Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Blank Screen

S

stevenew

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 17, 2012
8
0
Hi,

Let me start off by saying I'm very new to the Apple/Mac world and may require some patience.

I received an IMac (I think it is a G5 because you can access components at the bottom of the screen) from a person and when I turned it on I can see the pointer for the mouse but no Icons at all. Maybe the OS crashed or maybe the person deleted (?) all of the icons, I don't know. Is there a way to see if even the hard disk is working?

Again I initially see the Apple logo and then after a minute or 2 the mouse appears and then I have a blue screen.

Thanks
Steve
 
Do you see the Menu Bar and the Dock?
MacOSX_MenuBar_Desktop_Dock.png

What happens when you press CMD+N?

To learn more about Mac OS X: Helpful Information for Any Mac User by GGJstudios​

And does your Mac look like this?
  1. apple_imac_indigo.jpg
  2. apple_imac_fp.jpg
  3. apple_imac_g5.jpg
 
Hi,

No I do not see the menu bar and dock.

My Imac looks like number 3

I did hold down the Option key when starting up and a hard disk did appear but according to the instructions there should have been a "right" arrow and there was an "up" arrow. Don't know if the instructions were suppose to be that specific or not.
 
stevenew said:
Hi,

No I do not see the menu bar and dock.

My Imac looks like number 3

I did hold down the Option key when starting up and a hard disk did appear but according to the instructions there should have been a "right" arrow and there was an "up" arrow. Don't know if the instructions were suppose to be that specific or not.
Click to expand...

Do you still have the grey Restore CD/DVDs?

If it is the iMac behind door 3, then it is a G5 iMac.
Here is a guide on how to find out more about what exact model you might have.

For the time being, you can try these steps as far as you can, as the system is probably corrupted or in a strange state:

 
Sorry I didn't answer about command N. Unfortunately I don't see a CMD key on this keyboard. Is it another key?
 
stevenew said:
Sorry I didn't answer about command N. Unfortunately I don't see a CMD key on this keyboard. Is it another key?
Click to expand...

Is it an Apple keyboard? If so, it is the key right next to the Spacebar, on either side.
If not, try the Windows key, but if you neither see a Dock nor Menu Bar, then there is not much hope, a new Finder window (CMD+N) will appear.
 
No I don't have the restore disks, I will have to purcahse them but I'm not exactly sure what version to purchase. According to the PDF manual I should be using OS X but I noticed "Snow Leapord OS X etc" and I don't think I should get that. Do you know of a place where I can puchase the OS disks and exactly what version?

I'll try your suggestions below.

Thank You

Steve
 
stevenew said:
No I don't have the restore disks, I will have to purcahse them but I'm not exactly sure what version to purchase. According to the PDF manual I should be using OS X but I noticed "Snow Leapord OS X etc" and I don't think I should get that. Do you know of a place where I can puchase the OS disks and exactly what version?

I'll try your suggestions below.

Thank You

Steve
Click to expand...

If you have a G5 iMac, you can't use Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, as that will not run on PPC Macs (which you obviously have).
To find out what exact mac you have, look at that guide I linked to to identify your iMac more specifically.

Anyway, you can phone Apple and they will send you replacement CD/DVDs, costing between 15 to 30 USD, maybe even for free.
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard will be the highest Mac OS X version you can run on a PPC Mac, but buying that will probably cost you 100 USD via eBay.
 
Thanks I'll give them a call. Right now I'm booting up in safe mode and waiting to see what the results may be. I did notice that during the bootup Norton was mentioned so I'm anxious to see if I do get a desktop because I know that Norton can cause a boot up failure.

Waiting......

Thanks
Steve
 
Thanks. I looked at your guide but when I looked at my Imac it said the model number was An A1208 TM and there wasn't an EMC number. I will call Apple and see if they will help me further.

I tried safe mode and got the same results and also reset the Pram but still the same results.

Is there any way to make sure the drive is working. It is very quiet and it does sound like it is turning on but is there a way to enter the setup (like a PC) to see if the drive is recognized?

Thanks
Steve
 
Success

HI Everyone,

I thought I let you know what I found out and did.

First. The reason I couldn't find an EMC number is because the "pad" under the stand was pulled off and the tag identifying my Imac was gone.

Second. From the suggestions below I called Apple and they were very helpful. When I talked to the tech person he couldn't suggest an OS for me because he needed the serial number, which I didn't have but he set an appointment for me at a local Apple Store and they were able to determine my problem, for free. ;)The problem was the OS, somehow it was corrupted. They installed the next to latest OS, which was 10.6.8, and said if I upgraded the memory to 2 gb I could use the latest OS.

Also, my Imac has the Intel Duo Core Processor. Simsaladimbamba is correct on my version of the OS, thank you.

I would like to thank all of the participants in the thread for the help they gave to me to enter the world of Apple.

Thanks
Steve
 
Glad it worked out.
Know, that 3 GB is the maximum RAM, look at the first link in my last post.
Also know, that Lion will run measly on 2 GB, 4 GB is recommended to have at least, I don't know about 3 GB though.
Anyway, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is still a good OS, I still run it on my two Macs, but that is due to my dislike of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and that it offers no features I need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back