I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 21, 2003 1:50 AM |
esmith |
My Power Tower Pro has become unstable: 1. It no longer recognizes all the ram when all the slots are full, even though this ram is recognized by my 7500... 2. It does not want to boot into OS 9 or OS 8.1 and goes straight into OS X despite numerous changes to Startup Disk... 3. My HD is showing signs of corruption (a volume disappeared) 4. It repeatedly freezes more than ever before even with a fresh system... 5. I have changed the processor, but the freezing continued... I hate throwing it away... but what to do... |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 24, 2003 1:03 PM |
marcush |
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Make sure it is a Power Computing and not an Apple cache chip. The next thing I would look at would be the power supply as mjoecups358 suggests. |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 24, 2003 12:27 PM |
mjoecups358 |
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I think the L2 cache thing is a red herring. Your problem lies elsewhere. If you insist on trying the L2 cache thing, I have scads of them laying around here, so let me know and I will be happy to mail you one... Marty |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 24, 2003 11:40 AM |
marcush |
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That is correct. It is worth a try at least as long as the seller does not want too much for it. |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 23, 2003 9:46 PM |
esmith |
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So... A while back I did an inventory "clean" and disposed of the L2 cache... I see one on ebay "Power Computing 1 mb Cache for 604 machines" I gather that is the one that I want... Ed |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 23, 2003 3:06 PM |
marcush |
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You should check out the Xlr8yourmac cpu upgrades database for tips here. I had instability problems with my PTP and an XLR8 G4/450. Another poster came up with the solution, which was to reinstall the original Power Computing L2 cache. It is counterintuitive but it worked for me as well. I was able to reinterleave all of my RAM (8x128MB) and got a performance boost also. Mike Breeden theorized that the Power Computing L2, which was higher spec'd than what Apple used at the time provided a buffer between the processor and main memory. I ran with this configuration for several months before I upgraded to the Sonnet G4/800. Using a cache control software the cache is disabled automatically but it still seems to provide the same benefit whether it is active or not. I have had problems running some games like ST Voyager: Elite Force wich would lock up the computer after a about 10 minutes. I recently reinstalled my original L2 cache again and the lock up problem has gone away. I'm still using the Sonnet kexts to enable the caches on the G4/800 and have seen no performance impact at all. I think this is worth a try for you. If you still don't want the your PTP give it to me. I'll pay for the shipping. I'm convinced that there is nothing seriously wrong with it. |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 22, 2003 3:38 PM |
macguruguy |
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That is, IF you can get it to boot into OS 9! |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 22, 2003 3:37 PM |
macguruguy |
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Boot into OS 9. Set XPostFacto to Single User mode. Boot into OS X. The system will load and then pause. Type "fsck" and let it run. After it is complete type reboot and hold your option key down until you boot back into OS 9. Then open XPostFacto and unselect Single User mode. I have found that this works better than any diagnostics program, although my PowerTower Pro still has problems, but before I couldn't even boot properly -- and now I can. |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 22, 2003 11:37 AM |
mjoecups358 |
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Changing the Battery is a good idea, although your problems do sound strange. Power supply is another strong possibility.... Marty Usually to test processors (or systems) I run the Altivec fractal demo, and iTunes playing music at the same time. This gets the system HOT and usually if there is going to be a failure, you'll see it withing 1/2 hour. |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 22, 2003 2:43 AM |
esmith |
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Just changing the processor did not work. They system became unstable after a few hours. I was able to back up all my essential data. I transferred everything to my 8500 and things are stable now. Ran Disk First Aid and Tech Tools... This may be the end of the Power Tower Pro. Gave me several years of good service. Thanks for your help. Hopefully everything will work properly now. |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 21, 2003 3:14 PM |
esmith |
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I did a disk repair on my 7500... Had to zap the OS X partition AND the OS 8.1 partition... changed the processor from my Met@box to a Xlr8 with ZIF... reinstalled OS 8.1 (which I need for a very particular purpose) Were there problems with the Met@box processors... I know they are out of business now but... Over all, things seem to be fine now... Although it still does not like all the RAM slots to be filled. (with 8 128 meg ram modules) What should I run on it to test the processor... How long should I wait? |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 21, 2003 1:53 PM |
voxxdigital |
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I already had a similar problem... it was a hard disk physical failure. I'm currently using the faulty drive as a weight to hold my door (it caused me so much headache that I'm considering to use it as a target for shooting practice). Back up your data ASAP, if possible using a software that would copy your data instead of trying to fix the HD (i.e. screwing it even more) - I'd suggest DataRescue. Try using a new hard drive if you can, or a known trustable HD, just in case. And checking the battery would be a nice idea. P.S.: I had a problem like this also with a brand new SCSI drive, and the problem was termination. You know how tricky SCSI can be with improper termination or jumper settings. The strap "termination power" does not mean "internal termination on". My solution was to plug a terminator on the internal SCSI flat cable. |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 21, 2003 1:41 PM |
marcush |
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Try running a disk utility such as Disk Warrior before giving up on it. It sounds like your problem may be disk damage. |
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RE: I think my Power Tower Pro is EOL |
September, 21, 2003 3:17 AM |
kilajamo |
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I hardly dare mention it but... empty battery? Just a wild guess. |