What to do with a non-booting Mid-2009 27" iMac?

[iRock1]

Hello. I have a 27" iMac from 2009 (I believe it is a mid-2009 model) with a 2.66 GHz i5 and an ATI HD 4850. I kept it stored in its box for several years, but when I recently took it out and tried to turn it on, I was greeted by a series of beeps at startup that prevent it from booting or displaying anything on screen.

I also remember that, even before I stored it away, it had begun to show some problems. For instance, the FireWire 800 port (which I actually used) had stopped working, and there were also image issues such as a dead pixel and random colored bars and blocks appearing on screen — I never knew whether that was caused by the display itself, the graphics card or the motherboard.

Here you have a quick video:

https://imgur.com/whfCOUe

To be fair to the machine, I had upgraded it at the time by installing a new 1 TB HDD and an SSD in a caddy in place of the SuperDrive. It also had the useful feature of working as an external monitor, since that generation of iMac could accept an HDMI input via an adapter, which I still have.

Even though every repair shop I’ve spoken to says the same thing — that at this point it is not worth fixing and I should just buy a new computer — I still feel that this machine could potentially have some useful applications that I have yet to figure out.

With that in mind, what would you do in my position? A replacement logic board and a graphics card might get expensive, specially in my country.

I appreciate your thoughts.

EDIT: Even if you vote for me selling the iMac, I'd still like to know what's most likely wrong with it.

 

[Boppi]

Unless you really like to tinker and spend money, I would follow the advice of every repair shop you've spoken with.

 

[ClaraStahlbaum]

Hello. I have a 27" iMac from 2009 (I believe it is a mid-2009 model) with a 2.66 GHz i5 and an ATI HD 4850. I kept it stored in its box for several years, but when I recently took it out and tried to turn it on, I was greeted by a series of beeps at startup that prevent it from booting or displaying anything on screen.

I also remember that, even before I stored it away, it had begun to show some problems. For instance, the FireWire 800 port (which I actually used) had stopped working, and there were also image issues such as a dead pixel and random colored bars and blocks appearing on screen — I never knew whether that was caused by the display itself, the graphics card or the motherboard.

Here you have a quick video:

https://imgur.com/whfCOUe

To be fair to the machine, I had upgraded it at the time by installing a new 1 TB HDD and an SSD in a caddy in place of the SuperDrive. It also had the useful feature of working as an external monitor, since that generation of iMac could accept an HDMI input via an adapter, which I still have.

Even though every repair shop I’ve spoken to says the same thing — that at this point it is not worth fixing and I should just buy a new computer — I still feel that this machine could potentially have some useful applications that I have yet to figure out.

With that in mind, what would you do in my position? A replacement logic board and a graphics card might get expensive, specially in my country.

I appreciate your thoughts.

Get any files and stuff you want off the computer, wipe it, and sell it on Facebook Marketplace or Ebay. Unless you are really dedicated, it will be difficult to get that Monitor up to date and continue using it. Its just not worth it unless you have major nostalgia for this machine.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Hello. I have a 27" iMac from 2009 (I believe it is a mid-2009 model) with a 2.66 GHz i5 and an ATI HD 4850. I kept it stored in its box for several years, but when I recently took it out and tried to turn it on, I was greeted by a series of beeps at startup that prevent it from booting or displaying anything on screen.

I also remember that, even before I stored it away, it had begun to show some problems. For instance, the FireWire 800 port (which I actually used) had stopped working, and there were also image issues such as a dead pixel and random colored bars and blocks appearing on screen — I never knew whether that was caused by the display itself, the graphics card or the motherboard.

Here you have a quick video:

https://imgur.com/whfCOUe

To be fair to the machine, I had upgraded it at the time by installing a new 1 TB HDD and an SSD in a caddy in place of the SuperDrive. It also had the useful feature of working as an external monitor, since that generation of iMac could accept an HDMI input via an adapter, which I still have.

Even though every repair shop I’ve spoken to says the same thing — that at this point it is not worth fixing and I should just buy a new computer — I still feel that this machine could potentially have some useful applications that I have yet to figure out.

With that in mind, what would you do in my position? A replacement logic board and a graphics card might get expensive, specially in my country.

I appreciate your thoughts.

From your description, I guess the graphic card has some issues.
I would try to replace the graphic card first to see if it can help.
I got similar symptom on an old iMac 2009 I bought, after replacing the graphic card, the issue was gone.
The graphic card is not very expensive on Aliexpress.
The labor in your country cost can be expensive.
Unless you can replace it yourself, the advice is to buy another working iMac.

 

[Fishrrman]

It's time...

 

[iRock1]

Unless you really like to tinker and spend money, I would follow the advice of every repair shop you've spoken with.

Get any files and stuff you want off the computer, wipe it, and sell it on Facebook Marketplace or Ebay. Unless you are really dedicated, it will be difficult to get that Monitor up to date and continue using it. Its just not worth it unless you have major nostalgia for this machine.

It's time...
View attachment 2602085

So if I was willing to sell it "as it is", how much do you think I could ask for? It has a 256 GB SSD, a 1 TB HDD (it's been modded to hold a second hard drive instead of the SuperDrive), an Intel i5 at 2,66 Ghz -- and about the RAM, not sure but I think it's 8 GB. It contains the original box, cable, keyboard and Magic Mouse.

From your description, I guess the graphic card has some issues.
I would try to replace the graphic card first to see if it can help.
I got similar symptom on an old iMac 2009 I bought, after replacing the graphic card, the issue was gone.
The graphic card is not very expensive on Aliexpress.
The labor in your country cost can be expensive.
Unless you can replace it yourself, the advice is to buy another working iMac.

What would it be "not very expensive" for you? Last time I checked it was almost like 100 bucks, which imho is just unjustified.

Also, very important, why would you bet on the problem being a graphics card one? I've never heard of something like that having to do with some beeps during startup.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

So if I was willing to sell it "as it is", how much do you think I could ask for? It has a 256 GB SSD, a 1 TB HDD (it's been modded to hold a second hard drive instead of the SuperDrive), an Intel i5 at 2,66 Ghz -- and about the RAM, not sure but I think it's 8 GB. It contains the original box, cable, keyboard and Magic Mouse.

You could ASK whatever you like.

Quick perusal of eBay completed sales suggests under $100.

 

[Fishrrman]

What could one sell a 2009 iMac for?
How about $25 ??
If you can get that much.

 

[iRock1]

What could one sell a 2009 iMac for?
How about $25 ??
If you can get that much.

Only those 8 GB of RAM would cost more than that nowadays, lol.

Btw, gotta love those "just sell it" comments when you have no idea what's wrong with the iMac lol.

 

[Fishrrman]

"gotta love those "just sell it" comments when you have no idea what's wrong with the iMac lol."

What's "wrong with it" is that it's now 17 years old.
That is, what it is...

 

[PaulD-UK]

With a known, virtually 100%, GPU solder-ball failure rate, caused by Mk1 RoHS solder failure under heat.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Only those 8 GB of RAM would cost more than that nowadays, lol.

Btw, gotta love those "just sell it" comments when you have no idea what's wrong with the iMac lol.

Part it out, sell the individual pieces if you want.

IMO it's not worth the time or effort, but you do you.

 

[chown33]

Digital bungee jumping.

Now that you've read it, you know you want to.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

What could one sell a 2009 iMac for?
How about $25 ??
If you can get that much.

I would definitely pay 40$ for his iMac. Throw in 25$ for a conversion kit and get myself a bulky 27" display.
The shops in the city where I live charge 20$ for the un-broken protection glass, 15$ for the well preserved aluminum case.... That's what they are offering....

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

So if I was willing to sell it "as it is", how much do you think I could ask for? It has a 256 GB SSD, a 1 TB HDD (it's been modded to hold a second hard drive instead of the SuperDrive), an Intel i5 at 2,66 Ghz -- and about the RAM, not sure but I think it's 8 GB. It contains the original box, cable, keyboard and Magic Mouse.


What would it be "not very expensive" for you? Last time I checked it was almost like 100 bucks, which imho is just unjustified.

Also, very important, why would you bet on the problem being a graphics card one? I've never heard of something like that having to do with some beeps during startup.

I bought the FirePro M6100m for 25$ including shipment, The card acts just like a native Apple card after flashed with a cooked vBIOS on my iMac 2009 27".
They are still plenty of those on sales on ebay or aliexpress....