Paul Mihalka Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 My wonderful IMAC is becoming a PC. First occasionally, now regularly it comes up with a black square in the middle telling me in 4 languages "You need to restart your computer". A few times after one restart it worked fine. Now the last time after restart it came with the message before getting to the desktop. It took 5 times to shut down/restart before it started working again. Any suggestions? Thanks for help! Link to comment
Selden Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I have the same antique; it's generally stable, but I notice that it no longer remembers brightness settings when it is restarted. I have read of video card /power supply failures. Does this sound familiar: Does this happen while it's running, or only on startup? If the latter, don't turn it off. You could back up all your data to an external device and re-install OS X from the disc that came with the machine, then go through all of the updates since then, but I suspect that it's an age-related hardware problem, and you should plan for a replacement. I'm guessing that your G5 is at least 6 years old (I bought mine in the fall of 2005) — it's not going to last forever. Link to comment
Roadwolf Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Basically a Kernel Panic, at the UNIX level... only thing to do is restart. If it happens repeatedly, I would recommend both running Disk First Aid in the Utilities folder... Run Disk Permissions and Repair... you can't repair the drive unless you boot off of the Install Disk that came with your Mac. Also, you can zap the PRAM... With the computer off, hit the Power Button the the back and hold the Option + Command + P + R keys at the same time and hold them down (do this quickly before you hear the start up chime). Keep holding it down for about 5-6 startup chimes in a row, release the keys, and then come to the desktop. See if that helps. If you still have problems, get a copy of TechTool Pro at Micromat.com and run it from the disk. If still problems, then it is definitely hardware (you could wipe the drive and do a low level format and reinstall up to 10.5 (Leopard, the latest OS that can run on a G5 iMac from that era, and try that). If that does not help, then I would then take it in. Link to comment
Selden Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Thanks for the reminder -- it's been years since I reset the PRAM, which cured my monitor brightness setting. Since you got me thinking, I also decided to boot from the OS X Install DVD, and ran Disk Utility; HD passed with flying colors. Not bad for a 6-year old, "obsolete" desktop. Other than applying regular software updates as they are released, this is the only maintenance I have performed since the fall of 2005. Link to comment
pbbeck Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 The repeated kernel panic means one thing and one thing only... Somewhere in Cupertino a light on a wall is blinking to indicate that you have not spent enough money on Apple products lately. Go by a new iMac. I think there are similar indicators in Munich monitoring our bikes (I mean wallets). Link to comment
Paul Mihalka Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 Our son likes to play with computers. He has two damaged 20" G5. One with a somewhat (fire) damaged screen, the other with bad internals. He'll make one good one out of the two, and load my back-up Hard disk. We'll see... I'm typing this on the computer of the nearby public library. Link to comment
barryd Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Does it have a battery for it's internal clock? If so, replacing it might help. Link to comment
Paul Mihalka Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 I have a computer! Son did make one working unit out of two bad ones! I'm using it. Has a nice 20" screen instead of my old 17". Note: Looking at alternatives, I found macmall.com has new 21.5" units at $1.120. http://www.macmall.com/p/Apple-iMac/product~dpno~8535496~pdp.gfgcadd Link to comment
longjohn Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I have a computer! Son did make one working unit out of two bad ones! I'm using it. Has a nice 20" screen instead of my old 17". Note: Looking at alternatives, I found macmall.com has new 21.5" units at $1.120. http://www.macmall.com/p/Apple-iMac/product~dpno~8535496~pdp.gfgcadd My emac is so old I can't upgrade to some software, specifically photoshop cs5/6, but it still works, but one of those new imacs is in my future. Link to comment
Mike Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I have a computer! Son did make one working unit out of two bad ones! I'm using it. Has a nice 20" screen instead of my old 17". Note: Looking at alternatives, I found macmall.com has new 21.5" units at $1.120. http://www.macmall.com/p/Apple-iMac/product~dpno~8535496~pdp.gfgcadd Congrats on your return to full citizenship in Cyberspace! Link to comment
millbert Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I had the same thing happen to my old G3- I bought a "pig in a poke" from a 2bit hustler in Toronto -the hard drive bearing was gone. Link to comment
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