IMac 17" Flat screen - display remains black

I have the same problem on my 20". I have talked to apple and they told me to make the computer not sleep only the display sleep. they said they would get back to me with a solution but have not in 3 or 4 weeks. I tried reverting to 10.2.3 as it worked fine before the 10.3.4 update and that works for the sleep issue, but now my monitor flickers and there is electrical "noise" on the screen. this blows.

I am using Mac OS X 10.2.8 (6R73) on a G4 iMac (800 MHz) with 17” screen. When my computer goes to sleep (while in the log in screen) the screen sometimes goes back and the computer cannot be woken up again (pressing the power button and rebooting seems to be the only solution). I have worked out that resetting the sleep times in the system preference panel resolves this problem for a while, but the issue seems to keep coming back. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem?

I have also noticed that in the log in screen the computer sometime will not go to sleep at all. Otherwise my experience with Mac OS X 10.2.8 is very good!

Sincerely, Harry S.

Hi--

I have the very same problem - did anybody find a solution?

cheers,

Carsten.

Try to set the brightness to the dimmest if you could (I use remote desktop) and restart the iMac, the screen may come back, then adjust the brightness to wherever you like, and set it back to the dimmest before you shut it down. I'm not sure if this work on your case but it does work on my defected iMac since last week, I turn it on & off everyday, it only didn't work once after running software update (the brightness was on the mid range), so I think it may need to be on the dimmest before I shut it down. I'll try to explore more on the setting when I come back from Beijing. Hope this helps.

kevin

PS. I re-installed the OS to 10.2.8 before I did this, and never let the computer & display to sleep, don't know if these make the difference.

My mistake, it should be shut down and turn on again instead of restart the iMac after you set the brightness to the dimmest.

Hi,

My iMac G4 20" flat screen is now being repaired for the same issue--it went to "sleep" when I did at night and when I tried to revive it the next morning, it would not.

The tech told me that Apple recommends ordering a replacement inverter board and if that doesn't work, they replace the whole display. Luckily, it is still under warranty.

Best of luck with yours,
Adriane

Adriane,

How much is the repair going to cost you? My wife's screen went to black this morning and I tried resetting the PRAM and resetting if from the button underneath to no avail. I'm going to bring it in, but I wanted to find out from someone who already went through the process how much it's going to cost. Please let me know, thanks.

I had the same trouble last week with my iMac 17" flat panel (USB 2.0), it went to darkness. Unfortunately, the 1 year warranty was over (for only 2 months)... Apple certified sailor said that the screen had to be whole replaced, it costed 450 euros in France (1/3 or its original price). We are not alone in this case, I consider it might be a default of this computer, but to my knowledge Apple won't repair it for free...

Nicolas

Hi All,

The 'black screen upon wake from sleep' condition is on my daughter's 20" iMac G4 as well. This computer is a refurbished one ordered from the online Apple Store. Right out of the box it had the same problem as Brian described - electrical noise going across the screen (though only intermittantly) and gradually got worse until we now have only the black screen when it wakes up.

After a few calls, Apple Care said this is a 'known issue' with refubished 17" and 20" flat panel iMacs. They believe it is a software problem and they are seeking a solution. They recommend to disable sleep mode until they find a fix. No word on how or if we would be contacted when such a fix is available.

A local CompUSA (an authorized Apple repair center) tech said to bring it in, because it sounds to him like a problem with the inverter board. If so, it would be covered under the warranty. I wonder if this is a weakness with these iMac models. We'll be taking it in within the next couple weeks and will report the results.

Same deal for me -- a few month of good use, then the 17 inch flat screen goes black and stays black after the imac goes to sleep. The computer is on, icons are on the screen and all -- just can't see anything.

I now log out when I leave the unit. That way I won't have to completely reboot. apple definitely has a problem here, I think we need a g-m or ford style recall. Other than that, I LOVE the i-mac

jrh444

End of the story : Apple Center changed the 14 months old logic unit . I had to pay more than 500 $ for this. Now, it works (for this price......). No comment.

Rebooting does not work for my 20 inch G4. It's now exactly 2 months beyond the warranty (Bought December 21st, 2003). This is really unbelievable that Apple is not taking care of this issue. Now posting from my Compaq laptop (7 years old and still working, no problems)

had the same problem,went to apple store fortunately i still have warranty on it,the problem that they had discover is the logic board,replaced it and worked.

Unfortunately, I'm 2 months, exactly, after the one year warranty. It could be either the logic board or the inverter. Looks like either way, I'm not in good shape. The store was very insistant on not supporting the fix. They insisted it was extremely rare. If it's so rare, than it wouldn't cost them much to try to keep a customer happy. I've recently bought an airport extreme and wireless card from them. They say the logic board would be 637 dollars just for the part!

We also have the same problem. This happened about 6 months ago and we somehow got the display to light after some fiddling around. The problem is back today and there is now way to get the screen back so far.

The mac went to sleep last night and the screen stays black this morning. Tried rebooting resetting pram etc. The display light remains off. When the computer goes to sleep the display light will blink. When I wake it the display light goes out and the screen is blank.

-David