[G4] G4 start up problems

[Ronald Steinke]

On 7 January, 2006, at 2:26:50, Larry Parsons wrote:

> Well, I finally got the silly thing to boot up.  Don't know for  
> sure what I did other than holding my mouth in a different way.  I  
> still cannot start from the power button on the front of the case,  
> starts just fine from the keyboard thopugh.  Shouldn't it fire up  
> either way?????  Anybody got an idea???

 From your earlier post, I get the impression at this point that you  
may have a faulty power button in the case. Its plug could have  
become disconnected from the motherboard, have you checked for tight  
connections? This button is a simple two position switch and can  
break, so I suggest checking out the button function with a button  
from a working case to narrow down the alternatives.

I have seen G3 B&Ws and iMacs with broken power buttons, but no G4s  
yet. Just wait until I go to work Monday afternoon - there WILL be a  
G4 with a broken button just to spite me.

During the diagnostic phase, I always look at the physical conditions  
of the machine. Many times I have found simple things like an  
internal power connection that isn't properly connected or an IDE  
ribbon not inserted fully into the drive socket. Don't forget to  
check all connections for tightness. which includes RAM chips.