jsanders73

iMac G4 PowerPC 800MHz, os 10.5.1, no airport card.

When powering on the mac, the first 3-5 minutes everything is fine. Shortly after boot, all network activity stops. No errors, no internet, no local network access. The Network applet under System Preferences indicates all is well with the connection. Using DHCP. Again, everything works fine shortly after power on, but goes shoddy shortly thereafter.

Admittedly, I'm a total Mac noob. Tried creating new network connections, only to get the same result.

Tried different patch cables, different ports on router, even different router; all leading to same result.

What I initially wanted to do was just reload the OS, since this machine was given to me from a friend. Install media cannot be located at this time, so that option's out for now.

I don't know if it's a hardware or software issue. I also don't know if a normal USB wireless adapter would work.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

sinclair_tm

Most likely a software issue, won't know for sure until you are able to reformat the hard drive and install the OS fresh.
USB wireless adapters will not work, unless they say on the box Made for Mac.
Are any computers turned on after you turn on the Mac?

jsanders73

There are typically other PCs on when the Mac is booted, yes, but it's not a case of another box booting after I power on the Mac and using the same IP. Everything I have is on DHCP, and I verified just today in the router interface the DHCP client table.

Another thing I forgot to mention earlier is that after 5-10 minutes of screensaver activity, the display will freeze. The stationary image of the screensaver remains on the screen, but the Mac will respond normally upon user input (move the mouse, etc.)

Hell, is this sucker worth the money for new install discs? I do suppose that all depends on what I plan to do with the machine. I tried my boss' discs, but it would stop shortly after the installation routine started, something about Panic best I can remember. Turned out it was a different (newer) version of the OS (Intel versus PPC). Not sure if that actually was what stopped it, but that's the only thing I came up with at the time.

I do have the box and, best I can tell, all manuals/documentation that came with it, but I doubt Apple would be willing to furnish replacement media.

sinclair_tm

Once upon a time you could take it to an Apple store, and they would reinstall the OS that came on the Mac when it was new for free, but I have no clue if they still do that or not. Because of the CPU speed, it will not run the latest OS, so your best bet is to find old retail box disks on ebay. Find 10.3 or 10.4. You should be able to find one for under $50 easy. If after a fresh install it still has the same issues, I'd be inclined to think it's a hardware issue, at which point you could try to figure out what hardware is bad, but if it's not the RAM or hard drive, then it's not worth fixing.