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IMac 24" 2006 - odd pixelated line on screen

S

splashdesignz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 14, 2010
7
0
I have a late 2006 24" IMac which has a myriad of issues. The most concerning to me at this point is the occasional appearance of a 1-2 pixel wide horizontal line which runs from 2" across to sometimes as much as 12" across the screen. It happens most often on the desktop and in firefox. It disappears as mysteriously as it appears.
Could the graphics card be going bad? Any ideas on what might be happening and how I might be able to solve this.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Angela
 
Ok I am having the same issue on my 20"...i still have applecare on it.
So far they have had me reset the PRAM (P-R-OPT-CMD, then power on til second tone)

I have done that...so far that has made a difference, but this line thing would happen randomly.
 
phishindsn said:
Ok I am having the same issue on my 20"...i still have applecare on it.
So far they have had me reset the PRAM (P-R-OPT-CMD, then power on til second tone)

I have done that...so far that has made a difference, but this line thing would happen randomly.
Click to expand...

To Phishindsn:
Did you have your mac looked at? Since you still have apple care I am assuming that apple will get you fixed. Can you share with me what they found? I am debating a new machine or getting this one fixed but can't let the machine go for the 5 days the repairman needs to figure out the problem.
I'd appreciate hearing from you.
Thanks!!
 
I should've asked before, but what other "myriad of issues" are you having? If the computer is also unstable, it's likely that the logic board is failing.
 
I have since maxed out the memory on this computer from 1g to 3g. This solved some of the issues.

My remaining issues seem to involve Adobe CS4. At random times while using CS4 primarily Photoshop, the color wheel takes over and spins freezing the computer. My only recourse is to turn the computer off with the power button and restart. Rarely this same problem will occur while using Firefox but primarily it is with Photoshop.

I have reset the preferences on all my Adobe programs. Reset the PRAM.
I am currently looking to replace the computer because like you I suspect this is a greater issue. Now the issue is saving up enough money to replace it.

Thanks for your concern
 
If you get a spinning beachball in ALL apps, rather than just Photoshop, and nothing will respond to a Force Quit (command-option-escape), then the problem is almost always a storage device that isn't responding properly--that's pretty much the only thing that can hang the entire OS.

If you have an external drive attached, try unplugging it during one of these freezes; on my work system the external drive hangs once in a rare while, and turning it off (or unplugging it) will immediately return the computer to a normal state since the OS sees it as "gone" rather than "there but refusing to respond".

If you have no external devices attached, then it could very well be your internal hard drive. Try listening closely during a hang and see if you can hear a lot of disk activity. Rhythmic clicking/grinding noises would indicate either a corrupt drive or bad sectors. If it's silent, that's usually just not responding at all.

You can also fire up Disk Utility and run a Verify Disk on your drive; see if it reports any problems, and also take a look down at the "SMART Status" entry at the very bottom, to see if it says anything other than "Verified".
 
Makosuke said:
If you get a spinning beachball in ALL apps, rather than just Photoshop, and nothing will respond to a Force Quit (command-option-escape), then the problem is almost always a storage device that isn't responding properly--that's pretty much the only thing that can hang the entire OS.

If you have an external drive attached, try unplugging it during one of these freezes; on my work system the external drive hangs once in a rare while, and turning it off (or unplugging it) will immediately return the computer to a normal state since the OS sees it as "gone" rather than "there but refusing to respond".

If you have no external devices attached, then it could very well be your internal hard drive. Try listening closely during a hang and see if you can hear a lot of disk activity. Rhythmic clicking/grinding noises would indicate either a corrupt drive or bad sectors. If it's silent, that's usually just not responding at all.

You can also fire up Disk Utility and run a Verify Disk on your drive; see if it reports any problems, and also take a look down at the "SMART Status" entry at the very bottom, to see if it says anything other than "Verified".
Click to expand...

Normally I'd agree with you, but given the display problem as well, I'm thinking these are symptoms of one single problem.
 
Makosuke said:
If you get a spinning beachball in ALL apps, rather than just Photoshop, and nothing will respond to a Force Quit (command-option-escape), then the problem is almost always a storage device that isn't responding properly--that's pretty much the only thing that can hang the entire OS.

If you have an external drive attached, try unplugging it during one of these freezes; on my work system the external drive hangs once in a rare while, and turning it off (or unplugging it) will immediately return the computer to a normal state since the OS sees it as "gone" rather than "there but refusing to respond".

If you have no external devices attached, then it could very well be your internal hard drive. Try listening closely during a hang and see if you can hear a lot of disk activity. Rhythmic clicking/grinding noises would indicate either a corrupt drive or bad sectors. If it's silent, that's usually just not responding at all.

You can also fire up Disk Utility and run a Verify Disk on your drive; see if it reports any problems, and also take a look down at the "SMART Status" entry at the very bottom, to see if it says anything other than "Verified".
Click to expand...

Thanks for this piece of advice. I have two external hard drives connected to the computer. One of them is about 4 years old. Following your post, I disconnected the old hard drive and lo and behold I had no failures to respond. The following morning, I reconnected it to find a file and it was making horrible grinding noises....guess it is working on failure. Have been able to transfer all the files to a new external and haven't had any problems with spinning beach balls since. "knock on wood".
However I still get the odd line now and again. I'm saving up to replace this one as soon as possible.
Thanks again for the suggestions. Your help is greatly appreciated.
 
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