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Turn BROKEN imac G5 24" into monitor. Can it be done?

E

Emptyel

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 9, 2010
2
0
**Intel Imac 24 in. 2.4GHZ Core 2 Duo (NOT G5...my bad)

I know the "Using imac as external monitor" topic has been adressed in previous posts and it apparently can't be done. But this is slightly different.

I have this Imac G5 24" that is currently out of order. (won't detect hard drives when powered on 90% of the time and when it does i am experiencing ridiculous lag and random shutdowns...not to mention crazy overheating)

I sent it to tech support and after changing the hard drive, power supply etc.. and still not seeing any improvement i just stopped sinking money in repairs and got a new imac.

So now i just have this useless imac laying around and i figured i might as well try and recycle it into a secondary monitor.. I don't mind hacking it open since i have nothing to lose. I was just wondering if it could be done and if so would it be very complicated? I would rather pay a few hundred dollars in wires and IT than buy a cheap external monitor since its already a decent quality monitor and it matches the new imac :D

Thanks in advance ;)
 
ViViDboarder

ViViDboarder

macrumors 68040
Jun 25, 2008
3,447
2
USA
Emptyel said:
**Intel Imac 24 in. 2.4GHZ Core 2 Duo (NOT G5...my bad)

I know the "Using imac as external monitor" topic has been adressed in previous posts and it apparently can't be done. But this is slightly different.

I have this Imac G5 24" that is currently out of order. (won't detect hard drives when powered on 90% of the time and when it does i am experiencing ridiculous lag and random shutdowns...not to mention crazy overheating)

I sent it to tech support and after changing the hard drive, power supply etc.. and still not seeing any improvement i just stopped sinking money in repairs and got a new imac.

So now i just have this useless imac laying around and i figured i might as well try and recycle it into a secondary monitor.. I don't mind hacking it open since i have nothing to lose. I was just wondering if it could be done and if so would it be very complicated? I would rather pay a few hundred dollars in wires and IT than buy a cheap external monitor since its already a decent quality monitor and it matches the new imac :D

Thanks in advance ;)
Click to expand...

I imagine it's possible. I don't know if iFixit has any tear downs but what I would do is look for the logic board for the display and try to find the VGA or DVI input it uses. Likely there is just a connector going from the iMac mobo to the monitor logic board that can be broken and you can solder something in it's place. The only issue is that it's likely going to require the iMac power supply to be running to power the monitor... As long as the iMac will still boot after this hack you should be fine. That is unless you decide to replace the power suply for the monitor as well. You could probably buy one on ebay or something.


EDIT:
I think this tear-down may be relevant. http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac-Intel-20-Inch-EMC-2266-Teardown/658/1

Before you go tearing it apart though are you sure it can't be fixed? I feel like turning it into a monitor is about as hard or harder than just fixing it even on your own. I would try to replace the harddrives. Also did you call Applecare and ask about the harddrives?
 
E

Emptyel

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 9, 2010
2
0
I have replaced the hard drive which didn't solve the problem so i sent it for repairs to an apple certified store. They tried to change a couple of parts like the power supply and other stuff but no luck. I guess they could've end up finding the problem but i had already spent a few hundred $ on repair and they were estimating another 700$ (with no guarantee of success). So i fugured at this point i was better off just getting a new one.

I guess i could try to fix it on my own but i have very little apple hardware knowledge. I will also try contacting applecare.

Thanks for the pointers they are much appreciated :)
 
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