Member Avatar for guile

Hi,
I have a 15 year old MacIIci that still works (for the most part). Unfortunately, we have power failures & electrical problems in storms. I think my mac has turned off the display (put it to sleep) as a result of a power glitch during a recent storm. It has happened once before, and there is a certain key combination used during reboot to turn it back on, but I don't know what it is. It will reboot & plays a short musical interlude when it starts the reboot, but the screen stays blank. Can anyone help? Thanks.
Guile

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Brief, practical follow-ups that build on and without repeating earlier suggestions.

For the vintage Mac IIci

  • Rule out the display/cable as a separate fault: try the monitor and its cable on another machine, and try a different known-good monitor on the IIci if possible.
  • Reduce the system to the absolute minimum: remove any non-essential cards/expansion, leave only one RAM module (try each module in turn), and try to boot with no external peripherals attached. Faulty RAM or add‑in cards commonly stop POST before video is fully initialized.
  • Do a careful visual inspection inside the case (power unplugged). Look specifically for corroded battery contacts, bulging or leaking electrolytic capacitors, scorch marks or obvious damaged components. If you find battery leakage or physical damage, stop and get a technician — continued power ups can make things worse.
  • If the board really has failed, focus on data first: pull the drive and read it from another machine (SCSI/IDE adapter or enclosure) or use the PowerBook’s FireWire/target-disk equivalent on portable Macs to copy files. For repair, search for donor IIci boards or a vintage-Mac specialist rather than guessing at component-level fixes.

For the PowerBook G4 sleep-loop poster ()

  • With peripherals unplugged, check system logs (Console.app) for repeated sleep/wake or power messages and try creating a fresh user account or booting from an external install to rule out user-level software or kext conflicts.
  • If the problem is software-related, a clean reinstall of the OS (or removing suspect third‑party kexts/drivers) often stops runaway sleep cycles. If logs point to hardware or power-management faults, a model-specific power-management reset or pro service is the safer next step.

Cautions

  • Work only if comfortable with vintage electronics; disconnect mains before opening the case and avoid powering a board that shows battery corrosion or exploded capacitors. Prioritize recovering data before attempting repairs.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for yellow

Could be that the monitor is dead (does it turn on?), or that the video componant on the logic board is dead. But first I would try to zap the PRAM.

Restart and hold down Apple-Option-P-R, after the 3rd chime let the keys go and see what happens.

Member Avatar for guile

Dear Posting Whiz,
Thank you for your reply. The monitor is not dead, it gives verticle color bars when I press the reset key. If I unplug the mac & plug it back in, it restarts with 5 upscale chimes, then nothing, regardless of what I do. I did notice that the num lock, scroll lock & caps lock lights all flash in synchrony just about once a second & keep on flashing unless I press the reset key. In that case, all the lights stay on until I release the reset key & they resume flashing. Any other ideas?
Thanks.
Guile

Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

I remember a control panel that used to control the flashing of the keyboard lights. Ah, the fond memories of those days...

Resetting the PRAM should have cleared up any misgivings concerning the relationship between the computer and the monitor. You could try to boot into "safe mode" by holding down the SHIFT key while booting to see if there is a control panel out of whack.

It is possible though that the computer died.

More importantly though, why isn't your computer protected behind a UPS? Clean power is essential for electronics, and seeing that you still have a IIci in service after all these years, your computer has to be doing something special for you. You need to return the appreciation by cleaning up the electrical circuit for the computer. Especially in a hostile environment like you have there.

CHristian

Member Avatar for guile

Hi kcOarf,

Nope, holding down the shift key doesn't do anything either. Actually, the computer is protected by a surge protector, however, I've noticed some things still seem to get through occasionally, or maybe it's just random electromagnetic monsters from close lightning strikes. ;)

I fear the worst! :eek:

Well, I still have a powerbook (also rather ancient, but I think it still works!).

Thanks for your help and concern, but I'm guessing it may be a lost cause. :sad:

Thanks again,
Guile

Member Avatar for yellow

Ah.. 5 upscale chimes..

As in "BLOU do Do DO DOO"? <-- yeah I know :)

That's the "Death Chime", a very bad sign indeed. It means the computer failed it's POST (start up test). Which likely means that the logic board is dead. You could try opening it up and blasting out all the dust with compressed air, as it might be a short, but since the computer is so old, it's more likely just died of old age.

Member Avatar for businesscards

Yellow is right you probably never opend up the comp and got all of the dust out did you? MY g4 was goin' slow I opend it up vacumed it all up and went perfect!

Member Avatar for gortonsfi

Ah.. 5 upscale chimes..

As in "BLOU do Do DO DOO"? <-- yeah I know :)

Um... wow... Good job, actually!

Member Avatar for cocoliche

Hi to everyone! I have Mac OSx Powe Book G4 Version 10.3.9. My problem is that it goes to sleep ramdonly all the time. Sometimes it takes times to do it but when it starts to do it, it goes to sleep every 3 seconds, and sometimes it stopes. I dont know what to do? My garanty is over. I did the hardware test (it passed), I dont have any hot corners activated, so i cannot be that. The hardware test passed and it show all the hardware was ok. Can someone help me to solve this problem.. please..

Thank you very much for your time.

P.S.I finally changed thelogic board for my Mac, because the first memory slot burned, Now im having both slots working, but the sleep problem still there. I bought the PowerBook to MacClini and they said it was little problem or reseting the parameter RAM. I got back home and BOOMMM again!! Can anyone tell me what coudl be the problem. The only thing I did was plug the ethernet cable for internet, connect the USB mouse and plug the power adapter. Sleep mode bugs me again..PLEASE HELP!

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