I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with my mother's iMac. Yesterday, we lost power and her computer was on at the time. The first time she tried to start up after that, once the desktop appeared, she got a kernel panic. So today I tried a few things but with no success. I tried starting up from the OS X Install disk, but it ignored the disk and started up as usual, giving me a "didn't recognize disk" error before I got a kernel panic again. I tried starting up with shift held, with option held, and I tried resetting the PRAM. During these startups I started noticing a few graphical errors that began to get worse leading up to the kernel panics(flickering lines, bars of color, and squares of colored static.) Do you guys think the board was fried or is this a fixable problem? Should I take it into an Apple Store?
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iMac Kernel Panics, with escalating errors
- Thread starter Spike Spiegel
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What kind of iMac is this? It does rather sound like the logic board is failing... particularly if this is an earlier iMac G5 (e.g. rev. A).
Are you able to access the Apple Hardware Test located on the first install DVD? How to get to it varies based on iteration of iMac... I think on the iMac G5s (it would really help if you said what kind of iMac you have, since there five major generations of iMacs over more than a decade!) ... I think you put in the disc and hold "d" instead of "c" on boot....
Are you able to access the Apple Hardware Test located on the first install DVD? How to get to it varies based on iteration of iMac... I think on the iMac G5s (it would really help if you said what kind of iMac you have, since there five major generations of iMacs over more than a decade!) ... I think you put in the disc and hold "d" instead of "c" on boot....
The iMac G5 has an extended repair program that lasts for 3 years past purchase date. I believe it had problems like that (or maybe it was just the eMacs). Anyway, website with some info.
Ah, doesn't look good then. Might be any number of problems. I'd check to see if you have your diagnostic disk and run that (came with your computer). Hopefully it is something that is easy/cheap to fix.
Likely the cost of fixing it will make a low end Mac Mini sound good, as long as the drive is still ok -- putting that in an external case should make recovering data sort of easy.
Unless you know exactly what is wrong with it that is, tossing parts at it until it works isn't exactly cheap.
Only thing you lack is a monitor for the refurb Mini route, and those probably can be scrounged on the cheap.
Unless you know exactly what is wrong with it that is, tossing parts at it until it works isn't exactly cheap.
Only thing you lack is a monitor for the refurb Mini route, and those probably can be scrounged on the cheap.