boot loop , kernil panic issue

posted by another member recently:

My stalwart, long suffering, incredibly trusty iMac may be knocking on death's door.

It is a late 2013 27" iMac, running the latest version of macOS Catalina 10.15.7. 32GB RAM, Intel Core i7. 1TB SSD. Model A1419 (I think).

Today it hard crashed to a kernel panic. Tricky to explain, but the crash felt a lot 'scarier' or more... serious than a standard crash. It was clunkier, took longer, and the OS truly locked up, and then flickered out with some weird graphical glitches. Very grim.

Following the crash, the iMac started a reboot loop, ending with a kernel panic after the Apple logo progress bar hits about 75%. This is repeatable and what happens now every time the computer is powered on.

Note that the FIRST time the iMac attempted a reboot, the Apple logo/progress bar had a visible graphical glitch a handful of times before hitting the kernel panic. I haven't seen the graphical glitch since.

Here's what I've tried so far, with no luck:

• Boot into Safe mode: no dice. Progress bar fills to 100% then stops. No further.
• Boot into Recovery mode: no dice. Progress bar fills to 50-60% then stops. Doesn't go further.
• Boot from bootable installer drive: no dice. I created a brand new bootable drive with a fresh download of Catalina. I could get to the drive selection screen, but after selecting the boot drive, the progress bar takes me to 50-60% and then stops. Nothing further happens.
• Boot from internet recovery mode: no dice. I got the globe with the progress bar. Progress bar fills to 100%, then the system restarts with a chime. Then I get a progress bar to 50-60% which triggers a kernel panic, and then an endless boot loop.

my problem developed after using the google earth app and caused the screen to flicker then shut down computer .

wondering if there is any answer. I have a fusion drive 3TB....tried taking out the hard drive , leaving in the SSD but still same problem...any suggestions?