I have an old G4 Mac Mini, running 10.5. It's hooked up to a VGA CRT monitor using Apples DVI-to-VGA adapter that was included once upon a time. Last night, while using it, the screen flickered, and the monitor went to sleep, which is it;s default behavior when there's no display connected to it. Attempting to force the monitor on displayed a "No Signal" error. Restarting the machine does nothing.
This has happened once before. The last time this happened, I attempted to fix it by resetting the PRAM. After doing this, the Mac output the standard grey screen with an Apple logo on startup, but when the system reached the OS X login screen, the monitor flickers and goes black. Attempting to boot in Safe Mode provides similar results. The Monitor is old enough that it does not offer an "Out of Range" error for unsupported refresh rates, but I took a chance and attempted the Single User Mode directions found in this Knowledge Base article, to delete windowserver.plist files. The last time this happened (about 6 months ago), that worked perfectly.
Last night, the same problem occurred, with the same symptoms. Does not display video in Safe Mode. Does display video in Single User Mode. However, after deleting the two windowserver.plist files, the machine is still unable to display video past the grey startup screen.
Is there anything else I can try to fix this? Is the DVI-to-VGA adapter a possible culprit for a cheap fix? Or is my Mini in need of enough repair as to be better off replaced?
Edit: It's definitely not the DVI to VGA adapter, sadly.