2009 iMac - Slept for a few months.

[dinggus]

I just received all my house hold goods while moving overseas. So, basically my iMac has been turned off since January and who knows what happens during transportation.

My 2009 iMac 27" seems to be working fine, except it doesn't seem to boot up all the way. It turns on, I can open apps and everything except folders. When I click to open a folder it says "The application "Finder" is not open anymore."

I know my Magic Mouse was left on the whole time, so now I'm using the Logitech Ultra Thin mouse for mac. But, when I started my iMac it was looking for the mouse and that's when I connected my Logitech mouse. Don't know if that could be the issue.

 

[BittenApple]

Sounds like the hard drive was damaged during transport.

 

[dinggus]

Sounds like the hard drive was damaged during transport.

I hope not, I might just have to do a clean install to make sure.

Is there any way I can copy what I have on my desktop prior to re-installing?

 

[dinggus]

Does anyone else have an idea what is going on?

 

[JustMartin]

Try repairing permissions and verifying hard disk first.

 

[dinggus]

Try repairing permissions and verifying hard disk first.

Do I need the recovery disk for that?

 

[JimmakoS]

Do I need the recovery disk for that?

No, at the boot, just hold the alt button and you will see the recovery partition. Click on that and then select to enter to Disk Utility, from there you can perform the repair disk permissions.

 

[dinggus]

No, at the boot, just hold the alt button and you will see the recovery partition. Click on that and then select to enter to Disk Utility, from there you can perform the repair disk permissions.

Thanks I'll have my wife do it since I won't be home for awhile.

 

[lowendlinux]

File a claim with with the legal office now do not wait.

Where did you move to?

 

[dinggus]

File a claim with with the legal office now do not wait.

Where did you move to?

I have 75 days to claim everything. I moved to Europe.

I'm instructing my wife via hangouts and she asked me which one to select to repair.

I never seen the disk1 > OS X Base System before.

 

[lowendlinux]

I have 75 days to claim everything. I moved to Europe.

I'm instructing my wife via hangouts and she asked me which one to select to repair.

Image

I never seen the disk1 > OS X Base System before.

I know you have 75 Days and I figured it was to Europe but things tend to get lost and trouble shooting can take time. Then there's the moving in and inprocessing, and PT test's and on and on. IME it's easier to pull stuff off a claim than to add to it later.

Where did you end up over here? I'm in Stuttgart

 

[dinggus]

No, at the boot, just hold the alt button and you will see the recovery partition. Click on that and then select to enter to Disk Utility, from there you can perform the repair disk permissions.

Still didn't fix the problem. Pisses me off, I really hope I don't have to reinstall and lose all my files.

Trying to get the wife to create partition, won't let her.

 

[JimmakoS]

Still didn't fix the problem. Pisses me off, I really hope I don't have to reinstall and lose all my files.

Trying to get the wife to create partition, won't let her.

She must select the Machintosh HD and then perform the repair disk permissions routine.

If this doesn't work from the menu of the recovery she can try to reinstall the os ( you won't lose anything).

 

[dinggus]

She must select the Machintosh HD and then perform the repair disk permissions routine.

If this doesn't work from the menu of the recovery she can try to reinstall the os ( you won't lose anything).

She did it, and it fixed it. I finally got home from my business trip today, and it was frozen on the home screen.

Wehn into recovery mode, opened disk utilities and it is telling me to make a backup of the disk because it's failing.

What is a good SSD to put into the iMac? It's a 2009 with RAM maxed out.

 

[lowendlinux]

I use Samsung drives

 

[dinggus]

I use Samsung drives

What's the capacity? Also, would I need like an extra mount to put in place of the 1TB HDD to mount a SSD?

 

[lowendlinux]

What's the capacity? Also, would I need like an extra mount to put in place of the 1TB HDD to mount a SSD?

I use both a couple different sizes but the biggest is my 256 850 Pro. I can't answer the second question with any authority but the iMac does use a 3.5" drive vs. the 2.5" that SSD's come in. I will say that I've velcroed many SSD's in various cases in the last 6 years.

 

[dinggus]

I use both a couple different sizes but the biggest is my 256 850 Pro. I can't answer the second question with any authority but the iMac does use a 3.5" drive vs. the 2.5" that SSD's come in. I will say that I've velcroed many SSD's in various cases in the last 6 years.

So basically you're saying I could get an SSD and enclosure and boot via USB from it?

 

[lowendlinux]

So basically you're saying I could get an SSD and enclosure and boot via USB from it?

Sure but just get it installed if you can't do it yourself.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

You could

So basically you're saying I could get an SSD and enclosure and boot via USB from it?

But it will be as slow as a normal hard drive on USB 2 in the 2009 iMac, just get a third party apple technician to install the SSD instead.

As you are using an old SATA 2 connection in that iMac then I would recommend a 256 or 512gb Crucial BX100 as the best compromise between cost and performance on older machines....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=BX100

 

[dinggus]

But it will be as slow as a normal hard drive on USB 2 in the 2009 iMac, just get a third party apple technician to install the SSD instead.

As you are using an old SATA 2 connection in that iMac then I would recommend a 256 or 512gb Crucial BX100 as the best compromise between cost and performance on older machines....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=BX100

Thanks, do I need any other hardware to mount the SSD?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Here is the ifixit guide

Useful for all your mac fixing needs they have guides for everything.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2309+and+2374+Hard+Drive+Replacement/1634

 

[dinggus]

Useful for all your mac fixing needs they have guides for everything.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2309+and+2374+Hard+Drive+Replacement/1634

Thanks I was looking at it. I might just fork out the money to have a professional replace it. First I gotta check my warranty.

 

[dinggus]

Looks like the HDD is dead now. Computer will boot up, start loading until it's about half way through the loading bar and turns off.

Now I'm starting to wonder if the European voltage hurt the iMac.

Edit: I just read from here: https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View...c+shutdown+halfway+through+loading+on+startup

This guy used his MBP and connected to his iMac via FireWire and used Target Disk Mode (what is this?), deleted the boot drive and reinstalled the OS and now it's working perfectly.

 

[lowendlinux]

Looks like the HDD is dead now. Computer will boot up, start loading until it's about half way through the loading bar and turns off.

Now I'm starting to wonder if the European voltage hurt the iMac.

Edit: I just read from here: https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View...c+shutdown+halfway+through+loading+on+startup

This guy used his MBP and connected to his iMac via FireWire and used Target Disk Mode (what is this?), deleted the boot drive and reinstalled the OS and now it's working perfectly.

European voltage didn’t hurt your Mac. Target disk mode allows the target computer (iMac) to be seen as an external drive. It’s handy for many things but I’ve generally used it to get data off drives that for whatever reason won’t boot.