2009 27" iMac 11,1 Booting to White Screen

[willmtaylor]

My 2009 11,1 Quad Core i5 iMac has been a flawless machine since I purchased it in October of '09.

However, this morning it booted up with pixelated/jumbled/jankey menu bar. After restarting, I noticed that it had 5-6 faint vertical stripes along the screen.

This afternoon, it only boots to a plain white screen. I was able to restart it in safe mode, but when I restarted again, it went right back to the white screen.

Anyone have any insight?

Thanks
Will

 

[willmtaylor]

So it WILL boot up in Safe Mode, but nothing else.

 

[iMacC2D]

Removed.

 

[willmtaylor]

The Graphics Card has failed.

The corruption of the menu bar, vertical columns on the display, booting to a white screen and the machine only being accessible via Safe Boot are all common signs and symptoms of a video card that has a problem. Reasonably common on these machines as well.

Ok. That was my suspicion, but I'm fairly ignorant about such things. Do you know if it user replaceable? And if so, how much it would cost me?

I may need to decide whether it's worth replacing.

 

[Skially]

Ok. That was my suspicion, but I'm fairly ignorant about such things. Do you know if it user replaceable? And if so, how much it would cost me?

I may need to decide whether it's worth replacing.

I have this issue too, not sure how much the card is but assume I could mend this- which I'd prefer to do. Can anyone help?

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

If you don't mind cracking your iMac, the gfx card is replaceable. Have a sticky at this from ifixit:-


https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Graphics+Card/9553

 

[DeltaMac]

Here's a source.
Apple's part number for the video card (assuming you have the same imac11,1 as the OP) is 661-5315.
You can search for yourself. I looked at various sites, and prices run anywhere from about $300 to near $600
Take your time, do some research before you buy.
The iFixit guide above is good, and you can also find Apple's service manual with a little searching around.
"cracking your iMac" is much simpler on a 2009, compared to the newer iMacs where you need to literally slice them open.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

As DeltaMac says they are not cheap so do an estimate as to what your iMac is worth and how much you bwant to spend. The best card is the 512MB 4850. Even second hand they will run you $250-$300. Have a look nat this one on FleaBay:-


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-iMac-...850-27-Late-2009-EMC-2374-A1312-/201865743586

 

[willmtaylor]

If I'm looking at ~$500 and I'd want to go ahead and replace the HDD with a SSD, I'd be looking at several hundred more dollars plus the time and effort for everything. I think I'll just use my time/money to save up for a MacBook Pro. Thanks though everyone.

 

[danielwsmithee]

Yeah my 2009 Graaphics card replacement was a little over $500. I went ahead and did it because I had already upgraded so much of it, two SSDs, Ram etc.

Looking back I wish I had just took it apart and sold it for parts.

I'm looking forward to see what Apple does with the next iMac. I'm lusting after after a Ryzen 7 based iMac.

 

[Fishrrman]

Better to let the old one go "for parts", and look for something new or newer...

 

[willmtaylor]

...so I ended up getting a 2017 iMac. Last night I erased the ‘09 iMac and reinstalled OSX this morning.

Here’s the thing, when it booted up this morning, it had no artifacts, and I didn’t have to boot into Safe Mode to get around a plain white screen. The display looks completely normal at the moment.

Is it typical for graphics cards to sporadically work/not work when on their way out? @Weaselboy ? @DeltaMac ?

 

[Apple_Robert]

...so I ended up getting a 2017 iMac. Last night I erased the ‘09 iMac and reinstalled OSX this morning.

Here’s the thing, when it booted up this morning, it had no artifacts, and I didn’t have to boot into Safe Mode to get around a plain white screen. The display looks completely normal at the moment.

Is it typical for graphics cards to sporadically work/not work when on their way out? @Weaselboy ? @DeltaMac ?

Yes, that can happen.

 

[Weaselboy]

Is it typical for graphics cards to sporadically work/not work when on their way out?

Not often that I have seen. Seems like they just go and that's it.

When you run in safe mode it turns off graphics acceleration, so sometimes a failing GPU can work in safe mode and not otherwise, as you discovered. But safe mode also disables all launch items and startup items. I'm wondering if you had a launch or startup items that was causing this, and your clean install got rid of the offending launch item?

Could that be? Did you happen to install anything around the time this graphics issue started?

 

[willmtaylor]

Not often that I have seen. Seems like they just go and that's it.

When you run in safe mode it turns off graphics acceleration, so sometimes a failing GPU can work in safe mode and not otherwise, as you discovered. But safe mode also disables all launch items and startup items. I'm wondering if you had a launch or startup items that was causing this, and your clean install got rid of the offending launch item?

Could that be? Did you happen to install anything around the time this graphics issue started?

Don’t tell my wife that sincere just dropped $2,500 on a new system!

No, nothing new had been installed and I always kept startup/login items to a minimum. (I prefer choosing what I use and when.)

 

[Weaselboy]

Don’t tell my wife that sincere just dropped $2,500 on a new system!

No, nothing new had been installed and I always kept startup/login items to a minimum. (I prefer choosing what I use and when.)

If you did not install or change anything, then I'd say odds are it is still the GPU failing.

 

[willmtaylor]

...so what should I ask for the following computer? What’s a fair price for this iMac with a GPU that may (or may not be) failing?

 

[Weaselboy]

Looks like those are selling for a bit over $400 on eBay without having a potentially borked GPU, so assuming you disclosed that up front in the sale, you would get even less. It might be easier to just donate it somewhere and take the tax write off?

 

[willmtaylor]

Looks like those are selling for a bit over $400 on eBay without having a potentially borked GPU, so assuming you disclosed that up front in the sale, you would get even less. It might be easier to just donate it somewhere and take the tax write off?

Good point.

 

[Fishrrman]

Keep the old iMac around, if it now seems to be running ok.
Maybe a separate setup for your wife?

It's always nice to have a second, "backup" Mac around, "just in case".
Even if it's an old one.