Late 2006 Intel iMac Won't Boot

Project538 · Dec 21, 2012, 09:55 PM

So my Late 2006 iMac locked up while I was playing Minecraft, which is a common occurrence these days. It usually reboots just fine. However, when I attempted to reboot it this time, I was greeted with a "No" symbol (the circle with a slash through it". Another attempt at a reboot had the screen hanging at the Apple logo, and still another brought up a flashing folder with a question mark on it. What do I do?

Thanks,

-Project538

Intell · Dec 21, 2012, 10:04 PM

Try reinstalling the OS. If that doesn't work or you can't reinstall it, your hard drive might be dead. Press the command-V key to when starting it up to start it up in verbose mode. Tell us what lines it freezes at or repeats non-stop.

Project538 · Dec 21, 2012, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intell

Try reinstalling the OS. If that doesn't work or you can't reinstall it, your hard drive might be dead. Press the command-V key to when starting it up to start it up in verbose mode. Tell us what lines it freezes at or repeats non-stop.

Unfortunately it's not responding to any startup key combinations, so I can't try either of those things... thoughts?

Intell · Dec 21, 2012, 10:13 PM

Is it a USB keyboard? What happens if you press and hold option at startup? Don't forget, you need to press and hold the command and the V key right after you hear the startup noise and continue holding them until you see the verbose startup text.

Project538 · Dec 21, 2012, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intell

Is it a USB keyboard? What happens if you press and hold option at startup? Don't forget, you need to press and hold the command and the V key right after you hear the startup noise and continue holding them until you see the verbose startup text.

Yeah, it's a USB keyboard. How long should these things take to appear? Right now I'm trying to boot in to Lion Recovery. I've been holding the keys forever and it has stayed on the white screen. An Apple logo just showed up, but other than that it's not doing anything. I'll try the verbose mode next.

EDIT: It booted from the Snow Leopard DVD... Now what?

Intell · Dec 21, 2012, 10:29 PM

They don't take more than 30 seconds. You may have a hardware failure of some kind if nothing appears when holding startup keys.

Project538 · Dec 21, 2012, 10:33 PM

Alright, I"m back up and running! Booted from a Snow Leopard disc and then told the computer to restart and boot into the hard drive. It worked, and now I'm back in to Lion. Anything I should do to prevent this from happening again?

Intell · Dec 21, 2012, 10:54 PM

Run Disk Utility to verify your hard drive and possibly back up your data.

Project538 · Dec 21, 2012, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intell

Run Disk Utility to verify your hard drive and possibly back up your data.

Disk Utility says everything is fine... Somehow I doubt that. Either way, I'm running a back up right now. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it!

Beebou · Dec 21, 2012, 11:47 PM

You can't run Minecraft on that thing at over 2 FPS, can you..?

Project538 · Dec 22, 2012, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beebou

You can't run Minecraft on that thing at over 2 FPS, can you..?

It runs fine most of the time. I have most of the graphics settings on "fast", and I've installed Optifine which helps as well. It lags every once in a while and crashes from time to time, but I'll make it work until I get a new computer for college. I don't have an exact FPS count for you off the top of my head, but I can get one later and post it if you're interested.

MeFromHere · Dec 22, 2012, 12:14 PM

That model of iMac is prone to problems in the graphics system when it gets too hot. The problem seems to get worse as the system gets older. Have you noticed any graphics glitches, especially when the system is working hard? On my system, these glitches are often followed by a hang.

Download smcFacControl, install it, and keep an eye on the system temperatures. Consider boosting the fan speeds by a moderate amount to keep the temperatures from going too high. Over time, you may be able to see about what temperatures lead to symptoms, and adjust the fans to stay out of the danger zone.

These days, my 2006 iMac needs the fans turned up enough that I hear them (in a quiet room) if I'm doing anything graphics-intensive.

Dec 21, 2012, 09:55 PM	#1
Project538 macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Iowa, USA	Late 2006 Intel iMac Won't Boot So my Late 2006 iMac locked up while I was playing Minecraft, which is a common occurrence these days. It usually reboots just fine. However, when I attempted to reboot it this time, I was greeted with a "No" symbol (the circle with a slash through it". Another attempt at a reboot had the screen hanging at the Apple logo, and still another brought up a flashing folder with a question mark on it. What do I do? Thanks, -Project538 __________________ Twitter: @Project538  13" MacBook Air (Mid 2012), iPad 2 (16GB Wi-Fi), 6th generation iPod nano (8GB), 5th generation iPod touch (32GB)
	0

Dec 21, 2012, 10:04 PM	#2
Intell macrumors G4 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Inside	Try reinstalling the OS. If that doesn't work or you can't reinstall it, your hard drive might be dead. Press the command-V key to when starting it up to start it up in verbose mode. Tell us what lines it freezes at or repeats non-stop. __________________ Last edited by Intell; Yesterday at 11:50 AM.
	0

Dec 21, 2012, 10:13 PM	#4
Intell macrumors G4 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Inside	Is it a USB keyboard? What happens if you press and hold option at startup? Don't forget, you need to press and hold the command and the V key right after you hear the startup noise and continue holding them until you see the verbose startup text. __________________ Last edited by Intell; Yesterday at 11:50 AM.
	0

Dec 21, 2012, 10:29 PM	#6
Intell macrumors G4 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Inside	They don't take more than 30 seconds. You may have a hardware failure of some kind if nothing appears when holding startup keys. __________________ Last edited by Intell; Yesterday at 11:50 AM.
	0

Dec 21, 2012, 10:33 PM	#7
Project538 Thread Starter macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Iowa, USA	Alright, I"m back up and running! Booted from a Snow Leopard disc and then told the computer to restart and boot into the hard drive. It worked, and now I'm back in to Lion. Anything I should do to prevent this from happening again? __________________ Twitter: @Project538  13" MacBook Air (Mid 2012), iPad 2 (16GB Wi-Fi), 6th generation iPod nano (8GB), 5th generation iPod touch (32GB)
	0

Dec 21, 2012, 10:54 PM	#8
Intell macrumors G4 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Inside	Run Disk Utility to verify your hard drive and possibly back up your data. __________________ Last edited by Intell; Yesterday at 11:50 AM.
	0

Dec 21, 2012, 11:47 PM	#10
Beebou macrumors newbie Join Date: Nov 2012	You can't run Minecraft on that thing at over 2 FPS, can you..?
	0

Dec 22, 2012, 12:14 PM	#12
MeFromHere macrumors regular Join Date: Oct 2012	That model of iMac is prone to problems in the graphics system when it gets too hot. The problem seems to get worse as the system gets older. Have you noticed any graphics glitches, especially when the system is working hard? On my system, these glitches are often followed by a hang. Download smcFacControl, install it, and keep an eye on the system temperatures. Consider boosting the fan speeds by a moderate amount to keep the temperatures from going too high. Over time, you may be able to see about what temperatures lead to symptoms, and adjust the fans to stay out of the danger zone. These days, my 2006 iMac needs the fans turned up enough that I hear them (in a quiet room) if I'm doing anything graphics-intensive.
	0

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