iMac DV SE 400mhz will not boot under any circumstance or cd help!
okay i'll be as clear and as brief as possible
The comp strats and stays at teh gray screen and does nothing
I try a bootable cd it reads it starts to load teh desktop but does not....the desktop background for teh bootable cd is there but nothing else is and occasiuonaly the CD ICON will blink
This happens with any bootable cd wheter it be apple or home made or norton system works or even diskwarrior
Also with fire wire target disk mode when trying to load the hard drive of the imac as a firewire drive it affects teh other computer the same way as it would as if trying to boot up with a cd in teh iMac.
I suspect taht its starting up and the can't find the hard drive or something? what do i do what else could it be?
I've reset the firmware i've reset the pram i just do not know what to do now
The comp strats and stays at teh gray screen and does nothing
I try a bootable cd it reads it starts to load teh desktop but does not....the desktop background for teh bootable cd is there but nothing else is and occasiuonaly the CD ICON will blink
This happens with any bootable cd wheter it be apple or home made or norton system works or even diskwarrior
Also with fire wire target disk mode when trying to load the hard drive of the imac as a firewire drive it affects teh other computer the same way as it would as if trying to boot up with a cd in teh iMac.
I suspect taht its starting up and the can't find the hard drive or something? what do i do what else could it be?
I've reset the firmware i've reset the pram i just do not know what to do now
Comments
<strong>please!</strong><hr></blockquote>
have you used the startupdisk control panel?
that is all
anyones help who actually knows what they are talking about is appreciated?
hard drive controller? the hard drive ?
if not, zap it then try booting from a cd, i've had a similar problem on my iMac, and zapping the pram fixes it every time.
I only had this problem when I had a flaky USB device (probably a hub) plugged in.
<strong>
I try a bootable cd it reads it starts to load teh desktop but does not....the desktop background for teh bootable cd is there but nothing else is and occasiuonaly the CD ICON will blink
This happens with any bootable cd wheter it be apple or home made or norton system works or even diskwarrior
Also with fire wire target disk mode when trying to load the hard drive of the imac as a firewire drive it affects teh other computer the same way as it would as if trying to boot up with a cd in teh iMac.
I suspect taht its starting up and the can't find the hard drive or something? what do i do what else could it be?
I've reset the firmware i've reset the pram i just do not know what to do now </strong><hr></blockquote>
I had a very similar-sounding problem with my iBook this summer. I tried all the same things you tried, all of which SHOULD have worked if it was just a failing hard drive. If your hard drive was just hashed, you should still be able to start up from a CD.
It could be that your ATA controller on your motherboard is shot. The ATA controller would also control your CD drive too I believe (I'm not 100% sure about the iMac's CD-rom being ATA).
If it's still under warranty, call Apple and they'll probably have you send it back to them.
That's what I ended up doing. Apple replaced the motherboard in my iBook and I had it back less than 5 days after I sent it out!
Even if it's not under warranty, you may not have any choice.
Actually one thing they had me try first before sending it in, that you have apparently not tried yet, is resetting the power management unit. On the iBook there's a paper-clip-sized hole on the side and you need to stick a paper clip in there and hold it for 5 seconds, then wait a minute before re-setting. I'm sure the process is different for an iMac. Obviously you have another computer since you're posting here, so I'd go check out apple.com's support section.
It just died. CompUSA replaced motherboards, drives, etc. and failed to fix it. They gave me back my money - full purchase price and I bought two lesser models which by that time were as good as my DV SE.
I still think the iMacs have some inherent flaw. I've had 5 now, and they still get funky from time to time.
I spoke to the guys at tekserv here in nyc cause my friend knows them and they explained it to me. Its either the hard drive controllor or the hard drive.
I don't wanna spend 500 dollars on a new logic board cause frankly the comp cost almost that much. So i'm gonna try two put it a different hard drive and see if it works and if it doens't then i'll know for sure its the mobo and i'll just sell the crap on ebay