Power PC 5400/180 stopped booting?

[AmiXDel]

Ok, picked up a Power PC 5400/180 for free from my friend. He got it for 5 bucks with no keyboard or mouse. So he hooked up a spare Keyboard and Mouse, turned it on, and it booted and stayed on for 10 minutes then died. So he gave it to me, and now I'm pulling out hair trying to get this piece of crap to work.

 First off I tore the thing apart, checked the fuse on the power pack, and it did not appear to be blown. The RAM and all cables were plugged into there place, and double checked. I could not get to the CD-ROM or Hard Drive, because Apple is (artistic) and builds there crap like a Rubix cube, making it impossible for someone to figure out how to fully dis-assemble and upgrade there hardware themselves.

 I put it all back together, turned the power switch on in the back...

...nothing, hit a bunch of keys on the keyboard (because it is artistic not to label the power button as a power button)...

...nothing.

 So I wonder, if the Rayovoc battery on the mother board is dead, would it cause it to act like this?

 I really want this running since it will run BeOS.

Thankx in advanced for any help.

P.S. Are there manuals on-line in PDF format or something that shows how to fully take these pieces of artistic crap apart?

[adolescent]

Check the Apple library.  There's lots of information there.  Here's a PowerMac 5400 manual, but it's not a service manual, so it doesn't have repair or complete disassembly instructions.

http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Manuals/desktops/0307926APM5400UM.PDF

I'd guess that the battery is pretty important.  It saves the the machines NVRAM and would probably have device information, etc. in it.

[evilrich]

Hi AmiXDel

So I wonder, if the Rayovoc battery on the mother board is dead, would it cause it to act like this?

It may be that battery is okay but the NVRAM is corrupt. While powering on, try holding down Command, Option, P, and R key until you hear the chime. This is known in Mac parlance as "Zapping the PRAM". ;-)

If you don't hear the chime, then pull out the motherboard and press the Cuda reset switch. It's a tiny push-button switch on the mobo (look in the 5400 user's manual online if you can't find it). This does a fuller job of resetting the NVRAM than the above key combination. Re-insert the mobo and try again.

If that doesn't work, take out the mobo, remove the battery, and leave the mobo for an hour or so. Plug the battery back in, put the mobo back in, and try again.

If after that it still doesn't work, then replacing the battery probably won't make a difference. The machine should boot - even without a PRAM battery.

I have a 5400 (actually it has a 6500 mobo now), and in my experience it's really picky about its PRAM state. When the battery runs down, I get all sorts of weird problems, such as PCI cards reporting wrong PCI IDs, etc. I have had PRAM corruptions that even hitting the Cuda button won't fix, but taking the mobo out and letting it discharge generally fixes the problem.

Having said all that, the 5400 IMHO is a great piece of hardware. I ran Linux on mine for several years. I upgraded  it recently with the mobo from a 6500 (250MHz 603e plus ATI Rage-II gfx - you can get these quite cheaply if you pay attention on eBay). My daughter now uses it.

Cheers,
Rich

[Ilwrath]

So he hooked up a spare Keyboard and Mouse, turned it on, and it booted and stayed on for 10 minutes then died.

They WERE Macintosh ADP keyboard and mouse, right?  Other things might fit in various ports, but they won't work, and could probably cause damage.

I put it all back together, turned the power switch on in the back...

...nothing, hit a bunch of keys on the keyboard (because it is artistic not to label the power button as a power button)...

...nothing.

Yeah, the power switch on the back must be on, and then you soft-power up the machine from the keyboard.  On the Mac ADP keyboard, the power button has a triangle on it.  Hold it for a second or so.

Most Macs also have a power button (marked with an (I) symbol) on the front of the machine somewhere, as well.  My old junky 7200 has one on the front-left of the case, somewhat hidden under an overhang.  Again hold the button in for a second or so.

So I wonder, if the Rayovoc battery on the mother board is dead, would it cause it to act like this?

It will cause the Mac not to boot properly, but IIRC, it'll do the "Dead Mac Bong", rather than being completely unresponsive.

[AmiXDel]

Ok, ya tried all those tricks, thankx still nothing.

Unplugged Battery, hit reset button on mobo, tried to power up holding the 4 key combo, etc. It's still dead as a door knob.

I'd have to assume the power pack is dead then?