Q: Have fun changing your iMac G5 "midplane"? A: NO DAMMIT!

[edesignuk]

So Apple have sent me a "user replaceable" midplane that apparently will stop the noise I am getting from my iMac, great...I thought.

Phase 1:
Preparation, lay iMac face down on something soft.

OK so far...

Phase 2:
Take the back off the iMac, get the new one out the box.

OK so far...

Phase 3:
Remove all components from iMac (some of them a real bitch to remove!).

Starting to wonder how the hell they think this is a user replaceable part, can't quite see your average joe doing this...but still OK...

Phase 4:
FINALLY! The damn thing's out! w00t!

Feeling a little better now...all OK...

Phase 5:
Check me out! All re-installed, and the components back (also a bitch to do).

Looking good...

Phase 6:
All in one piece, I DID IT! YES! Oh my f***ing god that was a pain in the arse, never wanna do THAT again!

w00t! All done!

Now to plug it in and see if the noise has gone...






...but WAIT...






...you guessed it kiddies...

IT WON'T BOOT UP!

GREAT!


So, calmly and cooly (read: hot, frustrated, and pissed off) I get on the phone to Apple. Where I get through to a Russian guy in Ireland that I can barely understand, who doesn't seem to know jack **** about the iMac, superb! After talking crap with him for 10 mins on a call I AM PAYING FOR he puts me though to some other Irish woman, thanks christ for that! I thought...

She tells me to remove the back of the iMac, plug the power in, and turn it on. Now, do you see a problem with this? Where is the power switch on the iMac? Oh that's right, ON THE BACK!!!!!!!!! JESUS this is painful. Eventually when I convince her that no I cant just lean the back cover on, turn it on, and whip it off quick (the power cable goes through the back cover, so this is impossible), she gets me to reseat the power supply (which I had already done myself before calling them TWICE), and though and behold, IT WORKS! THANK **** FOR THAT!

So that's my tale, oh what fun...

(all quiet so far BTW )

 

[Vector]

Sorry, that sucks.

I forgot about the back having to be on for the power to work. That sounded like a good idea when i first heard it, but it has got to be a pain in the ass for techs.

 

[wordmunger]

Well, I'm glad you got it fixed. Personally I'd rather fix something like that myself than wait for a week or two while a tech does it, but I might be a little more tech-inclined than your average joe.

 

[Abulia]

So it worked? That's great to hear! (Pardon the pun.)

BTW, you can just short out the power connector to simulate the "on" position to turn the unit on with the back off. I learned this (and soooooo much more) while browsing the Apple support forums and reading the numerous and lengthy threads on iMac noise issues.

(Day three and still no hint that my iMac will be fixed.)

- Don

 

[edesignuk]

BTW, you can just short out the power connector to simulate the "on" position to turn the unit on with the back off.

I suggested that to the Apple tech, but told them I wouldn't do it without their say so, as I didn't want to be left with a fried imac that they say the warranty is void on

 

[caveman_uk]

What were the real tricky things to remove? How hard would a hard drive upgrade be? Just interested for future reference

 

[caveman_uk]

Where I get through to a Russian guy in Ireland that I can barely understand, who doesn't seem to know jack **** about the iMac, superb!

Just be grateful you got through to someone in Ireland. If you'd gone through to India you'd still be trying to find someone who knew anything about macs....

[This is not to be construed as an anti-Indian, racist thing. It's just the Apple call-center in India sucks - I know I've used it.]

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Im still wondering what is a midplane???

 

[ebook]

Im still wondering what is a midplane???

Ummm...midplane = WHOLE COMPUTER excpet: AirPort Card, HD, Superdrive, power supply, power inverter, lcd, ram, and maybe one other thing. So, basically it is a lot of little green board with little circut things and wires coming from it...along with the cooling system and AirPort antenna.

caveman_uk...I think one of the tricky parts to remove may have been the inverter and the wires to it, or maybe the power supply because you kinda have to put it in just right and I was worried about breaking something. For me (and I have replaced my midplane twice so I have taken out and replanced the HD twice) the hard drive was fairly simply. Three brass screws I believe and 3 connectors and you've got it. Also, for me the connectors on the HD seemed like the easiest to take off! I hope that helps

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Thanks ebook because i was lost.

 

[Josh]

Bro! that sucks so bad - I have to do the same thing

Hopefully it goes smoother with mine...but I doubt it will. Just replacing the PSU was a pain for me lol

 

[Mudbug]

ok, yeah - that sucks and all that - glad to see you got it fixed.

But I'm even more glad to see you've used one of your own famous macro pics in your own thread. King's to you, Fernand

 

[Jalexster]

I see you are using ImageShack. <brag>I told you about that.</brag>

Anyway, good to see that it is actully user servicable. Hard, but it can still be done.

 

[edesignuk]

I see you are using ImageShack. <brag>I told you about that.</brag>

heh, but I did already know about it, just preferred to host myself. This time though I just couldn't be bothered to create thumbnails etc.

But I'm even more glad to see you've used one of your own famous macro pics in your own thread. King's to you, Fernand

Had to be done didn't it

 

[keysersoze]

heh, but I did already know about it, just preferred to host myself. This time though I just couldn't be bothered to create thumbnails etc.
Had to be done didn't it

Man that sucks.

Rev. A Syndrome?

 

[caveman_uk]

Anyway edesignuk, is the damn thing quieter now?

 

[edesignuk]

Anyway edesignuk, is the damn thing quieter now?

Well I've given it a few days, just to be sure, and yes, I think it's fixed it w00t!

 

[toughboy]

power supply

is it easy to change the power supply?? is it a commonly find PC power supply or is it something Apple-only??

 

[RGunner]

apple PSU

if it came out of an Apple, it has to be an Apple supply...

only the Sawtooth (G4) had a PSU which was somewhat PC friendly.

 

[edesignuk]

is it easy to change the power supply?? is it a commonly find PC power supply or is it something Apple-only??

PSU is easy to change, and yes, it's iMac specific (as you'd expect).

 

[toughboy]

PSU is easy to change, and yes, it's iMac specific (as you'd expect).

As I looked in the high-res pics in detail, yes.. I saw that it was specificly made for Apple..

in another thread, a british lady had fried the iMac because of its non-auto-switch PSU, thats why I wanted to know, anyways, thanks for the replies..

 

[russed]

i think the imac has to win the nicest inside of a computer award (well apart from the powermac!)

 

[daveL]

I know this thread has been dead for a while, but I've been having problems with my wife's new iMac G5. First they sent me a new inverter, which didn't fix the problem (screen went blank after 1 week). Now I'm waiting on a new screen, which will hopefully get here today. The machine's been down for 8 days out of the 15 days we've owned it, so far.

Anyway, there is a way to power the machine up with the back off. They explain how to do it in the online iMac G5 troubleshooting pages of the Apple support site. Once you take the back off, you plug the power cord in, then there's a micro switch just below the central air ducting that you press. The machine comes on and you can read off the diagnostic LEDs, which are a bit down and to the right from the micro switch.

Apple has been great about getting the parts to me, but it has been a major pain, and I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed. I've been using Macs for 3 years, with nary a problem. My wife, however, is switching from XP, and she hasn't been impressed with the beginning of her Mac experience.

 

[edesignuk]

I know this thread has been dead for a while, but I've been having problems with my wife's new iMac G5. First they sent me a new inverter, which didn't fix the problem (screen went blank after 1 week). Now I'm waiting on a new screen, which will hopefully get here today. The machine's been down for 8 days out of the 15 days we've owned it, so far.

Anyway, there is a way to power the machine up with the back off. They explain how to do it in the online iMac G5 troubleshooting pages of the Apple support site. Once you take the back off, you plug the power cord in, then there's a micro switch just below the central air ducting that you press. The machine comes on and you can read off the diagnostic LEDs, which are a bit down and to the right from the micro switch.

Apple has been great about getting the parts to me, but it has been a major pain, and I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed. I've been using Macs for 3 years, with nary a problem. My wife, however, is switching from XP, and she hasn't been impressed with the beginning of her Mac experience.

Don't sit there and take it, I gave them 1 chance to fix what was essentially a DOA machine, after replacing the midplane I then had further screen problems, and they wanted to send more parts out (all this within 10 days of receiving the machine!). At which point I politely told them to shove it, and kindly replce the whole machine, which after some convincing, they are now doing, I get my new one tomorrow

 

[daveL]

You would think it would be in their own best interest to do better QA than this. At the end of the day, I can't see how they've made a dime off of either of us.

On the other hand, by TiBook 1 GHz and my G5 2x2.5 GHz have been flawless. Even my wife's 2nd gen iPod has been problem free. Go figure.