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Apple G4 Power Supply Woes?
Predius asks: "I, like many others based on forum hopping, have an Apple G4 desktop that has decided it no longer wishes to power up. I've replaced PRAM batteries, verified power supply voltages, pressed the CUDA switch, and done combinations of the above. Trying to start it just results in a blip of the powersupply fan and the power led on the motherboard flashes once. Every now and then it will actually boot, and when it does it's 100% rock solid, will reboot fine, etc. If I power it off, I get to play games again trying to power it up. Does anyone know how to manually start an Apple Gigabyte or later rev power supply? Standard ATX power supplies can be fired up by shorting the green PWR ON lead to ground, but Apple decided to be different. I await the collective's wisdom."
Apple is ballz, baby!
This wouldn't happen if it didn't ship with a one button mouse.
I'm not try to start a holy war here, but I just don't get you "help seekers."
Just remember, if you try to replace the airport card, you could end up voiding your warranty when your fan gets too noisy from copying a 17 meg file from one folder to another.
Oh, and BSD is dead.
or has anyone else noticed that the Apple section has started to turn into Ask Slashdot for anything related to Macs? If you have a hardware problem with your machine, chances are no one here is going to be able to help you.
-You may license this sig for only $6.99.
...technical support queries. Pay for your own Apple Care and leave /. for the quality reporting that it provides.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
If you actually believe that a Virus can "fry your motherboard" then you sound like the ideal / typical mac user...
I can't understand Apple's warranty department. They're virtually no help
I have a G4 powermac, a 1.42GHz machine which worked well and for the most part kept me occupied and did the tasks I needed doing. The noise however, was something that's been driving me, my wife and my pets crazy. The dog wouldn't come in the same room as she's scared of the thing. She also attacks the hairdryer in the bathroom, and I think that's a subtle hint that the thing was too loud and what it sounded like.
Looking deeper into the machine I found a couple of fans that when running at a certain speed reached a phenomenal noise level. With the computer in its cabinet they were bad enough but I felt like I was near a jet taking off if I had the Mac up on my desk. I pulled those fans out and they looked like they could be replaced by standard, quieter fans. I took one from the last PC I'd built (yes I'm multiplatform) and it fit well, so a quick trip into town I bought a pair and installed those.
The G4 was fantastic! The reduction in noise was something I could immediately appreciate, but my happiness didn't last too long. Within half an hour the machine was locking up and crashing. I opened it once more to see I hadn't been a moron and done anything stupid, when I noticed the apple supplied heatsink was BURNING hot. I mean really hot, I couldn't bear to touch it more than momentarily. I never trusted that heatsink, the sheer bulk of it looked like it was made to be produced easily and not cool properly. I ditched that heatsink (after letting the machine cool down for an hour!) and replaced it with a Zalman flower. I'd never seen cooling like it could do, so it was the logical choice. The heatsink for the G4 attached differently, but it was easy enough to adapt the zalman with insulated wire tied underneath the CPU board.
This worked a little better and the powermac booted, and stayed working far longer. For about three days, and from then on it wouldn't boot. No chime, just fans spinning and no video. Even the hard drive barely ticked a couple of times. By now I was furious, my previous macs had given me little trouble but this one was a pain. I phoned the apple center nearest me, and as it was only a few months old I was assured everything should be covered by warranty. It turns out because I had MODIFIED the computer that my warranty was void. wtf? I added a superior cooling system to the machine, quietened it, IMPROVED it in every way, and they deny my claim? I was livid at the store manager, but couldn't get past his denseness. Know what else? Apple keep on record what you've done. I replaced the original loud fan, the original heatsink and tried once more, and again my claim was refused on the basis I'd done the damage myself.
I'm still a Mac user, but a very annoyed one still waiting on repairs to my G4 that I have to pay for myself, and that I consider are Apple's warranty responsibility that they've gotten out of having to pay for by some stupid clause. Read the fine print guys.
Now go drink your Kool-Aid(TM) and sit down like a good little boy.
There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
Don't worry, it's just more stupid greedy rich white men at work ... Steve Jobs, owner of the closed (minded) overly expensive elitest solution to open standards
Even on slashdot I can't escape from the Apple Apologists.
Sad