Switching on a Dual 1GHz G4 with 2 cinema displays

Merrie wrote:
> It probably does, but my problem is that this G4 does not have a
> startup button. I have been using the startup button on the 17in
> studio display attached to my old graphics card, a GeForce Ti 4600
> (my other screen on this is the 23in Cinema display).

There's no round button on the front of this G4 that when pressed powers it on? What model is it?

David Ross

I have just discovered that my Mac is called a mirrored drive door
and that button just above the CD player is a non-functioning
switch! It has never worked - so, not looking at it properly - I
thought it must therefore be a decoration. Until now a lack of a
switch on my G4 body did not bother me because I could always use the
power-on button on the Studio Display.

I am taking my Mac to the local Apple repair people, so hopefully all
will be working this afternoon.

Thx David.

am 21.02.2008 11:05 Uhr schrieb tidbits-talktidbits.com unter
tidbits-talktidbits.com:

> I have just discovered that my Mac is called a mirrored drive door
> and that button just above the CD player is a non-functioning
> switch! It has never worked -

Well, then something is definitely broken. For the lack of a monitor with
"power on" switch, I switch my G4 MDD on with this switch since the day I
got it. Worked flawlessly ever since.

One has to press and hold the switch, too, when the Mac freezes to get it to
shut down.

Maybe there's a broken wire somewhere, so the Apple repair people ougtha fix
it right away...

Udo

On Feb 21, 2008, at 12:47 AM, Merrie wrote:

> I have just discovered that my Mac is called a mirrored drive door
> and that button just above the CD player is a non-functioning
> switch! It has never worked - so, not looking at it properly - I
> thought it must therefore be a decoration. Until now a lack of a
> switch on my G4 body did not bother me because I could always use the
> power-on button on the Studio Display.
>
> I am taking my Mac to the local Apple repair people, so hopefully all
> will be working this afternoon.
>
> Thx David.

I also have this model and have a very similar situation. I've always
switched the Mac on via the monitor, but I recently bought a new Mac
and relegated this one to be a server. As such, I run it without
monitor or keyboard and access it remotely. Because of that I had to
start using the button on the computer itself. I found that it often
didn't work. I tried pressing it quickly, and also the press and hold
method (I never remember how these buttons are supposed to behave).

I found through experimentation that if I unplug the power cord, then
plug it back in immediately, the button then works. So far, that has
worked every time. Not an ideal situation, but I don't have to start
it this way very often. This may or may not help you, but it's worth a
try.

Roddy

Hi Merrie,

Hope this isn't too late, I have a similar 1.25 GHz MDD Mac and had similar problems with the power button above the optical drive doors. I also used the startup switch on my 23 in. HD Cinema display.

But many of these MDD PowerMacs had buttons that would not respond to a direct, centered push on the button and it was an issue about 5 years ago. I had AppleCare on the machine and the following was explained as the "cure" by the Apple Service rep.

What worked was pushing the TOP of the button angled between the 9 and 12 o'clock position (like a rocker switch) - left of noon. Try experimenting with that - push and hold at the angled position until you're powered on or off (about 4-5 seconds) - if the position isn't right, vary it slightly to the left or right - but be sure you're pushing the top of the button as you would a rocker switch - not just pressing in the center of the button.

And if your button was put in upside down, maybe one of the bottom quadrants might work. Can't hurt to play with it.

Hope this helps

MartyP

I too have a PowerMac G4 MDD and a third-party display, so I use the power button on the Mac. I have to do the same thing that MartyP described. For what it's worth, here's the original Apple Support article about this issue:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86337

-J