iMac Wouldn't Boot up!

[pibbleb]

Hi,

First post so please bare with me. Whilst Tech able I'm not really good on the jargon as self taught!

I have a problem with my iMac G4. I'm running the latest version of 10.3 and from memory it is 1GHZ 17" monitor.

My mac has stopped booting up. I get the initial ping, the light on the infra red mouse lights up, the fan starts and I can hear other noises from within but nothing happens.

The screen remains black and there is no response to button tapping after a prolonged wait. Shuts off by pushing power button fine!

I've had it for about 4 years, I think, you know how time flys.

Any thoughts!

 

[frankblundt]

unfortunately.... I had the exactly the same symptoms, and after trying everything I could think of (pulling out the RAM, disconnecting the HD etc), have come to the conclusion that it's a dead logic board, which is a bummer, because replacing it would cost about the same as getting a whole nother one second-hand.

When you power it up, if it's the logic board, apart from the fan, you won't hear the drive spinning up (ie the normal boot sounds, just no screen). If you do, it may be a video board failure, which is less expensive to fix (but still not cheap).

 

[pibbleb]

Ok, so that's not good news! Is it worth doing a PMU reset.

Paul

 

[pibbleb]

OK tried PMU reset, but nothing going on there, as suspected. So possibly looking for Logic board.

Any suggestions as to where to look in the UK.

Pib

 

[frankblundt]

There are places that can get you new parts - most Mac repair shops will be able to order them from Apple, and there was a couple I found in the US that you can order from directly.. but they're all pretty pricey.

a general Google search turns up a few options, and some others' experiences that might be helpful. It looks like there are a lot of boards around for the 700 and 800MHz models but not many for the 1 and 1.25Ghz

For myself I don't need the machine desperately so I'm just keeping an eye on the auction sites waiting for a similar one to show up cheap. Unfortunately, the coolness factor of that design has kept even the second hand price of them pretty high, and you might in the end be better off just giving up on it and looking for a G4 Mini or a G5 iMac as a replacement

 

[pibbleb]

Thanks for your help.

P