GaBeech

Q: Late 2006 iMac, Lines, Kernel Panic, Freeze, Reboot, Restart, Serial W8 ?

Hello,

Let me start by explaining the method I am initially going to adopt in my search for answers;

•All of the keywords and more that would not fit in the title space, relate to my problem.
•I think the *iMac Serial* holds the key to mine and possibly a lot of other peoples search for answers.
•My second post will explain what I know about the Serial and the information it provides.
•I have a strong feeling that a lot of people who have the same or similar problems to me will have a Serial that begins with at least W8.
•I believe that a lot of affected machines will of been produced between 2006 & 2008, yet not confined to that window in time.
•So, to round up, I am looking for people who have had/are having the same/similar problems to the ones listed below.

•Small graphical glitches; Thin lines in random areas on the desktop, growing in number and intensity over time.
•Graphical glitches on, in and around Finder windows. Again, growing in number and intensity over time.
•Horizontal lines across entire screen. Again, growing in number and intensity over time.
•The odd Software Crash/System Freeze. (Which does not happen very often on the iMac we've grown to love)
•More frequent Software Crashes/System Freeze's. (Maybe it's all that freeware and plugins I've been playing with)
•Kernel Panic's, never had one before... it was a new one on me.
•Frequent Kernel Panics.
•System Freeze, recovering after being put to sleep and then woken.
•System Freeze, unrecoverable. Hard reset required.
•Exactly the same behavior after a full reinstall of OSX.
•Exactly the same behavior after wiping system drive with zero's, then a full reinstall of OSX.
•Exactly the same behavior after wiping system drive with zero's, then a full reinstall with a previous version of OSX.
•System Freeze requiring hard reset on nearly every occasion Time Machine was accessed.
•Shut iMac down completely, never to respond to Power Button being pressed again, even after trying to reset the SMC.


The above is a simplified list of key events on a relatively short journey from Perfect Machine to, 'will not power up'.


If you or anyone you know has gone through anything similar, I would love you to join this topic.

Yours,
GaBeech

iMac (20-inch Late 2006) 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo ~ x1600 Graphics, Mac OS X (10.6.3), Serial Number: W87070ACVUV (Check My Biography To See What A Serial Means)

Posted on May 26, 2010 8:36 PM

Close

Q: Late 2006 iMac, Lines, Kernel Panic, Freeze, Reboot, Restart, Serial W8 ?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

first Previous Page 23 of 27 last Next
  • by AuPhalanx,

    AuPhalanx AuPhalanx Mar 10, 2012 2:19 PM in response to Count Rockula
    Level 2 (435 points)
    Mar 10, 2012 2:19 PM in response to Count Rockula

    I agree. In safe mode, the computer works fine. In my estimation, it has to be something involving Quartz.

     

    Also, your post made my day. I'm willing to help with your plan. I'll be the get-away driver.

     

    Have fun ... Tony.

  • by The Halitosis Kid,

    The Halitosis Kid The Halitosis Kid Apr 2, 2012 7:44 AM in response to GaBeech
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 7:44 AM in response to GaBeech

    W8644 24-incher bought new in Jan 07 in ITALY.

    I've got 1Gig of stock Ram in it plus a 2Gig stick of Crucial, 3 altogether.

     

    This problem (slow death by graphics distortion) began early 2010, roundabout the three years old mark, perhaps not long after I upgraded to Leopard from the Tiger it came with.

     

    Displays all the faults everyone's mentioned, getting worse and worse, especially when viewing YouTube in Firefox or during intense Photoshop work. Have to keep reviving it with hard resets. My three years (1x2) AppleCare had just expired. Somebody said only a new HD would fix it so I bought a new drive (now out of warranty) and reinstalled.

    6 months later the problem begins again. I replace the drive AGAIN, (this time free as the second drive was under warranty. But now the problem has returned and I know its dying again on HD number 3.

    So Apple owe me for a Terabyte HD in my honest but vain attempt to fix this.

     

    I've been searching forums for a year on this thing, to no avail. Eventually I tried a new line of reasoning and I have a hunch the problem is with Quartz, so I conduct a new search on 'Quartz' and find you guys.

  • by The Halitosis Kid,

    The Halitosis Kid The Halitosis Kid Apr 2, 2012 7:47 AM in response to GaBeech
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 7:47 AM in response to GaBeech

    Just ran Apple Hardware test and it reports NO PROBLEMS.

    So much for that.

  • by The Halitosis Kid,

    The Halitosis Kid The Halitosis Kid Apr 2, 2012 7:53 AM in response to GaBeech
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 7:53 AM in response to GaBeech

    So is there a quick and non-destructive way to switch Quartz on and off, to test if it makes a difference? There used to be in Tiger I think, but I can't find it in the Snow Leopard I'm running now. I really don't think I need Quartz's eye-candy if that's all it does, and would sooner have a dull Mac that works than a glitzy one that doesn't.

  • by The Halitosis Kid,

    The Halitosis Kid The Halitosis Kid Apr 2, 2012 8:03 AM in response to GaBeech
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 2, 2012 8:03 AM in response to GaBeech

    By the way, I also have a Black MacBook, bought the same day as my iMac, and it's never had any such problems, so this is an iMac thing.

  • by JimNgo,

    JimNgo JimNgo Apr 14, 2012 7:58 PM in response to GaBeech
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 14, 2012 7:58 PM in response to GaBeech

    Late 2006 iMac came into our shop (Expertech in Park City, Utah - http://www.callexpertech.com) with the same symptoms. Temperature Monitor showed the GPU was running 50 to 52 degrees C and the CPUs were 46-48 degrees C. Horizontal lines appearing and the screen would freeze every 5 minutes or so but the cursor could still be moved around the screen by the mouse. We pulled the bezel and blew out the cooling fins from the top, even though things didn't look all that dusty, and made sure all the fans were operational. We use an air compressor to do this at our shop. A little dust came out but not much. I've seen much worse. We put everything back together and now GPU runs 38 to 42 C, CPUs are in the 30 to 34 C range, and the symptoms haven't reappeared, so far. We ran XBench a few times and couldn't budge the temps more than a couple of degrees.

     

    Moral of the story: Apparently even a little bit of dust can really overheat the cooling system of these models.

  • by Usermuser,

    Usermuser Usermuser Apr 15, 2012 4:47 PM in response to JimNgo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 15, 2012 4:47 PM in response to JimNgo

    I wonder if reaplying thermal paste in the GPU (and CPU?) would make a big impact.  I opened my imac and cleaned it thoroughly with a vacum, there wasn't as much dust than I suspected.  I will go to the shop tomorrow to get thermal paste.  Any tips in how much to apply? is there much difference between the different brands?

  • by stofke72,

    stofke72 stofke72 May 17, 2012 2:32 AM in response to Usermuser
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 17, 2012 2:32 AM in response to Usermuser

    I opened up the iMac and reapplied the thermal paste.  It does make a difference because it's running cooler I get less stripes.  The locking up problem is still there I now turned off spotlite as that tends to go wild with the processor.  I also installed fan control which seems to help also.

     

    Unfortunately I believe it to be a problem with bad capacitors (leaking) or the graphics card.  If it's just capacitors the fix could be easy if it's the graphics card then not much can be done I'm afraid.

     

    One thing is sure lower temperature helps a lot.

  • by Usermuser,

    Usermuser Usermuser May 17, 2012 6:26 AM in response to GaBeech
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 17, 2012 6:26 AM in response to GaBeech

    Same here. Repasted it and cleaned it thoroughly and the results are astonishing. The only issue is a lack of fan speed increment relative to temperature increase, busted diode? Using fan control at 2000 rpm for the CPU Fan. No crashes in a month! Used to have crashes daily even with the fan running at 3500 rpm

  • by bold_seagull,

    bold_seagull bold_seagull May 18, 2012 3:45 AM in response to stofke72
    Level 1 (30 points)
    May 18, 2012 3:45 AM in response to stofke72

    stofke72 and Usermuser,

     

    I'm about to buy some Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound Thermal paste, along with a thermal material remover and thermal surface purifier (£10 inc postage from Amazon in the UK).

     

    I've some experience opening up and replacing items in apple iBooks and Macbookpro, but not an iMac. Did you follow a particular iFixit guide or similar, and how easy was it? Did you need any special tools? Any hints on attempting it?

     

    Thanks

  • by stofke72,

    stofke72 stofke72 May 18, 2012 4:23 AM in response to bold_seagull
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2012 4:23 AM in response to bold_seagull

    Basically I followed the iFixit guide to take it apart.  Mind you I had no previous experience in applying the Artic Silver.

     

    I just removed both CPU & GPU and followed the Artic Silver guide cleaned the old stuff + applied it according to their instructions (I also checked some youtube guides to be sure I understood it correctly).  Reassembled the whole thing by going backwards through the iFixit guide.

     

    You need some special screwdrivers to open up your iMac, but that's also explained in the iFixit guide for your model.

     

    The hardest part was to remove the casing and the EMI shield.

     

    I believe it was this guide: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-iMac-Intel-20-Inch-EMC-2105-and-2118-Heat -Sinks/1094/1

     

    I also installed a much cooler harddisk while I was at it,  in a further attempt to bring the temperature down and to increase diskspace at the same time. 

     

    The lines are almost gone now but I still get lockups occassionally.

  • by Usermuser,

    Usermuser Usermuser May 18, 2012 5:14 AM in response to bold_seagull
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2012 5:14 AM in response to bold_seagull

    I also used the ifixit guidelines and followed the arctic paste to the letter. I used this opportunity to do a deep clean inside the Mac, which it was long overdue. For this purpose I used lint free swabs with isopropyl alcohol and compressed air in a can. Make sure you give the fan a thorough clean up inside. All the tools are listed on the ifixit guide. You could probably do without the special pick or could make one out of a piece of plastic. Also, a container to separate the screws could save you a headache........specially if you have a naughty cat that decides to play with them! I had to search for a screw for over an hour!

  • by ative9,

    ative9 ative9 May 20, 2012 10:06 AM in response to GaBeech
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 20, 2012 10:06 AM in response to GaBeech

    Add me to the list:

     

    Serial W8637

     

    Country Switzerland

     

    In safe mode the lines disappeared so i thought it's working fine but after repairing permissions it froze.

  • by QuickRead,

    QuickRead QuickRead May 26, 2012 9:20 PM in response to GaBeech
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2012 9:20 PM in response to GaBeech

    Yet another user having troubles. 20inch iMac Late 2006. Start of Serial # QP638. Started with screen tears, then horizontal bands, videos pausing and sound continuing, loss of keyboard input, total freezes, kernel panics... smcFanControl helped a bit but still happpening now.

     

    The other problem I have is superDrive failed as well. External usb DVD/CD burner worked for awhile but now will not mount DVD's only CD's and forget burning.

     

    Meanwhile, older powerPC imac from 2004 still chugging along (with a new hard drive after 1st failed)...

     

    One frustrated Apple customer.

  • by stofke72,

    stofke72 stofke72 May 26, 2012 10:41 PM in response to GaBeech
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2012 10:41 PM in response to GaBeech

    This helps: http://www.canmusaogullari.com/2010/08/macbook-pro-with-ati-radeon-x1600-display -anomalies/

     

    I removed : /System/Library/Extensions/ATIRadeonX1000.kext

     

    Now the graphics card is not used, so a few things don't work well, like some videos but 90% works fine for my needs.

     

    No crashes in 5 days !

     

    The ultimate fix seems to reflow the solder on the GPU by taking everything apart and heating the GPU up till the point the solder starts to melt than to cool it down again.  This seems to work for a couple of months for some.

first Previous Page 23 of 27 last Next