imac g3 tray loading cd drive wont boot from cd or hdd

[Peter van der Heide]

Steve -

It wasn't the first time the iMac had been powered off COLD in the last 
few months by any chance? There is a problem that pops up in iMacs 
about that age where one or more of a bunch of capacitors on the power 
supply die. The funny thing is that the computer continues working as 
usual, as even once the capacitors go pop, they will continue to 
function as long as they're kept warm.

I work in a research complex with around 50-80 iMacs around 4-6 years 
old, and every time we have a power interruption, one or two of the 
iMacs just dies. The users invariably blame it on a power surge, but in 
reality the machine may have been "broken" for months, as they're 
rarely if ever powered down completely.

If this is what's happened to your iMac, and you have a techy buddy 
(electronics, not computers) who's willing to spend a couple of hours 
poking around the analog board, you may be able to fix it for a few 
dollars worth of capacitors. To do it in reasonable time, he'll need an 
in-circuit capacitance meter - not an overly common device (though not 
expensive).

If this isn't the problem, then as Derick points out, you can get an 
iMac chassis from eBay for less than minimum service charge at most 
apple dealers. Unless you need an upgrade, just
get the one with the least RAM and HD and swap your old ones in. If 
you're truly strapped for cash, you can try and flog off all the left 
over bits and pieces too.

Best of luck! -pete

On 27/08/2005, at 9:35 PM, Derick Centeno wrote:


> Depending upon what happened on the power side ( power surge, 
> lightning strike, power shortage, blown fuse, demonic possession) the 
> monitor may have blown.  You might have to lug it to a technician for 
> testing and verification of exactly what occurred and a determination 
> of what, if anything can be done.  Depending upon what your personal 
> economic situation is, as this particular model is selling for about 
> $40 -- it might be cheaper to just buy another imac g3 and this time 
> pitch some cash for an APC UPS; ie. and Uninterruptible Power Supply 
> from American Power Company.  Of course, the purpose is for the UPS to 
> be in-between any and all power connections, phone lines (and any 
> other device) electrically connected to your computer in any way -- 
> this includes printers, routers, etc.  By the way, a USB connection IS 
> a power connection; so if the USB is not running through the UPS first 
> it remains possible for a surge to run from that device and ruin your 
> computer.
>
> A lot of things are not supposed to happen but do; I keep hearing 
> about something called "common sense", however I merely keep 
> discovering how common, nonsense really is instead.
>
> I know it sounds ridiculous, but when you consider what you are paying 
> a tech for.  In NYC it's about $100 just to get a tech to look at 
> anything plus another 50 (not including time) to test the thing if the 
> computer is NOT under warranty.  Under those prices or when it is 
> necessary that other expenditures are more important -- like rent or 
> food -- ridiculous choices become common sense.  I remember one story 
> where someone lost everything but kept a web presence by running his 
> laptop from solar power from a beach until collection agents tracked 
> him down.  Yep, they took the laptop.  So hopefully, you prioritize 
> better than that fellow.
>
> Best wishes....
>
> On Aug 27, 2005, at 3:12 AM, steve s wrote:
>
>> Hello
>>
>> I was installing YDL 4 on a an imac and lost power to the machine 
>> while it was installing packages. Now when I try to start the install 
>> again the machine starts up with the sound but the monitor doesn't 
>> show anything and holding the C button down doesnt make it boot from 
>> the CD drive. It just starts and shuts down. Any ideas?
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
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