2009 iMac completely dead when trying to turn on. Opened it up and, after plugging in power, I get 1 LED. Pushing the power button , nothing happens. Pushing it a couple more times there's a faint sound and the LED goes out, leaving me with no LEDs. I've replaced the power supply, with no help - same thing happens. Any ideas?
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2009 Imac Dead
- Thread starter romulus1
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I own an iMac 21.5 late 2009 E8600 (10,1) and after many years of usage I had to replace the display, the HDD (switch to SSD), upgrade the RAM and move to High Sierra. Nowadays it runs very good despite the hardware limitation (up to SATA II and only dual core cpu).
I have never changed the power supply in 11 years.
For faint sound you mean the boot up sound? Have you ever replaced the display? Is your iMac connected through an UPS?
I had a similar experience when the iMac display burned out some years ago.
You need a qualified computer technician (Apple doesn't repair old machines so you need to move to third party suppliers) to check the machine.
If it's the display the replacement is pretty expensive.
In this scenario it's better to purchase a new iMac or another Apple product (also used or renewed, depends on your needs).
Still sounds like a faulty power supply...
You should always have the LED 1 on when the power cord is plugged in. If that goes out when you press the power button, I would suggest that something in the power supply can't support the power needed to turn on the iMac -- so even the trickle voltage drops off.
You should always have the LED 1 on when the power cord is plugged in. If that goes out when you press the power button, I would suggest that something in the power supply can't support the power needed to turn on the iMac -- so even the trickle voltage drops off.
12 years old -- no longer worth spending much (any?) money on.
Time to start looking for a replacement...
Time to start looking for a replacement...
Totally agree.
The 21.5in 1080p LCD panel doesn't worth to be saved.
OP: If you are skilled enough, I would advice to gut-out the iMac and convert it to a normal monitor, if the image quality are still good. The speaker, microphone, camera can be re-used as well, but it should be a for-fun project. It's not cost efficent anyhow.
I'm currently working on the same machine as a hobby project. Mine is also dead, only LED #1 is on when plugged into power. No further signs of life whatsoever. I ordered a refurbished power supply of eBay in order to check whether that's the problem or not. If that isn't the case (like in your situation), there are few other things that can prevent the iMac from booting. Try turning the iMac on with different parts disconnected from the logic board, like the Superdrive, hard drive, display. Also, check if all cables are undamaged en well seated. If none of that is preventig the machine from turning on, it is probably a logic board problem. But I suggest checking all other parts first before replacing the logic board.
I found a genuine Technician Guide from Apple on the internet: https://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/imac/imac_21_late09.pdf. This could be helpful during your repair. Good luck and keep me posted if you manage to get the machine up and running again!
I found a genuine Technician Guide from Apple on the internet: https://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/imac/imac_21_late09.pdf. This could be helpful during your repair. Good luck and keep me posted if you manage to get the machine up and running again!
Reading this, I would suggest checking the power button and whether it's connection to the logic board is still okay.
I've got a 2011 that has/had the same symptoms iMac LED 1 is lit when power cord connected, pressing the power button led 1 goes out immediately.
It was a short on the GPU causing it, after to many bakes a small component desoldered. Swapped in a spare GPU and it booted straight up, to check remove your GPU and see if you get led 1 & 2 to light up.
I have also had bad ram cause no led 1 or intermittent led 1. It can be pretty random and not always related to the PSU or logic board.
To check the power button use a paper clip to bridge the 2 pins on the connector that the power button cable plugs into.
It was a short on the GPU causing it, after to many bakes a small component desoldered. Swapped in a spare GPU and it booted straight up, to check remove your GPU and see if you get led 1 & 2 to light up.
I have also had bad ram cause no led 1 or intermittent led 1. It can be pretty random and not always related to the PSU or logic board.
To check the power button use a paper clip to bridge the 2 pins on the connector that the power button cable plugs into.
Yeah, I'm getting more and more the idea that almost every part can prevent the whole machine from turning on when not working or plugged in correcty. Best way is to check all parts and connections before ordering replacement parts.
In my case, LED1 stays on when pressing the power button, but nothing happens. Only thing I tried so far is removing the RAM from the slots, but the machine still wouldn't turn on. Next thing I'm gonna try is opening up the machine, remove all built up dust and dirt, check all cables and connections and then replace the power supply. I will check too whether I can turn on the machine by pressing the two pins of the power button with a set of tweezers.
Looking forward to this game of trial & error already!
First try to remove the GPU, power on and do a PRAM reset. Normally if it was GPU fault, removing the GU would get the machine to boot, fans spinning and chiming.
Yes they definitely have a dedicated GPU.
Even the original Apple iMac G3 233 from 1998 had a dedicated GPU albeit with only 2mb VRAM 😜
Even the original Apple iMac G3 233 from 1998 had a dedicated GPU albeit with only 2mb VRAM 😜
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If it is a core i iMac, then it has a detachable GPU.
If it is a core 2 duo, then the GPU is integrated and not removable.
You can open the iMac to have a look yourself.
Ah, that explains it! Mine is a Core 2 Duo, so that's why I can't remove the GPU. Thanks!
Depends which model you have.
There are two configurations of this model -- MB950LL/A, which has a NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor that shares memory with the system and MC413LL/A, which has an ATI Radeon HD 4670 with 256 MB of dedicated GDDR3 memory.
Just curious: did you manage to fix yours already? And if so, what was exactly wrong it?Thanks. Not really keen to spend the money on a new one, plus I like a fixit project!
OK - so I tried all the suggested trouble shooting as well as a few others I found online. None of them helped so I went ahead and ordered a second hand logic board on Ebay - swapped them round and it worked! Back in business!
Only problem was I damaged the vertical sync cable reinstalling the display. Not going to bother with it as not causing a problem unless I put it up to high/max brightness. Thanks for all the pointers.
Only problem was I damaged the vertical sync cable reinstalling the display. Not going to bother with it as not causing a problem unless I put it up to high/max brightness. Thanks for all the pointers.
I'm not sure, I think that it just depend on the configs. The late 2009 21" had the option of a Radeon 4670 which was detachable. If the system had the geforce 9400M, then yes, is integrated.
I had a similar problem on my core 2 duo iMac from early 2008 that was fixed by replacing just the video card ( nvidia 8800GS)
Just a quick update on my repair project. Yesterday I took the iMac apart for the first time. There was a lot of dust built up in the machine, especially around the vents. After a good inside clean I connected the iMac to the power and measured the pinpoints on the logic board. It got a solid 12V from the power supply and LED#1 was lit. No signs of life whatsoever. I disconnected the power cable, waited a few minutes and then replaced the power supply with the new, proven working one I ordered off eBay. Again, no signs of life. I tried disconnecting the hard drive, SuperDrive, AirPort and Bluetooth, as described in the Technician Guide, but none of that worked. All cables and connections looked fine. I even tried jump starting the iMac via the two pins of the power button connection, but it did not work.
I'm afraid the logic board is toast and I will need to replace that.