Mac Freezes Mouse Keyboard but Desktop is still showing on Display

[RLRL]

Having random issues with an my old G5. It is freezing, I can not move the mouse or use the keyboard. However, the desktop is on the display.

Ran Hardware test, and Mac passed. G5 does not appear to have a temperature issue.

Booted in safe mode and after a hour or so no freezes.

Comments.

 

[DeltaMac]

Do you only lose mouse and keyboard, but the system seems to continue to work (does the clock continue to run?)
Can you keep your Activity Monitor running? Make sure it is displaying "All Processes" and not just "My Processes"
That may show you if any process stops responding (and which one does that)

If I had your problem, I would likely try reinstalling the system (using the option of "Archive & Install)

 

[RLRL]

Thanks for responding. Since starting up in safe mode I have not had a system freeze. Also what I forgot to mention is that I use screen sharing at times and with G5 freezes lose of the network connection, although the router shows the G6 has online.

Does anyone have the running temperature specs for this machine. Can not find them anywhere. The Temp monitor app on the G5 measures about 5 temperature reading senors.

Thanks

 

[RLRL]

What exactly does "Archive and Install" do if I reinstall the OS. There are still few apps I use on the G5.

Where is the Archive?

Thanks

 

[DeltaMac]

"Archive & Install" is an option available in a Leopard system reinstall. The "archive" is created during the install when you choose that option.
The purpose for that option is to provide a safe reinstall of the system files, without disturbing the rest of your own apps and files/pictures/music/etc.

 

[RLRL]

I ran the ASD advanced test disc and the system passed all tests. Still getting intermittent freezes, the clock stops running.

It appears that there is nothing wrong with the hardware. The system is loaded with apps both I only use one of them a classic app called MacMoney. It appears the only thing left for me to do is reload the OS.

Comments,

Thank you for the feedback.

 

[RLRL]

Another question, I have all the applications on the G5 for OS X, and Classic backed up to a flash drive, also to a NAS drive.

If I do a complete reinstall will I be able to move those apps to the reinstalled OS Tiger, and Classic. Is backing up the Applications folder enough to restore all the apps.

 

[DeltaMac]

I prefer just doing a reinstall, so I don't do a backup just for that.
Don't misunderstand - I do not mean that I don't have a full backup - of course, that's important in any event. I just don't erase the drive and start over, just to try a system reinstall. My choice is to boot to the (Tiger?) installer, and choose the option for "Archive & Install". Continue with the reinstall. You won't need to restore all your apps, because that's not the kind of install that this is. It simply reloads the system files, leaves all your files and apps in place.
It will mean that your OS X system will now be at the version of the installer that you have. Assuming that you have the last installer, that would mean that your system is now at version 10.4.6. Connect to your internet, run Software Update to get the updates that Apple still provides through your Software Update preference pane. I think that Tiger still needs 4 or 5 more restarts to get all of the available updates downloaded and installed.

 

[RLRL]

Thanks,

I ran again the ASD booted from the CD for the 4 memory modules and it froze the G5 just before completing the memory test on the last Memory card, J14.

So the machine froze using the Mac OS on the ASD disc which is Panther.

I decided to reseat all the memory cards. It seemed one was a little loose. Had some problems here because no one in the installation videos made the point that those clips need to lock down and that takes pressure. Finally, successful, hope this fixes the issue. I love this machine.

 

[RLRL]

Still having problems so decided. Tried to restart after one of the freezes and the G5 gave a long beep. What is that an indication of?

Now I will try to swap around memory to see if I have bad memory module. Comments on the beeeeeep?

 

[DeltaMac]

Which PowerMac G5 do you have?
(check in your System Profiler (Apple menu/About This Mac/More Info button)
The Hardware Overview shows your Model Identifier, such as PowerMac7,2
How much memory do you have installed?

The beeeep is usually triggered by a firmware update.
but, without such an update, it is simply an indication that you have a problem with the firmware.
(Or, I think you can make that long beep by holding the power button from a power off for a few seconds, so the beeeeep might be completely normal if you hold the power button for too long when trying to boot from power off.)
I expect that you can clear that with a PMU reset.
Check battery voltage - should be 3.3 to 3.7 volts. Replace the battery if voltage is low.
disconnect the power cord, and remove the battery.
If the battery tests good, insert that battery, and wait 10 seconds.
Press and release the PMU reset button (once only)
Wait another 10 seconds, then plug in the power cord and try to power up your Mac.

 

[RLRL]

The verdict is in. Noticed a little water under the machine. Everything still works, AHT passed, but clearly I have developed a small leak in the cooling system, bummer. So it is probably just a matter of time before it gets worst.

I purchased from UsedMac.com a G5, late 2005 air cooled machine with Mac OS 10.4.11 and classic.

My question is how do I clone the hard drive to the new machine. I have a lot of stuff on the replaced G5 that I need on the new G5, like Office, mail, etc. Is it possible to swap the drives between the machines.

What is the best way to do this so the new air cooled G5 mirrors the replaced one.

Thanks

 

[DeltaMac]

There should be no need to clone anything, just move the hard drive from the old G5 to your "new" G5.
(One of the easiest kind of hard drive swaps that I can imagine -- should take you, at most, 15 seconds
There's two slots, if only one is used on each G5, then moving just fills the slots, and you can keep both drives in the working G5. Just boot to the one that you want to use as the boot drive.

 

[RLRL]

Thanks will do. How do I specify what hard drive to boot from if I have two in the machine. I would probably boot from the older drive move files to the new drive with the fresh install of the OS, and then boot from that drive.

 

[DeltaMac]

You can change the default boot drive in System Preferences/Startup Disk pane.
Or, you can change to a different boot drive by restarting while holding the Option/Alt key. You will see any detected boot partitions listed, and you can choose the drive you want just by clicking on that drive, then clicking the right-facing arrow. Your Mac will then boot to that drive.

 

[RLRL]

Thanks for your help.

It is strange that I found a little moisture where I had the G5 sitting, but nowhere in the machine can I find any sign of leakage. And all the hardware tests work perfectly. When I bought the machine I never even thought about apple doing water cooled units. Is the memory on the Old G5 compatible the air cooled unit. Someone told me it was not, that seemed strange. What do I do with this machine. Still looks perfect inside and still runs most of the time.

Thanks again,

 

[DeltaMac]

The liquid-cooled models had a pad (under the processor unit) which was supposed to collect the occasional drips from the coolant system. You would likely see that pad has collected some moisture, if the coolant system is leaking, that pad would be directly underneath that area. If that pad is missing, then you should see evidence of fluid leak on the bottom of the case. You would want to tip the case over to check for that. Should show some staining or corrosion of that aluminum surface. Another (worse) scenario is that moisture drips down through the power supply. If you see ANY liquid staining underneath the processor area, you should definetly open up the case, get at the power supply access panel, and inspect the power supply itself. If there is moisture underneath the case, then there's going to be damage to the power supply. It's directly underneath that area, too!

 

[RLRL]

Update, before I purchased and took delivery of another used G5 I decided to check for a coolant leak. I could find none, and the temperature of the CPU's 110 F during operation, with a 181.4 Specified Upper Limit are perfect. Because the machine froze using a Panther AHT boot, I did not think it was a OS issue, however I decided to reload Tiger. So I bit the bullet, and took several hours to reload all the OS archived as suggested in the thread.

Well, I have been running the machine now for 24 hours, and no freezes. In fact, it is operating fast and furious. So I am not sure why the machine would freeze when booting with another disk and OS copy. In fact it froze several times when booting from CD's OS's.

However, I have placed my replacement order on hold while I continue to exercise this machine.

Is there a test or app I could run that would push the machine to see if it will freeze again?

I would really like to know what caused this freezing to determine I do need a replacement unit.

I should have done this reload back at the beginning of this thread.

Thank you,

 

[RLRL]

I give up, machine is still intermittently freezing, after all is done.

Machine Passes all test both from AHT, ASD test, and has been reloaded with all software.

Still boots most of the time, just have to restart it.

I guess I will wait until something obvious happens.

Thanks