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Cipher13 · Feb 25, 2001, 11:39 PM

Ok, major problem... my 5500... is stuffed.
She was on the table next to my bed, I went to sleep and left her on to go to sleep too, and she did so - this is at 2AM.
I woke up at around 5AM, and hit the numpad to wake her up.
She chimed, did the ususal stuff, then I noticed the cursor was a large white rectangle... much larger than the cursor.
So I thought, ok, she's been sleeping a while, I'll restart and all will be well.
Not so.
Once I moved the cursor and the screensaver disappeared, I realised there were blue stripes, and marks all over the screen image.
Uh oh.
I restarted, hoping that I was wrong... not so. I get to the MacOS startup screen, she boots fine, but the image is totally screwed.
So... I think her analog board is dead

This can't be... it just happened when she was sleeping!
NO!
I have to fix my baby... I dunno if she's still in warranty, so I'd like to take her apart and fix it if its just a loose cable.
Could it be? I have moved her around a lot lately.
Or do I have to get it replaced?
AV board, analog board, or what? I think its analog...
Will post more info soon, gotta go.
TIA.

Cipher13

Allah · Feb 26, 2001, 04:10 AM

First step I would take is to open her up and look for the obvious. Not seeing such I would try a different disk, like a Zip Drive or floppy.

If its running a video card try the onboard or vice versa.

Take out any non-esential pci cards.
Zap the PRAM yet?

I would agree these things failing in the mobo being a culprit.

Cipher13 · Feb 26, 2001, 05:56 AM

Already done.
After cleaning all the dust out with my hand, a paint brush, and micro vacuum cleaner (I know, dumb, 30000 volts from the CRT, whatever), I cleaned everything, checked all connections that I could reach, etc... nothing.
I plugged it back in, and still the same problem

I'll get a photo of startup if I can. its particuarly bad in a strip near the left hand side. Its not the monitor - def mobo.
I'm gonna take her to the service center tomorrow and tell them to fix her or else...
Thanks for the reply

Cipher13

6116 · Feb 28, 2001, 12:18 AM

Speaking of starting from a floppy, how do you fit the system into 1.4 megs? I seem to remember being able to do it at one point, but the system file in OS8 is 6.5 megs. The reason I bring it up is I'm trying to start off of a zip to run Norton Utilties from a 5300PB (no CD) and it won't recognize it. Would the thing to do be downloading 7.5.5 and copying the sustem from that?

Cipher13 · Feb 28, 2001, 05:49 AM

A zip will fit OS8.
A floppy will fit OS 7.1 or earlier

Maybe 7.5.3 if you're lucky, but I doubt that...

Cipher13

WillyB · Feb 28, 2001, 09:10 AM

Originally posted by 6116:
Speaking of starting from a floppy, how do you fit the system into 1.4 megs? I seem to remember being able to do it at one point, but the system file in OS8 is 6.5 megs. The reason I bring it up is I'm trying to start off of a zip to run Norton Utilties from a 5300PB (no CD) and it won't recognize it. Would the thing to do be downloading 7.5.5 and copying the sustem from that?

Why Not Just Startup From A DiskTools Disk?

druber · Feb 28, 2001, 03:18 PM

I had a pretty similar problem (wacky colors, acts bizarre) with a Performa575 some years past. Scared me to death. Wiped and reformated the drive, reinstalled everything and it was back up and running. Miraculous?

6116 · Mar 2, 2001, 12:37 AM

Thanks for the disktools idea, I had forgotten all about that. The version of norton utilities I have though doesn't seem that friendly with it. It demands that ObjectSupportLib be installed on the floppy and then once that's installed, it quits with an error type three. I got the ObjectSupportLib from Apple's site, even though Norton claims it can install it itself. When I ask it do that, it refuses to recognize the floppy as a start up disk, even though it is the current boot disk. I think I'm going to give up and hope my hard drive never needs to get defragged. Cipher, did you fix the problem with the 5500? And incidentally, did you ever get linuxppc running?

Cipher13 · Mar 2, 2001, 03:42 AM

No, not yet... she's still getting serviced.
I called today "oh, sorry, we haven't looked at it yet".
Argh, why not? Its their damn job. Its not as if they're too busy or anything

LOL, no, I never got LinuxPPC going on it... I kept getting that same error

When she gets back, I'll back up the HD, and try it again

Thanks for reminding me, I'd forgotten all about it

Cipher13

6116 · Mar 2, 2001, 01:18 PM

Yeah, I never got linuxppc working either. They posted an update for new world roms, but by that time, osx pb was on its way, and I figured it wasn't worth the trouble. Let me also quickly note off the topic that I have never had a positive experience with Norton Utilities, it crashes, refuses to start, and one time erased my friend's hard drive. Good luck with the 5500.

Cipher13 · Mar 3, 2001, 03:58 AM

I don't think its worth the effort

LOL
Ugh... Norton is aweful. Use Disk Warrior, it rocks

Thanks - I'll keep y'all informed

Cipher13

Cipher13 · Mar 6, 2001, 06:23 AM

ARGH, bloody Apple. Friggin' useless.
I call, to ask what the deal is - I put it in last Wednesday I think.
They told me every day I called "we'll start this afternoon".

"Yeah, just wonderin' how she's goin?"

"ah, probly needs a new analog board, but we haven't looked yet. We'll probably get it on the bench this afternoon."

"Yeah. I said it probly needs a new analog. You said it'd be worked on 4 days ago."

"Its been sorta busy down here-"

"And the queue of jobs hasn't progressed one place? You said it was next last week".

"I apologise sir, we'll give you a call-"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll call back tomorrow. Thanks, see ya."

Jerks. Thats an exact transcript.
Friggin' useless.

Cipher13

Cipher13 · Mar 7, 2001, 02:00 AM

Well, it seems the verdict is in... Logic board.
Could the problems I've talked about be caused by the logic board? I mean sure, but... dammit.

Its a $700 repair. Looks like I'm gonna get a TiBook, run the 5500 headless, until I can find a logic board somewhere

Anyone got a 5500/250 DE for under that price (AUD) they wanna sell?

Cipher13

Mar 7, 2001, 03:31 AM

that's what i like about the macintosh. people are still trying to figure out whats going on with their old macs a decade or two down the road. anywho, i have a 6100/60 with 7.5 on it. I had to replace the battery twice and it wouldnt let me run 8.0 until i installed 7.6.1 which i couldnt afford at the time. Will 8.6 work on my 6100? And should i upgrade the processor to a G3 or G4? is it worth it?

Cipher13 · Mar 7, 2001, 04:40 PM

Hm... 8.6 could work, yes.
I've seen 9.0 on a 6200.
I believe you can get 7.61 free now can't you?

G3 or G4 on that just isn't worth it - it doesn't have the backbone to run it.
The bus and all that is too slow - you'd be better off with a new iMac.
Much.

Yeah, and what pisses me off, is that my 5500 is 4 years old.
And it went bust.
I have PowerBook 100's and Mac Classic II's that still friggin' work, and have never given me a problem!
Whats the deal?
Argh.
Oh well, it seems I might be getting an iMac as a replacement... run the 5500 headless (Haha, AIO machine running headless). Looks like the Ti or Pismo option is out.
Ah well.
Whaddya reckon, current lowest model iMac, or wait for the new ones?

Cipher13

denim · Mar 7, 2001, 04:45 PM

MacOS 7.6.1 is not yet free. We just had this discussion in a few of the USENET comp.sys.mac.* groups.

Mar 8, 2001, 02:08 AM

I already have an iMac DV Lime 128mb so im cool.
i just wanted to get it to work quicker so i can play old software that doesnt work on my iMac. cause everytime i try to play some sim
games on here itll say i have to update my drive to 5.1.1. really pisses me off. well thanks for the advice. ill keep it in mind.

Cipher13 · Mar 8, 2001, 03:47 AM

Well, I just got her back from the place.
$700 fix? No way in hell. Its not the Logic board anyway. Idiots.
I'm looking for another 5500 to cannibalise.
And I'm gonna give it a go myself fixing it, and also, try one other place.

Any Aussies out there that go to NextByte AppleCenter, Baulkhum Hills - stay clear. Talk about ripping people off.

Some lady was in there with an iBook she couldn't shut down.
They were gonna charge $500 for her to have it the next day, and were going to do this:
Back up the HD.
Format the HD.
2 Hrs labour (yeah, backing it up via FLOPPY maybe).

Jerks.

When she left the store I said I'd do it for nuthin, she said cool, and now its done.
All I did was reset the power manager on the spot, and tada...
It worked.
She tried to give me a $50 but I didn't take it.
Ah well.
Thats my story and rant for the day all in one post.

Cipher13

ddiokno · Mar 8, 2001, 10:46 AM

Originally posted by Gorilla in the Shell:
that's what i like about the macintosh. people are still trying to figure out whats going on with their old macs a decade or two down the road. anywho, i have a 6100/60 with 7.5 on it. I had to replace the battery twice and it wouldnt let me run 8.0 until i installed 7.6.1 which i couldnt afford at the time. Will 8.6 work on my 6100? And should i upgrade the processor to a G3 or G4? is it worth it?

Yes, 9.0 works... but make sure you have the Hard Drive space and memory to support it...
dave

denim · Mar 8, 2001, 02:49 PM

Originally posted by Cipher13:
She tried to give me a $50 but I didn't take it.

Some times the Right Thing is better than ch-ching. Good move.

[This message has been edited by denim (edited 03-08-2001).]

Cipher13 · Mar 16, 2001, 10:58 AM

Ok, I'm getting another 5500, and I'm gonna muck around swapping parts and stuff.

Heres what it looked like (I'll get another pic - you need to see it on a non-black background):

That pic doesn't show some of the artifacts well - like the cursors massive chunky stuff, and the line of blue... I'll get naother pic later.

Oh yeah, the blurred filenames weren't a problem, I did that...

Cipher13

[This message has been edited by Cipher13 (edited 03-16-2001).]

euro · Mar 25, 2001, 12:46 PM

Wow, Cipher, do you ever have a messy desktop! Don't you know you can put all that stuff into folders.... Ahhhhh well, JUST kidding!

Cipher13 · Mar 27, 2001, 08:49 AM

You think THATS messy? That is incredibly neat compared to the G4!
I mean thats pristine... LOL.

Well, anyway, an update:

I bought another 5500. Took the mobo out of the 'new' one, took the mobo out of the old one. Put the old ones processor fan on the new one, the old ones ethernet card in the new one, the old ones RAM in the new one. Put the new mobo in the old shell, and the old HD in the new G4, and the new HD in the old shell.

And all is sweet... my G4 has another HD, the old 5500 is now working with double the RAM, the new 5500 has an old HD in it from a wintel, zero RAM, and a motherboard with a dead graphics chip

All is GOOD!

Cipher13

finboy · Mar 27, 2001, 12:27 PM

Cipher:
The video out (to a mac monitor) module designed for the 5200 series and the 580 performa works with the 5400/5500, in case your MONITOR ever dies on you. It's also nice for doing presentations. Refurbmadness has one that they call "Apple Presentation System" for $20 that is a little card that fits the socket near the back of the logic board and goes to a monitor jack in the opening for the card bay. Just thought you'd want to know.

------------------
Shop smart, shop S-Mart! You got that!!?!!

Cipher13 · Mar 28, 2001, 06:50 AM

Originally posted by finboy:
Cipher:
The video out (to a mac monitor) module designed for the 5200 series and the 580 performa works with the 5400/5500, in case your MONITOR ever dies on you. It's also nice for doing presentations. Refurbmadness has one that they call "Apple Presentation System" for $20 that is a little card that fits the socket near the back of the logic board and goes to a monitor jack in the opening for the card bay. Just thought you'd want to know.

Which port is that? The AV or TV card ones? Or that little one I've never seen full before?

Thanks for that, I'll check it out!

Cipher13