iMac 21" Computer dead or dying?

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Level 1

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iMac 21" Computer dead or dying?

I have a 2015 iMac 21" that will not boot up. When I used disc recovery, the utility freezes at "Checking snapshot 2 of 4". I see there are other posts about this, but I cannot boot up at all on this computer. Shall I assume the disk is dead and reformat it, reinstall the software, and then use Time Machine? I am worried that not everything is backed up, but I THINK it is.... I believe it has Mojave on it.

I had this experience with my 2013 27" iMac and thought it was dead, so bought the 2015. Then I erased the drive on it and now it works fine.... I use it as a second monitor. It has Catalina on it.

Your help and experienced advice is greatly appreciated.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Aug 17, 2020 3:39 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

rkaufmann87

Level 10

143,946 points

Aug 17, 2020 4:52 PM in response to cat00x

Wow, well you have made a mess of the computer by adding all of that useless and potentially damaging software. The best antivirus, cleaning, security and over maintenance app for Mac OS is Mac OS itself. If simply kept up-to-date and otherwise left alone Mac OS will run reliably and securely for most users for users for year. Adding third party antivirus, cleaning and other "maintenance" apps to Mac OS add does not add any additional levels of security to Mac OS. The only thing they tend to d is make Mac OS slow, appear buggy and unstable and generally make a mess.

My suggestion in your case is to do an erase and install and start over. Manually install any third party apps and you can use your Time Machine backup to restore your data files. To do this, restart in the Recovery Partition (Command + R on startup), open Disk Utilities and formate the HD. Then exit Disk Utilities and install Mac OS.

Otherwise, take the computer to your local independent Apple Authorized Service Provider and have them install a SSD, request a fresh install of Mac OS and start over that way.

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Answer 2

Aug 17, 2020 4:33 PM in response to cat00x

If you can’t boot... Try booting diagnostics. (EtreCheck would be interesting, but the Mac must boot for that.)

Installing macOS on and booting from external storage is a possibility, if the internal storage has failed.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

245,207 points

Aug 17, 2020 4:26 PM in response to cat00x

Norton should go.

Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at startup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode?

Safe mode attempts to repair Disks & clears lots of caches & loads safe Drivers, & prevents loading of 3rd party extensions, so if Safe Mode works try again in regular boot.

You can save us asking dozens of questions by submitting a report from this App for us to look at…

EtreCheck is a FREE simple little diagnostic tool to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac. It will not display any personal info.

https://www.etrecheck.com/

Pastebin is a good place to paste the whole report if you capture the URL while there…

https://pastebin.com/

Whew, they've changed pastebin & made it harder, but after pasting in, click Create new paste button, then Embed button, then copy the URL...

The relevant part would be like...

https://pastebin.com/embed_js/KuvnghqA

Don't use these, they are just examples, yours will appear different.

Workable but harder for me to work with...the Note tool on the bottom of this editor's toolbar, as shown in the image, to copy and paste the output from EtreCheck. In a Reply before you click post, look for this to add longer texts...

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Answer 4

cat00x Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 17, 2020 3:58 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Probably. I think I have Norton Utilities. And when I purchased a new hard drive (in preparation for backing up the whole thing), it came with a program called "Toolkit" which seems similar to Time Machine. It's installed, but I'm not using it. I used to have MacKeeper, but I'm pretty sure I got everything off the computer. I certainly tried to.

Thanks for your reply.

An addendum to the above problem, I see that it actually takes a really really long time to check the snapshots. It is now on 4 of 4. So maybe the utility is working after all.

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Answer 5

cat00x Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 17, 2020 4:53 PM in response to BDAqua

Thank you for your reply. I am currently running disk first aid on my other drives, just to see. I had tried booting up in safe mode, but it froze before finishing, which is why I booted up using the Command-R combo. Disk first aid says my internal disk is okay, so I will try rebooting in safe mode after I've checked my other backup drive (it takes a very very long time). If I can get it to boot up I will run EtreCheck (which I already have) and post the data here. Thanks so much for your help. I'm very grateful.

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Answer 6

cat00x Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 17, 2020 9:18 PM in response to rkaufmann87

That’s what I ended up doing, as I couldn’t get it to boot up in safe mode.

I appreciate your time reading and answering my problem, however I don’t really need your judgement about the software I installed. There are kinder ways to say that I screwed up (which I am certainly aware). I have been told that Mac OS is stable and safe. I am not a computer tech so would appreciate—on the part of all of us who get into trouble and depend on you wonderful people for help—that you cut us some slack and keep judgemental comments to yourself. We already feel bad enough withou a stranger making it worse.

Again, I sincerely appreciate your help and time you devoted to my issue. Stay well and safe.

Catherine

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Answer 7

cat00x Author

Level 1

10 points

Aug 17, 2020 10:13 PM in response to MrHoffman

Thank you for your reply. I did go to diagnostics as you suggested and it says, "No issues found." Ref. Code ADP000. So then I tried rebooting, and got a flashing question mark file folder. Tried diagnostic again and same result. So, I hit Command-R when booting up and got the same turning world and progress bar, which took me back to the Disc utility menu. I was able to select "reinstall macOS", however my return key wouldn't work on my keyboard! (It is plugged in, and the up and down arrows work). It does not recognize my mouse or trackpad. I have no idea what to do next. I'm flummoxed.

Thanks for your attention to this.

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Answer 8

rkaufmann87

Level 10

143,946 points

Aug 17, 2020 11:14 PM in response to cat00x

Catherine,

I am very sorry you were offended, that was not my intention. My comments were not intended to be judgmental however I can see where you could interpret them as such. .

Hope you get your system back on track and working okay.

Thank you for your wishes of staying well and safe and I would like to pass the same sentiment on to you.

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