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Tell me what's wrong with my iMac? Pictures inside

M

Mcfire12

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 10, 2014
31
0
24-inch, Early 2009
Processor 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 512 MB
Software OS X 10.9.5 (13F34)
OSX 10.9.5

Bought this thing used on ebay and love the new world of iMac, but I have been having problems with it freezing daily. Upgraded it to maverick right away and figured I would be good to go. Not the case. It will just start to kind of pixelate the screen and eventually totally lock up to the point you can't click on anything of find the mouse cursor. Some times it will shut itself off. Others, I have to manually turn the machine off and back on. What gives??
 

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Mcfire12 said:
24-inch, Early 2009
Processor 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 512 MB
Software OS X 10.9.5 (13F34)
OSX 10.9.5

Bought this thing used on ebay and love the new world of iMac, but I have been having problems with it freezing daily. Upgraded it to maverick right away and figured I would be good to go. Not the case. It will just start to kind of pixelate the screen and eventually totally lock up to the point you can't click on anything of find the mouse cursor. Some times it will shut itself off. Others, I have to manually turn the machine off and back on. What gives??
Click to expand...

Your GPU is toast.

You're probably going to need a new logic board.
 
GPU is dead. If its not in warranty it will be a pricey repair.
 
[[ What gives?? ]]

I think you've just discovered why it was for sale on ebay (sigh)...
 
If it starts ok and then begins pixelating, it's possible one or more fans aren't working and the gpu is quickly overheating.
 
Well that's a bummer. I bought it super cheap because I wasn't totally sure I would like it with having nothing but windows machines in the past. I chose to switch because I love my iPhone and my iPad. Looks like i'm going to be in the market for a new machine then? I love having a desktop in my little office but i'm not sure if it's worth it to me to have such an expensive desktop. How much am I looking at to replace the gpu? I have not a clue what that even is...

Definitely don't want to keep using this the way it is, never know when it's going to freeze up on me.

----------

Maybe I should add that I use this iMac just for email, internet, and my music collection. No gaming or anything like that. I really do wish that I had excel on it though. I had a handy spreadsheet to track my monthly finances on that worked very well.
 
You might want to read this post. Very similar to your problem since you upgraded the OS. As well the comment at the bottom mentions the 2009 model had a poorly designed heat sink that could clog up.

http://www.macnn.com/articles/13/03/05/a.year.after.support.thread.started.no.solution.on.the.horizon/

It's broke now. You can take try and clean/repair it yourself and taking these apart is complicated. Or take it to an Apple repair shop and get a quote. A gpu might be $200, they might blame the logic board for another $500. Or sell it to someone else with the caveat about the got issue and get some money back.
 
tyche said:
The iMac was bought used on eBay. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Click to expand...

Ugh...you get what you paid for or return it. Simple as that.

If they didnt describe this issue, return it. Maybe they didnt know, but to call people villains and believe all sellers are bad on eBay...come on. Masking it with Star Wars references doesnt help.
 
So do I have to take this into an apple store then? I'm pretty sure the nearest one is at least 75 miles away. Can I just send this in or do I need to seek out a local repair place that will deal with the iMac?
 
yjchua95 said:
Your GPU is toast.

You're probably going to need a new logic board.
Click to expand...

The GPU can be replaced separately in those models.

Mcfire12 said:
So do I have to take this into an apple store then? I'm pretty sure the nearest one is at least 75 miles away. Can I just send this in or do I need to seek out a local repair place that will deal with the iMac?
Click to expand...

Either way it will be a very expensive repair, almost as much as the machine itself is worth.
 
Mcfire12 said:
24-inch, Early 2009
Processor 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 512 MB
Software OS X 10.9.5 (13F34)
OSX 10.9.5

Bought this thing used on ebay and love the new world of iMac, but I have been having problems with it freezing daily. Upgraded it to maverick right away and figured I would be good to go. Not the case. It will just start to kind of pixelate the screen and eventually totally lock up to the point you can't click on anything of find the mouse cursor. Some times it will shut itself off. Others, I have to manually turn the machine off and back on. What gives??
Click to expand...

If it's not too late raise a claim on eBay (assuming the seller did not mention the fault).
 
How much did you pay for it on eBay?

Mcfire12 said:
So do I have to take this into an apple store then? I'm pretty sure the nearest one is at least 75 miles away. Can I just send this in or do I need to seek out a local repair place that will deal with the iMac?
Click to expand...

Like redheeler said, it'll be a very expensive repair. The Apple store will charge you for a new motherboard, which includes the GPU on it. This is basically the cost of a new computer, and I'm not even sure they have the ability to repair a 2009 computer.

steve23094 said:
If it's not too late raise a claim on eBay (assuming the seller did not mention the fault).
Click to expand...

Yup. If the eBay listing did not mention it has GPU issues, you have 30 days from the point you received the computer, you can contact the seller and request a refund. If the seller doesn't respond, or does not want to provide a refund you can raise a claim with eBay and get 100% of the cost back.

If the above isn't successful, and Apple's quote (you can call them in advance and request a repair quote) is out of your budget you can try cleaning the internals.

More than likely, this is the GPU overheating (as others pointed out). You can install something like iStat Pro or iStat Menus to monitor the GPU temperature. The maximum rated temperature from nvidia on the GT 130 is 105 C. If it climbs up and up and then -- BAM! your screen goes out.... you can try taking a look at the fans. They may be clogged or not functioning.


-robodude666
 
So is this thing worth anything to anyone the way it sits? Seems like it would be way easier to just get myself a new iMac...
 
Mcfire12 said:
So is this thing worth anything to anyone the way it sits? Seems like it would be way easier to just get myself a new iMac...
Click to expand...

That would be a better idea.... best not to waste more money on an old computer.
 
late claim it. see if there was insurance on shipping too. don't take the fall on it. you deserve a machine that works within reason. its not an easy fix, unless u do that type of thing. you may get some type of pity from an apple store.

also if you have protection plan with a local cable provider, within a certain timeframe, I think the latest os, you can send it in for repairs.
 
MCSN said:
late claim it. see if there was insurance on shipping too. don't take the fall on it. you deserve a machine that works within reason. its not an easy fix, unless u do that type of thing. you may get some type of pity from an apple store.

also if you have protection plan with a local cable provider, within a certain timeframe, I think the latest os, you can send it in for repairs.
Click to expand...

I bought the machine used around a year ago, i'm sure I can't go back on the seller anymore at this point. I think i'm just stuck with this thing. Not sure if I can sell it on ebay and list it as a possible bad gpu or what
 
No, you can't go back after the eBay seller after you have been using it for a year.

As others have stated, it is most likely the GPU (not sure if the logic board will cause the graphic issues you are having).

I personally would not put any $$ into an early 2009 iMac. I would try the following first:

- run Apple Hardware test to see if anything shows up.

- check / verify the fan(s) are running.

- If you are handy, you can take it apart and try to clean it out. Maybe there is an excessive amount of dust build-up that is causing overheating. I have taken apart a late 2009 27" iMac to replace a hard drive. If this is similar, it was not too difficult to take apart and there are guides online for how to do it.

----------

There is also a large discussion about this on the Apple Discussion boards you may want to look at for suggestions.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3938355?start=0&tstart=0
 
Mcfire12 said:
I bought the machine used around a year ago, i'm sure I can't go back on the seller anymore at this point. I think i'm just stuck with this thing. Not sure if I can sell it on ebay and list it as a possible bad gpu or what
Click to expand...

You can refer to this guide to remove the GPU. I personally don't think it's worth the few hundred dollars you would need to pay to get a replacement unit off of eBay but I would definitely try a reflow (the steps listed in the last post). This simply involves heating it in a toaster oven to reflow the solder connections and has been .
 
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bake the gpu if you plan on doing nothing with it than to replace it. You might be able to sell it or squeeze out some more months/year out of it.
 
good luck mcfire. if you are beyond the claim, then you have my empathy. if you can afford the listing fees, if it doesn't sell, there are people who post them up as fixer uppers.

lots of peeps here will help if you run into challenges on the gpu reset. i think what these guys are saying is par for the course. not impossible. but break out the work table and mark your parts on the charts.

but yah it boils down to keeping it alive, or weighing the replace cost vs the fix cost. it always breaks my heart seeing video issues. when mine came up in my 2006, i put ice packs on the battery side and nursed it for a year at least. i kept it icy cold and it would run until it couldn't, and i skated with as many tasks as i could until I got to the next machine. that machine was a 2011 i did the same. i never bothered opening it, since the boards were so high and i just didn't have the confidence. the internet is different now with so many people who have done this doing videos. wow, if those videos were around then, i probably would have tried.

i rotated ice packs, one on the machine, the other in freezer, and switching them as they thawed. i think there was a project I was working on, once where I had to put it on a frozen chicken to keep it from frizzing so I could make it to print.

i just kept doing that until I could afford a machine with apple care. LOL within a week of getting rid of it, and i swear to you that my 2011 just recently came out in the list, of covered repairs by apple over that lawsuit. you should check into that, and see if yours is listed.

if you can get another iMac, you can play with it, and kill it if it doesn't work out. if you end up fixing it, you have a machine that you could probably sell. people sell them dead all the time, saying they need repairs of course. LOL.
 
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