMs one at a time until you find the culprit.

I'll try this first, and report the results. Thanks a lot all.

Also, you can try a full reset. Unplug everything from the computer (outside ports only, leave the drives and internal components attached) then pull the battery. Wait 20-30 minutes, put the battery back in, and power back on.

If you suspect power problems, get a small UPS. It will cost under $100 and remove that concern.

If none of the above works, try disconnecting the CD drives, powering back on and see if the unit runs correctly. If problems persist, reconnect the CD and disconnect the hard drive, Then boot off a test CD (an OS CD or an AHT CD if you still have it) and run the machine for a while. If this corrects it, the problem is with the disconnected drive (or, less likely, the controller on the logic board or cable to the drive).

If after all that you still have problems, it's the logic board or processor.

Good luck, and post back if you need more help!

Scoo · Jun 12, 2003, 06:57 AM

It was the RAM. I pulled all DIMMs, tried running with one at a time. The second DIMM was the culprit, it wouldn't even get past login. The three remaining DIMMs are back in the machine, and it is once again running like a champ, and a good deal faster too.

Thanks so much for your help everyone! MacNN Forums rule!

superblue · Jun 12, 2003, 09:34 AM

Originally posted by Scoo:
My Mac:
G4 PCI (yikes) with Radeon Mac edition
PowerLogix 550 Zif upgrade
1 GB RAM

By the way, what do you think of the Zif upgrade? I'm running a 400mhz PCI Yikes G4 and am curious about the upgrade - how much do they cost?