[Chris A]

My 450 MHz G4 Cube (650 Mb RAM) has started periodically losing power, That is to say that it just turns off. Sometimes, I am able to turn it on again by pressing the on button on either the monitor or Cube, but there are also time when it just lights up for a few seconds, then goes off again. To me, this indicates that the power supply is still feeding AC to the computer.

Has anybody had this problem? Does anyone know what it could be?

Any help/advice will be greatly appreciated,

Chris (Albertson)

[chucker]

I was under the impression that this was, in fact, a common problem with the power button?

[Chris A]

Were that the case here, Sören, I would not also be encountering the problem when I boot up using the monitor's ON button.

I may have solved it by replacing the battery--so far, so good.

Chris

[kretara]

This is an issue with the power button on the cube. You will need to replace it. You can get the part on ebay very cheaply and its an easy fix.

You can find lots of really good cube information (howtos plus a pretty nice forum -- Mod's I hope its OK to link to another forum) at CubeOwner . Back when I had my Cube I found all sorts of very useful info there and the people who post there are alot like the people here...very nice and usually helpful.

[Chris A]

Thanks, kretara, the CubeOwner site is very helpful.

Chris

[rminkler]

You don't need to replace anything. The problem is that the cube gradually sinks a little in the case as the frame "settles", and this allows hot air (remember that the cube is cooled by convection) to get in between the top of the case and the power button sensor. This hot air is percieved to be a button press, and after five seconds or so the cube shuts down (as if you had been holding the button down). There are numerous fixes listed on Cubeowner, including taking a piece of scotch tape and putting it on the power button (look this one up - I don't remember exactly where you put the tape, but the instructions are clear).

When I had the problem, I took the cube out of it's case and gently pulled the top of the frame (the piece with the power switch) up, bending it (but not perceptibly so! - just putting some pressure so that it bends up a milimeter or so), so that when I put the "core" back in the enclosure, but power button was once again snug against the enclosure...

I liked that solution because I didn't need to buy anthing or put tape in my cube.

Edited for spelling