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iMac (Early 2008, 24") is taking about 2hrs to actually bootup, bad HDD?

F

fredopopp

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 12, 2013
5
0
Arizona
Good morning everyone!
I've been searching the web all morning to see if anyone has had any similar issues like this but so far no luck, hopefully someone might be able to help me identify my problem.

My iMac (Early 2008, 24", 2.8 C2D, A1225, ATI Graphics) has recently been on the clutz recently. I completely wiped the HDD to start from scratch on OS X 10.5 and it has still been having the issue. The issue is that once I press the power button I can hear the fans, HDD and CD drive spinning but nothing comes up on the display. I checked the diagnostic LEDs and only the first 3 LEDs are on (#4 Stays unlit). I tried resetting PRAM but it does not read my USB keyboard at this state (mysteriously it only reads the USB mouse not connected to the keyboard's USBs). There is no chime/dong when I first press the power button either only whats stated above. After I leave it at this state for about 2hrs it finally bongs and starts up normally, works without a problem and all 4 diagnostic LEDs are now on. I can restart it with no problem but if I select sleep or shut down it'll go back to the fans and HDD only with nothing on the display. Can anyone help me out with this issue? I am really hoping it's not the logic board or something big but any input in appreciated. Thanks!

I should add that since I does not read my keyboard inputs until it actually bongs I cannot boot to CD or any other keyboard combinations since it will randomly bong after ~2hrs of it sitting in the black LCD but powered on state. Even after taking out the RAM it would just sit there and also when the HDD was without an OS it would also just sit there with a black LCD (diag. LED #4 off) until finally after waiting the typical ? Folder icon would show up.
 
My 2007 hard drive fritzed out about 8 months ago so the timing seems about right. As well as your symptoms.. Grabbed a Crucial SSD, youtubed a few people replacing the hard drive, held my breath and gave it a shot.. And wow does this thing fly!
 
Alright got home and dissambled the machine, unplugged the HDD and put the OS install DVD in the drive and still no bong or anything... Should I still risk getting a new HDD? It does the same thing it did when the old HDD was plugged in. I did all this while the LCD was off of it too. Do macs even attempt to boot up if no HDD is detected?

Thanks :)
 
Sorry for the double post but here's an update:

I installed a 1TB WD Blue Caviar HDD today and the same thing happened (HDD and CD Drive spinning but no bong or display) so I just decided to switch back to the old 500GB then. Now I noticed that instead of waiting about 2hrs for it to actually bong and bootup after the initial power switch it now takes anywhere from 20-30mins. Sure it's an improvement but still a problem lol. So the HDD is out of the question, anything else I should check? It runs perfectly after the long bootup so I wonder if it might be a power issue (heck the power cable is not the original one any more)
 
I wish I could help you. I've got the exact same machine (mine's working wonderfully), but I don't know enough to give much you much advice.

I've had mine open, but didn't try to run it that way. I'm surprised the new HDD didn't do the trick.

Hope you get it worked out.
 
Alright another update :D

I upgraded the OS to Mountain Lion and made sure everything was up to date. Now when I try to boot it up it just sits there with a blank black screen for hours and hours and it just does not startup like before (take ~30mins after power to bong and startup). I can still hear and feel the HDD and CD spinning and the same diagnostic LEDs are on except #4. I also found out that it is not a early 2008 model but rather a mid 2007 one, the Core2Extreme one that system profiler identifies as C2D. Something I noticed is that now it is not as hot as before, before it would warm up nd now it is pretty cool all around. I am so confused with whats going on I am starting to think maybe it is the video card that is wonking out (ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO). Should I just take it to the genious bar? Is there a cost for them to diagnose the problem? I do not have Apple Care so I am not sure I want to walk trough a mall carrying a 24" iMac for nothing haha. Thanks again guys! I will leave it on overnight and see if the LCD shows anything.
 
Fredopopp good works and the imac? after the upgrade and leave it on da video? :)
 
I can't help you fix your problem but I can share my experiences.

I had the exact same iMac as yours. Eight months ago it started doing the same thing as your computer. After it booted, it took a long time to populate an open folder with the files. This was true with as few as a couple files. If the folder contained hundreds of files, it took forever to populate the screen.

I never replaced the hard drive, but I did do a clean install of OS X and a few basic programs with little improvement.

After two months, I decided to trash the machine. It took FOREVER to clear the hard drive.

I now use my MacBook Pro Retina as both mobile and at home hooked to a 23" ACD.

I miss my iMac and may buy a new one later this summer.
 
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