G-4 tower wiped clean

[rwm]

An MDD will work with any 10.x "Black Retail CD/DVD" -- and that is Black in color usually with a big white X on it. - I did not mean the black market. lol

The greenish / grey disks can/are machine specific. If it was an MDD installer it should be fine. Say it was from another Mac like a PBook, iMac, an older tower it may not boot or install.

If I recall correctly the MDD was also the last Mac to boot up in OS 9.

[feral]

OK, I unplugged the hard drive and tried booting from a grey CD System 9.2 from the cube, and tried again both times holding down the "C" key while starting up. I bought a new keyboard (Macally) and it and the apple pro mouse both work on an HP laptop and should it seems work with the
MDD but the MDD just isn't reading them and the monitor is staying blank.....

[feral]

If it's not reading the ports does this mean that the OS needs to be installed
through networking it to another computer?

Thanks

[ricks]

Does the mouse light up? Wondering if USB is getting power.

If USB is getting power, then try an Open Firmware reset. Hold the Command+Option+O+F keys during startup. At the '>' prompt type:

reset-nvram
Hit Return
set-defaults
Hit Reurn
reset-all
Hit Return and the computer will restart. See if it will start up to the CD by holding the 'C' key after this startup chime.

Rick

[feral]

Does the mouse light up? Wondering if USB is getting power.

If USB is getting power, then try an Open Firmware reset. Hold the Command+Option+O+F keys during startup. At the '>' prompt type:

reset-nvram
Hit Return
set-defaults
Hit Reurn
reset-all
Hit Return and the computer will restart. See if it will start up to the CD by holding the 'C' key after this startup chime.

Rick

I've got the mouse upside down so I can see if the light comes on......there is no sign of life on the underside in either usb port.

[ricks]

The only reset you can do with a dead USB is press the SMU button on the motherboard. Other than that, you are in a tough spot with no controls. Hopefully the SMU reset reestablishes USB.



Rick

[unclemac]

If that does not work, you may be looking at a USB PCI card as an option.

[feral]

So you're saying that the usb ports not working is not a result of the drive having no system software?

And networking this to another mac and dragging and dropping the install
disk is not possible, or that it is but will not help the usb situation?

About the usb pci card, do you carry and is this something I can install?

Thanx

[ricks]

No, what we are saying is that you are stuck unable to do anything at all if the USB ports do not work. You must have working USB to give the computer startup instruction.

The only reset you can try is the SMU reset, which is a button on the motherboard. If that does not get the USB to working then you will need to get a USB card. It has been so long since I had anyone need a USB card that I no longer carry any. Sonnet makes a good one you can find here:
http://store1.sonnettech.com/product...roducts_id=126

Rick

[feral]

Thanks for the link, I'll try resetting first and if no go order one of these.
I take it the reset button on the mother board is easily discernible?

[rwm]

I take it the reset button on the mother board is easily discernible?

A small button near the battery.
This Google search has some good links.

...and dragging and dropping the install disk is not possible...

An install can not be a drag and drop. You must install from a booted CD/DVD or via a networking environment.

[unclemac]

Or here.

[feral]

So I took the tower in to the genius bar....powering up there are 5 blinks to
the power button, no chime, and 3 beeps. I know I didn't mention this before
because, well, I'm not a genius in these matters. He said it meant that the ram
wasn't happy or worse. He dug out some ram from the archived parts and
swapped it out but we got the same response. So he said that it's the terminals
that the ram plugs into. If I find someone that does repairs that include soldering, I might be able to get a decent price. Otherwise, the pricing would
be for modular repair which would entail a new motherboard. Drattss. Anyway,
thanks for all of your help! If I can find some one to do just the ram slots then I will, otherwise I will probably canibalize this tower and soup another one that I also have.

Thanks again....

[rwm]

Yes, 3 beeps is RAM troubles. To bad there is more problem.

[feral]

Or here.

My PMU button for that tower is in a slightly different location but I've bookmarked the links because they are all so informative. It was definitely the
PMU reset button because it was labeled for folks like me...

Anyway, I also put in a new battery and tried resetting again w/out luck.

[ricks]

If I remember correctly there was a RAM socket/wiring issue with the MDDs. My memory pretty much sucks on that, so we need to confirm it.

You might contact David Shipway at www.galaxyhp.com Not only would he know about any motherboard issues, he would also be the source for a repair or repaired motherboard.

R

[feral]

OK, I was reading some of the threads from the forum and noticed in one how
dirt/dust can interfere w/the ram. This tower was filthy inside so I got a couple of cans of canned air, removed the ram and cleaned everything then reinstalled.

Now the power button has stopped flashing and I don't hear the three beeps, I get the normal apple chime. The monitor lights up, the keyboard and mouse are functioning though I don't think that the internal CD drive is functioning or at least it doesn't seem to be. I hooked up the Lacie CD external and now depending on which key I press when I start up, I get the following results:

1. Options : Two separate squares w/arrows, one in a semi-circle and one pointing to the right.

2. "C" : One square shaped like a folder alternating between a question mark and little apple face.

3. Options + C: Same as #2

What should I try next?

Thanks!

[feral]

Should also mention that I called the 800# and they thought I should be able to boot from the System CD that I have which is Jaguar 10.2.3

[ricks]

Option key is Open Firmware, it looks for any attached bootable volume. When nothing shows up that means the LaCie is not working. Need to try some other way. If you have another Mac you can hook it up via Firewire, one Mac to the other, put your bootable CD in that other Mac, then boot the other Mac using the T key for Target Disk Mode. You then boot the G4 holding the OPtion key and see if it can see the other CD drive.

Rick

[feral]

Option key is Open Firmware, it looks for any attached bootable volume. When nothing shows up that means the LaCie is not working. Need to try some other way. If you have another Mac you can hook it up via Firewire, one Mac to the other, put your bootable CD in that other Mac, then boot the other Mac using the T key for Target Disk Mode. You then boot the G4 holding the OPtion key and see if it can see the other CD drive.

Rick

Do I hook monitor and keyboard, mouse to other tower or keep it w/MDD?