BIG iMac Problems. PLEASE help! :)

[ktbubster]

Ok... here we go.

First of all I have a c2d 2.16 White iMac 20inch. No more applecare. I need help. I am fairly computer savy and don't mind taking it apart if need be.

1. My iMac keeps restarting itself. It doesn't shut down, just restarts... There is no rhyme or reason to it, it always restarts when I try to access the airport at ALL, or plug in the ethernet cord (that causes a kernal panic though,not just a basic restart) but even without touching that it will restart randomly every so often about 4-10 times an hour depending on what i'm doing.

Error messages in console include:

Launchctl: please convert the following to launchd: /etc/mach_init.d/dashboardadvisory.plist
(org.cups.cupsd) unknown key : SHAuthorizationRight
(org.ntp.ntpd) unknown key : SHAuthorizationRight
(com.apple.usereventagent-loginwindow[62]) Exited: Terminated
Error: nodename nor servname provided, or not known
(com.apple.usbmuxd) throttling respawn: will start in 2 seconds

The harddrive can't be repaired but it says it needs to be (ran diskutility and it says it fails verification and needs repair, but i can't repair it, the button is greyed out)

It isn't the RAM as I reseated it and also put in different ram as well to check to see what was up. It has nothing to do with RAM.

I am thinking I am going to have to open her up and maybe try a different harddrive? It's a 320 gb seagate 7200 rpm harddrive that was upgraded. The problems didn't start immedately though, could the harddrive be dying? Could this cause random restarts?

ANY suggestions as to what the problem could be, PLEASE I will try ANYTHING at this point.

Anyone know a good step by step to taking an imac apart? ifixit doesn't have the iMacs on their site

2. I have Leopard installed. I am thinking perhaps going back to Tiger will help. I have a retail Tiger, but I guess that would just be for powerpcs? I do not have the original discs. Anyone know where I could get them?


That's about it. ANY help will be very much appreciated. Any connections, files I should delete, things I should do in console. I need step by step help for my poor iMac.

thanks.

 

[TEG]

Sounds like the common power supply problem. I believe that Apple extended coverage for this. Take it to your local Apple Store or Apple Authorized Repair Center and have them double check that that is the problem.

TEG

 

[Quint]

You can't use disc utility to repair a disk that you are booted from. Boot from the Leopard disc and run Disk Utility from there (Utilites -> Disk Utility). Hopefully, it will repair the problem for you. If not, you can try a more powerful disk repair software (Disk Warrior, Tech Tool Pro). If you have all of your data backed up, you may want to do a clean install of Leopard, after reformatting the HDD. An archive install may also help.

 

[ktbubster]

it looks like that was just for the g5 imacs, unless someone knows different I can't find anything for the intel imacs.

 

[TEG]

It is much easier to have someone physically look at the computer, as it is very difficult to diagnose these multiple symptoms over the internet.

TEG

 

[ktbubster]

ummmm .... i think you posted that in the wrong thread TEG. The above post I was refering to the extended coverage thing you mentioned. Looks like it was only the g5s, unless someone can find differently. Still lookin for help

edit : above post fixed for TEG. and I guess I should. Just hoping that the console messages could help a bit too

 

[TEG]

ummmm .... i think you posted that in the wrong thread TEG. The above post I was refering to the extended coverage thing you mentioned. Looks like it was only the g5s, unless someone can find differently. Still lookin for help

I'm going back and forth between two threads, and misread which one I was in.

TEG