Question (upcoming conquest)

[Gil]

I was talking to a friend of mine last night, who says he has some old computers that he used to use for composing/producing music, that he hasn't used in 10 years or so. He says they are Power Mac 7200's, a couple of them at least, that are dead as a doornail. He would like to recover any music files he has on there, if they can be fixed.

I can't remember exactly, but is it the 7200's that require a working PRAM battery, otherwise it won't turn on? If that's the case, then I can just get new PRAM batteries and they should boot right up. Are they the cylindrical batteries, or the square batteries?

Thanks in advance. I'll keep you all posted when I get them (might be a while, since he's pretty busy these days).

 

[Christopher]

I was talking to a friend of mine last night, who says he has some old computers that he used to use for composing/producing music, that he hasn't used in 10 years or so. He says they are Power Mac 7200's, a couple of them at least, that are dead as a doornail. He would like to recover any music files he has on there, if they can be fixed.
I can't remember exactly, but is it the 7200's that require a working PRAM battery, otherwise it won't turn on? If that's the case, then I can just get new PRAM batteries and they should boot right up. Are they the cylindrical batteries, or the square batteries?

Thanks in advance. I'll keep you all posted when I get them (might be a while, since he's pretty busy these days).

If you have a PowerMac G3/G4, just put the hard drives into those and recover the files that way.

I had a 7500 that had a dead PRAM battery and it would not start. You could hear the fans and hard drive spin up, but thats it. :/

 

[coius]

I have a PowerMac 7200 running right behind me that has no PRAM battery. Seems to boot fine

 

[Gil]

Must've been thinking of the 7500 then, as Chris said.

Looking forward to this conquest nonetheless. I know he used MOTU Performer on these machines, so maybe I can somehow copy it to other machines.

 

[Unknown_K]

All PCI machines should work with no PRAM battery installed, if the battery is dead then just remove it.

 

[System7]

Try resetting the CUDA and PRAM.

 

[coius]

btw, the 7200 is a bit tempermental with RAM.

I found this out today. if I rearranged the slots the RAM cards were in, it turned on and displays a picture. If it was another way, it didn't. I finally got it working, but try messing with the RAM. Also, take a can of air and blow the bejeezus out of the slots and the system. That dust can get EVERYWHERE. Don't forget under the board!

I have owned 4x PM 7200 Systems, and they all were nice to work with. I like the fact it was very simple. Although it's hard to upgrade the CPU (not so much anymore, but still), It was easier to troubleshoot due to no CPU Daughtercards (CPU is soldered onto the board) and there is in general less to go wrong. The case is easy to open, and it's easy to run with the hood up.

Take them and play with them. Try with one stick of ram, and move it among the slots. 9/10 times, it will boot after some caressing

 

[Christopher]

btw, the 7200 is a bit tempermental with RAM.
I found this out today. if I rearranged the slots the RAM cards were in, it turned on and displays a picture. If it was another way, it didn't. I finally got it working, but try messing with the RAM. Also, take a can of air and blow the bejeezus out of the slots and the system. That dust can get EVERYWHERE. Don't forget under the board!

I have owned 4x PM 7200 Systems, and they all were nice to work with. I like the fact it was very simple. Although it's hard to upgrade the CPU (not so much anymore, but still), It was easier to troubleshoot due to no CPU Daughtercards (CPU is soldered onto the board) and there is in general less to go wrong. The case is easy to open, and it's easy to run with the hood up.

Take them and play with them. Try with one stick of ram, and move it among the slots. 9/10 times, it will boot after some caressing

My 8500 booted right up after i put in about 5 sticks of memory.