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My DA G4 died. [message #347746] Fri, 07 July 2017 19:19 Go to next message
smac0031 is currently offline  smac0031
Messages: 56
Registered: August 2012
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Member
Monday my DA G4 died. I had it on an APC 650 UPS. I woke up and alarm was
going off and the green light was flashing.
I turned off the UPS and turned it back on. At that moment I heard sound
somewhere between a zap and a pop. My DA G4
was nonfunctional.

A couple of years ago I got a power surge that blew out the power supply,
the ATA133 card, the controller boards on the
hard drives, the USB PCI card and the USB hub. I replaced all of that and
got this computer working again. I put it on an
UPS. I don't understand why this happened. The thing should have been
protected.

None of the other computer gear I've got, cable modem, router, TiVos or
anything else on my network was damaged. My
55 inch tv is fine. I don't get it.

This computer was pushed nearly as far as you can push a G4. It had a 1.6
GHz processor upgrade. It had a 300 and 500 gig
hard drive. 1.5 gigs of ram. It was old but it had lots of software that
isn't replaceable for less than a few thousand dollars.

I ordered a usb rack drive so I can salvage files from the HDs. The
controller boards might be shot. I've replaced those before.

There is no way of telling what the damage is. I am running a G5 which has
taken most of the week to get back to where I
nearly was.

I have been having a recurring problem with it. Sometimes when it boots up
it won't recognize any input from the keyboard.
You type and nothing happens. Sometimes the trackball doesn't work either.
Tonight I got my Epson 600 scanner working.
Unfortunately, the keyboard quit working. I powered off and rebooted twice
to no avail. I finally swapped the keyboard cord
to another spot on the usb hub and it started working.

Any suggestions on any of this might be useful.

Thanks, Mark Murphy

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Re: My DA G4 died. [message #347753 is a reply to message #347746] Fri, 07 July 2017 21:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Valter Prahlad is currently offline  Valter Prahlad
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Registered: September 2012
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Il giorno 08/07/17 01.19, "smac0031" ha scritto:

> Monday my DA G4 died. I had it on an APC 650 UPS. I woke up and alarm was
> going off and the green light was flashing.
The alarm and the green light are about the UPS, right?
You should investigate those in the UPS documentation.

> I turned off the UPS and turned it back on. At that moment I heard sound
> somewhere between a zap and a pop.
From those sounds, I'm prone to think it was the power supply going kaputt.

> My DA G4 was nonfunctional.
Of course, without power supply, the Mac looks totally dead. Even if the
rest of it is perfectly fine.

> I don't understand why this happened. The thing should have been
> protected.
>
> None of the other computer gear I've got, cable modem, router, TiVos or
> anything else on my network was damaged.
Either the UPS did something wrong, or it was just bad luck: when you
switched it on again, the G4's power supply just decided it was its final
straw. Sometimes it's just coincidence.

But I would test that UPS on something cheap, to check if it's defective
(and if it is, and it's under warranty, maybe you could get some money from
APC).

> There is no way of telling what the damage is.
Simplest way would be to insert a working power supply and see if the G4 is
ok. But find one could be hard.

I know there are info on the Net about using an ATX power supply (for PCs)
on G4s. I don't know how difficult that is.

> I have been having a recurring problem with it. Sometimes when it boots up
> it won't recognize any input from the keyboard.
> [...]
> I finally swapped the keyboard cord
> to another spot on the usb hub and it started working.
This definitely looks like an USB problem. If those devices run through an
USB hub, maybe it's the hub. Or it could be the USB card.

Try a different USB port, a different hub, or a different USB card.

HTH,
Valter


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Re: My DA G4 died. [message #349750 is a reply to message #347746] Sat, 29 July 2017 20:55 Go to previous messageGo to next message
smac0031 is currently offline  smac0031
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Registered: August 2012
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I was able to put the boot drive from the G4 into an enclosure and copy the
data onto the boot drive of
my dual G5. I was able to save my files.

The chicklet keyboard has something wrong with it. The trackball works
connected through it but sometimes
the keyboard itself is spurious and sometimes dead. I am currently using a
different keyboard.

Out of curiosity I was looking at microsoft usb keyboards for cheap at
office max/depot whatever it is. I would
think this would work on a mac but it doesn't say on the box. Is this a
possibility?

Also I was checking specs between the G4 and my old Umax S900 and they both
use PCI cards. Would the Sonnet
ATA133 work in the S900. It currently has a Sonnet ATA100 and use the
bigger drives from the G4 in
the S900?

I know OSX would totally screw up the S900 because I tried booting and OSX
CD with it once. Big mistake.
Thanks
Mark Murphy

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Re: My DA G4 died. [message #349813 is a reply to message #349750] Mon, 31 July 2017 10:31 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Bruce Johnson is currently offline  Bruce Johnson
Messages: 319
Registered: August 2012
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> On Jul 29, 2017, at 5:55 PM, smac0031 <m.smurph001@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Out of curiosity I was looking at microsoft usb keyboards for cheap at office max/depot whatever it is. I would
> think this would work on a mac but it doesn't say on the box. Is this a possibility?

They work out of the box, but the command and option keys are swapped around.

There are utilities to switch this.

Windows mice are much more functional, they work oob with no issues: left/right, scroll wheel just work when you plug one in.

--
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs

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Re: My DA G4 died. [message #349814 is a reply to message #349813] Mon, 31 July 2017 10:46 Go to previous message
smac0031 is currently offline  smac0031
Messages: 56
Registered: August 2012
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Thanks

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 31, 2017, at 10:31 AM, Bruce Johnson <johnson@Pharmacy.Arizona.EDU> wrote:
>
>
>> On Jul 29, 2017, at 5:55 PM, smac0031 <m.smurph001@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Out of curiosity I was looking at microsoft usb keyboards for cheap at office max/depot whatever it is. I would
>> think this would work on a mac but it doesn't say on the box. Is this a possibility?
>
> They work out of the box, but the command and option keys are swapped around.
>
> There are utilities to switch this.
>
> Windows mice are much more functional, they work oob with no issues: left/right, scroll wheel just work when you plug one in.
>
> --
> Bruce Johnson
> University of Arizona
> College of Pharmacy
> Information Technology Group
>
> Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs
>
> --
> --
> You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs.
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>
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