Quadra 660AV startup issues

[computerman768]

My quadra basically stopped booting yesterday. This is the sequence:

Chime

HD spins up

Display powers up

At this point I get a gray screen and the cursor can move. It never finishes booting.

Do any of you guys know what could be the issue. I've tried PRAM reset, replaced the battery, etc.?

 

[Bunsen]

Have you tried booting with extensions off?

Other thoughts: Boot from an external drive or floppy and check/repair the internal drive. It could be corrupted or dead.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Does the screen remain gray with never any happy Mac or question mark disk?

If this is the case, first try zapping PRAM. You never know. If that doesn't work, try unplugging the SCSI ribbon from the hard drive and turning it on again. If you then get the disk with flashing question mark, there is something up with the hard drive, which in the worst case you can just get a new one.

 

[computerman768]

Well, I tried unplugging the HD from the scsi bus. Tried taking the whole ribbon cable out. Tried PRAM reset. I don't really know what's going on.

 

[Franklinstein]

When this happens to me, it's often a peripheral/drive malfunction. Unplug EVERYTHING, including floppy/CDROM/hard drives, both internal and external, and plug in only the keyboard and display. That helps to narrow it down a bit for me, and usually works.

Otherwise, start eliminating everything else that can fail: expansion RAM, accelerator devices, expansion cards, etc. Get your machine completely basic.

If none of that helps, look for damaged components on the logic boards, particularly ICs that look a little toasted or leaking capacitors.

 

[z180]

this reminds me on commonly experienced 6100 problems.

 

[Dennis Nedry]

Well, I tried unplugging the HD from the scsi bus. Tried taking the whole ribbon cable out. Tried PRAM reset. I don't really know what's going on.

If you did all that, tell us what happened!

Did you ever get a disk with a flashing question mark? Describe exactly what happened when you turned the Mac with the SCSI ribbon removed so that we can help you.