In article magdalenabung-479FF2.23395417062008@redacted.invalid, magdalena magdalenabung@redacted.invalid wrote:
I have an eMac 700MHz model (the original one). For the past week, it has had trouble starting up. I have to press the switch really hard and/or unplug the power cord where it's connected to the eMac, replug it, and press really hard, and then it starts up. IOW, I can't tell what is the culprit--the socket or the power switch. I googled and couldn't find anything helpful. Do eMacs have a known problem in this area? I troubleshot it by trying a different power cable, plugging into a different wall socket, but the problem still happens about every other day. Could an old PRAM battery be causing it or does it sound like something is loose inside or it needs a new switch?
There is a known problem with the switch - but I'm not sure it matches your symptoms, since yours will still turn on.
I bought 4 of those and had 3 of them repaired under warrantee within 6 months of buying them. After warrantee ran out several had the dead video problem, and all have had optical drive failures. Not the finest batch ever made - nor were the 1Ghz units with bad capacitors and a very under-advertised bad capacitor repair program. I had the problem (8 leaking capacitors - only one visible until computer is disassembled) within the time of the program, but did not find out about the program (or identify the specific failure cause) until after mine were too old to qualify - thanks SO much for excellent support of a gross manufacturing defect...
Meanwhile, G3 iMacs considerably older are nearly all still working fine.
In article magdalenabung-479FF2.23395417062008@redacted.invalid, magdalena magdalenabung@redacted.invalid wrote:
I have an eMac 700MHz model (the original one). For the past week, it has had trouble starting up. I have to press the switch really hard and/or unplug the power cord where it's connected to the eMac, replug it, and press really hard, and then it starts up. IOW, I can't tell what is the culprit--the socket or the power switch. I googled and couldn't find anything helpful. Do eMacs have a known problem in this area? I troubleshot it by trying a different power cable, plugging into a different wall socket, but the problem still happens about every other day. Could an old PRAM battery be causing it or does it sound like something is loose inside or it needs a new switch?
I do not know if my experience will help. I have an eMac 700MHz and an
eMac 1.25GHz. Both have been and are running just fine. I know you are
describing what appears to be a hard ware issue, but I am not so sure.
Are your running regular maintenance on your eMac? You could simply
leave your computer on over night and it should automatically run the
built in maintenance scripts. I prefer Onyx, which is free ware. I
have been using it for years and my computers simply keep working.
http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html
I have not yet had to replace the battery, but the original eMac is now about 5 years old. I think, with some finger dexterity it can be replace through the opening for memory upgrade.
If you can find a replacement switch, it would not be difficult to replace, but it does require some careful handling of the case, as the wiring to the switch is not that long and must be disconnected to fully remove the cover and replace the switch. I do not know of a source of replacement switches.
Best of luck and please post a follow up when you figure out what is happing.
In article yiY6k.46$i5.11@redacted.invalid, David david@redacted.invalid wrote:
In article magdalenabung-479FF2.23395417062008@redacted.invalid, magdalena magdalenabung@redacted.invalid wrote:
I have an eMac 700MHz model (the original one). For the past week, it has had trouble starting up. I have to press the switch really hard and/or unplug the power cord where it's connected to the eMac, replug it, and press really hard, and then it starts up. IOW, I can't tell what is the culprit--the socket or the power switch. I googled and couldn't find anything helpful. Do eMacs have a known problem in this area? I troubleshot it by trying a different power cable, plugging into a different wall socket, but the problem still happens about every other day. Could an old PRAM battery be causing it or does it sound like something is loose inside or it needs a new switch?
I do not know if my experience will help. I have an eMac 700MHz and an eMac 1.25GHz. Both have been and are running just fine. I know you are describing what appears to be a hard ware issue, but I am not so sure.
Are your running regular maintenance on your eMac? You could simply leave your computer on over night and it should automatically run the built in maintenance scripts. I prefer Onyx, which is free ware. I have been using it for years and my computers simply keep working.http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html
I have not yet had to replace the battery, but the original eMac is now about 5 years old. I think, with some finger dexterity it can be replace through the opening for memory upgrade.
If you can find a replacement switch, it would not be difficult to replace, but it does require some careful handling of the case, as the wiring to the switch is not that long and must be disconnected to fully remove the cover and replace the switch. I do not know of a source of replacement switches.
Best of luck and please post a follow up when you figure out what is happing.
I do regular maintenance on this eMac, which is running 10.4.11. I clean caches with Main Menu, and Anacron is installed, which takes care of the cron jobs. I bought it used about three months ago and it's been running flawlessly until the switch problem last week. This is definitely a hardware issue. I've been leaving the power untijl I get the nerve to take the case partially off and carefully check to see if the connection to the power is loose. If it is, I'll tighten it and snap the case back on. I might put a new battery even if it doesn't need one! That way I won't have to worry for a few more years. If I can't fix it I'll take it to Lyco Micro.
In article LawrenceSMITH-D735A6.10153418062008@redacted.invalid, Ecnerwal LawrenceSMITH@redacted.invalid wrote:
In article magdalenabung-479FF2.23395417062008@redacted.invalid, magdalena magdalenabung@redacted.invalid wrote:
I have an eMac 700MHz model (the original one). For the past week, it has had trouble starting up. I have to press the switch really hard and/or unplug the power cord where it's connected to the eMac, replug it, and press really hard, and then it starts up. IOW, I can't tell what is the culprit--the socket or the power switch. I googled and couldn't find anything helpful. Do eMacs have a known problem in this area? I troubleshot it by trying a different power cable, plugging into a different wall socket, but the problem still happens about every other day. Could an old PRAM battery be causing it or does it sound like something is loose inside or it needs a new switch?
There is a known problem with the switch - but I'm not sure it matches your symptoms, since yours will still turn on.
I bought 4 of those and had 3 of them repaired under warrantee within 6 months of buying them. After warrantee ran out several had the dead video problem, and all have had optical drive failures. Not the finest batch ever made - nor were the 1Ghz units with bad capacitors and a very under-advertised bad capacitor repair program. I had the problem (8 leaking capacitors - only one visible until computer is disassembled) within the time of the program, but did not find out about the program (or identify the specific failure cause) until after mine were too old to qualify - thanks SO much for excellent support of a gross manufacturing defect...
Meanwhile, G3 iMacs considerably older are nearly all still working fine.
(OP) For anyone who might want to know because of a similar eMac problem, I replaced the PRAM battery and the eMac is normal again!!!