Problems with a Mac

Aedh Baclamh

A friend of mine is currently having difficulty with their Mac. When they try and turn it on it basically freezes at the startup screen (white background with the apple logo) and won't go any further. After a couple of minutes it'll start making quite loud noises too. Have unplugged anything connected to it that may be causing it (card readers etc) but to no avail.

Anyone got any suggestions?

Thanks.

redenemyjoe

What was your friend doing with it last time it worked?

Aedh Baclamh

Just the usual I think, browsing the internet etc. Have you heard of this happening before?

thecommander

Boot from the install disc and repair disk permissions and verify HD. Worth a shot, worked for me before.

pvik00

What's on the screen if you try to boot into single user mode?
(Pressing Cmd+S at the boot chimes)

Greentree_uk

sounds like a HDD to me

Sad Professor

Greentree_uk wrote: »

sounds like a HDD to me

Yeah, me too.

But if those noises are beeps then it might be the RAM.

Aedh Baclamh

What's on the screen if you try to boot into single user mode?
(Pressing Cmd+S at the boot chimes)

Tried Cmd/Alt/P/R after turning it on, heard a second beep but then it just went to the grey screen as usual and froze.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greentree_uk
sounds like a HDD to me

Yeah, me too.

But if those noises are beeps then it might be the RAM.

HDD? Cost much to fix?

The noises ain't beeps, very loud, like a bloody engine trying to start or something. I do know that the computer was low on RAM though.


There's some important stuff on it that hasn't been backed up, what's the chances of losing this? Haven't tried to use the installation disk yet as we don't know if it'll result in loss of said data.

Sad Professor

Hard drives are cheap to replace. The data would most likely be lost though.

However, if the noises are really that loud it might be the fans. Could mean the logic board has failed. What kind of Mac is it, how old, etc?

You'll need to get an install disc and try booting off it. But given that it keep freezing on the grey screen that probably won't work either.

spoongibbon

This used to happen to my old G5 iMac, and yes that noise you're hearing is the fans. It's just an OS error, usually brought on by a failed software update or a bad shutdown. Either try and boot up and repair the volume with your original OS disc, or get hold of a program called Diskwarrior. It took hours to fix my iMac but just let it run. Failing that, connect your mac up to a second mac using a firewire cable and restart the sick computer in target disk mode by holding down t during the start up process. Then open disk utility on the good mac and fix the bad macs hard drive.

I should also add, that starting the computer up in target disk mode will allow you to pull files off of the sick mac's hard drive.

Aedh Baclamh

Okay, so my friend reinstalled everything (lost all data) and it was fine for a couple of days but it's gone again Back to the whole grey screen thing etc.

What could it possibly be if everything was started from scratch again??

Aedh Baclamh

No?:(

Sad Professor

Definitely sounds like the hard drive. Mine failed a couple of weeks ago as well and showed similar symptoms - it kept spinning up and down causing freezes and eventually wouldn't go past the grey screen.

You still haven't said what kind of iMac it is and how old?

Does he have an external hdd he can boot off?

Aedh Baclamh

I'll find out which one it is and will get back to you. How much did it cost to fix yours?

I have an external hard drive that he could borrow but once again, I'm a total novice with all this stuff.

Sad Professor

Hard drives are pretty cheap. I replaced mine myself. But depending on the iMac, that might be no small task. Dropping it in somewhere would be the safer bet, but it could cost a bit.

In the meantime he could install OS X onto an external (preferably firewire) drive and boot from that. An external drive would be a good investment for him for future backups as well.

Aedh Baclamh

It's a G5 iMac...

Sad Professor

That's good. Replacing the hdd on a G5 iMac is pretty easy.

Guide here:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/imacg5_17inch_HardDrive.pdf

Of course this is assuming the hdd is the problem. Boot off the install disc again and use Disk Utility (in the Utilities menu) to verify the hdd. Check the SMART status (at the bottom) as well.

Aedh Baclamh

How will I know if the hard drive is the problem? I've got an external hard drive that I currently use for my laptop - could I give this to him and work off that?

Sad Professor

Does it have firewire? It may not be bootable on a G5 Mac otherwise.

Using the install disc as I described above might indicate errors or a SMART failure which would confirm that it's the hdd.

Aedh Baclamh

We used the disk already and when we put it in there were a number of different things going on like "need to change 123456 to 123457" along with a number of other errors. Also it was quite confusing with the different repair options so we weren't sure what exactly we were at.

Thanks for the help btw.

Sad Professor

Try it again and check the SMART status at the bottom.



You need to click the repair disk button (not repair disk permissions).

There's also a chance the hdd has already failed and therefore won't show up in Disk Utility. Or may show an error like in the above pic.

Greentree_uk

ok you have an imac G5. is it the model with the iSight? if not then you may have one of the models affected with bad swollen capacitors. open the back of the machine and examine them and if they are bust then the machine will need replacing.

Aedh Baclamh

Don't know if it's got iSight, how will I find out?

Tried the disk yesterday and the SMART status was all good. Also ran the repair disk function and said that no errors were found so it doesn't seem like it's the hdd

Type 17

Here's a useful Apple support page - How to identify your iMac.

The iSight is a small camera lens built in above the screen (circled in the pic in the article, about two-thirds of the way down).

If your friend's one doesn't have this lens, check out Greentree_uk's post above...

Type 17

Additional bit:

Given that your friend's iMac gets as far as a grey screen, it's not the capacitors - here's a quote from Apple:

Affected systems will exhibit one of the following video- or power-related symptoms:
Scrambled or distorted video
No video
No power
Note: If your iMac G5 is not experiencing any of these symptoms, you do not have to contact Apple or any Apple Authorized Service Provider.

The above text is quoted on this page, which shows how to replace the capacitors (but it doesn't sound like your friend's problem after all).

Sad Professor

Is it still making that noise you described earlier? That can only really be the fans or the hdd. The fans would be very loud (like a hairdryer) but consistent. A failing hdd would either keep trying to spin up or would make a lot of loud clicking or grinding sounds.

My failed hard disk checked out okay in Disk Utility despite the fact that it could barely stay spinning. So it could still be the hard disk.

Aedh Baclamh

No it hasn't made that loud noise since everything was reinstalled. Thing is, sometimes it'll load fine and it'll go to the desktop as normal but most of the time it freezes at the grey screen stage.

spoongibbon

Did you perform an Archive & Install, or an Erase and Install?

Greentree_uk

if it's the model without the camera then it's definitely the capacitors, if it has the camera then it's almost certainly a graphics card problem can you identify the imac as it will help.