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HELP! Aluminum imac death!

post #1 of 10
2/18/08 at 7:13pm
Thread Starter 
My 24" aluminum imac just suddenly turned off.

my girlfriend was on the internet and the screen went black and it shut off. it just had trouble turning on. the display did not light up and the only way to know it was doing anything was the little sound it made every five or so seconds.

i unplugged it and tried again and it did turn on but this is a very worrying occurence.

i have no idea wtf happened, or whether this is a known issue.

please, anything will help.
13" macbook 2GHz Core Duo
24" Imac Aluminum 2.8GHz
Macbook Air 1.6GHz (2nd iteration)
Airport Extreme
Airport Express
Apple TV 160GB
3G iPhone
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13" macbook 2GHz Core Duo
24" Imac Aluminum 2.8GHz
Macbook Air 1.6GHz (2nd iteration)
Airport Extreme
Airport Express
Apple TV 160GB
3G iPhone
Reply
post #2 of 10
2/18/08 at 7:39pm
If its making a noise every five seconds maybe its the RAM. Check to make sure the RAM is in right and everything. (Even if you didn't mess with it.)
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post #3 of 10
2/18/08 at 8:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon639 View Post

If its making a noise every five seconds maybe its the RAM. Check to make sure the RAM is in right and everything. (Even if you didn't mess with it.)

i checked the RAM, it didn't appear loose or anything and i definitely haven't touched it before.

i turned it off and unplugged it before i even opened the RAM door (paranoia), then when i tried to turn it on it did the same thing again.

now it turned on but the fan is running full speed the entire time?
13" macbook 2GHz Core Duo
24" Imac Aluminum 2.8GHz
Macbook Air 1.6GHz (2nd iteration)
Airport Extreme
Airport Express
Apple TV 160GB
3G iPhone
Reply
13" macbook 2GHz Core Duo
24" Imac Aluminum 2.8GHz
Macbook Air 1.6GHz (2nd iteration)
Airport Extreme
Airport Express
Apple TV 160GB
3G iPhone
Reply
post #4 of 10
2/19/08 at 8:46am
If you have another Mac with Firewire, maybe you can start your iMac in Target Disk Mode by connecting the two Macs with a Firewire cable and pressing T right after you start the iMac.

Then you could run diagnostics with disk utility and save important data. Do you have Tech Tools (it comes with the Apple Care Protection Plan)?

Do you still have warranty and/or a Genius Bar/Apple Store near you?
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post #5 of 10
2/19/08 at 11:25am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by spinnerlys View Post

If you have another Mac with Firewire, maybe you can start your iMac in Target Disk Mode by connecting the two Macs with a Firewire cable and pressing T right after you start the iMac.

Then you could run diagnostics with disk utility and save important data. Do you have Tech Tools (it comes with the Apple Care Protection Plan)?

Do you still have warranty and/or a Genius Bar/Apple Store near you?

i will run a diagnostics when i get home tonight, and see if that tells me anything - luckily if i do lose any data my macbook has almost all of the exact same data on it.

i have an apple store near me, as well as an apple certified reseller. the imac is still under warranty (though i don't have apple care or obviously tech tools), it's only a few months old, so i think any problem should be warranty fixable. i can't think of anything i've done wrong since i have babied this thing ridiculously.

i have yet to try turning it on today, but i will give it a shot when i get home and see if anything odd happens again.
13" macbook 2GHz Core Duo
24" Imac Aluminum 2.8GHz
Macbook Air 1.6GHz (2nd iteration)
Airport Extreme
Airport Express
Apple TV 160GB
3G iPhone
Reply
13" macbook 2GHz Core Duo
24" Imac Aluminum 2.8GHz
Macbook Air 1.6GHz (2nd iteration)
Airport Extreme
Airport Express
Apple TV 160GB
3G iPhone
Reply
post #6 of 10
2/19/08 at 1:20pm
Good luck then, and I hope you have at least a three year warranty, bought wherever you bought you Mac.

I can't find a logic explanation for you iMac's behaviour, maybe some component fried.

And why does my spelling check want to correct proper british english (behaviour)?
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post #7 of 10
2/20/08 at 12:55pm
Whatever the problem is, you're covered...and you have the option to buy the extended warranty anytime before the standard 1-year warranty runs out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by spinnerlys View Post

Good luck then, and I hope you have at least a three year warranty, bought wherever you bought you Mac.

I can't find a logic explanation for you iMac's behaviour, maybe some component fried.

And why does my spelling check want to correct proper british english (behaviour)?

Because Apple doesn't supply an international British/Australian English dictionary or do you mean the spell check on this site...it's an American website so seems logical they use American English (if that's not an oxymoron)!
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post #8 of 10
2/20/08 at 6:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by s.metcalf View Post

Because Apple doesn't supply an international British/Australian English dictionary or do you mean the spell check on this site...it's an American website so seems logical they use American English (if that's not an oxymoron)!

I mean the Mac OS spell check, I don't use the web site's build in.

I just thought, it could be localized, like if you're british you'd like your own spelling instead of the american one. It's just weird.
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post #9 of 10
2/20/08 at 9:39pm
The easiest way around it is just to add the British versions of the words into the dictionary the next time it flags them as incorrect. Eventually, you'll hit every word you use, and the ones you don't get, you must not use.
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Apple Certified Macintosh Technician
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Apple Certified Macintosh Technician
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post #10 of 10
3/14/08 at 9:15am
I am having the same problem as Tim. My 24" imac is under a month old and today it flashed the login screen or half a second and now won't turn on at all. It does make the same sound that Tim described about every 5 seconds. I have checked the RAM and the power cord (neither fixed the problem).

Has anyone had a similar experience and found any remedies. The good news is that this is my work computer. The bad news is that I was planning on getting one for myself at home but now I am worried about encountering an issue like this.

Thanks everyone.
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