rsaum wrote:
2008 iMac, running El Cap, screen unusable, went stripey and unreadable in full screen mode, using Firefox. Can anyone please tell me:
Likely issue, graphics card? Repairable? No response from firm approached.
That Mac is so old that Apple definitely won't be stocking repair parts, or providing repair service, for it any more. Some third party might be able to use the guts of another 2008 Mac to repair it – like stripping the engine off of a junkyard car, to install in another car of the same model, but economically, it doesn't make sense.
A repaired machine
- would be using a really old two-core Intel CPU
- would have 6 GB or less of usable RAM (4 GB or less as shipped from the factory)
- would be using a type of RAM that is obsolete and that you might not be able to get any more
- wouldn't be capable of running anything higher than El Capitan
- would only have a 20" or 24" 1920x1200 pixel screen
Given it might be the same cost, I'd like to replace it anyway with a 2010(?) iMac (running nothing newer than High Sierra 10.13.4, I have 32bit apps), but how would I migrate, without a usable interface? My back up is out of date, how would I get important files off? Software licences?
It's clear that you don't want a 2020 iMac – as it cannot run anything earlier than Catalina. You might want to look for a Mac whose minimum OS can run 32-bit applications and whose maximum OS is still reasonably current. For instance, 2019 iMacs can run Mojave through Sonoma. 2017 ones can run Sierra through Ventura.
Other World Computing sells used Intel-based Macs, and there is also the Certified Refurbished section of Apple's online store.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Apple_Systems/Used/Macs_and_Tablets
Refurbished Mac Deals - Apple
If you don't have up-to-date backups of the internal hard drive, it would make more sense to have someone take out the hard drive to put in an external USB enclosure, or to plug in to a USB-to-SATA adapter cable. Then you'd focus on recovering the data on that drive for use with a newer Mac.
NOTE: Pulling the internal drive would not be an option in current Macs, since in most, the SSDs are soldered in; and even in those where the SSDs aren't soldered in, the contents of the SSDs are encrypted. "Pulling the internal drive" is a risky thing to depend on even for older machines; but for current ones, you must plan your backup strategy on the assumption that you won't be able to do that.
Last question, excuse my ignorance but if I booted with the right cable from the mini DVI port to a 2nd iMac, would I get a mirrored screen on the 2nd?
There are some old iMacs that support Target Display Mode. Most of them require Thunderbolt input. You cannot convert from DVI to Thunderbolt. A few support Mini DisplayPort input. It may be theoretically possible to convert from DVI to DIsplayPort, but the adapters I've seen are designed for the other way around.
So no, you're not going to be using another Mac as an external monitor for the dead one.
I believe that it is fairly trivial to convert between HDMI and single-link DVI in either direction. So you could consider using an inexpensive DVI-to-HDMI adapter, and a HDMI cable, to connect that iMac to a HDTV. You've probably got a HDTV. Whether this will be enough to let you regain control of the iMac, or whether you will find that some things are inoperable (because you can't see, e.g., a menu bar being displayed on the broken internal screen), I can't say.
Really grateful for any help here, I depend on this old iMac for work.
