Thanks DH. That would be far too easy. Besides, where’s the fun in not getting all freaked out? And then there’s Knezzen’s quandary where his MDD wouldn’t even power up / boot.
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,3870.0.html He replaced the battery and… Cello!
And AHT doesn't report that you've poor contact... it just reports "Bad RAM"... when removing and then reseating the RAM may be all that is necessary (especially with a weak or dead battery).
Unaware that any changes had been made to Philgood’s MDD, other than it sitting unplugged for some time. Had a similar situation here, where after sitting unplugged… upon boot, got RAM error tones and flashing power button. Changed RAM and then noticed time/date error upon boot. Installed fresh battery, adjusted time and rebooted. Shut down, replaced previous old RAM back into the MDD, zapped the PRAM on boot… and no tones or flashing light. Rock solid stability since. (I did run the AHT extended test on the old RAM after it had booted with no tones and the old RAM = good.
Certainly RAM can fail or connections can become poor (contact oxidation?)… yet before going to the expense and wait time of buying new RAM (especially if no changes have been made) a simple battery replacement is an inexpensive first step (especially if they test flat). And acelera has offered to provide RAM from “just down the road”. (He even offered a PSU!) “Tip o’ the hat” here to acelera.
Seems that all too often, we’re prone to “throw money” when it’s unnecessary... and in doing so, completely ignore Occam’s razor. But yes, we do get freaked out when these old workhorses seemingly falter.
From here on out however, I vow to hold up an AHT CD and threaten my MDDs with that first and then... check the battery.