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killertofu · Nov 22, 2005, 09:14 PM

I just recieved my 20" iSight iMac G5 last week and I have had nothing but frustration with this machine. It has frozen on me at least once everyday. Now I'm not going to whine too much, because I have already called apple and recieved a case #.

I was just wondering if anyone has had/heard/solved this problem already? It is a full freeze (not balloon ball freeze), happens at random times, whether or not I am actually using it or not. I have done a full clean osx install, run disk repair, and performed a hardware test. The tests came up with nothing and the full install still freezes.

I am a previous switcher when I bought my 15" Powerbook, and have been very happy with my switch. But this brings back problems I thought I was past. Any help would be welcome.

tomrock · Nov 23, 2005, 12:23 PM

Did you add any memory to the machine yourself? The first stick of memory I bought for my new iMac wasn't right. I had all kinds of lock-ups. I exchanged the ram for another brand and all has been well since.

brokenjago · Nov 23, 2005, 05:28 PM

Also, it could be a random component failure. It happens (unfortunately), and I'm sure Apple will be cool and give you a new one

Good luck!

killertofu · Nov 24, 2005, 05:03 PM

I didn't do any after-market installs, it is a brand new machine. But all is well, I had it looked at by a genius down at the Apple Store, adn they ordered me a new machine. All I gots to do is wait for the new one to come in and the box to ship my old one back.

I guess the only complaint that I have now is that I had to lug that thing into the Apple Store and wait for a genius. Stupid iPod problems were holding up the line. C'mon people...

derekd · Dec 2, 2005, 07:37 AM

My isight Imac has just started doing this as well. Interestingly I've gone back and done a clean install from CD and so far it's OK. What was happening before was that the NorthBridge temp was getting to 73C and then the mac became unstable. With the CD install the temp is staying lower. I wonder if 10.4.3 or one of the security updates modified the fan managment?.

I've left the imac running some GarageBand loops, and if it's still OK when I get home, I'll add updates one at a time...

Cheers, Derek

derekd · Dec 3, 2005, 06:17 AM

Originally Posted by derekd

My isight Imac has just started doing this as well. Interestingly I've gone back and done a clean install from CD and so far it's OK. What was happening before was that the NorthBridge temp was getting to 73C and then the mac became unstable. With the CD install the temp is staying lower. I wonder if 10.4.3 or one of the security updates modified the fan managment?.

I've left the imac running some GarageBand loops, and if it's still OK when I get home, I'll add updates one at a time...

Cheers, Derek

An update. 10.4.3 does seem to run hotter than 10.4.2 (which was on the original CDs). The thinking at Apple is that this is just exposing a hardware fault. I'm running more experiments at Apple's request, but it looks like this 2 week old machine is about to go back...

derekd · Dec 15, 2005, 05:28 AM

Originally Posted by derekd

An update. 10.4.3 does seem to run hotter than 10.4.2 (which was on the original CDs). The thinking at Apple is that this is just exposing a hardware fault. I'm running more experiments at Apple's request, but it looks like this 2 week old machine is about to go back...

Apple just got a replacement iMac to me (brand new, not a refurb), and it's working flawlessly so far.....

killertofu · Dec 17, 2005, 04:55 AM

Yah, I got a replacement too, and so far so good.

Interesting side note though, my work just got an iSight iMac, and theirs has the same problem. Their hard drive has completely failed and is no longer even registering. Apple is replacing that one too...

Moral of these stories, make sure you have AppleCare...No joke...

Psychopulse · Dec 24, 2005, 08:58 PM

I just bought the 20" G5 iSight iMac with 2GB additional ram, and I've got the same problem - the 2gb memory stick is not working correctly. Now I'm waiting for a new one, and I'm working on 512 mb ram. I must admit that the computer is still reaaaally fast. I'll never switch back to windows and pc.

Cheers

Wow my first post

HouseSold · Dec 25, 2005, 01:07 AM

After having several of these replaced, the fan noise is still there, but slightly less (2db) but still has the gargling sound. I subdued it over 50% by rolling a facecloth into a ball and resting it between the display base above the power cord being careful not to block the round air intake. This reduces the reflected sound of the fan itself emanating from the air intake chamber.

Also, apparently in the beginning of December, the iSights went to Western Digital instead of Maxtor hard drives. After reviewing 7 of these since introduction, it's interesting to see the variation in reliability, quietness and operating temperatures out there. Verified this on ours and several others.

A noteable utility to have is hardware monitor available from versiontracker.

Happy Holidays

SShoot3r · Dec 25, 2005, 04:18 AM

Thank goodness my 17" isight mac has been running like a champ. It's been running at 60 degrees Celsius...which is pretty hot.