iMac G4 weird boot issue

omega21 · Mar 2nd, 2006, 09:49 PM

Hi there,
I recently bought an 800 MHz G4 iMac off of eBay.
I bought it knowing it had a boot issue. I have a mac service center
in my city but would rather not bring it in if its an easy fix.

Basically, I turn the power on, and I get the usual *mac chime.
The fan turns on, and after a few seconds the screen simply
displays a solid gray/white background. Nothing else.

The eject button on the keyboard does work, usually after about
6-10 seconds after I push the button. My friend lent me her OS X
install CDs (its Mac OS X 10.3, for her iBook G4.) Im just using these
to see if it boots.

Here is what happens upon inserting the disc into the tray and rebooting
with C held.

I get the chime, then the screen goes solid white.
The CD does spin up, but nothing on the screen changes. The CD
eventually stops spinning.

After that, (for the heck of it) I pressed return a few times, and the
CD started spinning up again. After a while the screen faded to a solid
gray, still displaying nothing. After yet another little while, it goes black
as if the iMac is off. (it isn't). I pushed a random keyboard button and
it zapped back to the white, and continues to fade to gray and black after
time elapses.

Any ideas?
Thanks very much!
(Also, please note I am very new to the Mac world, Ive been on both
Windows and Linux so Im ok with computers in general.)
Thanks!!
~Ian

monokitty · Mar 2nd, 2006, 10:27 PM

Using a mini-VGA to standard VGA adapter, hook the iMac G4 up to a standard VGA CRT monitor and see if you get an image. If you do, the Inverter Board or LCD panel itself is defective, hence no image on the main display. It could also be a bad LCD cable or the connector on the logic board. In reality, there's a chance of 1 or more of 4 possible parts being defective.

Ariell · Mar 6th, 2006, 12:28 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by Lars
	Using a mini-VGA to standard VGA adapter, hook the iMac G4 up to a standard VGA CRT monitor and see if you get an image. If you do, the Inverter Board or LCD panel itself is defective, hence no image on the main display. It could also be a bad LCD cable or the connector on the logic board. In reality, there's a chance of 1 or more of 4 possible parts being defective.

Hi Lars. Just wondering what you think the price range would be to repair something like this? I've seen other 'deals' like this on ebay and while the price is tempting, I figure that the cost of repairing it would outway any bargain that you're getting. Your thoughts?