Forums | MacLife
You are not logged in.
#1 2009-09-04 8:57 pm
- tjlean
- Member
- Registered: 2001-02-14
- Posts: 224
Battery or ram problem?
I have a 1.25 G4 Powermac MDD which I installed 2 512 Ram from OWC a few days ago. Today I put it to sleep and when I wanted to wake it up I noticed that the power was out. When I press the power button it will not start up. I decided to pull out all the usb and firewire that was connected to the computer, opened it up and kind of move the battery around. And when I powered it up, it work. My question is was it the memory or the battery that's causing it? How can you tell if there's something wrong with the memory? Thanks.
Last edited by tjlean (2009-09-05 1:13 am)
Offline
#2 2009-09-04 10:11 pm
- gd
- Junior Member
- Registered: 2009-04-06
- Posts: 775
Re: Battery or ram problem?
Are you talking about a laptop? If it is then all you really needed to do is connect the charger and it would have taken around 30 seconds to wake up from sleep mode. I have seen the same happen to my MBA and it happens because the battery charge drops to 0.
Online
#3 2009-09-05 1:13 am
- tjlean
- Member
- Registered: 2001-02-14
- Posts: 224
Re: Battery or ram problem?
No it's a G4 Tower Mirror Double Door and I'm talking about the small battery that keeps the Date and Time.
Offline
#4 2009-09-05 7:21 am
- Nefarious
- Tuning Fork
- Moderator
- From: 45°22"N 84°57"W
- Registered: 2002-09-30
- Posts: 7998
Re: Battery or ram problem?
It sounds like the PRAM battery to me.
Offline
#5 2009-09-05 8:15 am
- jerwin
- Sophist
- From: The Garden of Pure Ideology
- Registered: 2003-01-01
- Posts: 7058
Re: Battery or ram problem?
I have a similar problem with my machine, as though one of the cables is loosened by closing the side panel.
Some subjects actually enjoy pain, and withhold information they might otherwise have divulged in order to be punished.
Central Intelligence Agency. (1983). Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual
Offline
#6 2009-09-05 10:19 am
- gd
- Junior Member
- Registered: 2009-04-06
- Posts: 775
Re: Battery or ram problem?
You mean the CMOS memory battery. I think you can buy those at walgreens for around a couple of bucks. Replace it and tell us what happens. Or replace for the one in your watch if it has the same specfications. That should save you a trip to the store and you can also isolate your problem.
Last edited by gd (2009-09-05 10:22 am)
Online
#7 2009-09-05 10:53 am
Re: Battery or ram problem?
I have the same desktop G4 MDD and also have replaced the battery and added RAMs, both from OWC. It turned out that I got the defective RAMs that messed up the HD. So I returned the RAMs. The battery was OK. My suggestions are:
(1) if battery is the problem , it will mess up your date and time; and
(2) if RAM is the problem, check "memory" on System Profiler side bar and use the freeware: "Rember" to find out which RAM is defective.
Good luck!
<BR>
Offline
#8 2009-09-05 12:14 pm
- tjlean
- Member
- Registered: 2001-02-14
- Posts: 224
Re: Battery or ram problem?
I bought a new battery and it stilll shut down when I put it to sleep after a few minutes and will not power up. In order for me to have power I have to wiggle the battery a little bit yet this is a new battery. Mitstoshi I ran the Rember test 1 loop and it log pass although I suspect that it's still the memory. Would you suggest I ran it more than once? Did you get a replacement from OWC again or did you just returned it?
Offline
#9 2009-09-05 1:09 pm
- mrreet2001
- Member
- From: NW Ohio
- Registered: 2005-05-25
- Posts: 4334
- Website
Re: Battery or ram problem?
gd wrote:
You mean the CMOS memory battery. I think you can buy those at walgreens for around a couple of bucks. Replace it and tell us what happens. Or replace for the one in your watch if it has the same specfications. That should save you a trip to the store and you can also isolate your problem.
On a mac it's called the PRAM battery.
... And I would like to see your watch:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20 … AA36VPRAM/
2.66Ghz QuadCore-Nehalem w/24"LED CD ---2.2Ghz BlackMB---15" 2.4Ghz MBP(work)
Dual 2.3Ghz G5 (4G Ram, 2x 250G HD)(10.5 server)--- 400Mhz G4 PM (10.4 Server)
1.5GHz Powerbook---1.6Ghz G5 iMac
"So he fels down in a poisoning gas."
Offline
#10 2009-09-05 4:56 pm
Re: Battery or ram problem?
tjlean, Did you get the battery from OWC? I suspect it was defective and should return it for replacement. As far as the memory, did you check System Profiler Side Bar? It should indicate that : memory status OK (if you are running 10.4.11). Since you have 2 RAM modules, change their slot positions or try to remove one at the time or both memory and see if the battery give you the problem. However, you should resolve the battery problem before the memory. After the battery is OK, then rerun the Rember. By the way, I also got 2 512 MB and both were defective that I decided not to get the replacement.
<BR>
Offline
#11 2009-09-06 2:02 pm
- gd
- Junior Member
- Registered: 2009-04-06
- Posts: 775
Re: Battery or ram problem?
Huh. When I opened up the old HP it was identical to the one on mom's watch. I guess even the internal hardware changes a lot in the mac transition. Why do they call it PRAM?
Online
#13 2009-09-07 8:17 pm
- tjlean
- Member
- Registered: 2001-02-14
- Posts: 224
Re: Battery or ram problem?
Gd, I got the battery from Radio shack, the rams from OWC. I removed the new rams and tested the computer. All is well. Put them back one at a time, tested it, everything went well. Removed, put the other one in, no more problem. Put them all back and ... all is well too??? so far. Went to Mac genius and they're also baffled. All they can say is could be that the battery connection is loose. If it's the PRAM battery why does it give you so much problem?
Offline
