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I'm gunna smash this imac.

Dustman

Dustman

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 17, 2007
1,383
258
Alright, so once again, my imac froze up again and when i restarted with the button on the side, i was welcomed with an everlasting boot screen. full of rage, i decided to once again, reformat and install os x, as this generally fixes the problem. so i went through the install process, and when it restarted after the first part of the installation, it just showed the grey apple logo with no spinning doo-hickey under it. AGHH!!

Specs are in sig.
 
If it hangs before the spinny thing it's a hardware problem.

Reformatting and re-installing is generally NOT the cure for OSX problems, thats more of a window solution.

It sounds like your hard drive is hosed. Boot from the install DVD and run Disk Utility to verify the drive, if it give you a SMART error then you'll need to replace the drive (pretty easy actually).
 
alrighty, when i tried to reformat and install os x again, it wouldnt mount the partition i wanted to use, but i some how got it to work after i zero-ed out the disk before formatting. but before i even when this far the smart status said varified. that cant be right? its running okay now, but after the installation, the screen kinda went screwy for a couple seconds, like it looked like interference from something, but there was nothing to cause it. the best description (if it means anything) is the screen divided into 5 or so horizontal sections and they kinda just hopped around for a couple seconds but it didnt happen again.
 
Well ... If the screen is scrambling like that ... I'd think graphics card problems. BUT since those (and most) iMacs have some form of integrated graphics, that means the logic board is shot. But without actually seeing what it's doing it's hard to be sure. Something in the CRT could also be going.

If it were my machine, I'd open it up, yank and replace the HD, check all the cables and re-install. Sometimes a drive will fail before the SMART status picks up the problem.
 
As far as the everlasting boot screen, with my mac if an external is plugged in, it never passes the initial screen when restarting. I have no idea why it tries booting of the external first, but if I unplug the external it immediately starts booting. Just and idea.
 
Do you still have the original cds that came with it? There should be one labeled "apple hardware test". Boot from it holding the "c" key and run it. Should take about 30 min. Then you'll know if it is a hardware problem and what kind of hardware problem.

Good luck!
 
chaosbunny said:
Do you still have the original cds that came with it? There should be one labeled "apple hardware test". Boot from it holding the "c" key and run it. Should take about 30 min. Then you'll know if it is a hardware problem and what kind of hardware problem.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

unfortunatly g3s didnt come with this disk : ( and my version of tiger is less legal that it should be (even though i DID purchase the real version) because i lost it :S my problem is that i dont want to spend the money on a new HD only to discover that it is infact the logic board.


BTW, The iMac that i'm talking about IS different than the one posted in marketplace LOL! wouldnt sell a broken computer. i plan to keep this one if i can
 
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