Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New iMac 27" - Terrible Applecare and Fusion drive problems

T

toddbe

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 27, 2007
63
1
Got my new 27" IMAC after ordering on Nov. 27th from Expercom. Great screen and it is fast.

One small problem after Time Machine restore was I wasn't able to launch Display Calibration.

After talking with a senior tech at Apple, he tried a number of different steps including repartitioning my drive (why I don't know). He also had the ability to see my screen.

After the repartition was about 75% done it seemed to stop. He told me to cancel the repartition. I said to him I thought this would cause problems, he said to cancel.

Well he fixed he Display Calibration problem by sending me a new plist file. He then went to get off the call and I said lets look at the drive.

Well it showed he 3TB Fusion drive as a 1.25TB Fusion. He was unable to fix it, and was not apologetic or very helpful. After calling back and working with three other senior advisors here is what I found:

1- All very empathetic. I feel your pain....
2- Had to repeat the problem to each person who got my call before transferring the call to the senior advisor.
3- Had to repeat the problem to each senior advisor even though all the notes were in place.
4- NO FIX or remedy after working on this for over eight hours with Apple.
5- The drive is now not bootable.

Taking the IMC to the Apple Store tomorrow. This has been very disappointing. The machine itself will not even boot up now. I have tried using Disk Warrior and Tech Pro Tools to no avail.

This episode has really changed my attitude about where Apple is. I am an original Apple 512K owner and have many Apple products. I believe the company is changing for the worse....
 
Macman45

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
Senior techs are normally good, but there is always a chance you get a bad one...it happens...The first guy obviously screwed up your drive, you need to contact Apple, explain what happened and ask for a swap out....That drive is going to need serious repair, and you've already tried DW..If that can't repair it then it needs to go back.
 
itsamacthing

itsamacthing

macrumors 6502a
Sep 26, 2011
895
514
Bangkok
toddbe said:
This episode has really changed my attitude about where Apple is. I am an original Apple 512K owner and have many Apple products. I believe the company is changing for the worse....
Click to expand...

Changing for the worse is correct...wish Woz would go to the office.
 
turtlez

turtlez

macrumors 6502a
Jun 17, 2012
977
0
ah that sucks, should have gone with your instinct about not cancelling the partition.

I have learned one thing and it is a fail proof method. Learned it back in the PC days haha. I wouldn't have called at all. I would have just deleted all the extra partitions, extended the main to cover the whole drive and format that thing hard then reinstall everything fresh. It would have fixed your display too since you get a fresh install.

I can imagine you must be really POed with Apple right now since 1, you got the problem and 2, they made it a lot worse. I would just ask for an exchange and if they say no then say oh well i want a refund since it hasn't been two weeks yet (it hasn't right?). Win Win for you, Lose Lose for Apple.

PS. just take out any 3rd party ram you put in before taking it into the store :D don't want to lose it if you get a refund and 3! they might not add it to your exchange.
 
T

toddbe

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 27, 2007
63
1
No Fix

I have taken out the ram, however the store or online does not carry the 27" 3.4 in stock. Might be four weeks.... I am really POed! All this wasted time and no short term resolution.

turtlez said:
ah that sucks, should have gone with your instinct about not cancelling the partition.

I have learned one thing and it is a fail proof method. Learned it back in the PC days haha. I wouldn't have called at all. I would have just deleted all the extra partitions, extended the main to cover the whole drive and format that thing hard then reinstall everything fresh. It would have fixed your display too since you get a fresh install.

I can imagine you must be really POed with Apple right now since 1, you got the problem and 2, they made it a lot worse. I would just ask for an exchange and if they say no then say oh well i want a refund since it hasn't been two weeks yet (it hasn't right?). Win Win for you, Lose Lose for Apple.

PS. just take out any 3rd party ram you put in before taking it into the store :D don't want to lose it if you get a refund and 3! they might not add it to your exchange.
Click to expand...
 
gnasher729

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
toddbe said:
Taking the IMC to the Apple Store tomorrow. This has been very disappointing. The machine itself will not even boot up now. I have tried using Disk Warrior and Tech Pro Tools to no avail.

This episode has really changed my attitude about where Apple is. I am an original Apple 512K owner and have many Apple products. I believe the company is changing for the worse....
Click to expand...

1. You have no Applecare problem. AppleCare is not involved in this at all.
2. You have a broken Macintosh, which is about two months old or less, so Apple will fix it under warranty.

Fixing problems yourself is only a good idea once you are out of warranty and you have the choice of fixing it yourself or paying for a fix or losing a computer. When the computer is under warranty, let _them_ fix it.
 
T

toddbe

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 27, 2007
63
1
It is an AppleCare problem covered under the original warranty. That is the group responsible for service. The IMAC is three days old!
 
Scott6666

Scott6666

macrumors 65816
Feb 2, 2008
1,487
936
It does seem that fusion drives are tricky. Seem to be a number of comments on various threads regarding formatting them messes them up. Since these are all new for Apple I imagine they will find all kind of things during the first runs.

At least there is someone to call at Apple and a store to visit. Imagine trying to call Acer, or Asus (or even Dell or Microsoft) with an issue. There is typically no one at most other computer companies who you can contact, and no place to get one dropped off for repair.

Everyone who orders one now must know that if there is an issue requiring replacement, there is no stock to replace with. You shouldn't be surprised or PO. All very foreseeable things. Hold your anger for when you really get screwed. This isn't it.
 
T

toddbe

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 27, 2007
63
1
If you spent over five hours and $3000 and still wasn't wasn't working and no fix in sight you might be a little upset also!

Scott6666 said:
It does seem that fusion drives are tricky. Seem to be a number of comments on various threads regarding formatting them messes them up. Since these are all new for Apple I imagine they will find all kind of things during the first runs.

At least there is someone to call at Apple and a store to visit. Imagine trying to call Acer, or Asus (or even Dell or Microsoft) with an issue. There is typically no one at most other computer companies who you can contact, and no place to get one dropped off for repair.

Everyone who orders one now must know that if there is an issue requiring replacement, there is no stock to replace with. You shouldn't be surprised or PO. All very foreseeable things. Hold your anger for when you really get screwed. This isn't it.
Click to expand...
 
T

The Monkey

macrumors 6502
Feb 19, 2006
277
24
toddbe said:
If you spent over five hours and $3000 and still wasn't wasn't working and no fix in sight you might be a little upset also!
Click to expand...

Unless I'm missing something, isn't the "fix" here very, very easy? Return the computer and have Apple replace under warranty/AppleCare (whichever). It's no fun, understood, but what's the big deal?
 
T

toddbe

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 27, 2007
63
1
1-No inventory on complete unit or Fusion Drive.
2- Five hours of messing around.
3- No IMAC to use.
4- Driving to and from and waiting at the Apple Store, another three hours?

That is the big deal!!!

The Monkey said:
Unless I'm missing something, isn't the "fix" here very, very easy? Return the computer and have Apple replace under warranty/AppleCare (whichever). It's no fun, understood, but what's the big deal?
Click to expand...
 
T

The Monkey

macrumors 6502
Feb 19, 2006
277
24
Have you escalated this with Apple? I have seen a couple of posts where people with issues have jumped the queue a bit for replacements. Call Apple back and demand a replacement ASAP. Nicely, but forcefully. Have you done that yet?
 
T

toddbe

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 27, 2007
63
1
I got a new advisor who said he would order a new one . I was given no lead time. He said maybe a month. Would love to escalate this. How????
 
T

The Monkey

macrumors 6502
Feb 19, 2006
277
24
toddbe said:
I got a new advisor who said he would order a new one . I was given no lead time. He said maybe a month. Would love to escalate this. How????
Click to expand...

Escalate it by saying one month is unacceptable. Ask to speak to your new "advisor's" manager. You may at least get a free superdrive out of it (which is relatively meaningless, I know). The point is, don't take no for an answer until you are certain that either (a) they are no longer bs'ing you or (b) it is clear that you've exhausted your possible roads to a better solution. Be nice but firm. The squeaky wheel and all that.
 
P

pyzon

macrumors regular
Jan 31, 2008
135
0
toddbe said:
1-No inventory on complete unit or Fusion Drive.
2- Five hours of messing around.
3- No IMAC to use.
4- Driving to and from and waiting at the Apple Store, another three hours?

That is the big deal!!!
Click to expand...

Errr not really its broke get it fixed...like most new things they can break, you took the risk with fusion unfortunately I'd didn't work out, no big deal at all just bring it back and get it fixed / repaired, you knew the risks of low inventory when you bought it! It was a hotly anticipated item, no?

Perhaps your 2.5/3 k$ would have been wiser on a 2010/2012 Mac Pro ! Glad now I went the user serviceable route :)
 
H

HenryDJP

Suspended
Nov 25, 2012
5,084
843
United States
toddbe said:
I got a new advisor who said he would order a new one . I was given no lead time. He said maybe a month. Would love to escalate this. How????
Click to expand...

If you're dealing with Applecare over the phone then ask to speak to Customer Relations. They can and will escalate it. It shouldn't take a month. That's unacceptable.

----------
pyzon said:
Errr not really its broke get it fixed...like most new things they can break, you took the risk with fusion unfortunately I'd didn't work out, no big deal at all just bring it back and get it fixed / repaired, you knew the risks of low inventory when you bought it! It was a hotly anticipated item, no?

Perhaps your 2.5/3 k$ would have been wiser on a 2010/2012 Mac Pro ! Glad now I went the user serviceable route :)
Click to expand...

Lack of empathy much? Sheesh. No need to the put the OP in his place and furthermore it's not his fault, Apple sold him a faulty machine and nobody should be feel "at risk" just because they bought something on low inventory. They owe him a replacement iMac ASAP, not a repair. Would you get your expensive sports car "repaired" the moment you drove if off the lot and it started leaking oil or would you drive it back on the lot demanding another one? I vote you'd take the second option.
 
oililymad

oililymad

macrumors 6502
Jun 5, 2009
408
0
UK
HenryDJP said:
Lack of empathy much? Sheesh. No need to the put the OP in his place and furthermore it's not his fault, Apple sold him a faulty machine and nobody should be feel "at risk" just because they bought something on low inventory. They owe him a replacement iMac ASAP, not a repair. Would you get your expensive sports car "repaired" the moment you drove if off the lot and it started leaking oil or would you drive it back on the lot demanding another one? I vote you'd take the second option.
Click to expand...



they sold a faulty machine
and then made it worse with their "technical support"

I would be pissed.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
turtlez

turtlez

macrumors 6502a
Jun 17, 2012
977
0
toddbe said:
I have taken out the ram, however the store or online does not carry the 27" 3.4 in stock. Might be four weeks.... I am really POed! All this wasted time and no short term resolution.
Click to expand...

this is the biggest worry i have. My iMac is scheduled to arrive today and I don't want to have to wait another 4 weeks for a replacement to ship if there is something wrong. I have been waiting since March to get this machine. By the time the replacement comes I will be using old technology and that doesn't make any sense, since I waited 6 months just to get the newer stuff.
 
hfg

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
Since you have a Time Machine backup of all your data (well, less the plist file that the Apple Rep sent you), why don't you break the Fusion drive and let it rebuilt itself, then use the Recovery boot to restore the iMac to the out-of-box condition and start over? You can again use your Time Machine backup to restore all your data and you are up and running again. There are many threads here to assist you with manipulating Fusion drives. The Apple Support link below also has some troubleshooting steps to restore your Fusion drive.

Don't take anyone's advice to repartition your Fusion drive other than using Boot Camp to create a single hard disk partition. I take this back, the newest Disk Utility is supported ... see the Apple Support documentation:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5446

Since the displays are individually calibrated in production, why are you trying to run Display Calibration (not that it shouldn't be able to run)?

This all should take less time than you spent on the phone with Apple Support and doesn't require weeks of waiting for a replacement. It probably really isn't "broken", it is just temporarily screwed up due to some bad advice and you should be able to fix it.


from the Apple Support document:

Can I add a partition to the hard disk with Fusion Drive?
Using Disk Utility, you can add one partition to the hard disk on Fusion Drive. Once you add the partition, the "plus" symbol in Disk Utility to add additional partitions will be grayed out. You cannot partition the Flash storage.

If I create a hard disk partition is it part of Fusion Drive?
The additional partition is not part of Fusion Drive. The new partition is a separate volume that is physically located on the hard disk drive.

Can I add a Windows partition?
You can create one additional partition on the hard disk with Fusion Drive. You can create either a Mac OS X partition or a Windows partition.

If creating a Windows partition, use Boot Camp Assistant to create it, not Disk Utility. From the Go menu, choose Utilities. Then, double-click Boot Camp Assistant and follow the onscreen instructions. For more information on Boot Camp see the Boot Camp support page.

Note: Boot Camp Assistant is not supported at this time on 3TB hard drive configurations.
 
Last edited:
H

has.marvel

macrumors member
Jan 13, 2012
68
5
hfg said:
Since you have a Time Machine backup of all your data (well, less the plist file that the Apple Rep sent you), why don't you break the Fusion drive and let it rebuilt itself, then use the Recovery boot to restore the iMac to the out-of-box condition and start over? You can again use your Time Machine backup to restore all your data and you are up and running again. There are many threads here to assist you with manipulating Fusion drives.

Don't take anyone's advice to repartition your Fusion drive other than using Boot Camp to create a single hard disk partition.

Since the displays are individually calibrated in production, why are you trying to run Display Calibration (not that it shouldn't be able to run)?

This all should take less time than you spent on the phone with Apple Support and doesn't require weeks of waiting for a replacement. It probably really isn't "broken", it is just temporarily screwed up due to some bad advice and you should be able to fix it.
Click to expand...

This would be bad advice to use boot camp. It will not work on a 3TB drive. That has been all over these forums already.
 
hfg

hfg

macrumors 68040
Dec 1, 2006
3,621
312
Cedar Rapids, IA. USA
has.marvel said:
This would be bad advice to use boot camp. It will not work on a 3TB drive. That has been all over these forums already.
Click to expand...

It won't create a Windows environment, but will it not still create a single partition at the end of the hard disk part of the Fusion drive? You can use that partition as a non-fusion storage.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom