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iMac G4 Kernel Panics & Not Booting

yacobjhk

yacobjhk

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 6, 2016
13
0
Hi,
So a while back I bought an iMac G4 for very cheap with the knowledge that it was not working and kept kernel panicking for no reason. I had a go at fixing it by reinstalling the OS etc. but nothing worked. It is now about two years later and I'd love to get it working, so here is what it does when I start it up:
-Chime
-Fans run at low rpm
-Black Screen
Occasionally it will get to the folder with a question mark (No HDD in it right now as the previous one had quite a few bad sectors) but no further than that and after about 2 mins of that it crashes. However, I managed to get the boot CD in it, and after leaving it unplugged for a while, I plugged it back in and it got up to the Apple logo and then spewed its kernel panic accross the screen. Any suggestions? I'll upload pics of the kernel panic soon.
Thanks
[doublepost=1457272342][/doublepost]https://www.dropbox.com/s/1fyu7r7mrkoquyj/File 06-03-2016, 13 50 45.jpeg?dl=0
and
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cobj5e294m6odkj/File 06-03-2016, 13 50 16.jpeg?dl=0
 
Last edited:
Have you tried swapping RAM? I've heard that this exact error can be caused by faulty RAM.
 
Daniël Oosterhuis said:
Have you tried swapping RAM? I've heard that this exact error can be caused by faulty RAM.
Click to expand...
I've tried with quite a few different RAM sticks but I'll pull one out of my G5 and see if it works then.
Thanks
[doublepost=1457278607][/doublepost]
Daniël Oosterhuis said:
Have you tried swapping RAM? I've heard that this exact error can be caused by faulty RAM.
Click to expand...
Nope - Still no luck :(
 
looking at your Panics its related to the Chipset driver... id start out with a known good ram stick and HDD with a known good OS install and see if it still panics... (the last Panic Points to a corrupted OS install ) (id also disconnect unneeded stuff like the ODD)
 
Did you try replacing both RAM sticks or just leaving one in? Also, was this the one off eBayfor like $50? I was looking at that one!
 
MacCubed said:
Did you try replacing both RAM sticks or just leaving one in? Also, was this the one off eBayfor like $50? I was looking at that one!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've tried both slots, and not this one haha, I got this off of someone local for £10 :D
[doublepost=1457280912][/doublepost]
LightBulbFun said:
looking at your Panics its related to the Chipset driver... id start out with a known good ram stick and HDD with a known good OS install and see if it still panics... (the last Panic Points to a corrupted OS install ) (id also disconnect unneeded stuff like the ODD)
Click to expand...
As soon as I can get hold of an IDE HDD i will try this as there's not one in there currently, thanks
 
Last edited:
Okay it turned on again and took me straight to Open Firmware, it says invalid memory access
 
MacCubed said:
So have you tried just leaving ONE RAM stick in?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'll try and do it again
[doublepost=1457286939][/doublepost]Still a no-go unfortunately
[doublepost=1457289837][/doublepost]
LightBulbFun said:
have you reset the PRAM? and if you get kicked into OF does the keyboard respond?
Click to expand...
When it kicked me I had the keyboard unplugged, so I'm not sure. I'll see if I can get it to do it again
 
Okay so keyboard responds - I reset the NVRAM and it seemed to boot fine up until the Apple logo where it crashed again (Couldn't find driver)
[doublepost=1457293905][/doublepost]I just need it to get to the OS Install screen so I know that there's point in buying a HDD for it D:
 
The Hard drive is most likely the culprit at this point. Heat/age in that tight space probably causing inconsistent issues make sense.
 
The only thing is that when it did have a HDD in there it still didn't work properly, but I'll probably buy one this week somewhen anyway. Is there anything else I can do in Open Firmware that might help?
 
try another OS install disk make sure your using one thats compatible with the iMac G4 (looks like your install disk is tiger so that should work fine) so i suspect it may be corrupt try leopard or another image
 
Okay, I tried with OS 9 - Didn't work at all, tried with Panther and it got to the Mac OS X loading screen where it loads the install, then it hung. I tried it again and it kernel panicked on the Apple logo again but I think this time it's a different error
[doublepost=1457364039][/doublepost]I'm in the installer!
[doublepost=1457364274][/doublepost]...and it crashed :(
 
looks like your going to need a new logic board or the memory your trying is not playing nice with this specific iMac G4... (btw these iMacs are not OS9 bootable normally.) (also keep in mind you have to re paste it every time you replace the RAM stick in the memory slot on the top of the logicboard...)
 
LightBulbFun said:
looks like your going to need a new logic board or the memory your trying is not playing nice with this specific iMac G4... (btw these iMacs are not OS9 bootable normally.)
Click to expand...
I'm in the OS X 10.3 installer now and everything seems okay now - Is there any way I can install to a flash drive?
 
A usb installer will work just takes a long time as its USB 1. If os 9 wouldnt work probably needs the specific imac disk to install it.
 
Use a good machine to install it to the USB/FW iPod, when the iPod has disk mode enabled. Make sure you fully wipe you iPod beforehand. Then, connect it to your iMac and hold down option upon boot up and select your iPod as the boot device.
 
Try a re cycle store for old IDE drives as you dont need anything big really and that way its cheap and most have a 30 day return policy on parts for trade or otherwise.
 
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