imac G3 450 SL power problems

I'd almost put money down that the PAV board is shot. Do you let it sit long enough to be sure it's not trying to boot from the HD? It is well known that a failure to update the firmware before attempting an OS X install can cause the video to die, but it's also well known that the boards are very prone to failure.

If there is no power to the drives then it is most likely the PAV (Power & Analog Video) board. The machine is most likely a candidate for an ATX conversion. I'd price a replacement PAV and then check out how much tear down you'll have to do to get it put in. Then decide if you want to do that and run the (very likely) risk of it happening again. If not an ATX mod is more work, but you end up with a computer that will likely function longer in it's new home.

Actually, the iMac I am posting from right now (iMac DV 400) has the exact same problem... really...

See, when our company was going through all of the machines that we thought were dead, I happened to power this one on. It had no RAM or HD, so it didn't boot, but it still seem to work. Then I put some RAM in and booted it to the "?". Then I put in a HD and... nuthin...

I pulled the power connector off the HD, and *presto*, it starts booting again. So I used an old external drive case to power the HD, then power on the iMac, and it works... it ain't pretty, but it works.

I'd like to end up with an ATX mod for this thing, since it seems to be a prime candidate... I just don't solder, and no one sells the ATX kits anymore.

Try hooking the HD up to an external power source and see what happens.

I have a similar problem except my iMac suddenly shuts down or freezes. The green light will stay lit but the screen goes black. When I try to reboot it buzzes (a long one) sometimes and other times it takes several minutes for it to come to life. I have to unplug it. I hear a click. I allow to sit for several hours. It will function for brief periods then shut down in the manner as previously stated. I'm trying to get it to stay on long enough to burn my files using Toast and and external burner. I may even get an external HD to quickly get the files off the iMac.

I'm wondering if I can use the technique you mentioned. Can you provide more detail on how to do this? I'm no computer tech but I love macs. I once replaced my DVD drive but that it. I plan to get the Duo but the cash is not on the table.

In any case can anyone tell me in detail how or where to purchase this external power source? Or can someone give me a detailed solution?

Thanks

Detailed solution: Buy a Mac computer setup off your local craigslist or anywhere else you can get one cheap. Get a Beige G3, maybe, for the cheapest setup. I bought a Beige for $10 at Goodwill last year, and perfectly working CRT's abound on the side of the road waiting for the trashman or anyone else who hasn't the bucks for an LCD like the previous owner had. Remove and keep the SDRAM from your iMac. If the battery's still good, keep that too. The motherboard's not worth much, if anything. If you replaced the DVD drive, then you know how to get to the harddrive. Remove the harddrive, put it in your new cheap computer. Live happy with that until you save up to buy the Duo. Toss the iMac in the trash. Don't bother thinking about it ever again. Sleep well, knowing you've done the right thing.

I speak from experience. I have four good motherboards from iMac DV's that had the notorious PAV problem. I only keep them because I'm thinking of making an artwork out of them one day. Trust me, don't bother on this problem any other way.

Detailed solution: Buy a Mac computer setup off your local craigslist or anywhere else you can get one cheap. Get a Beige G3, maybe, for the cheapest setup. I bought a Beige for $10 at Goodwill last year, and perfectly working CRT's abound on the side of the road waiting for the trashman or anyone else who hasn't the bucks for an LCD like the previous owner had. Remove and keep the SDRAM from your iMac. If the battery's still good, keep that too. The motherboard's not worth much, if anything. If you replaced the DVD drive, then you know how to get to the harddrive. Remove the harddrive, put it in your new cheap computer. Live happy with that until you save up to buy the Duo. Toss the iMac in the trash. Don't bother thinking about it ever again. Sleep well, knowing you've done the right thing.

I speak from experience. I have four good motherboards from iMac DV's that had the notorious PAV problem. I only keep them because I'm thinking of making an artwork out of them one day. Trust me, don't bother on this problem any other way.

Avoid the beige G3's like the plague..... It's quite possibly the biggest POS Apple has ever made and it's a big step backwards from your iMac.

Yours, and almost everyone else's problem is why I tell people to avoid iMacs. Too many known problems. I would suggest a decent B&W G3 or early model G4. These are cheap and plentiful now, and run Panther pretty well with enough RAM.

Well, my point wasn't that the Beige is a great computer, but it's the most dirt cheap POS with an IDE bus out there that's decent enough to hang out with for awhile. But seriously, what's your hangup about the Beige? It been a solid workhorse throughout its life history, and is quite versatile enough to still hang out with. Yeah, get a B&W instead if you want to spend the extra bucks. 100mhz bus instead of 66, USB and Firewire--of course. I forget people don't have USB PCI cards laying around in a box somewhere like myself. I've got one G4, three B&W's, two Beige's, and one 9600. The Beige's I use the least but I still look at them with affection. My point was about minimizing expense until he gets the Duo.

But didn't we already have a thread about the biggest POS that Apple ever put out? The Beige would be very far from the top of that list in my memory. I'd put the PM 6200 on top of my list. That was the lowest, most dismal moment in Apple's history that I've ever encountered. That one should have had a really big POS stamped on the top of it's case.

In that same family vein, the 5260 wasn't great either. The Beige does have it's share of faults, but for the cost (if one can be found) putting out just a few more bucks for a B&W is surely worth it. Heck, just for the native Linux boot capability alone...

Yep, actually when you add up the costs of all the PCI cards that would be necessary for a Beige--USB card, 10/100 ehternet, graphics card--the cost would probably be almost that of a used B&W--like you say, if one can be found--not to mention the costs of RAM and a better processor. Anyone who's followed my posts at Fritter knows I recommend B&W's all the time. In all ways the B&W is a much better machine than the Beige. I just mentioned the Beige as the cheapest conceivable. I watched a guy on the local craigslist try to sell his well-upgraded Beige and couldn't get rid of it at any price. He finally tried offering a trade for non-computer stuff. Don't know if he got any offers.

Thanks for the feedback. I just got on craigslist and found the following:
"iMac 400mhz G3 slotloading cdrom, 256M ram (2x128M pc133) can hold 1G (2x512M) 20G disk, clean install of OS X 10.4.8 with latest patches"

May I also place my DVD drive in the next iMac?
Do you know where I can find and exploded view of the iMac I want to make sure I can find the battery. (I hope it is labeled 'battery.')