g3 imac dv problems need help asap

it prolly needs the pram zapped. i dunno where the cuda button is on a iMac DV try to find out where it is useing google and another way to reset part of the pram is to hold the command-option-p-r key's at start chime and hold it till you hear the start chime 3-4 times. but if you cant get anywhere with the command-option-p-r then the cuda button is your only option to reset the pram.

I've had a similar problem happen on an iMac Rev A. You might have a bad PSU causing problems.

Have you recently tried to install OS X?

If the firmware isn't up to date, you will make things worse.

Rick

Again, did someone try an OS X install recently? These symptoms could be caused by not doing a FirmWare update before installing OS X. It's a very common problem, and it would rule out a true hardware fault if it is what happened.

Ok, first calm down - thinks are looking good now. We now know that someone did try an OS X install without doing the firmware update. The fix for it may be a tad harrowing but don't worry, as the iMac is probably going to be fine.

Does the HDD actually spin up and keep going? That is one very important point we need to know to be absolutely sure it's not the power supply. If it does spin up, great! Keep reading to see how you can get it working.

First, did it keep the clock settings if it was unplugged? This is important because you may have a run down clock battery after all these years since it was made. They come fairly cheap, at $5-10 for the 1/2 AA Lithium 3.6v battery. If you know how to use a multimeter, you can test the battery and if it's below 3.2-3.0v you will want to replace it. It's not too important right now, but you may want to do it while everything else is going on so you won't have to worry about it later.

Now, you mentioned you pressed the CUDA button, which you shouln't have done in this situation. I'm not sure it will cause trouble, but it might so we'll just tell you what to do and if it doesn't work we can assume that may be the problem.

You say there is a new 40gb drive in the iMac. Does it already have classic MacOS on it, preferably 9.1 or higher? If not, do you have the original drive and does it have OS 9.1 on it? If so, put that in the iMac. The reason you need that is because the firmware update requires OS 9.1 or 9.2 (but not any version of X by itself) to work. You may have to install 9.1 to the HDD using another computer or try to install with the iMac. There are a few tricks that can be used to get it working.

To do the Firmware upgrade, boot into a HDD install of 9.1. The iMac may not show anything on the screen, that's fine. When it seems to be finished booting, press and release the power button once, and wait. It will turn orange and flash because you put it to sleep. When it has flashed a few times, press a keyboard button to wake it back up. Quite often you will get useable video back. It may not be perfect, but it might be useable long enough to do the update. Once you have a useable screen you should be able to do the update as you seem to have found it and the instructions already.

When you have the update finished, magically the iMac should boot right up and have great video again.

Just keep your fingers off the CUDA button until the update is done!

Hey, good going with the RAM! Try a known good stick of PC-100 RAM and see if it cures your problems. You might still have to do the FW update, but at least you might get it to boot and stay powered up. FWIW, if the power wsa going bd, as it is in my 400 DV the HDD just gets enough juice to spin for less than 1/2 a se, then it all dies. Your's sound like it might be cutting power when it's finished testing the RM and found that it is bad.

And, as for the OS on the HDD, yes, do put it in another Mac and update it to 9.1.

Be aware that any thing over a PC-100/133 chip won't work in the iMac. The firt two revisions of eMac used PC-100 and PC-133, but the latter two moved to DDR when the bus was moved to 167MHz. Be sure the chip you are getting is meant for a 700MHz-1GHz (2002-2003) eMac. If it is for a 1GHz+ (2004+) eMac it won't work.

Good luck!

Read it all over and ....All sounds good linka!!!......send me a link to what you are bidding on and I will check it out.....Bye for now......MAMAMASONIC

That should work fine.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Batterytastic_Other_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQftidZ2QQtZkm

found this £4.25...to buy straight off....couldnt find the other that you were looking for......can buy from canada for pennies but you have to pay P&P etc......you could probably get a spanking new one for not much more than £4-£5...mamamasonic

I will tell you from what you have posted that DO NOT do anything more with this iMac until you read the post on the website I'm digging for, or your iMac will be an aquarium candidate!! Give me a few minutes to find it.

http://www.capecodgraphics.com/imac_firmware.htm
Hope this helps and solves the problem. Good luck

A lot of that is what I've already posted. It's basically telling people to NOT zap the PRAM and to do some tricks to get it to boot enough to get the FW update going.

Great! Glad to hear it's worked out. The RAM made it a bit of a twist to know what was going on. It's a good thing you tried pulling it out. That makes for another bit of troubleshooting I'll have to rememeber.