(Sorry for the long title, trying to make it descriptive to help future searchers on this topic.)
Background: I’ve been having problems with the RAM in my PowerMac G5 Quad pretty much ever since I got it:
- When it Rains… 2006-12-15
- More RAM Problems 2006-12-10
- RAM Install, Take 3 2005-12-08
- Arrival 2005-12-06
- OWC’s RMA Policies 2005-12-01
- Setting up the Quad 2005-11-30
The symptoms are generally the same. The machine starts to boot, the screen stays black, and the fans come on full blast. Last night I experienced this again.
I’d just put in new RAM earlier in the week and I noticed something a little odd on the first boot after adding the RAM in. Before going to the gray Apple screen, I got the little “folder with a question mark” briefly, then on to the gray Apple screen. It seemed like it was recognizing the new RAM, then going on and booting up.
On a hunch this morning, I removed only half of the RAM I’d installed and tried again. Sure enough, I saw the same little “folder with a question mark” briefly, then on to the gray Apple screen and a successful boot.
Now that I had a pattern, I thought the OWC tech guys might know what was going on. Sure enough, I gave them a call and explained the situation to Andy. As I’ve come to expect from OWC, he listened patiently as I explained the situation, asked a few questions and had a potential solution for me: reset the NVRAM (non volitile RAM).
Note: be sure to have all of your RAM installed before you do this.
Here is how to do it (from OWC):
To boot into Open Firmware, shut down your Mac, then start it up while holding down the Command, Option, O and F keys. At the prompt, enter the following commands (you may want to write them down on a piece of paper before beginning this process), pressing the return key after each:
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset-allAfter which your Mac will restart.
After doing this, the Mac started right up. No “folder with a question mark”, no tornado effect from the fans, just a happy boot.
I hope, hope, hope this solves my RAM problems going forward.
UPDATE: Another tip I received was to unplug FireWire devices before running security updates, etc.
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Miracle.Touch adds this Comment:
Have you had the video card checked? I have been Googling a similar problem and found this (http://macosx.com/te[...]em/8664.html) article. If you read the last comment, you will see that the video card ended up being the cause.
February 5th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Alex adds this Comment:
Those symptoms don’t match mine.
February 5th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
LeberMac adds this Comment:
Yep, fixed my problem with an older dual Xeon Mac G5 as well, right after we’d installed more RAM (Went from 4 256 MB to 4 256 MB + 2 512 MB).
Thanks for the post, Alex.
May 3rd, 2007 at 7:08 am
chris adds this Comment:
hi
thanks for the post,
i have the same probs with my powermac g5 dp 2,0 ghz , 1gb ram and 160gb hd, 9600.
I hear loud fan noises, its starts up, and i hear the chime noise. And i see a folder with a question mark.
I will soon try what is mentioned above.
Does anybody have any other tips?
thanks
chris
August 19th, 2007 at 9:33 am
Scott adds this Comment:
On my G5 dual 2.3GHz I also had the question mark folder flash up briefly and fans attempting liftoff. I searched for a solution (and was unable to find anything related to ‘loud fans’ on the Apple support site) until I found this page. After trying the above tip, all was well!
Much obliged!
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Andy adds this Comment:
Some of my symptoms are the same, I get the chime, then the grey apple screen but nothing after that, it just stays the same. I tried the Open Firmware reset, but after I enter the ‘reset-all’ command, the machine doesn’t restart like it’s supposed to.
I’m using a G5 dual 2.0 2gig Ram.
any help or advice would be invaluable to me!
thanks
Andy
September 6th, 2007 at 4:28 am
crinx adds this Comment:
andy,
as soon as you turn on your machine and you here the chime, hold down command S, this will take to the terminal.
then type:
/sbin/fsck -fy
If it tells you ***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****, type the above again, until it says:
** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK *** (where name is probably Macintosh_HD)
When that is done, type reboot and you should be gold.
I have had your issue and this has generally solved the boot up freeze. my problem at the moment is that i am again have the same problem except i cant access terminal mode. it seems to freeze on the grey screen and go into fail safe mode (when fans go crazy).
does anyone have any ideas??
crinx
May 1st, 2008 at 1:38 am
cocteau adds this Comment:
Following these steps fixed my G5 Power Mac.
Thanks for posting this info.
Perfect!
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:19 am
Chris adds this Comment:
I have been having this problem on my G5 for about 6 months now. I called apple help before and all the stuff they had me do, did nothing. This fixed it after one try.
THANK YOU!
Chris
May 7th, 2008 at 5:56 am
James adds this Comment:
Alex,
I was having a very similar problem with my Powermac G5 dual 2.7gHz … this is a problem that’s been plaguing me for months, actually, so much so I took the computer to Tekserve and had them fix it up. They set I had a bad RAM set, and gave it back to me, and it ran fine for about 2 weeks… but this morning I had the same exact problem you describe.
I ran the procedure you describe, and now I do get the blue log-in screen (whereas before it went black after the white apple screen), but now neither of the users are coming up…
It’s also worth noting that I never got the folder with the question mark.
Anyways, I will try again and perhaps everything will work out, but I was wondering if you had any futher troubleshooting suggestions?
Thank you,
James
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:06 am
Johan adds this Comment:
These symptons are very similar to my computer´s disease. Reaches the grey apple-screen in start-up. Then the fans gradually spins faster and faster. I was reading this thread …
http://forums.macosx[...]t-67489.html
… were several others also experience sudden death. Mine was/is a G5 2.3 2GB RAM. Was running perfect for two years and four months with the same RAM and videocards. All of the sudden itcrashed on me. I have tried everything metioned here and on the link above.
I have no problems in reaching the open firmware. But I can’t start-up in single-user-mode (cmd+s). Here it freezes after “DART enabled” … and the fans gradually spins faster. Except for one time–I could start up in single-user-mode, run the “/sbin/fsck -fy” and then the computer started perfectly. In ran a few system updates and ranfor a couple of hours. Then I tried restarting and I lost the patient again. Haven’t been able to awaken the dead … yet …
June 18th, 2008 at 10:53 am
John Hill adds this Comment:
Just happened across this thread and thought the following may be useful to others and reflects some of the experiences with machines dropped off with us……
Fans on ‘high’….. the G5 is full of temperature sensors that are monitored in software, which fan and how fast it turns happens due to sensor feedback…..i.e. if an area gets hot the fan(s) speeds up.
However, if the Op Sys doesn’t load correctly within a set period of time, the ‘fail-safe’ condition is to turn the fans on hard.
This is clearly demonstrated with the Apple Hardware Diagnostics CD / DVD which being a ‘bare-bones’ only system has the fans running like a wind tunnel as soon as you boot from the disc.
Things to do / check before wielding screwdrivers….. ( remove all peripheral kit except KBd & Mouse first)
1) Repair your disc permissions via Disc Utility
2) Reset Parameter RAM ( command-option P R ) on startup until U hear the chimes 3 times
3) Reset NVRAM in Open Firmware ( Command- Option O F ) on Startup. At the (white) command line screen, enter as per above post:-
reset-nvram and hit return
set-defaults and hit return
reset-all and hit return ( machine now boots)
4) Run Unix maintenance routines if you’re not in the habit of leaving the Mac turned on 24 hrs a day…..
Start the Terminal Utility (utilities folder)….
At the cursor type:-
sudo periodic daily hit return and WAIT for cursor
sudo periodic weekly as above
sudo periodic monthly as above
Quit Terminal.
5) CLEAN your machine! The examples we get here are often choked with dust which causes significant overheating / over-temperature readings.
If you have access to compressed air, take the machine outside ( you don’t want dust all over the house), and the best way is to blow the muck out (machine OFF of course) with a pressure of about 20 psi. ( Air cans are ‘ok-ish’ but pricey, we use a small compressor).
Pay attention to the Graphics card heatsink and HDD temp sensor area. Dirt build-up here can be significant and cause problems.
Pull out the main CPU fan(s) and get a good jet of air through the CPU heatsink fins. (put fan back!).
Blow a good jet around /thru’ the two Two fans at the rear of the machine. These get filthy.
If you can, try to get a good jet of air thru’ the main PSU which is under the bottom plate. A flexible pipe bent around the gap at the front of the plate helps. The PSUs suffer with dirt quite badly and can become completely choked with dust and fluff, overheat and fail.
You might be surprised at the level of muck that blows out.
6) WHERE applicable, reset the pmu /smu – using the small grey button on the main logic board ( usually around the lower edge of the board). Unplug mains cable. Wait 10 secs. Press button firmly and precisely ONCE ONLY. wait 10 secs. Plug mains cable back in and replace covers. Start Mac.
7) DO NOT try to run these machines with the covers off. The acrylic plate directs air into the CPUs which can ‘Fry’ very quickly if the plate isn’t in place.
9) Take the machine back to its ‘factory’ RAM configuration. Remember these need to be in matched pairs, (start at the centre two and work outwards- [8 slot machines]).
Is it ‘happy’ with the original RAM config ? – Suspect one of the upgrade DIMMS & CHECK again that they are being installed in matched pairs.
10) Re-Install the OS using the ‘Archive & Install’ option at third screen in order to preserve your personal settings / data.
11) Minor maintnance point, but if the machine is 4 or 5 years ‘in’ – replace the system board battery….( the correct way around!)
Hope this lot helps someone out there, but if you’ve done all of the above and its still ’sulking’ you’ll likely need to drop it into an equipped repair shop for detailed diagnostics.
Regards,
JH
June 28th, 2008 at 2:00 am
Igor adds this Comment:
I have a similar problem with my G5 Quad. It started yesterday after 25 months of flawless operation. My kid was playing Rainbow 6 and the screen suddenly went to diagonal red lines and the sound started “looping”. All attempts to force quit didn’t work and he ended up having to do a hard reboot. When it came back on, we got the chime but the screen stayed black. After a minute the fans went to turbo mode. Attempts to reset pram, boot into single user or even open the disk tray failed. The computer seems to not recognize the KB. We pulled out the four gig of ram that I had added some time ago and reseated the factory ram. Then tried pulling the factory ram and put in just the OWC ram. We reset the PMU. It’s pretty clean in there as we make a habit of keeping it clean. Still stuck.
August 11th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
cathode adds this Comment:
i wonder why in the first place we face this problem at all.I use to brag n boast about the consistency of my powermac G5 Quad for the past 3 years… n then this happened..
I did not know about the “PMU switch” but later found out through some surfing but i think i might just have pressed it consecutively twice…. can please some one tell me what happens in that case.. i dint follow the “10 sec” routine either…
have my fingers crossed n am still stuck!!!
August 15th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Tony adds this Comment:
Thanks for posting our powermac G5 would only let us get past the log in screen, then showed our wallpaper with no icons, just a Magnifying glass in the top right corner and the fan thundering away like it was going to take off.
Did the Command, Option, O and F keys. At the prompt and entered:
reset-nvram
set-defaults
reset-all
Worked like a dream, the user was none too happy as he thought it was really screwed and he was going to get an new Mac.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:03 am
(a different) alex adds this Comment:
Hello, getting similar problems but nothing above worked. g5 was working just fine and then today when i turned it on it only got to the apple sign and then tells me to restart the computer.
Any ideas of what i can do?
January 13th, 2009 at 10:47 am
BRead adds this Comment:
I have been having this problem and it eventually got worse and worse to the point where it won’t even recognize the boot disc anymore, funny thing is that it will still boot using the leoptard dvd, but won’t still won’t see the sata devices in disk utility. It wasn’t even getting far enough for the screen to even turn on 9 times out of 10 restarts. Finally I pulled the battery out and did a check with a voltage meter, no juice. Then I accidentally started it without replacing the battery and I was able to get to the open firmware utility finally, I used the commands and got it far enough to show the grey screen. Before i scrap it, I have a new cheapo video card in the mail and am heading to radio shack tomorrow for a new battery. The last question I had was has anyone read about those busted ass capacitors that afflicted the G5 imacs with the same types of problems? Basically some chinese company stole the designs for a basic capacitor and then flooded the electronics market with cheap capacitors, only to have a huge failure rate on them, causing a lot of electronic devices to crap out after a while. There aren’t as many caps on this mainboard as there are on the imac board, but they are so buried under the heat sink that it’s hard to tell if they are bulging. The video card shows a hint of bulging too.
January 17th, 2009 at 12:46 am
Corey Graft adds this Comment:
Well, i’m sort of in the same boat here. But it appears that my problem in the hard drive. Worked fine 2 days ago.. just fresh installed leopard from the OS DVD…
then a day later… turbo fans, & flashing folder with mac & question mark..
Can do the Open Firmware resets, cannot do the command S resets.
Booted from OS DVD.. went into disc utilities… my hard drive doesnt show up. I have opened the case… checked connectors (sata type drive) I moved the drive to the other slot. nothing has worked for me. I dont think it crashed. Last I used it, I just shut it down.
All I want to do is go back to my spreadsheets! Please don’t make me pull out the iMac…. =]
January 21st, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Corey Graft adds this Comment:
Thought I would add to my comment above.. i’m running a Powermac G5 Dual 1.8Ghz
January 21st, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Warren Pierro adds this Comment:
PowerMac G5, dual 2GHz processors and 2GB of RAM. I was messing around with the disk permissions and everything was OK until I rebooted. Now all I get is the chime and grey apple then the fans go turbo. I tried all above but noting works. Too much stuff not backed up to reload. Help!!
January 31st, 2009 at 6:46 am
cathy adds this Comment:
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I don’t know what went wrong where, but my hd crashed and I couldn’t reboot. Got the gray apple and turbo fans. I loaded the system cd and ran a permissions repair and I did what you suggested. Back up in an hour. Thank you so much. I truly appreciate you all sharing your insights.
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Dustin adds this Comment:
Thanks so much! Out of nowhere my G5 froze up… i had to hold the power key to shut it down… then when i started back up… i got the grey apple screen and the fans blazing! i did pretty much everything suggested… but nothing worked until i reset the SMU… i let it sit for a good twenty minutes after i restarted after that and it FINALLY booted up… so just give it time after you perform these troubleshooting ideas guys… and it SHOULD work. Thank you thank you thank you!
April 6th, 2009 at 4:03 am
Greg adds this Comment:
Another thanks here! My G5 PowerMac did the same thing to me today after 4-5 perfect years, haven’t touched the ram since buying it. This took care of my issue. You are a lifesaver.
May 25th, 2009 at 5:49 pm