2011 Imac 27" graphics card dead, how to wipe hard drive?

[funknofresh]

I have a 2011 Imac 27", graphics card appears dead, first was just white screen, and now no screen on bootup, but I can hear it booting up, hard drive making usual boot up sounds and fans etc.

Problem is I want to sell it but I can't get hard drive wiped. I tried target disc mode with my other iMac that also has Firewire 800 ports, but it just won't boot into target disc mode, and since no monitor I can't see if there's an error message on the computer or not.

Other then pulling it apart and yanking out the hard drive and and trying to sell it without a HD, is there anything else I can do?

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Sell it on eBay and such as non working for parts. Sounds like the GPU has died, a common fault.

 

[funknofresh]

Sell it on eBay and such as non working for parts. Sounds like the GPU has died, a common fault.

Yes. However what do I do about the hard drive?
[doublepost=1547321931][/doublepost]The issue is I don’t want to sell it with all my info intact.

 

[jasnw]

Sadly I have no answer for your problem (although I hope someone comes up with one, because I might find myself in the same predicament with my 2011 27" iMac). However, this does add to my list of "why NOT to buy an all-in-one computer". What do you plan to replace yours with?

 

[Significant1]

Try booting in safe mode, then graphic driver are not loaded and the cpu does the rendering. It is slow, but I could boot my iMac 2009 when my HD4850 stopped working.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

 

[funknofresh]

Sadly I have no answer for your problem (although I hope someone comes up with one, because I might find myself in the same predicament with my 2011 27" iMac). However, this does add to my list of "why NOT to buy an all-in-one computer". What do you plan to replace yours with?

Yes this is a scenario I haven't seen before, unfortunately it's just not worth replacing graphics card and now I can't really sell it as-is.

I just use my 2015 MBP as a workstation with my 3 monitor setup and it's sufficient although screen res isn't same.

 

[jasnw]

Yes this is a scenario I haven't seen before, unfortunately it's just not worth replacing graphics card and now I can't really sell it as-is.

I had to replace my graphics card about a year ago. I had just recently replaced its 1TB spiner with an SSD and a 3TB spinner, so it was worth it for me. I'm hoping this beast hangs together until we see what Apple's "modular Mac" looks like. Otherwise I'm planning to get a tripped-out Mini with a couple of monitors when it dies.

 

[FlorisVN]

or just try target disk mode, hook up firewire/thunderbolt to another mac and format the drive using another mac..

 

[Fishrrman]

Open it up, remove the hard drive.
Sell what's left as "non-booting, drive removed, for parts".

Re-purpose the old hard drive for something else.

 

[funknofresh]

or just try target disk mode, hook up firewire/thunderbolt to another mac and format the drive using another mac..

This is what I did, it never shows up as a drive though, tried several times.

 

[dborod]

Screen sharing?

 

[funknofresh]

Screen sharing?

How do you enable screen sharing on a computer that has no working graphics card?

 

[Razzerman]

Hello there OP,

You could try removing the hard drive yourself - have a look at this ifixit link.

You could also try (if you're feeling adventurous) reflowing the existing graphics card while the imac is open.

Good luck,

Razzerman

 

[funknofresh]

Hello there OP,

You could try removing the hard drive yourself - have a look at this ifixit link.

Razzerman

hmm, step 1, "use heavy duty suction cups" am I supposed to have those laying around? lol hopefully this crowbar works just as good.

 

[Razzerman]

Lol, yeah, I'd avoid using anything metallic. You can prise the glass away from the screen if you're careful. Try and slip and old credit card or something in between the frame and the glass. Be careful not to apply too much pressure to one corner though.

 

[jasnw]

That first step, removing the screen (and then reinstalling it), has been my no-go point for DIY on iMacs. I'd be a lot less anti-AIO if the guts were more easily accessible. At least in your case you don't need to end up with a working iMac when you're done. Just sell it for parts.

 

[dborod]

How do you enable screen sharing on a computer that has no working graphics card?

If screen sharing is already enabled on the computer, then you could connect to it.

If you have shell access to the computer, you can probably enable screen sharing:

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-enable-screen-sharing-on-macs-via-terminal/
[doublepost=1547576895][/doublepost]

How do you enable screen sharing on a computer that has no working graphics card?

You can login to your account, invoke spotlight to launch Terminal, and then type the commands into the shell to enable the sharing stuff.

 

[UbuntuFu]

hmm, step 1, "use heavy duty suction cups" am I supposed to have those laying around? lol hopefully this crowbar works just as good.

Do you have a toilet plunger? You can use that.

 

[SecuritySteve]

hmm, step 1, "use heavy duty suction cups" am I supposed to have those laying around? lol hopefully this crowbar works just as good.

I used a shower suction cup to remove an iMac screen once. Doesn't have to be strong.

 

[nathansz]

I used a shower suction cup to remove an iMac screen once. Doesn't have to be strong.

I have a 2011 27" that I've opened tons of times (replacing hard drives, baking dead graphics card, etc.)

if you have any suction cups in the shower they will work. I bought a pack from the dollar store that I keep in my repair kit, but now I just carefully get my finger nails under one corner and slowly peel the glass off.

this is maybe dangerous though and you might pull too hard or unevenly and shatter the glass?

 

[mbosse]

hmm, step 1, "use heavy duty suction cups" am I supposed to have those laying around? lol hopefully this crowbar works just as good.

You can try to carefully pry it open with a credit card for example. Suction cups are helpful but not strictly necessary.
[doublepost=1547721905][/doublepost]

I have a 2011 Imac 27", graphics card appears dead, first was just white screen, and now no screen on bootup, but I can hear it booting up, hard drive making usual boot up sounds and fans etc.

Problem is I want to sell it but I can't get hard drive wiped. I tried target disc mode with my other iMac that also has Firewire 800 ports, but it just won't boot into target disc mode, and since no monitor I can't see if there's an error message on the computer or not.

Other then pulling it apart and yanking out the hard drive and and trying to sell it without a HD, is there anything else I can do?

This surprises me as my 2011 MBP 15" with the same graphics card issue booted into Target Disk more nicely. Do you use a USB Keyboard to trigger target disk mode?