Q: New iMac 27inch screen flickering/tearing/shutoff

Paul_31 wrote:
I for one really hope you get a perfect iMac! It would be a great shame if after all the waiting and all your valuable contributions to this thread you landed a duff one. Such a shame that it is even a possibility. Good luck.

Thanks Paul. I wasn't even going to say anything until I've had at least a few weeks to observe the unit, but I decided to go ahead and spill the beans about its imminent arrival tomorrow.

Personally, I feel that there has been way too much fluff in this thread, so I have been consciously trying to refrain from making posts unless they are meaningful and contribute something of worth.

It should be noted that a lack of posts by some users here does NOT necessarily equate to a lack of interest or concern. Some of us just don't feel the need to respond to every single post.

citrus101 wrote:
I asked, if they know something about the flicker problem and they said, the problems are resolved now. The new machines will be o.k. and in the case, there should be a problem, they would immediately change the video card...

My gosh...Resolved now? It sounds like more disinformation to me. Just yesterday I was reading in this very thread that some week 03's and 27" refurbs STILL have the same issues.

Not only that, but the guy is contradicting himself. If the problems are "resolved now", as he claims, then there should be no "in the case". Either the problems are fixed, or they are not.

Hi guys. I reported a few days ago about my Imac (27" Quad-core i5) and all seemed to be well the first days......but, i discovered some spots on the screen, difficult to describe them diffrently than very small rainbow spots, also when my girlfriend was playing Sims 3 the bottom 1/3 of the screen appeared on the top of the screen and when watching avi movies I could see a faint whitening in the corners of the screen, mostly at the bottom and it looks like it goes from little to more to little. Weird.

Anyway, I went to the Apple store here in Reykjavik and I will get a new one tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

P.S. My Imac was week 53

Hello again everyone.

This will hopefully be my last post for now, until I have had some time to evaluate my new unit, after it arrives later today.

For those of you who are purchasing your iMacs directly at a local Apple Store, or at a local Authorized Apple Reseller, I would like to offer the following checklist. I suggest that you go through this list BEFORE you leave the store with your new iMac; and if you are bold enough, go through the list even BEFORE you give them any of your precious cash:

1. Check the unit for the yellow tinge.

2. Check the unit for dead or stuck screen pixels.

3. Check the unit for dead or stuck iSight pixels.

4. Check the unit for backlight leakage.

5. Check the unit for excessive fan noise.

6. Check the unit for excessive hard drive noise.

7. Check the unit for external physical damage.

8. Considering how intermittent and sporadic the screen flickering and screen tearing has been, it will probably be pointless to check the unit for this at the store.

I hope that the above helps some of you when making your purchases.

Warren thanks for the checklist. But some questions.

1. Check the unit for the yellow tinge. How do we do that? I have looked at some of the posts of yellow screen tinge on my Powerbook (2003) and I can't see the yellow. Is there a test to run or some way to split the screen as some have done?

2. Check the unit for dead or stuck screen pixels. I have a test PIXel Check V1.2 but don't know where I got it at.

3. Check the unit for dead or stuck iSight pixels.How do you do that?

4. Check the unit for backlight leakage. How?

Warren, this is handy, but apart from a cracked glass display and obvious stuck pixels, it is difficult to really ensure that the imac is OK. The excessive fan and hard drive noise on my imac only developed after 7 days of use, was running virtually silent previously.

Personally, I wish I had shelled out more bucks and just got a mac pro, even though I'd lose some valuable real estate in my tiny home office. I think that I am done with imacs after this experience, even though I had been so pleased with the affordability & performance of several other imac models I've owned previously.

Go Here To Test for Most Issues:
http://imac.squeaked.com/test.php

Sportymonk wrote:
Warren thanks for the checklist. But some questions.

1. Check the unit for the yellow tinge. How do we do that? I have looked at some of the posts of yellow screen tinge on my Powerbook (2003) and I can't see the yellow. Is there a test to run or some way to split the screen as some have done?

2. Check the unit for dead or stuck screen pixels. I have a test PIXel Check V1.2 but don't know where I got it at.

3. Check the unit for dead or stuck iSight pixels.How do you do that?

4. Check the unit for backlight leakage. How?

Hello SportyMonk,

1. To test for the yellow tinge, and to conduct a few other tests as well, go to these URL's:

http://tapplox.com/imac-led.html

http://imac.squeaked.com/test.php

2. Checking for dead or stuck screen pixels is just a visual check. If you've got them, you will know. If they are very dark, they may very well be dead, and lost. If they are another color, such as red or blue for example, they may just be stuck, and can possibly be fixed.

There are several programs you can try using which may fix dead or stuck pixels. These are "Fix Dead Pixels" and "JScreenFix". If you Google, you will find them online. They are free.

Go here to see what Apple has to say about dead and stuck pixels:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1721

3. In order to check for dead pixels on the iSight camera, you need to cover the lens with a dark cloth and take a picture with the Photo Booth application. Dead pixels will appear as bright white or else colored points when you look at the resulting black image.

4. If you see unusual light reflecting up from the bottom left, or bottom right of your screen, or any other place for that matter, you may possibly have backlight leakage. I suggest that you conduct a Google search to find some example images of this.

You cannot repair this yourself.

skullcat wrote:
Warren, this is handy, but apart from a cracked glass display and obvious stuck pixels, it is difficult to really ensure that the imac is OK. The excessive fan and hard drive noise on my imac only developed after 7 days of use, was running virtually silent previously.

Hello SkullCat,

Yes, I am aware that some problems could take time to manifest themselves; but going through the above list before leaving the store may help some purchasers to quickly identify some of the more obvious problems even before lugging that heavy machine home, only to have to drag it back to the store again for repair or replacement. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...and may avoid some unnecessary frustration.

don1958 wrote:
Warren, I couldn't agree more with your points and it's time for Apple to bite the bullet and do a recall for anyone affected.

Don - can you clarify what you mean by a recall for those effected? How is that different than those effected simply using their included 1 yr applecare to get repair or refund?

Warren:

There are also some steps that users should take prior to arranging a replacement, that would make the transition easier.

1. Run all updates to be sure system is current. (especially important if you are upgrading from a previous model to i5 or i7 since they may not boot on systems previous to 10.6.2)

2. Run disk utility, and repair disk permissions.

3. Use SuperDuper, CarbonCopy, or similar application to "Clone" your existing internal hard drive to an external FW or USB drive.

4. Boot from the external drive, and erase the internal drive (if time allows, use the zero all data or higher security erase options to completely overwrite all data on the internal drive)

5. Reinstall the Operating System on the internal drive while still booted from the external, or booted from the disk.



When the new unit arrives the following steps could save time and avoid problems in the future.

1. Prior to moving any data to the new machine, run all updates.

2. Run disk utility, and repair disk permissions.

3. Run the machine for a while (as long as possible) using only preinstalled apps, to check for defects.

4. Connect external drive and boot from it.

Note: If your previous system was prior to 10.6.2, the i5 or i7 may not boot from it. It will be necessary to update the system on the external drive before proceeding.

5. Run SuperDuper, or CarbonCopy and clone last System to the internal drive.

6. Run all updates

7. Run disk utility, and repair disk permissions.

This should leave you with a system identical to that on your previous machine, without having to use migration assistant, or doing any other installs.

It does speed up the process if you keep large movie or music files, if you copy them to a separate drive, and delete them from your internal prior to cloning. Do not copy them to the same drive that you intend to use for the clone, since the cloning process will overwrite any data on that disk.
The cloning process is a bit slower than simply copying, but it does clone everything, without the need to move files manually.

I returned my new iMac 27" to Apple online store 10 days sgo and was originally promised an immediate replacement. Turns out they don't start building the replacement until they have confirmed Fedex info on the return. Anyway, it was supposed to ship between last Friday and today and I was just notified that it won't ship until February! I am really not happy with Apple, even though they kindly gave me a free copy of Bento.

I had the screen flickering problem on my week 50 iMac. A week could go by with no issues, and then it would start flickering and going black for a second.

Here is the URL for JScreenFix:

http://www.jscreenfix.com/

You can get a small version of the "Fix Dead Pixels" video at this URL:

http://fixdeadpixels.uv.ro/fullscreen.php

Save the video to disk by right-clicking it.

You need to place the video over top of the dead or stuck pixel(s) and let it run for hours -- or longer -- and see if it reactivates the stuck or dead pixel(s).

There is no guarantee that it will work.

If you want a better version of the video in mp4 format to run in QuickTime, go to this URL and click on the light blue "Dead Pixel Fix Video" link to download the zipped archive. Expanded, it is just 1.5 MB.

http://xxhiroshi21xx.blogspot.com/2006/11/fix-dead-pixels.html

Hope the above helps.

tattoo99...........

A recall is a totally different issue. Generally, recalls are issued when there is a potential for personal injury, or damage to person, or property other than the item being recalled. Recalls generally affect a large percentage of units, usually within a given production period or lots. Companies issue voluntary recalls when there is a potential for liabilities, due to damage, beyond the cost of the item itself.

A good example is the recent ACER recall of 20,000 units because of the possibility of fire caused by defective components.

A recall simply does not fit within the guidelines that most companies follow. The defects in these machines do not pose a hazard beyond the machine itself, in fact, even the data within the machine is safe, and no liability exists beyond the cost of the machine.

This issue does seem to be caused by two or three possibly defective components. It is not possible to identify those components by serial # since they do not carry any, therefore, even if a recall was necessary, there would be no way to identify the defective units.
No company would issue a recall based on such a small percentage of units being affected.

You simply do not recall 1,000,000 units because there is a possibility that 10,000 are bad.

Hello again Pazuita,

Thanks for the additional useful tips.

While I could take the lazy man's route and use the Migration Assistant or CarbonCopyCloner, at this point in time, I am thinking that -- as some others have done -- I may just invest the time and do a clean install of all of my programs, and they are indeed many.

However, as you've suggested above, I have been thinking that initially, I may just run the new iMac in its default configuration -- with its native applications -- for a few weeks, just to make certain that it has no problems.

To be honest though, I am expecting problems, even though it hasn't even arrived yet. After reading this thread for a few months, you can't help but expect problems.

At any rate, if I keep it in its default configuration, and something does go wrong, it will mean less work before having to return it to the store.