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IMac G5 Randomly Falling Asleep
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TOPIC: IMac G5 Randomly Falling Asleep

IMac G5 Randomly Falling Asleep 13 years, 11 months ago #869

As the Title states. My computer is randomly falling asleep. It will work sporadically for hours, or for 10 minutes. Once it has fallen asleep, upon awakening, the computer will only work for roughly 3-5 minutes. It will fall asleep and slowly degenerate to the point where it will try to wake up, but fall asleep before it can. It does this during Active use. My Sleep is set to "Never" on my Energy Saver. (It is unnecessary because It doesn't stay on that long regardless) I've had this issue for roughly 5 months but it has gotten to the point where the computer is nearly unusable. I've had this computer since 2005 of December.

System: 10.4.11
Processor: 2.1 GHz PowerPC G5
Memory: 2.5 GB DDR2 SDRAM (Upgraded from the original 512)
Video: ATI Radeon X600 XT

Currently my Fan speeds are...
Optical Drive: 1227 rpm
CPU: 3600 rpm
Hard Drive: 1449 rpm

My Temperatures read...
CPU: 151º
GPU: 158º
Incoming Air: 94º

Things I've Tried. Resetting The PRAM. Resetting the SMC. Opening the Mac up and clearing al visible dust. (Though there is still dust I was not able to get to.) Reformatting. All of which seems to only stall the issue or temporarily solve. It seems as though when these symptoms dissipate, it is only a matter of a month or so before the issues come back.


I have no error logs of this. Is there a way I can obtain them?

Any help or technical input would be greatly appreciated. I don't really have too much money to talk to an apple representative or to bring it in. I'm looking for a home fix. I've got the tools and I can navigate through the computer hardware and software fairly well. But I'm stuck. Please help!

Re:IMac G5 Randomly Falling Asleep 13 years, 11 months ago #871

When you say your iMac goes to sleep, what happens exactly? In other words, when it goes to sleep by itself, what is different from when you tell it to go to sleep?

For example, when I tell my PowerMac G5 to go to sleep, I get a pulsating power light. What does your Mac do?

Or try seeing what happens if you boot the iMac off of the OS X install DVD. Will it go to sleep then? Try removing the hard drive (if you can) for this.

Have you tried running the Apple Hardware Test on the OS X install DVD that came with the iMac?

I had to bring my G5 into the Apple Store this weekend due to it not booting up anymore. The Concierge at the Genius Bar told me that Apple only makes replacement parts for up to 5 years (if I understood him correctly). So, Apple couldn't help me on parts (as they suspect it's a motherboard issue). The closest Apple Authorized repair facility (which I called up today) said they probably couldn't get a motherboard either.

My G5 is a first generation machine from 2004, and is considered "vintage", so I'm kinda on my own now. My point is - you could be stuck like me, with no real support options besides outside help. Great, now I'm just depressing myself...

Re:IMac G5 Randomly Falling Asleep 13 years, 11 months ago #872

Squirrel: I got a replacement mobo for my PowerMac 8500 on ebay in 2005 for less than the cost of shipping. You might try similar unofficial sources, if you don't mind doing the work yourself.
Last Edit: 13 years, 11 months ago by seanstar.

Re:IMac G5 Randomly Falling Asleep 13 years, 11 months ago #873

seanstar: Thanks, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I saw a few mobos with a quick look on eBay, but I'm going to remove the current mobo to give it a once over first. Hopefully I can get the right part number, since there were like 5 releases of the G5.

It reminds me of a saying I've heard about car mechanics: they'll work on all the cars in the neighborhood but their own. I work on other people's machines all the time, but when it comes to my own, I just turn stupid...

Re:IMac G5 Randomly Falling Asleep 13 years, 11 months ago #877

Unfortunately I'm not sure how to go about fixing this particular issue but it's not the first I've heard of with these. My old iMac G5 17" (iSight) had a series of very peculiar problems including some sort of weird display failure which could sporadically be fixed by connecting an extra display

In fact, that actually fixed the display for such a long period of time that I'd updated it to 10.5 and sorted it out to sell to my parents. It then proceeded to completely die - something to do with the motherboard, all troubleshooting checks and diagnostics seemed to point to this. This managed to happen before they got back from holiday so they never actually saw it!

Similar problems also occurred to a friend of mine and Apple ended up charging him an arm and a leg to fix it. I'd have one last check over all the Macrumors forums and see if anyone here can help. Otherwise it could be costly/fiddly depending on how you decide to go about it!
Last Edit: 13 years, 11 months ago by dickmedd. Reason: grammar!

Re:IMac G5 Randomly Falling Asleep 13 years, 11 months ago #879

My iMac G5 eventually started experiencing display issues, and I missed the recall date -- so I sold it on craigslist and got a core 2 duo. Interestingly, I sold my previous G3 on Craigslist as well just as its slot load drive was giving up. I sold my prior mac on eBay just as the CPU accelerator was dying. The previous one I gave away to a good home, and as far as I know, it still works (I actually caught the recall on that one -- loose solder on the crt).

Anyway, I've finally given up on PowerPC, and I'm not all that upset about it.

Re:IMac G5 Randomly Falling Asleep 13 years, 11 months ago #880

Thank you all for the input. It seems as though with age, this machine is meant to go down the proverbial shit-hole. Without finding rare (possibly dysfunctional) parts to augment the machine, the mother-board, processor, display, all the parts together have aged to the point of no return. I suppose at this point, All I can do is continue with my maintenance and upkeep until it dies. The only truly viable option is to perhaps hook up another display to it. But I don't believe the issue is solely in the display. Although, Im sure other options will seem much more viable when the thing won't boot up.

When I say it goes to sleep during use. I literally mean sleep mode. The light pulsates, the whole 9 yards. Sometimes right before this happens, the fans will kick up to jet speed and break the sound barrier. (very fast and loud) Also... There was a recall date?

How much were you able to sell your IMac G5 for on craigslist for?

Re:IMac G5 Randomly Falling Asleep 13 years, 11 months ago #881

Dean Jay Jackman Jr wrote:
Sometimes right before this happens, the fans will kick up to jet speed and break the sound barrier. (very fast and loud)


Mine did A LOT of that before it died!

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