Well, crud — it appears that the video card on my computer just died.
The computer froze, and when I restarted, while it sounded like the computer was starting up, I got no video feed. I’ve shut down and restarted again with the same result, and can confirm that the computer is up (by creating a network connection from Prairie’s iMac)…but no video.
I’m about 80% sure that it’s the video card and not the monitor, which has its good and bad points. While I’ve been wanting to replace my monitor for some time now (it’s aging, darker than it should be, and I can’t color correct it to what I should be able to), video cards are cheaper than new monitors (especially since I’m determined that my next monitor is going to be a flatscreen, and not another huge, heavy, power-hungry CRT). However, I don’t really know the video card market, so I’m not sure what I should look for in a replacement (not to mention the question of whether I’d be able to find a decent mac-compatible card at the Best Buy that’s just a few minutes walk away).
The biggest reason I’m pretty sure that it’s the video card is that there was a known issue with first generation Dual 2.0Ghz G5 PowerMacs that would create problems with them going to or waking up from sleep mode that was in some way tied to the video card. Unfortunately, it’s been long enough since I’ve tried to research this issue that I can’t find any of the relevant links rather quickly (though I’m finding a few references…‘G5 Nightmares’, Power Supply Noise and Wake From Sleep, Several G5 Problems, Richard Earney’s note in Hardware Failures, Peter Lovell’s note in Display Problems…there’s probably more, but that’s enough to refresh my memory). In any case, it’s an issue I’ve been dealing with for quite a while now (by not using sleep mode, and avoiding restarting the ‘puter as much as possible, as sometimes that will kick the bug in also), so I’ve known that a new video card might be a future necessity.
I just wasn’t expecting that future to come today. “
So…I guess part of my day’s plan is now to walk down to Best Buy and see if they have a decently priced Mac-compatible AGP 8x video card. Oh joy, oh joy….
Update: Well, so much for that idea. All of the video cards at Best Buy had “Made for Microsoft Windows” logos on them, and the guy working that area didn’t have any idea as to whether they’d work on Macs also (since both platforms use AGP you’d think that the cards would be cross-platform, but without knowing, I wasn’t going to plunk any money down). Grrrr.
I wonder how long it’d take me to get to one of the four local Apple Stores (Four? When did that happen?) and back via the bus system during week-before-Christmas holiday traffic?
Update: Well, I’m glad I called before hopping on a bus — the official Apple Stores don’t even carry video cards. The machine would have to be taken in as a service request, parts and labor charges…meh. All I want to do is buy a verschluggin’ video card so I can drop it in the case.
As much as I love being a Mac user, sometimes I really hate the “all Mac users are clueless” mentality…especially when it comes from the Mothership itself.
Update: Called The Mac Store, and they have two video cards in-stock that will work with my Mac. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I have a choice between the Raedon 9800 Pro for $329 or the Raedon X800 XT for $399. Ouch.
Looks like I’m not getting a working computer tonight…and even the near future might be a little bit doubtful.
Joy.
(by not using sleep mode) ???
I use sleep mode all the time on my G5, should I not be using it?
Thanks
If you’re not having any problems with it, then by all means, continue — I rather wish I could (and am looking forward to being able to…at least in theory…once I get the new video card in). I’m assuming that since you’re using it “all the time”, then you’re not running into the problems I have (computer not waking up, not booting up correctly after being shut down, etc.).
The only problem I’ve ever encountered is sometimes (>5%) when I do a full shut down, on boot up I have no DVD player, it just doesn’t exist. A restart fixes it every time.
But I haven’t shut down for a while (months) , I really do use sleep mode all the time and never had any problem of any kind when asking the computer to awaken.
$329? Holy cash cow, Batman! I bought a “Windows” 256 meg Radeon 9800 Pro sometime this spring, and it cost me about $180.
You can find very good aftermarket parts on the web, as you know.
One such has a $149 NVidia card:
http://www.welovemacs.com/agpg5vica.html
The 5200 series is very good unless you need hi-speed 3D. If you don’t, anything over that is wasted money.
The only difference with an apple solution is you may have to load the appropriate drivers. Come to think of it, head to the nvidia website and look for all the video cards for your G5, then shop for these.
You will find (I’m mostly PC, havent updated my old mac) that nVidia’s drivers are a LOT more stable/easier to install than ATI’s (which are a nightmare to uninstall!!)
CHeerios
@
i used to fix PC’s all the time. I have no idea if Apple is the same, so my troubleshooting tips might be wrong.
if it was a PC, i’d say it was not your video card. In a PC, it tests the video, in a sense, before it starts. For instance, take out your video card, and it won’t start. There will be a nice beep code instead telling you that your video card is broke. When a video card dies, it usually can’t answer the test correctly, and therefore the computer won’t restart.
i’d:
1) take out the video card, and see if it restarts, to learn if Apple works the same way.
2) check all connections, including testing the power source for the monitor again.
3) test a different monitor if you can.
and as always, make sure you can return any part, at least for a store credit.