Greetings,
I am trying to troubleshoot a problem for a friend of mine who owns an iMac G5 currently running OS X v 10.4.4. The trouble started after a scanner was installed. It would boot normally until the screen turned light blue. Instead of displaying the login dialog box, it would go almost black (it was still slightly backlit). It would sit there without doing anything, and the fan would eventually rev up. I can get it to boot in safe boot mode, without any trouble, but booting normally fails every time.
Here's what I've tried:
-I immediately disconnected the scanner and moved all of the files associated with it to the trash.
-I have reset the PRAM several times
-I opened it up and verified that the LEDs on the logic board lit up as they should (The first 3 eventually light up green)
-I have disabled all login items
-I have done the PMU reset procedure several times.
-I have reformatted the drive and reinstalled the OS a couple of times (and after doing so, the screen won't go dark anymore- but it just stays light blue and doesn't display the login box)
-I have repaired the drive and the user permissions a few times
I read somewhere online where I should be able to boot into Apple Hardware Test by holding D at startup with the disc in the drive, but this doesn't seem to work.
The friend doesn't have Apple Care and the machine is, of course, out of warranty. Could this be hardware related? I am banging my head against the wall.
I appreciate any help anyone can offer...
Regards,
britchenn
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/aht.html