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iMac G4 display problems

S

sutty100

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 13, 2014
19
1
My imac G4 suddenly decided to have colour issues when I booted it up the other day after not being turned on & unplugged for a week. I've attached a screenshot. Interestingly if I go preferences > displays and change the number of colours to thousands and then back to millions it seems to sort itself out. At least for a while if the screen saver comes on it can sometimes go funny again.

I'm guessing its almost certainly hardware and I know the imac g4 is a nightmare to take apart so I might have to hunt down a replacement but if anybody has any ideas that would be great. I've tried resetting the PRAM and multiple restarts but no luck :(

faultyImac.jpg
 
Last edited:
Your GPU is failing. You will have to replace the entire logicboard to repair that problem.
 
Intell said:
Your GPU is failing. You will have to replace the entire logicboard to repair that problem.
Click to expand...

Thought as much. Can't imagine the logic boards are easy to come by. Might just end up getting another imac g4.
 
Something odd about Intell's post.
 

Attachments

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sutty100 said:
Thought as much. Can't imagine the logic boards are easy to come by. Might just end up getting another imac g4.
Click to expand...


imac g4's are not hard to come by these days. also not hard on the pocketbook.
if you have the space it's not a bad idea to keep a spare around.
 
sutty100 said:
Thought as much. Can't imagine the logic boards are easy to come by. Might just end up getting another imac g4.
Click to expand...

Yeah, as one other has said, it's best to just get another iMac G4. (either to use for the part or just to replace your current one with). iMac G4s still have not hit the collector's item mark. For some reason, I don't see many of those non-collectors selling them for remarkable prices, like they do iMac G3s. It's as if they think collectors are going to flock over to their item, when, in-fact, we know better. Anyway, it would be nice to have one of them be a parts machine/display machine. Depending on the revision, you can generally pick one up for around $20-50. Mine was given to me for free by some friends.
 
could bake

The GPU failing could be it but if you do decide to pull it apart, solder joints do flex and break over time since the removal of lead. Ive had some success with baking old boards in the oven to reflow, When its not capacitors failing.
 
I don't find these especially terrible to work on, either, despite the frequent comments to the contrary.

The biggest issue is the dangling cables between the top and bottom halves of the "dome", but these are easy enough to disconnect and reconnect. Once you have these loose, everything on the logic board is right there and easy to access.

I will caution that somewhere in working on mine(I had to replace the dead hard drive) I managed to pinch the airport antenna and had no reception when I got around to installing an airport card. Probably the most involved repair I did was removing the logic board to replace the antenna, and this wasn't even that bad.

Just be sure you have thermal paste on hand before you turn the first screw, as you bake one of these if you don't repaste(and clean) the interfaces between the top and bottom of the dome before putting it back together.

I'll also add that mine was a freebie...given to me because of the dead hard drive. I offered to fix and return it, but the owner said that they didn't need it so I just fixed it and kept it. Mine is the best-spec 1.25ghz with 1gb RAM from the factory.
 
bunnspecial said:
I don't find these especially terrible to work on, either, despite the frequent comments to the contrary.

The biggest issue is the dangling cables between the top and bottom halves of the "dome", but these are easy enough to disconnect and reconnect. Once you have these loose, everything on the logic board is right there and easy to access.

I will caution that somewhere in working on mine(I had to replace the dead hard drive) I managed to pinch the airport antenna and had no reception when I got around to installing an airport card. Probably the most involved repair I did was removing the logic board to replace the antenna, and this wasn't even that bad.

Just be sure you have thermal paste on hand before you turn the first screw, as you bake one of these if you don't repaste(and clean) the interfaces between the top and bottom of the dome before putting it back together.

I'll also add that mine was a freebie...given to me because of the dead hard drive. I offered to fix and return it, but the owner said that they didn't need it so I just fixed it and kept it. Mine is the best-spec 1.25ghz with 1gb RAM from the factory.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I broke one of my iMac G4s during a transplant, display connector broke off the board while I was trying to fit it back together. I also had an issue with bent pins on the connector that connects the logic board to the fan and built-in speaker (I don't think I was the one who bent it though). I hope I will never need to work on a iMac G4 again.
 
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