Disaster! I think my mac has just died...

[joelovesapple]

Hi everyone,

In 2006 I got the white imac in my signature. Anyway, it has been in pretty constant use since and tonight i was watching a youtube video and then all of a sudden, these green distorted lines appeared. At first i thought it was just the video so i pressed Esc but nothing happened. I had the spinning beachball and OSX would not re-appear after exiting the video.

I rebooted and these lines were still there, reset the PRAM to no effect, turned off the power... no effect.

I had 2gb of RAM, nvidia 7600gt graphics, 750gb of internal memory and everything else, if this helps.

Basically, would anyone know if this computer is officially dead? I am not covered any more as this applecare expired in oct 09, and at the time I couldn't afford it. Big mistake I now know...

Your help would be very much appreciated. Tomorrow I'm going to look at repair costs, but I get the feeling it will not be worthwhile. If necessary, I'm going to look at the 21.5 inch or 27 inch iMac as I am used to the nice screen size.

Apologies for the verbal diarrhoea. Cheers, Joe...

[ouimetnick]

Sounds like a GPU failure. Unless you can find a cheap logic board (maybe from ebay) it may be worth going for a new iMac.

[joelovesapple]

Hey, thanks for your reply. I guessed as much! I'm just recovering from the shock of it all really. It happened all of a sudden.

I'm hoping that I can get a new one without too much problem...

[MacBOS]

i don't know for sure but i heard of a fatly GPU chip that was making the macbook go nuts you should probably cheek this out, if it is you're case i think they will replace your mac without apple care

don't get your hopes too way up. I didn't give it a good read :p

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2377

the only thing thou you did say you purchased in 2006, give it a look anyway

[joelovesapple]

Hi MacBOS,

I had a quick read and it says that its the 2008 macs that were affected. Mine's too old to count but thankyou anyway ;)

I'm still reeling from the shock, I loved that computer. :(

[gnasher729]

Hi everyone,

In 2006 I got the white imac in my signature. Anyway, it has been in pretty constant use since and tonight i was watching a youtube video and then all of a sudden, these green distorted lines appeared. At first i thought it was just the video so i pressed Esc but nothing happened. I had the spinning beachball and OSX would not re-appear after exiting the video.

I rebooted and these lines were still there, reset the PRAM to no effect, turned off the power... no effect.

I had 2gb of RAM, nvidia 7600gt graphics, 750gb of internal memory and everything else, if this helps.

Basically, would anyone know if this computer is officially dead? I am not covered any more as this applecare expired in oct 09, and at the time I couldn't afford it. Big mistake I now know...

Your help would be very much appreciated. Tomorrow I'm going to look at repair costs, but I get the feeling it will not be worthwhile. If necessary, I'm going to look at the 21.5 inch or 27 inch iMac as I am used to the nice screen size.

Apologies for the verbal diarrhoea. Cheers, Joe...

Easiest to diagnose and fix is a hard drive failure. Find your MacOS X install disk, put it into the DVD drive, and restart the computer while holding the "C" button. If it starts, then it is most likely the hard drive that is broken, and all you need is to buy an external drive.

Everything else will likely be expensive and probably not worth it. Refurbished iMacs are $999 (21.5 inch) and $1499 (27 inch). And I am quite sure you can buy AppleCare only once; not a second time after three years.

[flopticalcube]

Run the Apple Hardware Test on your install DVD (Boot with the D key being pressed). If it is the GPU, your iMac is one of the few with a replaceable GPU but it still won't be cheap.

[joelovesapple]

Hi gnasher,

I tried doing as you suggested and it wouldn't even boot into the os x installer. It just stood there and did nothing, in fact I only got as far as it letting me select which drive to boot into.

I have an external but only have the one and that's where i store my music (nearly 30,000 songs). I think that will be okay...?

I am kinda resigned to the fact that a new mac would be the most viable option here.

Run the Apple Hardware Test on your install DVD (Boot with the D key being pressed). If it is the GPU, your iMac is one of the few with a replaceable GPU but it still won't be cheap.

I would do that if it let me boot into anything, and besides, I can't even see anything on the screen, it's all just fuzzy lines over the whole screen. :(

[Stealthipad]

I am afraid your good friend is DEAD!:(

It has served you well for a long time:o

[joelovesapple]

I am afraid your good friend is DEAD!:(

It has served you well for a long time:o

Please can someone get me a stiff whiskey... am feeling pretty low right now :'(

[ouimetnick]

I am afraid your good friend is DEAD!:(

It has served you well for a long time:o

Are you serious. It died after only 4 years. My school still uses computers from 1997, and they have XP and still run. Yes they are slow, but they work? My friend's friend has 2 PowerBook G4s. One titanium and one a 15" Aluminum G4 1.67GHz (looks like the non-unibody MBP), both run great. 4 years is pretty short for a 1K+ computer considering all the cheap ones still work after time. Maybe its because PCs have PROPER cooling?

[joelovesapple]

Are you serious. It died after only 4 years. My school still uses computers from 1997, and they have XP and still run. Yes they are slow, but they work? My friend's friend has 2 PowerBook G4s. One titanium and one a 15" Aluminum G4 1.67GHz (looks like the non-unibody MBP), both run great. 4 years is pretty short for a 1K+ computer considering all the cheap ones still work after time. Maybe its because PCs have PROPER cooling?

Good point, it's not long at all really. I rang up a repair centre and have established that it's the logic board that's gone kaput.

Will update you with more news as it becomes available.

[Stealthipad]

I do not think they build them like they used to and 4 years on an iMac is not bad. CHeck out the cost for repairs and look at your options.:rolleyes:

[joelovesapple]

Well I don't think it is that great at all because this computer I'm typing on dates back to 2004, and is Pentium 4 and still works like a charm. No problems, ever!

I don't think customers should have such low expectations quite frankly.

And what's with the :rolleyes: ?

[joelovesapple]

Hi everyone,

Sorry to bump up this thread from a week or so ago, but just lately I erased everything using Disk utility from my white iMac in Target disk mode.

It took some time to erase, and then once it was complete, my old mac started working again as though nothing had happened. I tested it out over a few days until I got the same graphical issue again before which I had installed all the latest software updates.

I have got a photo of the problem I have been trying to describe and would just like some input as to whether this is fixable by me, or if this computer just needs to be sold for spares and repair?

Thanks!

[alent1234]

Hi everyone,

Sorry to bump up this thread from a week or so ago, but just lately I erased everything using Disk utility from my white iMac in Target disk mode.

It took some time to erase, and then once it was complete, my old mac started working again as though nothing had happened. I tested it out over a few days until I got the same graphical issue again before which I had installed all the latest software updates.

I have got a photo of the problem I have been trying to describe and would just like some input as to whether this is fixable by me, or if this computer just needs to be sold for spares and repair?

Thanks!

looks like the LCD is going bad

[slicecom]

looks like the LCD is going bad

It's a screen shot, so it can't be the LCD. Most likely a faulty video card.

[666sheep]

OP, if your iMac is 24" white (your sig tells little different ;)) you need this: http://www.mac-resource.com/1-888-MAC-RESOURCE/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=4926 and if you are "techhy", you can replace it yourself: http://www.techdc.com/imac-24-opened-and-upgraded

[Elekari]

Green lines?

Congrats OP, You have entered the Matrix!

But seriously, glad you got this problem fixed

[joelovesapple]

OP, if your iMac is 24" white (your sig tells little different ;)) you need this: http://www.mac-resource.com/1-888-MAC-RESOURCE/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=4926 and if you are "techhy", you can replace it yourself: http://www.techdc.com/imac-24-opened-and-upgraded

Yeah I know my computer is different - the one I use now is in my sig, and has just replaced the white 24 incher! Well observed though :)

I am techy but not to the extent where I can confidently take an iMac apart :o Thanks for the suggestion though!