Odds and Ends: A PowerMac G4 reset button rescue story

A PowerMac G4 reset button rescue story We've reported several times in the past that resetting a Mac's logic board can sometimes revive a system that will not turn on.

As explained by Knowledge Base article #95066, "Whenever you have a Power Macintosh G4 (PCI Graphics) computer that fails to power up, you should follow this procedure before replacing any modules. This article explains how to reset the logic board on the Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics)."

MacFixIt reader Claudia Lynch recently wrote in with a prime example of when this procedure can come in handy:

"My sister called in a panic yesterday because her G4 had evidently died in a thunderstorm power surge. No power, no chimes, no nothing. [...] she had already tried all the obvious fixes like re-plugging all the cables etc. Just when we thought she was going to have to purchase a new computer and lose a day driving to Salt Lake City from her home in Idaho to try and get somebody to retrieve her files, I remembered that I'd had a similar problem about a year ago.

"The only thing I could recall was that it had happened around the time I'd upgraded my processor, and that the tech geeks at PowerLogix had been very, very helpful and had really stuck with the problem until we had completely fixed it (turned out they'd sent me a faulty processor, but the cheerfully exchanged it and the whole problem was solved). I suggested that she call them and offer to pay for some over-the-phone on-the-side technical assistance, which was bound to be a million times better than any advice she'd receive from Apple. While we were talking, I opened up my computer to see if anything inside rang a bell (or a chime, as it were). I said, "Well, this probably won't do anything, but see if you can find your Reset button. I had to push it to reset the date and time after I replaced the processor, and maybe it resets other things as well." It took her a few minutes to locate her Reset button (you'd think they'd label it, wouldn't you?), then suddenly we heard the sweet, sweet sound of the opening chimes."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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