[ss2cire]

I bought a 20" iMac as a Xmas present for my son off eBay(I know, I know! I do love him - honest but it seemed a real bargain). It's never really worked fine - I could never "soft" reboot or power off - I always had to use the power button round the back but now it seems to have developed a major problem. When I switch it on (it's a "Rev B" mode with 1GB memoryl - ambient light sensor but without the built-in iSight) it makes the dong sound, the light comes on then goes off and......1. Sometimes the grey screen comes up with the gear wheel spinning then it goes to a blue screen with the mouse pointer in the top left and there it hangs. 2. Sometimes the grey screen doesn't come at all - the screen stays off even though I can press Caps Lock and that works. If i take the power cord out then put it in again and boot in Safe mode it will work ok sometimes (within the limitations of Safe mode). On the rare occassions it does boot properly, everything will work well but then at some random time (could be 10 minutes, could be 2 days) I'll get some kind of video corruption and the machine will hang. I've re-formatted and re-installed Tiger which worked ok for a while but now I back to the "Safe mode" only scenario . It's so frustrating and my son has lost in me and my technical ability. I've done the Apple "chat with an agent" who suggested re-installing.
Anyone got any ideas? All suggestions (apart from attack it with a large hammer) welcome.
Oh BTW, I did take it to PC World in Stevenage (England) where they have a large notice saying they fix all types of PC's including Apple to be told be the stereotypical spotty youth "yes I know it says we fix Apple but we don't". Any UK readers know of any Authorised Apple repairers in or near to Hertfordshire?

Thanks again..

[imitchellg5]

Sorry about your problem. I would tak it to an Apple Authorized place.

[blo0dlust]

I scanned all the forums titles and this seems an appropriate place to vent.

In April, I started having to push the power button repeatedly before my machine would start. (iMac G5, 17-inch, 1.8 ghz, gig RAM, 250-gig hard drive, purchased November 2004.)

I downloaded an OS update, I believe 10.4.6 and it wouldn't reboot, even from CD. The fans roared and the screen was gray, but that was it. Applecare said to take it for service. It took a month to replace the hard drive and fan (singular was what they said).

I used it three days and started having to push the button several times to get it to start after the first day. (I used to run it 24/7, but after the hard drive failure, plus with thunderstorms common here, I started shutting it off at night or before a storm.) Finally it was dead on the third day. Applecare had me do the LED diagnostics. Only the first light lit, despite pushing the buttons on the logic board.

Took it in to have the logicboard replaced. (I'm really glad I bought the extended warranty!) The tech called and asked what the problem was again because it worked fine. I called several days later and he said, "I finally got a hold of Apple" and the board was ordered.

Two weeks after taking it in, I plugged it in and ... no boot. I had a new power strip and heavy-duty extention cord, and while the stip light was lit, I unplugged the computer and plugged it directly into the power cord. Nada. I plugged it into the outlet. Nothing. I moved it into another room. Dead. I moved it back, plugged it in to the outlet and, leery of previous foibles with the power button, I pushed it dozens of times. Nothing. Next morning, I tried it on a lark and it fired up, first try. I shut it off, moved it to my desk and plugged it into the strip. Dead.

At lunch, I plugged it into the extension cord and it fired up.

I've been running it since then, three days now, because I figure when I turn it off, it may never start again. The fans are also very, very loud now.

The crap thing is my first-ever Apple, a 400 ghz G3 iMac graphite, still runs, albeit without a screen, which is why I bought this. But you know, if you only spend $2,100 on a midlevel computer, you have to expect several hundreds of dollars in repairs, right?

The good thing is, I used to pity PC users and felt an evangelistic fervor to help them. Now I'm starting to envy them! (Shudder.) This is, however, much more relaxing.

Perhaps a new iMac back is in order? I feel like something's going on that someone is not telling me, but I'm sure they're all as clueless as I am.

[blo0dlust]

Hmmm. Just noticed that the sleep light, already dimmer than it was originally after that OS update that specifically targeted it as an irritant for some people, gets progressively dimmer until it's out. (Just using display sleep, of course.)

Freak show.

[blo0dlust]

I spent almost an hour on the phone with Apple while they determined the extent to which I've suffered. In the end, the fans they replaced are considered a minor repair, perhaps moreso because they were done the same time the hard drive was replaced.

They're sending a guy to my house to take a last crack at repairing it, probably the power supply or another logicboard.

It sounds like if they fail, as it will be the third "major" repair, they'll be shipping me a new computer. I hope that means a dual-core Intel iMac rather than a barnacle-encrusted, refurbished G5 iMac.

Now I'm pulling for a total meltdown!

[Zubir]

Originally Posted by Lanif

I bought a 20" iMac as a Xmas present for my son off eBay(I know, I know! I do love him - honest but it seemed a real bargain). It's never really worked fine - I could never "soft" reboot or power off - I always had to use the power button round the back but now it seems to have developed a major problem. When I switch it on (it's a "Rev B" mode with 1GB memoryl - ambient light sensor but without the built-in iSight) it makes the dong sound, the light comes on then goes off and......1. Sometimes the grey screen comes up with the gear wheel spinning then it goes to a blue screen with the mouse pointer in the top left and there it hangs. 2. Sometimes the grey screen doesn't come at all - the screen stays off even though I can press Caps Lock and that works. If i take the power cord out then put it in again and boot in Safe mode it will work ok sometimes (within the limitations of Safe mode). On the rare occassions it does boot properly, everything will work well but then at some random time (could be 10 minutes, could be 2 days) I'll get some kind of video corruption and the machine will hang. I've re-formatted and re-installed Tiger which worked ok for a while but now I back to the "Safe mode" only scenario . It's so frustrating and my son has lost in me and my technical ability. I've done the Apple "chat with an agent" who suggested re-installing.
Anyone got any ideas? All suggestions (apart from attack it with a large hammer) welcome.
Oh BTW, I did take it to PC World in Stevenage (England) where they have a large notice saying they fix all types of PC's including Apple to be told be the stereotypical spotty youth "yes I know it says we fix Apple but we don't". Any UK readers know of any Authorised Apple repairers in or near to Hertfordshire?

Thanks again..

Have you tried zapping the PRAM?

[blo0dlust]

I see from googling that tons of the early G5 iMac have had problems.

This sucks.

[blo0dlust]

Guy came and replaced power supply today and I'm up and running. The fans, which had been screaming, are now quiet. They were probably trying to cool the messed-up power unit.

[jl15]

Whhoaaaah !!!

[mavherzog]

Originally Posted by Editor

Guy came and replaced power supply today and I'm up and running. The fans, which had been screaming, are now quiet. They were probably trying to cool the messed-up power unit.

Cool. My wife's G5 iMac had the power supply and motherboard replaced under warranty.

[harrisjamieh]

Yeh the main problem with those iMacs was indeed the power supply messing up, due to faulty capacitors IIRC