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2006 IMac Dumpster Dive

M

mr2nr

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 29, 2012
8
0
So I'm not really a Mac person but rather PC and seen this guy throwing away a 2006 Mid Year iMac with a descent screen and though heck if anything maybe there is some ram in it I can sell. Well no RAM and no HDD so lets try and get her going.

I go and find some SODIMM (2x1GB) sticks and can power it on now and get the blinky ? folder. So hey at least the power supply is good and the RAM I had on hand works maybe. I get a 500GB HDD and throw it in and find a OS X .dmg on DVD. I stick the disc in and it spins up but it just flashes white and goes black. I've got the iMac apart where I can still get to the HDD.

I have searched through here about an hour and tried pressing the Alt key while booting and then the C key while booting. (I only have PC Keyboards :))
still with the same results white screen of hope then black screen of despair.

The only way I can get it to go back to the ? folder is ejecting the CD and removing/reinstalling the CMOS batt.

Do I need to partition the drive first?

Is there certain steps I have not taken?

Could the Power supply still be bad?

Thanks for any help!
 
A DMG file is not bootable, it is like an .iso file, you need to burn that file via Disk Utility, as it contains the entire DVD contents.
Do you have access to another Mac?
 
simsaladimbamba said:
A DMG file is not bootable, it is like an .iso file, you need to burn that file via Disk Utility, as it contains the entire DVD contents.
Click to expand...

Here's a neat thingy: 0xced.blogspot.com/2009/08/booting-from-dmg.html But it still requires a Mac OS X system on the machine to get it going the first time around.
 
OK did the new dmg burn using TransMac and the Mac acted like it liked it but the screen still won't stay on for more than 3 sec. I let it sit there for a couple hours and came back and it looked like it was sleeping with the fading white light. I played with the mouse and the options menu came up with what I wanted to do with OS X but after the three sec it went black again.

I restarted and never could get it back up.

Am I fighting a loosing battle?
 
Maybe the power supply is damaged. I have had one of these, were all the large capacitors on the powersupply died. With some experience its a quick fix.
 
Well I'm lost as of now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Don't really want to put a $100 PS in a 5+ year old machine.

If anybody wants any parts let me know ;).
 
OK Im leaning toward the PS as well as I was able to get past the first menu then the Disclosure and I hit agree. Mind you within the three seconds and having to put the mac to sleep and start it back up to revive the screen for another three sec. Now I'm at the Select a disk to install Lion too and the box is blank? I am using a 500GB HD which is the max this PC will handle so I read.

Any pointers?

----------
fwhh said:
Maybe the power supply is damaged. I have had one of these, were all the large capacitors on the powersupply died. With some experience its a quick fix.
Click to expand...

Would like more info on this. I have Novice/descent soldering experience. But if it's too cramped or layered I'm lost.
 
mr2nr said:
OK Im leaning toward the PS as well as I was able to get past the first menu then the Disclosure and I hit agree. Mind you within the three seconds and having to put the mac to sleep and start it back up to revive the screen for another three sec. Now I'm at the Select a disk to install Lion too and the box is blank? I am using a 500GB HD which is the max this PC will handle so I read.

Any pointers?

----------



Would like more info on this. I have Novice/descent soldering experience. But if it's too cramped or layered I'm lost.
Click to expand...

You need to first load Disk Utility from the menu and format the drive correctly. HFS+ Journaled
 
What menu? Like I said I don't have another Mac and this one was missing the HD.

Sure am missing BIOS right about now.
 
BIOS wouldn't be of any help to you even if it was there. The menu on the Mac OS X installation disc.
 
When the screen goes blank, try shining a torch at the screen at various angles to see if there is a faint picture still there. If there is, the problem may be with the backlight inverter board.
 
mr2nr said:
What menu? Like I said I don't have another Mac and this one was missing the HD.

Sure am missing BIOS right about now.
Click to expand...

No, he ment when you are installing it from the DVD, when it ask the destination. Destinations are empty because you dont have any disk formatted / erased for the OSX. You should find the disk utility on the top menu(utilities/disk utility) via the installation when you go "back" or close the main installation window.
 
mr2nr said:
I would tell me if I was having a screen Power problem.
Click to expand...

Most BIOS can't do that beyond turning on. The EFI is able to do that as well. Hold down T at boot and if you get a FireWire logo bouncing around the screen, the power is working fine.
 
Can't see a shadow and took the PS and Inverter board out both looked good as far as popping caps and shorted boards. Oh well it was a nice try....I guess Ill hold onto it for a week or two if anybody has any other ideas.

Holding down T didn't do anything either.
 
Last edited:
The only other suggestion is to get a "MiniDvi to DVI" adapter or "MiniDVI to VGA" adapter and see what an external display does. Of course, if you can't borrow one it means buying one with the potential to get no further. They're not too expensive. Just make sure it IS a 2006. Look at the underside of the 'foot' for a serial number and plug it into Apple's Spec page search box where it says "Enter Keywords or Serial Number".

http://support.apple.com/specs/

Also, measure the display and let us know if it's a 20" or 24" (measured diagonally within the "viewable area").

Also, when the display goes blank, does the white light (bottom right-hand of the front) glow steady? If it does, the display has been dimmed or turned off deliberately by the control circuit. If it pulsates/breathes then the machine is asleep.

Also, if you have the front off, check 3 small LEDs just below the coin battery. They should be numbered 1-3.

1. 5v trickle power is good. Should always illuminate when the mains power is plugged in.

2. Unit has been powered on and is receiving good power from the main PSU. If this extinguishes when the machine is running, suspect the main PSU.

3. Motherboard has successfully detected the internal LCD display and is able to communicate with it successfully.

That's about all I have for now.

Pardon the excessive use of "also". ;)
 
I checked the serial and it is a mid year 2006 with a 20" screen.

I have all three LEDS on and the White light at the bottom turns on and then goes out when the LIONX bootable DVD is inserted. I wait a while and the screen pops back on and I have three seconds then the imac goes to sleep with the pulsating White LED on the front. I can wake it up and get another three sec. but need more screen time to format the drive and such.

Ya I think I know why it was thrown in the dumpster but it looks like an easy fix if someone has had this problem before.

I will try and find a mini DVI adapter in the meantime. Thanks for the help.
 
What I find odd is that the machine seems to be going to sleep rather than some hardware experiencing a failure. This can be shown by the white light pulsating, indicating sleep mode.

From my reckoning, this should only happen on portables with the display closed. I'm not sure if there are any other modes that force instantaneous sleep (other than user intervention).

Do you have access to another boot DVD ?

Actually, in typing this reply, I'm wondering if sleep is activated if the HD temp is not present.

There should be a cable plugged into the top edge of the logic board as seen here:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac-Intel-20-Inch-EMC-2105-and-2118-Hard-Drive-Replacement/1092/3
This cable should then connect to a small circuit board with a small 8 pin IC on it, which is normally adhered to the edge of the HD.

Apple's PN is 922-7296 for the cable and 922-7242 for the Sensor PCB.
 
It'll still run if it can't detect a hard drive temperature. But the hard drive fan will be on at full blast. Your sleep problem could be caused by a stuck power button.
 
I have a hunch regarding what your problem may be and the solution to that problem. It is an issue that primarily affected ibook g4 laptops, though I have heard of it occurring in white flat panel iMacs in much smaller numbers. The issue I am referring to is an improperly seated gpu in the logic board. The symptoms you are describing seem very similar to the symptoms caused by the loose logic board gpu/component. The solution is the same for both computers. It involves placing a shim or something similar that applies pressure to the loose logic board component. I was able to resolve the problem in my ibook g4 by placing a screw clamp on the case in the proper location. That obviously wouldn't work on a iMac, but maybe you could engineer a similar solution on a smaller scale that would work on the inside of the case.
 
Intell said:
It'll still run if it can't detect a hard drive temperature. But the hard drive fan will be on at full blast. Your sleep problem could be caused by a stuck power button.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, if the sleep problem was a stuck power button, the machine would power on as soon as AC power is connected and should power off completely 5 seconds later, no?

leerkeller said:
I have a hunch regarding what your problem may be and the solution to that problem...The symptoms you are describing seem very similar to the symptoms caused by the loose logic board gpu/component...
Click to expand...

The 20" 2006 iMac is quite well known for a failed GPU which may well be for the reason you describe (BGA failure). However, I've not known that particular problem to cause an almost immediate sleep.

I have one of these and have recently disabled the ATIRadeonX1000.kext just to keep it alive (which it does). The problem manifests as a corrupted display and eventually a hard freeze or kernel panic, rather than sleep.

The fact that the machine can boot from a DVD and only THEN goes to sleep doesn't make much sense, other than something fishy about the Boot DVD.

Having said all that, I'm only using my best guess at a distance. YMMV
 
My old school used to throw out the pcs/macs they couldn’t fix. At first I attempted to fix a few but it was costly and I was experiencing problems like you are having. In the end I just ended up selling stuff as is on ebay and craigslist and making quite a bit of money with little to no effort.
 
MacTech68 said:
Hmmm, if the sleep problem was a stuck power button, the machine would power on as soon as AC power is connected and should power off completely 5 seconds later, no?
Click to expand...

Not really. It won't start if you hold down the power button and plug it in. But the pressing of the button may disconnect it long enough to trigger it to turn on, then it will go right back to sleep.
 
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