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#1 2007-11-27 1:15 pm
- PorkChop
- Member
- Registered: 2007-07-26
- Posts: 12
Power outtage during firmware update on Imac DV
So I got this 400mhz DV OS9 machine for my kids. I was upgrading the firmware when the power went out. Now the machine is doing all kinds of crazy stuff. If I hit the power button, sometimes the green LED will turn on and nothing else happens. Sometimes the drive starts spinning and the machine sounds like it's going to boot but the monitor doesn't turn on. If I get lucky and get the machine to sound like it's turned on and I hold the power button, the machine goes to what seems like sleeping (orange pulsing power button) if I hit the power button again the screen turns on, and it shows the desktop. But the desktop is shifted to left and a large portion of the desktop is off screen. I have tried resetting the PRAM, NVRAM. I have tried booting from CD, I have tried running the disk utility, I have tried botting into open firmware. Nothing is helping. Any suggestions?
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#2 2007-11-27 1:57 pm
- dvpierce
- Negusa Negest
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- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 16888
Re: Power outtage during firmware update on Imac DV
The firmware is hosed.
Swap in a new motherboard.
A new iMac DV should cost less than a Playstation 2.
I don't know what your financial situation is - but if your school district is like mine, they're trashing 400 MHz iMac DVs by the truckload. Maybe you can claim poverty and see if the librarian will let one fall off the truck. 
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#3 2007-11-27 1:58 pm
- dvpierce
- Negusa Negest
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Re: Power outtage during firmware update on Imac DV
This is also a useful introduction to the "if it ain't broke" principle as it applies to Macs. Since a 400 MHz machine is far too slow to be running OS X, I suspect you didn't really need to do the firmware upgrade.
You're not the only one whose made mistakes like that. Live and learn. 
::dvpierce does the secret guys-who-smurfed-up-computers-on-accident handshake::
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#4 2007-12-03 8:13 am
- mrreet2001
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- From: NW Ohio
- Registered: 2005-05-25
- Posts: 2656
Re: Power outtage during firmware update on Imac DV
dvpierce wrote:
. Since a 400 MHz machine is far too slow to be running OS X
a 400 mhz imac with 128 or more mem ... will run up to 10.3 just fine
2.2Ghz BlackMB---15" 2.4Ghz MBP(work)---Dual 2.3Ghz G5 (4G Ram, 2x 250G HD)---1.5GHz Powerbook---1.6Ghz G5 iMac ---500Mhz iMac DV
2.4GHz PC --- 1.2Ghz PC laptop
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#5 2007-12-03 8:20 am
- iMan
- New from Apple, the iMan!
- From: Maine, USA
- Registered: 2007-07-22
- Posts: 582
Re: Power outtage during firmware update on Imac DV
mrreet2001 wrote:
dvpierce wrote:
. Since a 400 MHz machine is far too slow to be running OS X
a 400 mhz imac with 128 or more mem ... will run up to 10.3 just fine
I ran a iBook G3 800 with 128 memory with 10.2 as my main machine for almost half a year.
iMac G5 iSight 1.9GHz 17" main widescreen + 17" regular 2.5 GB of RAM
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#6 2007-12-03 10:19 am
- dvpierce
- Negusa Negest
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Re: Power outtage during firmware update on Imac DV
Fine is relative. I have a lab of 500 MHz iMacs with 128 MBs of RAM running OS 10.3 and 10.4. As far as I'm concerned, it's unusable. You can beat your head with a hammer in the name of mac-awesomeness if you want. I'll just use OS 9.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#7 2007-12-03 6:32 pm
- mrreet2001
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- From: NW Ohio
- Registered: 2005-05-25
- Posts: 2656
Re: Power outtage during firmware update on Imac DV
dvpierce wrote:
Fine is relative. I have a lab of 500 MHz iMacs with 128 MBs of RAM running OS 10.3 and 10.4. As far as I'm concerned, it's unusable. You can beat your head with a hammer in the name of mac-awesomeness if you want. I'll just use OS 9.
might be a little slow but for word prossesing and basic internet ... come on head beating ... i dont' think so
2.2Ghz BlackMB---15" 2.4Ghz MBP(work)---Dual 2.3Ghz G5 (4G Ram, 2x 250G HD)---1.5GHz Powerbook---1.6Ghz G5 iMac ---500Mhz iMac DV
2.4GHz PC --- 1.2Ghz PC laptop
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#8 2007-12-03 7:41 pm
- dvpierce
- Negusa Negest
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- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
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Re: Power outtage during firmware update on Imac DV
mrreet2001 wrote:
dvpierce wrote:
Fine is relative. I have a lab of 500 MHz iMacs with 128 MBs of RAM running OS 10.3 and 10.4. As far as I'm concerned, it's unusable. You can beat your head with a hammer in the name of mac-awesomeness if you want. I'll just use OS 9.
might be a little slow but for word prossesing and basic internet ... come on head beating ... i dont' think so
MS Word or TextEdit?
Office 2004 crosses the line into head-beating.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#9 2007-12-03 8:52 pm
- thelegendofjohn
- I know.
- From: A Basement On The Hill.
- Registered: 2006-08-20
- Posts: 1385
Re: Power outtage during firmware update on Imac DV
dvpierce wrote:
mrreet2001 wrote:
dvpierce wrote:
Fine is relative. I have a lab of 500 MHz iMacs with 128 MBs of RAM running OS 10.3 and 10.4. As far as I'm concerned, it's unusable. You can beat your head with a hammer in the name of mac-awesomeness if you want. I'll just use OS 9.
might be a little slow but for word prossesing and basic internet ... come on head beating ... i dont' think so
MS Word or TextEdit?
Office 2004 crosses the line into head-beating.
I would argue that's true on even the newest Macs. 
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#10 2007-12-04 1:43 pm
- dvpierce
- Negusa Negest
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Re: Power outtage during firmware update on Imac DV
thelegendofjohn wrote:
dvpierce wrote:
mrreet2001 wrote:
might be a little slow but for word prossesing and basic internet ... come on head beating ... i dont' think soMS Word or TextEdit?
Office 2004 crosses the line into head-beating.I would argue that's true on even the newest Macs.
I was considering writing just that, but decided it would come across as too much curmudgeon in too short a post. 
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#11 2007-12-11 2:43 pm
- sonnymoon42
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- Registered: 2006-02-28
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Re: Power outtage during firmware update on Imac DV
I wonder if you could just try doing the firmware update again. I tried to do the update, and it failed (due to my own ineptitude, not a power outage) so I went through the sequence again and it worked.
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#12 2007-12-11 11:41 pm
- dvpierce
- Negusa Negest
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- Registered: 1999-08-30
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Re: Power outtage during firmware update on Imac DV
sonnymoon42 wrote:
I wonder if you could just try doing the firmware update again. I tried to do the update, and it failed (due to my own ineptitude, not a power outage) so I went through the sequence again and it worked.
Depends - you have to have the machine booted in order to install it, right?
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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