I would guess that the "inventory" extension was just a coincidence -- a red herring.
At worst, software could erase or corrupt the hard drive. A Macintosh with a bad hard drive should still power on properly, perform the POST (power on self test), sound a proper chime/chord, and generate the initial video screens. Then if there was a missing or corrupt hard drive, one would get either a flashing disk icon with a question mark, or an attempt to boot the OS which fails in some interesting manner.
The behaviour you report sounds like it fails to make a proper start-up sound and never displays meaningful video. This is indicative of a hardware problem of some kind.
You've done the easy tests of removing and reseating the RAM and such.
The only other thing I would try, if you have not already, is to completely disconnect both the internal hard drive and also any external drives and also unplug the floppy cable. Then try to boot up.
If the machine's hardware is working properly, you should get a gray screen with a small disk icon with a question mark in it.
Also, double check that your RAM matches. You should have four identical modules in each bank of four. If you're using the built-in video, then you must have RAM installed in Bank A. Try just one set of RAM in Bank A. Then the other set. Then, if you have a video card available, try one set in Bank B, then the other set.
Twelve megabytes is indeed puzzling. That would suggest one set of four 1MB SIMMS, and one set of four 2MB SIMMs. However, IIRC, 2MB SIMMs are not supported by the IIci. I don't think that 2MB support came along until the IIsi, but I may be misremembering. Anyway, if you have not tested it with the suspected 2MB SIMMs removed, it may be that they are causing the problem
Eventually, either you get a nice gray screen with flashing question mark, or you conclude that the hardware has a flaw.
You should be getting a good start-up bong/chord, but it is also possible that the sound circuitry has been damaged by leaking caps.
Most likely the logic board needs to be recapped and thoroughly cleaned. Don't forget the cleaning part.
After you've removed the old capacitors and cleaned the pads of old solder, take some time with a soft or medium toothbrush and your favorite cleanser/solvent (I like spray on flux remover, then 91% isopropyl alcohol, then distilled water, but opinions vary) and thoroughly clean the board. Goo leaked from the capacitors can be nearly invisible. It's a bit like the residue you'd have after someone spills a cola and it dries.
Even if bad caps are not the current problem, if the system has not had its capacitors replaced, it will, probably sooner rather than later. My IIci developed leaky capacitors back around 1996.
At worst, software could erase or corrupt the hard drive. A Macintosh with a bad hard drive should still power on properly, perform the POST (power on self test), sound a proper chime/chord, and generate the initial video screens. Then if there was a missing or corrupt hard drive, one would get either a flashing disk icon with a question mark, or an attempt to boot the OS which fails in some interesting manner.
The behaviour you report sounds like it fails to make a proper start-up sound and never displays meaningful video. This is indicative of a hardware problem of some kind.
You've done the easy tests of removing and reseating the RAM and such.
The only other thing I would try, if you have not already, is to completely disconnect both the internal hard drive and also any external drives and also unplug the floppy cable. Then try to boot up.
If the machine's hardware is working properly, you should get a gray screen with a small disk icon with a question mark in it.
Also, double check that your RAM matches. You should have four identical modules in each bank of four. If you're using the built-in video, then you must have RAM installed in Bank A. Try just one set of RAM in Bank A. Then the other set. Then, if you have a video card available, try one set in Bank B, then the other set.
Twelve megabytes is indeed puzzling. That would suggest one set of four 1MB SIMMS, and one set of four 2MB SIMMs. However, IIRC, 2MB SIMMs are not supported by the IIci. I don't think that 2MB support came along until the IIsi, but I may be misremembering. Anyway, if you have not tested it with the suspected 2MB SIMMs removed, it may be that they are causing the problem
Eventually, either you get a nice gray screen with flashing question mark, or you conclude that the hardware has a flaw.
You should be getting a good start-up bong/chord, but it is also possible that the sound circuitry has been damaged by leaking caps.
Most likely the logic board needs to be recapped and thoroughly cleaned. Don't forget the cleaning part.
After you've removed the old capacitors and cleaned the pads of old solder, take some time with a soft or medium toothbrush and your favorite cleanser/solvent (I like spray on flux remover, then 91% isopropyl alcohol, then distilled water, but opinions vary) and thoroughly clean the board. Goo leaked from the capacitors can be nearly invisible. It's a bit like the residue you'd have after someone spills a cola and it dries.
Even if bad caps are not the current problem, if the system has not had its capacitors replaced, it will, probably sooner rather than later. My IIci developed leaky capacitors back around 1996.