Problem booting

T-K-O

Hey guys,

Looking for some advice. My intel imac late 2009 is having some problems when booting.

First, it was stuck on a blue screen. After a few hard reboots I got the logon screen. I can now logon however the beach ball appears and the machine freezes.
I did try safe mode but the same happens. I logon and then the big freeze.

Also my installtion cd is in storage as I am moving, if you guys think the disk can fix the issue can you also recommend the best place to find a disk online or in store.

Thanks.

STEINBERG

You could try resetting the PRAM, seems to help with startup disk issues

Follow this http://support.apple.com/kb/ph4405

Give it a go and see if that helps

T-K-O

STEINBERG wrote: »

You could try resetting the PRAM, seems to help with startup disk issues

Follow this http://support.apple.com/kb/ph4405

Give it a go and see if that helps

Ok. I tried the above. When the machine rebooted. Everything looked fine for an extra 15/20 seconds and then beachball and freeze just like before.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Sad Professor

The hard disk is probably dying. To confirm you'll need to boot from an install disc. Apple still sell Snow Leopard on disc. However if you have Lion or later installed you can try booting from the recovery partition. Hold option on startup and select it. If there's no recovery partition or the same thing happens then you'll need an install disc.

I hope you have a backup.

T-K-O

Sad Professor wrote: »

The hard disk is probably dying. To confirm you'll need to boot from an install disc. Apple still sell Snow Leopard on disc. However if you have Lion or later installed you can try booting from the recovery partition. Hold option on startup and select it. If there's no recovery partition or the same thing happens then you'll need an install disc.

I hope you have a backup.

That was my fear. Fortunately, I have backups so that’s not an issue.
Would now be a good time to upgrade to Lion? I was planning on upgrading the ram from 4 to 8gb. How would Lion run on my system 2.66 processor and 8gb ram.
Or
Is it best to fix the mac with 10.6.8 and upgrade down the line?

Also a replacement hard drive, do I need a standard 3.5 inch sata?

Cheers guys appreciate the help.

T-K-O

OK just found some info online. Apparently I need to replace the harddrive with the same brand as the current one.

nialler

I wouldn't say so TKO, I replaced my iMac HD with a completely different brand and it's around the same era, 2008-2009 core2duo. A bog standard WD Caviar Green or Blue should do ya. You'll also need the thinnest paint scraper you can get to release the glass from the front (be careful) and a torx driver to remove the frame. It's a fairly easy job to replace the HD.

Sad Professor

There is an issue with 2009 onward iMacs having fan issues unless the same brand hard disk is used. It's because the thermal sensor is inside the drive and different brands used different connectors. So yeah unless there's a workaround I don't know about you'll have to use the same brand.

And remember you'll still need an install disc to re-install OS X. Apple don't sell 10.7 or 8 on disc, only 10.6. So you'll have to get Snow Leopard first and upgrade to Mountain Lion if you wish.

As for getting the glass off, any sort of suction cup (even a toilet plunger) will do the trick. Just be careful as nialler said that the glass doesn't fall and break.

T-K-O

Thanks lads.

I'll be sure to take extra care when removing the glass. I'll let you guys know how I get on.

STEINBERG

Do Please T-K-O, im thinking of replacing my HDD with Solid State drive soon enough,,,, would like to know what difficulties if any you ran into

Sad Professor

Replacing the HDD in the iMac is fairly easy. There are loads of guides online.

Just be careful about dust when you do open it up. I've a 24-inch ACD and the backlight is filthy from dust that came in through the vents. To clean it off I have to dismantle the entire LCD. Now that's going to be difficult.

STEINBERG

Thats was my thinking at first, i was initially gona just clean the dust out of the thing, but then thought while she is open i might aswell and pop a new drive in..

Sad Professor

I actually meant to leave the dust alone. If you start blowing it around and it gets into the backlight you'll have my problem.

Dust between the panel and the glass is another matter, though, you can just wipe that off.

Greentree_uk

Sad Professor wrote: »

If you start blowing it around and it gets into the backlight you'll have my problem.

what imac have you got?

T-K-O

OK, So I found the original disk. I booted from the disk and ran repair and then verify. The hard disk passed on both accounts.

When shutting down the computer it froze again. Also the top of the machine seemed quite warm to me. Despite successfully completing a repair, is it safe to say the hard drive is for the scrap heap?

Is there any point down grading to the original 10.6 O/S

Sad Professor

Greentree_uk wrote: »

what imac have you got?

Apple Cinema Display. Basically the same design as the old iMac.

Sad Professor

T-K-O wrote: »

OK, So I found the original disk. I booted from the disk and ran repair and then verify. The hard disk passed on both accounts.

When shutting down the computer it froze again. Also the top of the machine seemed quite warm to me. Despite successfully completing a repair, is it safe to say the hard drive is for the scrap heap?

Is there any point down grading to the original 10.6 O/S

If it still won't boot up, yes, probably. As a last resort try doing a clean install. But Disk Utility will often say a drive in its death throes is fine.

T-K-O

Hi guys,

I eventually got around to this.

For those interested, it's not as difficult as you might think. To remove the glass I used the plastic suction pads from my car phone caddy. Once you have something to grip the glass it comes straight off. No issues.

Removing the connectors inside is a little tricky as you have little room to play with. Once those connectors are free swapping the HD is as easy as a normal pc swap. I found a step by step guide, nice to have on a laptop/ iPad while removing the hd.

OK, the bad news. I still have the same problem. I partitioned and formatted the drive. I installed osx but shortly after booting the beach ball is back and mac does nothing.

Is this a job for the repair shop? I hope not but I'm at a loss..

Greentree_uk

you did the easy job, if it didn't work it's likely a job for a expert. working as I do,. I know it pays dividends sometimes to get an expert on board, and by an expert I mean a decent AASP (Apple Authorised Service Centre) these are becoming fewer and fewer..... I just repaired two Mac Pro's, one with a memory problem and another with a GPU. both simple problems one of which was a known issue! both should have easily been recognised, but a reputable company wrote them off, because they make no money repairing them and are only interested in selling new kit.

T-K-O

Greentree_uk wrote: »

you did the easy job, if it didn't work it's likely a job for a expert. working as I do,. I know it pays dividends sometimes to get an expert on board, and by an expert I mean a decent AASP (Apple Authorised Service Centre) these are becoming fewer and fewer..... I just repaired two Mac Pro's, one with a memory problem and another with a GPU. both simple problems one of which was a known issue! both should have easily been recognised, but a reputable company wrote them off, because they make no money repairing them and are only interested in selling new kit.

Thanks for the reply.. Usually a repair shop is a no go for me but I'm left with no other option

I'm going to call mactivate in morning, I've read some good reviews and they are authorised by apple.

T-K-O

So I got the mac from the guys at the repair shop. They found no issues with the computer. They install Lion and everything appears to be working as normal.

Also, I asked them to check the original HD, they found no issues with the disk.

Strange.