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About to throw my iMac out the window

M

mz.bhvn

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 23, 2007
31
0
Western Australia
Hi guys,

I have an iMac 21.5" Desktop with Snow Leopard installed that is less than 2 years old and I have had my hard-drive replaced twice, I have had the exact same problem at least 6 times and I am getting absolutely fed up because I don't even get time to back-up anything before it starts playing up again. I'd really, really appreciate any helpful feedback.

I guess you could call it the 'Grey screen of death'. But I'll explain exactly what mine does. I turn it on, and then the normal sequence is a grey screen with the apple logo and spinning wheel along with the normal looking firmwire progress bar, except it gets not even 1/4 way across and the computer turns off.

I can't boot it into safe mode, I've tried to repair my disks but that won't work, I've reset parameters and I really do not want to have to re-install snow leopard.

Like I said, any helpful feedback would be much appreciated as I have had nothing but trouble with the machine and it's very disappointing.

Thankyou,
Rachael
 
Hard Drive Issues

Do you know which make of HDD you have? Apple have had problems with Seagate drives for a while now,but it seems odd that you have had 2 go down.

I think I'm right in saying that they are now using WD drives (which is what I have in my iMac 27') Either way, something isn't right here.

A couple of things that could be the cause of this include: An unsteady main electricity supply. ( This can be resolved by purchasing a low cost surge protector after your hdd is replaced.

Overheating is another one. If you can identify the make of your drive I will dig a little deeper.

Don't throw it out the window though....They are tough, but that will kill it :)
 
Macman45,

Thanks for your reply :)

Unfortunately I have no idea what HDD I have :confused:

We have had a couple of storms here lately so that may have been the problem. Will swap to a surge protector. But like I said this has happened at least 6 times in the past.

I decided to erase my hard-drive, but now it won't even let me do a clean install. It starts with 'Installing Mac OS X on the disk "disk0s2", gets to about '30 minutes remaining' and then an error message appears that says "Install Failed. Mac OS X could not be installed on your computer... The installer could not copy the necessary support files."

I'm assuming my CD is dodgy? Far out! This is very annoying, considering this has happened far too many times. I'm on my 5 year old MacBook running 10.4.11 and have never had any trouble with it.
 
Six Times??

That sounds like a power supply issue to me. If you need to identify your hdd click on the apple icon (the one you use to shut down) choose "about this mac" then hit "more info" from the screen that appears.

This will give you the make, butI really think a faulty PSU could well be to blame for this.

When you take it back, tell them an engineer told you the PSU needs checking.... (it's not a lie I am a system engineer....Although I don't work in the industry any more)

Don't take no for an answer. 6 times is 5 too many.
 
I've tried to re-install the OS for the 4th time and it gets to 29 minutes now and then the same problem again with not being able to go any further.

I can't get to the 'About This Mac' option as it's all grey'ed out from having the startup installation up and can't quit out of it without having to restart. But I went into System Profiler and it says the following:

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac10,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 3.06 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3MB
Memory: 4GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: IM101.00CC.B00
SMC Version (System): 1.52f9
and then the Serial Number and Hardware UUID but I don't think it's safe for me to put that up here.

Wait um, does a NVidia MCP79 AHCI mean anything to you? I found it in Serial-ATA (must excuse my lack of hardware skills lol)

A faulty PSU is probably what it is, I will definitely take it back to an Apple Manufacturer and tell them an Engineer told me to get that checked.

Thankyou so much for your feedback Macman45 :)
 
The Nvidia

refers to your GPU and chipset. If you can't install, then this info won't help much. I'm afraid it's back to the Apple Store. Like I said, tell them enough is enough and you want it fixed or swapped out (if you have applecare, you should be fine)

They should also at least attempt to recover your data from the faulty drive. I'm sticking with my gut feeling here that you have a faulty PSU. Let us know how you get on....Hope it's fixed soon. :)
 
Okay, will do Macman45 :)

I've attempted to get a replacement earlier in the year, but no luck unfortunately. They're very stingy sometimes.

Thanks heaps again, will let you know how I go.
 
mz.bhvn said:
Okay, will do Macman45 :)

I've attempted to get a replacement earlier in the year, but no luck unfortunately. They're very stingy sometimes.

Thanks heaps again, will let you know how I go.
Click to expand...

Be sure and document the problems you have had and previous visits. Bet you will get a different result.
 
Over the years I've had: 1 2003 G4 'angle poise' iMac, one 2007 iMac, one 2009 Mac Pro, one 2008 MacBook Pro, one 2010 MacBook Air and 3 (yes, three) Mac Minis (one of which serves my websites; one my Dad, who's in his 90s, uses; one is my Home Theatre head unit). I've also had an iPhone 3G, upgraded to a '4' and got a second '4' because it was expedient to get better contract terms. To the extent that my experience counts, I'd say I count as 11 'customers'. Not one single one of them has ever exhibited a problem.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I Agree

I have had no issues with my Apple products over the years, and it's not by chance, you do get the quality you pay for. Every once and a while a bad component can let any system down.

It's frustrating, but I'm sure that if the case is stated clearly, you will receive the help you should have had a long time ago.
 
mz.bhvn said:
I've tried to re-install the OS for the 4th time ...
Click to expand...
One reason for fixing things is to learn. In this case, learn good diagnostic techniques that apply to everything in life. Never fix something without first identifying the problem. As a result, your problem is now exponentially more complex. Tools and logs that might have helped identify the original problem are now corrupted. Now the shop must fix (and you must pay for) two failures. Making mistakes is how we learn. But only if you first learn what your mistake was.

A PSU is only one of so many suspects. A defective PSU could be identified in less than a minute (and by disconnecting nothing) using a meter. That is one a first 'find the problem" task performed by any knowledgeable tech. Only ill trained techs replace a supply to see if it works. Trained techs collect facts long before replacing or fixing anything. Not all of us learn from our mistakes.
 
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