Intel Imac with bad logic board.

I just bought my iMac and came here just to get the lay of the land. Although I am not having any trouble with my machine yet, I cannot believe the number of clearly temperature related failures I'm seeing in multiple threads here. I've written software for PCs for 20+ years and NEVER saw anything like this with ANY manufacturer's line of hardware. I bought my MAC to start writing software for iPhones and Mac, but after seeing how poorly they are presently treating their customers, I have to wonder if anybody will be left by the time I master xCode.

If I was a Microsoft marketing guy, I'd be running commercials saying, "Thinking of buying a MAC? Go out to discussions.apple.com before you buy and make an informed decision." After all, MS has finally released the patches that fix most of the problems in Vista, while Apple is clearly ignoring those of you with problems. Shame on Apple. Shame on me for being dumb enough to buy into the HYPE. I've ponied up for the AppleCare, I run my fans at 2500+ rpms and I'm just hoping the thing lasts until something better comes along...and yes, after seeing what a piece of garbage xCode is, I am exploring Open Source as well. Don't get me wrong, I like my iMac so far, but I won't tolerate a machine that is in the shop more than on my desk...it's why I won't every buy a Ford again...it would be a shame if I had to add Apple to that list. Wake up Steve Jobs and DEAL WITH THESE PROBLEMS!

Same same, Imac nov 2006 20" dead. Bad Logic board! This is to bad.

Another dead iMac here. An alluminium one just 13 months old.

I was installing some printer drivers and to finish the process I was asked to restart my iMac. When it booted back up the screen didn't come on and hasn't done so since.

I can use the iMac via screen sharing and in the system profiler under graphics/displays it says "No information found".

I've tried reseting the nvram and the SMC with no luck.

I've tried swapping the ram around.

I've plugged in an external monitor and that doesn't display anything either.

I'm guessing it's the video card that's decided to give up and as this is brilliantly attached to the logic board i'm stuffed.

My warranty ran out last month and I don't have Apple care.

There were absolutely no warning signs that anything was wrong.

timberford,

If your daring enough you could try taking the case apart and pulling the NVRam/PRam battery for 30 sec. In several cases similar to yours this has got the machine to start up. While its most likely not a permanent solution it seems rather strange that despite any so called "hardware failure" it boots the machine. As for any one else reading and daring to try this, Apple cannot void your warranty for opening the case to work on a user serviceable part, ie HDD,Optical drive, NVRam/PRam battery.

Here is a link to a guide to help you get your case apart should you choose to do so: http://home.comcast.net/%7ewoojo/DFFA53A0-F23D-4541-9015-481FD3B6532E/iMac_Disas sembly.html

-jake

Ah mosly apple will do no repear at all, and just issue a new unit, hence your mac returning with (the default (for dat model)) 1gb ram module

I may just try that thanks Jake!

Incidently I came across an article ( http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377) on the Apple site stating a known problem with Nvidia cards on Macbook Pros...

They have admitted there is a fault and are fixing people's machines for free.

Maybe Apple need to investigate the iMacs, as there is clearly something not right here.

Ok So I got into the case and removed the battery for the pram but I still get a black screen.

Also it now no longer finishes booting up. Thus I can't use screen sharing to use the machine any more.

I think it gets stuck, each time I turn it on, as I assume it's waiting for me to setup the new defaults. I think I need to set the time zone amongst other things.

Is there any chance someone could let me know the necessary key commands that would get me through the system setup process so I can get the machine to finish booting up?

Oh and I figured I may as well get a replacement battery, however that hasn't made any difference.

Same here. Late 2006 model.

Also discussed for 9 pages here. Defo a manufacturing / design defect in my opinion!

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1467276&start=0&tstart=0

the best thing is to hold down Command + v (or only v) -I think it was- while -and- before booting, to get onto verbose mode and to look at the windowslike boot-up-info, along there should be some information as to what commands are available, one being (I think) is to get onto the EFI configuration thingy, and you should be able to work through the problems in there. Will update here sometime tomorrow -after which I tried it myself- Good luck to you anyways.

UPDATE:

the best thing is to hold down [Command + v|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1492|Open 'Mac OS X: How to start up in single-user or verbose mode' on Apple Support page] while -and- before booting, to get onto verbose mode and to look at the windowslike boot-up-info, along there should be some information as to what commands are available, one being (I think) is to get onto the EFI configuration thingy, and you should be able to work through the problems in there. Will update here sometime tomorrow -after which I tried it myself- Good luck to you anyways.

UPDATE: You can also use Command+S, to boot up in Single User Mode, or alternatively you can start op in Safe Boot/Safe Mode:
1: [What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? (Mac OS X)|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564|Open Apple Support Page] and
2: [Mac OS X: How to start up in single-user or verbose mode|http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1492|Open Apple Support Page]

I have no idea whether my problem is the logic board or not as I have not had it diagnosed yet. Anyway, here's the skinny - a totally dead iMac, no signs of life at all, six weeks out of warranty. No Applecare purchased, as like others I had confidence in all things Mac, and have owned Macs for six years with no catastrophic failures. My problem is that I live in Egypt, so I can't just wander into a nearby Apple Store for a diagnosis.

Any suggestions?

My wife and I both have the 2006 - 20" Intel iMac's , we purchased them after the flawless performance of a G4 laptop that is still going strong to this day. Sadly Apples quality his taken a dive since the making of some of there older models. Both iMac's after just under two years mild usage are no good, mine has terrible graphic distortions that make 3D practically unusable and the average session of '2D' i.e. web browsing and emails is plagued with rectangular color and graphic 'errors' which at times can cover enough of the screen as to make text unreadable. My wife's Imac spontaneously blacks out the screen and or reboots on a continuous basis, the symptoms are similar to what some others have mentioned about these particular models. We have tried SMC fan cooling and run fans behind out machines and have 'dusted' as much that is possible with the imac design, they are kept in a pretty dust free environment to start with and like I said, usage over these approx. 2 years has been mild.

Apple; face up to the ever growing stream of complaints about these machines and concede that you have sold a DUD! As more and more unfortunate purchasers of these expensive paper weights close in on the 2 year mark, you will just get an ever growing army of once loyal apple buyers to look else where, enjoy the good times while you can... I know that I will never purchase another apple product and will recommend the same to all that ask.

Reply to case123456



This is not a true statement. Check consumer report. The past then or more Apple has beat Dell, HP and others by at least 10 % in Quality and Support. Check out you self.

Yes that is true, however the army of evidence on the support forums is hard to deny.

Triangle shaped graphics distortions on the screen, vertical lines, screen freezes.

All the same issue.

Not fare apple. we deserve out of warranty repairs.

One solution that worked for me was to installed Windows 7 and deleted Mac OSX partition.

(As OSX keeps Freezing and is unusable, even after reinstalls).

So all is well! As long as I don't play any games or use software which uses the x1600 too much 😉 LOL

Im now a PC!

I'll add on here.
Bought a 20" Intel iMac in Sept. '06 w/2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo, ATI x1600. Running Tiger 10.4.11
Problems started in Nov. '07 with screen tearing & hard crashes. Resolved temporarily by increasing fan speed w/SMC Fan Control.

Fan speed/temp is irrelevant now as frequent hard crashes have returned with horizontal hairlines, strange graphics artifacts & black-screen crashes.

Hardware test shows no problems; RAM test done with Remember shows no problems; I've tossed cache folders, reset pram & finally did an erase/re-install of the OS. Crashes, etc. persist.

An Apple-authorized repair center diagnosed the problem as a graphics card failure -- which, of course, means replacing the logic board.

Apple support via phone agreed that it sounds like a graphics card or logic board failure, but told me this is not a "known problem."

(Noticed there are several threads in the forums describing similar problems: crashes, horizontal lines, graphics distortions/artifacts... -- these seem different from the 'vertical lines problem' -- would be nice to get all the posts consolidated into one thread. I'm new to the forums so not sure what would be the best way to start it & where...)

Message was edited by: sab1225