Forum Moderators: travelin cat
Thanks!
Check monitor is working
Check connections
Try to boot up from a system CD (switch on and hold Apple command key and C with CD in drive)
A little more detail would help :)
Welcome to the WebmasterWorld and The Macintosh Webmaster forum.
Booting from a system CD requires the "C" key alone to be held down until you see a smily Mac on screen at startup.
But yes, a little more detail would help.
Hold down shift on startup (turn off extensions) - not likely to help if its not booting at all.
Zap the pram - hold down Apple + Alt + P + R on startup
Check the RAM, try and eliminate a possible problem in any of the RAM modules, and also in the RAM slots, by swapping the chips about.
The only details I can offer are:
-- Monitor works
-- ystem turns on sounds like its going and then just the blank grey screen
-- mouse works
Thanks again for the help!
Thanks everyone else for your help
What kind of Mac is it? (Color?, Tower/desktop?, numbers on front?, etc.) What sound does the speaker make, the normal chime, or is there other noises?
As a former school system tech, I guess I should see this coming from way down the road....
For two years now a tiny little battery inside your Mac has been patiently keeping the date, time and "basic" settings (PRAM) alive in your CPU without the beneift of external power.
It's dead.
It's called a "logic board battery." I've replaced a million of them (they die over summer break if the CPU isn't plugged in)(especially in high heat.)
If it's really, really, really dead, nothing will happen, no matter what you try, until it's replaced. Also, on the logic board of the 9600 there is a "CUDA" reset switch (a little bitty button that you hold down for about thrity seconds) It's like reviving your Mac from a coma. It will have TOTAL amensia. It won't even know how to start "breathing."
Here's a tutorial but it doesn't specify 9600's unfortunately (rare machines!) But it takes a 3.6 volt lithium.
[academ.com...]
When that's replaced THEN you can try all of that other stuff.
And yes, your hard drive my be damaged, too. After prolonged inaction, sometimes on start up you will get A) nothing B) a fatal, short lived grinding noise and then A) or C) "the click of death."
9600's are interesting machines. Big cases, very expandable. SCSI drives. SLOW "bus" speeds, even if you hop them up with cpu upgrades and such. Very expensive once upon a time and now, basically obselete. (sorry)
(I'm really surprised nobdy else caught this...)
(I'm really surprised nobdy else caught this...)
I also thought of the battery. But, it would be easier to do the other things before tearing into a 9600. Those batteries are pretty expensive for what they are, and difficult to find (Radio Shack has them).
And, strangly, in all of my years of doing Mac stuff, I have NEVER had to replace one, even with some machines being the original PowerMacs.
...and now, basically obselete. (sorry)
Now that is not very nice thing to say. Old Macs never die! (BTW, We are still using an 8500 in our biz.)
Reminds me of Cartalk :)
We have Debian on an old mac clone-- a PPC of some sort that couldn't upgrade beyond os 8 something... I don't know specs, as I'm not the macgeek, my boyfriend is. He tore the thing apart and put it back together and brought it back from death to be... well, now it's quite a decent little server; our DSL's upload speed is pretty slow so it doesn't matter if the server's ancient.
So there's nothing wrong with an old machine like that! Hope you can get it to work.
I just switched from a Win2K box to a brand new shiny iMac, myself. Got it on Saturday. Am having a BLAST. Computers are FUN again. My only regret is that I don't have time to listen to the 7 days of music in my iTunes playlist...
So now we have an all-Mac (hardware) network. Yay!
And we just got a wireless card that works on the old Newton. Sweet. :-)
Reminds me of Cartalk
But now, it's WIRELESS! Wow.
He's a silly dork, but I can understand his enthusiasm. :D
But seriously...
In most settings, Macs don't sit unplugged for long periods of time. Public schools with summer breaks are an exception, hence why I've seen it so many times and most people haven't. I've also bought Macs from auctions where surplus stuff has sometimes been sitting (unplugged) for long periods and have run into the same issue. Heat is also an issue. Some of those school rooms, when they're closed up but not airconditioned will hit 100+F and stay there for long periods of time.
As to how hard it is to change a 9600 battery, well, that's relative. Compared to my G4, the 9600 is WAY harder- compared to my "Baby ATX mini-tower" PC.... it's a walk in the park! (you knew that)
But then, I think taking apart old iMacs is easy, too. [I know, I know I'm wierd.]
But in this case, I don't think there's any choice.
And it's certainly true that "obselete" is in the needs of the user. My kids use a derelict 7600 that I put a G3 CPU upgrade card into on a whim and they think it's OK.
eMates? Newtons? Whoa! Now there's a trip down memory lane. With wireless cards? Hmmn... maybe I'm not so weird after all (;-})
what are your thoughts on maybe loose RAM?
If it were loose RAM, I think that it would try to start up but instead of hearing a "chord' on start-up, you'd hear one of the "Chimes of Death." (if I remember correctly) I forget the pattern that indicates "no memory" but it's single tones and pretty easy to recognize.
This is a novice mac user techy question.So, it may be difficult for Barleycorn.
If you have tried everything else, Barleycorn, go get a battery and dig in...we can help you out!
He got his on eBay and since doing so has found that there are absolutely fanatical people with these things. He went to the Genius Bar at the local Apple store and the guy said he couldn't offer any advice, but he did have a buddy who ran an online support group for Newton users. Yowza. They've even printed up their own t-shirts. And yes, there's an entire site devoted to downloadable free drivers for wireless cards that work in Newtons. Amazing.
Was it the battery after all? I'm quite curious to hear about the fate of this old computer. :D
Bodine makes the point that Barleycorn said he was a novice and changing the battery might be a toughie. Well, that certainly might be true, but without having me hands on the thing, dead battery is my best guess to fit the syptoms and circumstances.
One of the schools hwere I used to work had 9500 and 9600s in the yearbook which were replaced with G3 and G4s. One of the 9600's got stashed and maybe two or three years later I was asked to revive it and evalaute adding a processor upgrade. This was motivated mostly becuase the machine had cost a BUNDLE when new (really- those buggers were expensive!) and they were built to be expandable and upgradeable.
Which they were- for their time.
After much research, testing and deep pondering, I concluded that they could get more bang for their buck (and spend less dough) getting a basic G4. We all forget that although new Macs cost more than a Wal-mart PC (they should!) Macs today cost less than they used to, even before adjusting for inflation.
Even if you install a processor upgrade card, the logic board is REALLY slow by current standards. The drives were miniscule (by today's standards) and expensive SCSI units to boot. The price for that old RAM (SIMMs, not DIMMs) is pretty high. By the time we did that stuff, we could buy a new G4 (at school prices) that would kick it's butt.
I love using tools and machines until they drop, but Moore's Law just screws that up for computers.
"Eppie Morrie"
(Heroine of an Old Scotch ballad)
(It's one of the "Child Ballads" see lyrics at [karancasey.com...]
my favorite recorded version of late. it's got everything: Sex, Violence, Mystery.... Who says modern music is so shocking?)
Chroi gan eagal.
