Member Avatar for erosryd

Hi guys. Brand new to Apple computers as I got a "defective" G4 from my neighbor. He was going to throw it away but I told him I would try to fix it first.

When I power it up, it makes a musical "greeting" power up sound and the monitor goes from dark black (as in "off") to a lighter gray, and then a folder appears in the middle of the screen alternating between a face and a question mark.

Does anyone know what is wrong with this computer so that I can repair it for future use? I am guessing a hard drive malfunction, but do not know for sure. And is it worth fixing? FYI - I do not have any software for this system.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

-Mark

  • 2 Contributors
  • 5 Replies
  • 118 Views
  • 2 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by erosryd

Dani AI

Generated

A compact, practical checklist to follow before spending money on parts or wiping anything. Thanks to for the clear report and to and @joeprogramer for the early pointers — below are complementary, hands-on steps that isolate the fault and protect any recoverable data.

Try non-destructive diagnostics first. Reset PRAM/NVRAM (hold the reset keys at startup), reseat RAM and any PCI cards, and listen closely for the hard drive spinning or unusual noises. Attempt a mount-from-another-Mac test by starting the G4 in FireWire target mode and connecting it to a working Mac; if the drive appears, copy off important files right away. If another Mac is not available, pull the drive and test it on a PC using an IDE/USB adapter or install it as a secondary drive to check for readable partitions.

If the drive mounts but files look corrupt, run filesystem checks from a known-good PowerPC boot medium (use a non-destructive repair tool first). If the drive does not spin or is unreadable on another machine, it is almost certainly a drive failure and can be swapped for a common desktop 3.5" drive. If the drive is detected but repeatedly fails verification, consider cloning the disk sector-by-sector for recovery before attempting repairs.

A final reality check: cheap parts and a bit of time will bring many Quicksilver G4s back to life. If the logic board, PSU, or analog board shows faults, repair becomes less economical. If the data is important and non-readable, stop casual tinkering and consult a data-recovery specialist.

Recommended Answers

All 5 Replies

Member Avatar for erosryd

PS - it appears that this G4 is either a Quicksilver or Quicksilver 2 model, in the event this makes any difference.

Member Avatar for John A

Do you have the Mac OS installation disc? I would try a reinstallation first, as it sounds like your Mac can't find an operating system to boot off of.

If you haven't got the install disc, either go out and buy one, or you're pretty well hosed... you could try some hard disk repair utilities, but the amount of money that it would cost to buy software that would repair the filesystem would simply not be worth it. If it were me, I'd probably install Linux on it or something to get a few more years of life out of it, but that's kind of advanced.

Member Avatar for erosryd

Thank you, joeprogramer. Someone else recommended that i try to get a copy of OS 10.3 or better, if I can find it reasonably priced. So that person agrees w/ you that the OS appears faulty or missing. I'm going to ask some of my friends if they have an OS disk that i can borrow to see if that is the only problem with my Mac.

Member Avatar for John A

Thank you, joeprogramer. Someone else recommended that i try to get a copy of OS 10.3 or better, if I can find it reasonably priced.

I think you can get a copy of 10.3 "Panther" for around $10-20.

So that person agrees w/ you that the OS appears faulty or missing. I'm going to ask some of my friends if they have an OS disk that i can borrow to see if that is the only problem with my Mac.

Well, it's quite clear that your Mac can't find the operating system. The thing which is unclear is how it happened (eg. whether the files just got corrupted, or if the hard disk is physically damaged). If you have problems formatting the hard disk when installing OS X, I'd definitely say that the hard drive is at fault.

Member Avatar for erosryd

I'll look for the 10.3 Panther OS when i get back from vacation. And if that OS doesn't work, then I might try to buy a used hard drive to install. It has been kind of you to offer advice, so thank you.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.