[DEMUG] A dead iMac: no start-up

[Ruth Kalenian]

Hello,

I'm not a Mac technical expert, but have used Macs forever.

I had similar strange issues with my Mac recently, and it turned out to 
be a USB hub gone bad, which I finally diagnosed myself. Another time 
it was a USB mouse gone bad. Long ago, it was a printer cable gone bad.

I suggest you start with a new USB hub, and then plug one item at a 
time back onto your Mac to see if the problems starts again or, 
hopefully, go away.

My Mac did the same kinds of weird things when I tried to start or 
restart, and I usually had to pull the plug to make it shut down 
altogether.

Also, Ryan Vines, the owner of Belfast Computers in Reny's shopping 
center, has a couple of Macs himself and can fix some problems even 
though he's a PC man. He also sells USB hubs (they blink funny colors 
but work well!). Try the new hub before spending money on repairs. It's 
probably a simple bad cable problem.

Also, I'd get rid of the fluorescent light, as they can cause havoc 
with other electronic devices.

Just my humble suggestions before spending unnecessary money on repairs.

Ruth


On Jul 25, 2008, at 7:30 AM, Michael Weinberg wrote:

>
>   I have a 1.6GHz PowerPC G5 iMac. For the past several weeks it has
> behaved very erratically when I attempt to start up. At such times
> the power button on the back of the panel is ineffective. Usually,
> after a frustrating series of useless "fixes" I somehow manage to get
> it started. Most typically, I must manually disconnect everything
> except the power cord and the keyboard (I have a bunch of "stuff"
> like a spare hard drive, zip drive, floppy drive. DSL modem, USB hub,
> a laser printer with an ethernet connector, an inkjet printer with a
> USB connection, a stereo radio, and a fluorescent light etc., etc.,
> attached to the iMac or one of several power surge protectors plugged
> into two separate wall sockets), unplug the iMac itself for a period
> of time ranging from 30 seconds to forty-five minutes), and try a
> bunch of key combinations (Command, Control, Power Button) (Command,
> shift, Power Button) (Power Button alone, either pressed and held for
> five or ten seconds, or just pressed) before the machine starts up --
> no one technique seems to work every time.  Very occasionally, when
> the power light on the front of the panel goes on, a loud chiming
> sound emerges from the reluctant beast, and then a normal start-up
> sequence begins. I get no messages from it. And it behaves like
> nothing has happened until the next time it refuses to start.
> This seems to happen whatever I do to turn off the machine; ie:
> choose Shut Down from the Apple Menu, or Log Out.
>
> We live in Belfast, Must I drive to Augusta to have any work done on
> it. What may be up? I suspect some fault in the Power Button or the
> Power Module itself. Or, in myself, perhaps.
>
> I"m 78 years old and I told my wife of 52 years that this was the
> last computer I would buy. Am I destined to disappoint her once again?
>
>
>
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