Can anyone help me fix my iMac G5? Please help! :(

[Unlight]

Hey guys,

I have a 20" iMac G5, that is currently playing up on me. (its the 2.0ghz G5, without iSight built in).

Every couple of hours or so, or even more randomly, the whole computer will just freeze. Sometimes it allows me to move the mouse, but wont let me click on anything.

If I restart it immediately after turning it off, it will either stick on the loading bar, and the spinning icon will look corrupted or something. If you leave it like this, the fan will kick in really loudly.

Does anyone know what the problem could be? Really need this computer to work!

 

[Beepcake]

Sounds like either ram or a heat problem. Don't know much about iMac internals but have you checked to see if any of the vents are blocked with dust? I'd also try switching the RAM if you can borrow some from somewhere.

 

[UncleBob]

The early iMac G5s have a bit of a reputation for overheating. Apparently the capacitors nearest the power supply have a tendency to get cooked over time, causing the motherboard to fail.

Your symptoms do sound pretty much like the multitude of annoyed 20" iMac owners (Google will find loads).

http://www.macintouch.com/reliability/

31% failure rate? Ouch!

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Just check your serial number on the underside of the stand, this will tell you if you have a Rev 1 or 2

 

[AJUK]

Use the disk utility to verify and repair permissions.

If that doesn't help boot from your install disk and run Disk Utility Disk Reapir a few times to see if that stops them. Do you have Applecare, if so, you should have a disk with TechTool Deluxe that can be used to check your hardware and disk for any problems.

Do you use any utilities, if not I would recommend Cocktail (commercial) or OnyX (free). These run the cron scripts and other clean ups etc. that may help?

The only other thing I can suggest is a reinstall over the top of the existing, not an erase and install! (Don't forget to BACKUP if you try that)