Power Macintosh 9600 Troubleshooting
Fault finding on the Power Macintosh 9600 and Power Macintosh 8600 starts from Apple's symptom charts in their shared Service Source. Apple lists the cures in order of likelihood: try the first, check whether the symptom remains, and refit the original part before moving on (SS p. 64).[1] The power connector pinouts below are from Apple's 9600 logic board schematic. Opening the case, the resets and the battery are on Power Macintosh 9600 General Maintenance.
Power and startup
[edit | edit source]| Symptom | Cures, in order | SS page |
|---|---|---|
| Does not power up | Reseat the processor card and the ROM SIMM if fitted; reset the Cuda chip; reset the logic board; replace the power supply, the processor card, the logic board | 66 |
| Does not power on; screen black, fan not running, LED off | Check the power cables; plug the monitor into the wall and check it has power; reseat the ROM SIMM and the processor card (the board will not run without a card); reset the Cuda chip and the logic board; replace the power cord, the power supply, the processor card, the logic board | 68–69 |
| Clicking, chirping, thumping or rubbing | Remove all PCI cards and refit them one at a time; remove the hard drive; replace the power supply, the processor card, the logic board, the floppy cable, the floppy drive | 70 |
| Shuts down intermittently | Clear the vents (thermal protection; allow 30 to 40 minutes); check the power cord; replace it; check the battery; reset the Cuda chip and the logic board; replace the power supply, the processor card, the logic board | 71 |
On the Workgroup Server 9650 version, Apple's first step for these power and noise symptoms is to check that the Ultra Wide SCSI cable is undamaged and held away from the fan on the side panel (pp. 66, 68, 70).[1]
A processor card from the 300 and 350 MHz models will not work in an earlier 8600 or 9600 logic board, so check that card and board belong together.[2] Owners warn in particular against fitting an Apple Mach 5 card to the earlier 9600 board.[3]
Power supply checks
[edit | edit source]The 9600 logic board takes a 24-pin main connector (J36) and a 10-pin connector (J39). Apple's schematic gives these assignments:[4]
| Connector | Pins | Signal |
|---|---|---|
| J36 (24-pin) | 1–4, 13–16 | +5 V |
| 5–8, 17–20 | Ground | |
| 9–12, 21–24 | +3.3 V | |
| J39 (10-pin) | 1 | −12 V |
| 2 | 5 V negative sense | |
| 3 | Trickle 5 V | |
| 4 | PFW (power-on control) | |
| 5 | 5 V positive sense | |
| 6 | +12 V (to the board through fuse F4, 2.5 A) | |
| 7 | Ground | |
| 8 | Reserved | |
| 9, 10 | 3.3 V negative and positive sense |
This arrangement differs from the 7200, 7500, 8500 and 9500, whose 22-pin main connector carries +5 V and ±12 V and whose 10-pin connector carries 3.3 V; a supply from one of those machines does not fit the 9600 board as it stands. The schematic's revision notes record that the power supply connectors were the change from the production 9500 board.[4] Apple gives no rail tolerances. With the supply plugged in, trickle 5 V should be present on J39 pin 3; with the computer running, measure +5 V, +3.3 V, +12 V and −12 V against their nominal values.
Owners report these supply failures:
- A 9600/233 supply failed with a bang when plugged in. The fuse was intact and about 300 V DC reached the second board, but there was no 5 V standby; open components were found in the standby circuit, and a replacement resistor failed when power was applied, pointing to a short elsewhere on the primary side.[5]
- The same owner later traced a dead 9600 supply, a Delta unit, to a failed TO-220 power-control IC after an inrush current; the fuse was intact and nothing looked damaged.[6]
The primary side holds about 300 V DC from the mains; discharge it and confirm with a meter before working on the supply.[5]
Startup sounds and video
[edit | edit source]| Symptom | Cures, in order | SS page |
|---|---|---|
| One-part error chord | Disconnect the SCSI cable from the hard drive and restart; initialise or replace the drive if the startup is then normal. Disconnect the floppy cable and restart; replace the floppy drive if the startup is then normal. Reseat, then replace, the processor card; replace the logic board | 67 |
| Eight-part chord (death chimes) | Replace the DRAM DIMMs one at a time to find a faulty one; replace the logic board | 67 |
| Screen black; boot tone, drive working, fan running, LED lit | Turn up the brightness; clear PRAM; reset the Cuda chip and the logic board; replace the monitor cable; test the DIMMs one at a time; try a known-good monitor; replace the video PCI card, the processor card, the logic board | 74 |
| Screen black; no boot tone, drive not working, fan running, LED lit | Reset the Cuda chip and the logic board; test the DIMMs one at a time; replace the processor card, the logic board, the power supply | 75 |
| Boot tone; screen lights but shows nothing | Reset the Cuda chip and the logic board; replace the monitor cable; try a known-good monitor; replace the video PCI card, the processor card, the logic board | 76 |
The 9600 has no video on the logic board; the 8600 has a DB-15 port on the board and its VRAM on DIMMs (SS pp. 51, 54).[1] Apple's developer note says the 9600's original display card does not support monitors that put sync on the green signal.[7]
Crashes and system software
[edit | edit source]For intermittent crashes or hangs, Apple's order is: check the system software is at least 7.5.5 (8600/200, 9600/200, 9600/233) or 7.6.1 (8600/250, 8600/300, 9600/300, 9600/350); check the DIMMs are noncomposite; do a clean install; check the software is compatible and try starting with extensions off; clear PRAM; test the DIMMs one at a time; replace the processor card, then the logic board (SS p. 72).[1]
Drives
[edit | edit source]| Symptom | Cures, in order | SS page |
|---|---|---|
| Floppy drive does not work, runs continuously, or ejects the disk with a blinking X | Try a known-good disk; replace the floppy cable, the drive, the processor card, the logic board | 77–78 |
| Single internal hard drive does not spin | Replace the drive power cable, the drive (then reinstall the driver and system), the power supply | 79 |
| No internal SCSI drives work | Check for duplicate SCSI IDs on each bus; disconnect external devices and check termination; check that the rear internal hard drive, at the end of the Fast SCSI-2 cable, is the only terminated internal device; replace the internal SCSI cable, the power supply, the processor card, the logic board | 79–81 |
| Drive does not appear on the desktop | Check SCSI IDs; update the driver with Drive Setup and run Disk First Aid; replace the cable; initialise; try a known-good drive; replace the logic board | 81–82 |
| No CD-ROM icon when a disc is inserted | Check the CD-ROM software is installed; replace the drive mechanism, then the 50-pin SCSI cable | 87 |
| No sound from the speaker | Check the volume is 1 or above; clear PRAM and check the speaker is plugged into the logic board; replace the speaker, the logic board | 88 |
PCI card faults can come from residue on the card's edge connector; clean it with a pencil eraser (SS p. 65).[1] See Hard Drive Maintenance and Repair and Floppy Drive Repair.
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Power Macintosh 9600
- Power Macintosh 8600
- Power Macintosh 9600 General Maintenance
- Power Macintosh 9600 Capacitor Replacement Guide
- Power Macintosh 9500 Troubleshooting
- Sad Mac Error Codes
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Apple Computer, Service Source: Power Macintosh 8600/9600 & WS 9650 (1997), File:Pm8600.9600.ws9650.pdf; see Power Macintosh 8600/ 9600 & WS 9650 Service Source. Page numbers are PDF pages.
- ↑ Apple Computer, Developer Note: Enhanced Power Macintosh 8600 and 9600 Computers (1997), printed p. 3. Hosted as File:Enhanced Power Macintosh 8600 and 9600 Computers Developer Note (1997).pdf; see Enhanced Power Macintosh 8600 and 9600 Computers Developer Note.
- ↑ 68k Macintosh Liberation Army forum, "PowerMac 9600 Logic Boards" (2022): do not fit an Apple Mach V card to a Tsunami 9600 board; the Kansas board's processor slot is electrically different.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Apple Computer, SCHEM, PCB, MN LG BD, 9600 (PCB 820-0865-A), sheet 20: power connector J36 (24-pin) and J39 (10-pin); fuse F4 2.5 A between the connector's 12 V pin and the board's +12 V; battery BT1 3.6 V; auxiliary fan connector J41 (+12 V). Hosted as File:Power Macintosh 9600 logic board schematic (820-0865-A).pdf; see Power Macintosh 9600 Logic Board Schematic.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 68k Macintosh Liberation Army forum, "9600 power supply failure modes/schematic?" (2022).
- ↑ 68k Macintosh Liberation Army forum, "In search of list of capacitors for Delta SMP-220DB PSU (Apple P/N 614-0012)", post by Franklinstein, 21 June 2025.
- ↑ Apple Computer, Developer Note: Power Macintosh 7300, 7600, 8600, and 9600 Computers (1996), printed p. 6. Hosted as File:Power Macintosh 7300, 7600, 8600 and 9600 Computers Developer Note (1996).pdf; see Power Macintosh 7300, 7600, 8600 and 9600 Computers Developer Note.