terryfromperth

Q: My Imac mid 2011keeps restarting

Hi All, I hope you can help. My IMac was restarting from time to time. I was told the extra ram I had installed 5 years ago was now faulty and was causing the problem. They removed 1 X 4Gb and for about a week the computer worked perfectly. But then when I turn it on it goes to the grey screen, then apple logo, then grey screen again and before the desktop comes on it restarts. This happens a few times then I just turn it off. I thought the other 4Gb ram may be faulty so I took that out as well but it made no difference. I don't know what to next!!!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Jul 5, 2016 6:22 PM

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Q: My Imac mid 2011keeps restarting

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  • by macjack,

    macjack macjack Jul 5, 2016 6:30 PM in response to terryfromperth
    Level 9 (55,694 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 5, 2016 6:30 PM in response to terryfromperth

    This Apple Support article provides some ways to troubleshoot your issue.

    OS X: When your computer spontaneously restarts or displays "Your computer restarted because of a problem." - Apple Supp…

    It would help to download and run EtreCheck, created by one of own helpers here in ASC. It is a diagnostic tool that's very useful to us in finding problems. Also it will give us further specs on your Mac. After it runs post the log file here. It will contain no personal information.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 5, 2016 6:36 PM in response to terryfromperth
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    Jul 5, 2016 6:36 PM in response to terryfromperth

    These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.

    Please launch the Console application in any one of the following ways:

    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

    ☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

    ☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

    In the Console window, select

              DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION â–¹ System Diagnostic Reports

    (not Diagnostic and Usage Messages) from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

              View â–¹ Show Log List

    from the menu bar.

    There is a disclosure triangle to the left of the list item. If the triangle is pointing to the right, click it so that it points down. You'll see a list of reports. A panic report has a name that begins with "Kernel" and ends in ".panic". Select the most recent one. The contents of the report will appear on the right. Use copy and paste to post the entire contents—the text, not a screenshot.

    If you don't see any reports listed, but you know there was a panic, you may have chosen Diagnostic and Usage Messages from the log list. Choose DIAGNOSTIC AND USAGE INFORMATION instead.

    In the interest of privacy, I suggest that, before posting, you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.)

    Please don’t post other kinds of diagnostic report.

    I know the report is long, maybe several hundred lines. Please post all of it anyway.

    When you post the report, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

    If you have an account on Pastebin, please don't select Private from the Paste Exposure menu on the page, because then no one but you will be able to see it.

  • by BigGee42,

    BigGee42 BigGee42 Jul 5, 2016 6:40 PM in response to terryfromperth
    Level 2 (253 points)
    Jul 5, 2016 6:40 PM in response to terryfromperth

    So, this may be a stupid question, but when you removed the other 4GB Ram, did you replace it with something else?

     

    Your Mac needs to have at least one memory module installed or it won't work. If you remove them all it will not boot.

     

    Other than that, it sounds like you may have a hard drive problem.

     

    Once you have the memory installed, shutdown the iMac, then power on and hold the Command and R keys together as soon as you hear the startup "bong". Depending on which version of OS X you have this should boot to the recovery partition.

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201314

     

    If your Mac has the recovery partition, you want to select Disk Utility. You'll then need to try a repair on the disk. This page has a handy guide:

     

    http://osxdaily.com/2012/02/08/repair-boot-disk-mac-os-x-disk-utilit/

     

    If the recovery partition doesn't work you'll need to find the original install DVD's that came with the Mac and boot from the first Disk by holding the "C" key when it starts up.

  • by terryfromperth,

    terryfromperth terryfromperth Jul 5, 2016 6:50 PM in response to macjack
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 5, 2016 6:50 PM in response to macjack

    Thanks macjack, but the computer wont start. It restarts before it finishes starting.

  • by macjack,

    macjack macjack Jul 5, 2016 6:52 PM in response to terryfromperth
    Level 9 (55,694 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 5, 2016 6:52 PM in response to terryfromperth

    What happens when you start in Safe Mode and see if the problem still occurs?

    Restart holding the "shift" key.

    (Expect it to take longer to start this way because it runs a directory check first.)

  • by terryfromperth,

    terryfromperth terryfromperth Jul 5, 2016 7:10 PM in response to BigGee42
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 5, 2016 7:10 PM in response to BigGee42

    Yeah, I just removed the extra ram. The 2 x 2Gb modules are still there. I had the hard drive replaced recently as I was having problems with programs shutting down intermittingly and was told that the hard-drive was failing. I have tried the command and 'R' keys but strangely it goes into Internet recovery but I've left it for 3 or 4 hours and nothing happens, it just displays the Wi-Fi name.

  • by terryfromperth,

    terryfromperth terryfromperth Jul 5, 2016 7:11 PM in response to macjack
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 5, 2016 7:11 PM in response to macjack

    Its 10am in the morning here but I'll try that when I get home from work.

  • by terryfromperth,

    terryfromperth terryfromperth Jul 5, 2016 7:17 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 5, 2016 7:17 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks Linc, but the computer wont finish starting up.

  • by BigGee42,

    BigGee42 BigGee42 Jul 5, 2016 7:18 PM in response to terryfromperth
    Level 2 (253 points)
    Jul 5, 2016 7:18 PM in response to terryfromperth

    Hmmm, if it's going straight to Internet Recovery that usually means there is no recovery partition.

     

    What version of OS X are you using?

     

    I would definitely recommend MacJack's suggestion of safe mode too. This runs a disk check as part of the process.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 5, 2016 7:41 PM in response to terryfromperth
    Level 10 (207,963 points)
    Applications
    Jul 5, 2016 7:41 PM in response to terryfromperth

    If this started happening without your having made any changes and without a warning of low disk space, then it's likely that the startup drive, or some other hardware component, is failing. Back up all data immediately, then make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.

    There are ways to back up a computer that isn't fully functional. Please ask if you need guidance.

  • by terryfromperth,

    terryfromperth terryfromperth Jul 5, 2016 7:57 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 5, 2016 7:57 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks, I have backed up everything before my latest problem.