iMac G5 iSight won't boot, shows openfirmware and a scrolling prompt

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iMac

The iMac is Apple's line of all-in-one desktop computers.

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Josh @josh81128

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Posted: Jun 18, 2012

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iMac G5 iSight won't boot, shows openfirmware and a scrolling prompt

Hiya, I decided to pull out my old iMac G5 and try and get it going again as I'm sick of my netbook's screen real estate. I've never gotten it past this openfirmware screen since it died, and it won't accept any input whether it be startup key combinations or anything (won't even eject the disc sitting in the drive either).

The openfirmware shows this message scrolling infinitely:

DEFAULT CATCH!, code=1800 at %SRR0: 00000000.ff845b6c %SSR1: 10000000.0200b030

And the fans tend to be going at full blast. I have no tools to open the machine unfortunately, or I would have tried replacing the RAM and such.

Has anyone ever encountered this, and if so, how did you solve it?

Thanks,

Josh.

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Hmm... that would seem about right. I believe it had an ATI chipset, and it was heavily prone to crashing and the like for a while (it was stable for a few months after the crashing, then it stopped working altogether), so it's probably quite likely. Thanks for your help, I was just hoping for that extra screen real estate (1024x600 is nothing).

Jun 18, 2012 by Josh

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originalmachead @originalmachead

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Posted: Jun 18, 2012

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The exact model of your machine makes a difference... ID your Mac.

Models with Nvidia-card are known for capacitor failures on motherboard, with second model it's more rare. Models with ATI-card usually have graphics card failure, either causing the machine to become unstable or not to boot at all. Some models also had lots of bad power supplies.

If you intend to attempt to fix this machine purchase all the recommended tools- having the proper tool for a job makes a difference.

If this Answer is helpful please remember to return and mark it Accepted.

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Hmm... that would seem about right. I believe it had an ATI chipset, and it was heavily prone to crashing and the like for a while (it was stable for a few months after the crashing, then it stopped working altogether), so it's probably quite likely. Thanks for your help, I was just hoping for that extra screen real estate (1024x600 is nothing). — Josh