G5 just died without warning - won't power on

studio_651 · Post by **studio_651** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 2:18 pm

hi guys,
i have a 2005 dual 2.5 gHz G5 powermac w/ 8gb ram, a uad-1 card, a pci(x) raid card, and it's running tiger 10.4.11. i use it for farming out a few VIs to take some weight off of my main computer.

the other day, it was up and running just fine - hadn't had so much as a hiccup in a long time - and it just shut off on me. no error screen, no warning, no weird behavior that made me run a permissions repair or disk warrior. it just stopped. my other computers kept on working just fine, just that computer went down. i have everything protected by a big UPS system, so i don't think it could have been a surge.

now no matter what outlet i plug it into, it won't fire up. did i maybe trip some kind of internal breaker or something? any ideas on what may have happened and what the fix might be? thank you so much for any input!

Frodo · Post by **Frodo** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 2:59 pm

It could be that the power supply just needs to be replaced. Hopefully, there's an authorized Apple shop near you so that you won't have to ship the unit and even have it turned around inside a day or two.

Great avatar, BTW.

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 3:31 pm

One likely cause...

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing- ... ery/1951/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Something to try (especially after you replaced the battery):

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1939" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And then there's this...

Good luck!

IO · Post by IO » Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:07 pm

Frodo has a point see if you can smell a burning smell by the power supply. I would also say disconnect all connectors on the logic board and reconnect them and plug in the old machine there should be if my memory serves me right a small red light on the board that should light up when you plug the unit into a power outlet.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

studio_651 · Post by **studio_651** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:05 pm

wow, thanks for all of the speedy responses guys!

so, armed with your ideas, i just opened it up and checked the pram battery on my voltmeter. i replaced it in august of 2009, but it's still actually reading just over its stated 3.6v reading so it's not that (kinda makes me wonder what it read when it was new, geez!). after that, i pushed the pmu restart button and also smelled around for a burning smell - i didn't sense one (although this actually happened last week in the middle of a crazy short deadline so i didn't get the chance to smell it right after it turned off - i had to just unplug it and soldier on without it).

next, i tried dis/re-connecting a couple of the cables too but i got worried that i might do more harm than good since some of them are pretty tricky to detach, so i stopped before i did all of them. anyway, i closed it back up and it still wouldn't click on. i'm thinking it's probably the power supply at this point, but one thing is clear, i'm not going to be able to fix it myself.

i'll let you know what it was when i find out, which brings me to my next question. . . where to take it? i'm lucky enough to have 2 apple stores here in columbus, oh where i can take it, but i also have a microcenter close by too (not sure how widespread that store is, but they're a fairly big computer retailer / service center / training facility). would you recommend taking it to apple or do you think microcenter could do just as good a job for less $? (i ask because anything from the apple store is always more expensive, whether it's a hard drive, RAM, or even accessories.)

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:12 pm

Just a quick google search came up with these guys:

http://www.macmobile.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Then there's this...

mikehalloran · Post by **mikehalloran** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:38 pm

CPUs and motherboards are more likely to go than power supplies on a G5 but as they age, anything is possible.

These generate a lot of heat and sometimes, when they go, they go.

I hope that it is something minor. Let us know.

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:51 pm

Also, when it's plugged in, does the power light just slowly blink? I don't know about G5s, but I seem to recall with my current Mac this happened and it indicated that I had bad RAM in the computer and it just refused to boot one day. I removed the bad pair of DIMMs and it started right up again. Exchanged the DIMMs for new and was back in business.

studio_651 · Post by **studio_651** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 6:33 am

good idea james, but unfortunately it doesn't light up or give any sign of life - no fans, no "click" when i press the power button, etc.

it's definitely useful to me to have as a slave for VIs, but i'm wondering how much i'm willing to put into it to fix it at this point considering its age and the fact that i can't update much of its software anymore. i'm thinking about $200-300 is about my limit for repair costs considering i'm able to run a 20+ GB bidule (64 bit) instance on my mac pro (LASS, symphobia, albion, cinebrass, etc) rewired into DP with a 256 buffer. but then again, RAM isn't my only concern - it's nice to be able to run processor-intensive VIs like omnishere and bfd off of another computer even with as much RAM as i have in my mac pro.

i guess it all depends on just what is wrong with it and how much it'll be. i have a 2006 macbook that's also getting pretty long in the tooth. it might be a good move to spend the would-be G5 repair money on a new macbook pro to replace them both (the G5 & the macbook). it could do all the business/email/website work my current macbook does, and it could also also run as a better VI slave than a perfectly functioning G5. decisions, decisions...

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 6:39 am

Then again, if you buy a replacement the repair cost could better go to more RAM. There are a lot of good deals out there right now on used Mac Pros.

Steve Steele · Post by **Steve Steele** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:59 pm

Check for any water leakage from the cooling system. If you see any, stop what your doing and email me personally ASAP. I'll check my messages.

barreltone · Post by **barreltone** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:34 pm

This happened to me, with my G5. When I took it to the repair shop, they said it could be the logic board or the power supply. And a logic board was going to cost in the neighborhood of $500 to replace.

So I got my 8-core.

burn em · Post by **burn em** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 8:16 am

What you describe studio_651, sounds exactly like what happened to my G5. I pulled the powersupply out and did a return replace which cost something like $50. Return the busted powersupply and pickup a refurb or new one. This was a few years ago though.

studio_651 · Post by **studio_651** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:21 pm

reposting this - didn't seem to post the first time. . .

hi guys,
thanks for all of the follow-ups! i would've posted again this week had i known i'd gotten more helpful replies. for some reason i didn't receive emails notifying me about the last few posts - i just thought my topic had gone dead. (that's been happening to me with facebook too, but i think it's because of some of the changes they've been making lately). by the way nightwatch, i didn't see any evidence of cooling system leakage in the case.

anyway, i'm sort of at a standstill because i googled G5 power supply problems a little bit and i saw several posts about how the power supply is buried below the processors. apparently it's not a very easy DIY project when you factor in having to gut the machine to get to the power supply, and the fact that anytime you work on one, it's dangerous voltage-wise (i've been playing the guitar for 25 years and i do a lot of my own setup and adjustment work, but i've never gotten past my fear of the deadly voltage in my amps - i'd love to learn how to drain my filter caps and work on them, but i'm not quite there yet!). and then i saw a few posts (granted, they were older ones from around '07 & '08) saying that the price of the power supply fix with labor was in the hundreds of dollars and i don't want to throw good money after bad. even if i repair it to its best possible condition, it's still only going to be a 6 year old piece of hardware trying to keep up with modern software's ever-increasing demands on its processing and memory capabilities.

burn em, you seem to have had an easy enough time pulling the power supply from your G5, and it looks like it wasn't too expensive. was it under warranty at the time? did you take advantage of that free power supply program they were running on certain G5 models that had widespread power supply problems? i checked and my model (the dual 2.5 from 2004-2005) didn't fit the requirements (and the program is long gone now anyway).

so i guess if i knew i could get it fixed for up to about $200 i'd do it, but if it's going to be any more than that, i'd rather use that money toward a new macbook pro or second mac pro. do you guys think i should take it to an apple store to see what they say, or maybe to another shop that's apple-certified? or should i cut bait and move on?

MIDI Life Crisis · Post by **MIDI Life Crisis** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:44 pm

Having moved to a 2008 used Mac Pro from a 2.0 (2003) G5 a couple of weeks ago, I strongly suggest cutting the bait and start looking. Apple is supposed to release new machines any time now and the market is already getting glutted with used gems. I found mine on Craig's list. It came from a studio with at least 9 Mac pros.

No, it is not as fast as the new machines, but at around $2k or so, you can snag an excellent machine that will run rings around the G5. More importantly, you can also find a machine that will be great for music needs for many years to come.

OTOH, if it is a $200 fix, the G5 is a respectable machine and worth hanging on to. I'll use mine as a VI server at some point I suppose, or just general Mac stuff. If you can do both, do both. If you have to make Sophie's Choice, kill the G5 and start tearin' butt with a Mac Pro or if you prefer, a Macbook Pro. I'm somewhat old school and prefer the desktop machine. On the road, I don't really need a laptop. If I did for some gig, I'd make the client buy it for me. I also hear the iMacs are quite good as well but again, I like the multiple HD bays in the desktops.

Just quickly scanning LA Craig's list, this popped up:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/sy ... 13293.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

12GB RAM, 2.8gHz 8 core for $1600. There are quite a few others and Macbook Pros are even more affordable.

I say go for the gold.

MOTUnation.com