2006 imac

faeriekises wrote:

The display goes from a blue screen to the galaxy type screen (looks like a screen saver) just no sign in box comes up, no matter what key commands I use.

I suspect what you're telling us is that your iMac's screen is not merely displaying an ugly stripe, but that it (or the GPU) is so damaged that you can't see any of the login controls when the computer displays them on the main (internal) screen.

The second (external) screen is getting signal as shown by the "galaxy type screen (looks like a screen saver)", but there is no sign-in box there because the computer is displaying it on the unusable main internal screen.

If this is the case, and you can't use the iMac's main screen well enough even to log in and move your windows onto the better external screen, the 2006 iMac may be for all intents and purposes, dead.

Maybe you could throw it into Target Disk Mode without being able to see the screen, and let another Mac use the 2006 Mac's internal drive as though it was an external drive (so you can retrieve data without opening the case). But a 2006 Mac doesn't have Thunderbolt, and even if it supported USB Target Disk Mode, that would not do you any good if the other Mac was recent enough to be running Big Sur or later.

Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode - Apple Support

Another option, as suggested, is to remove the internal hard drive and put it in an external USB/SATA enclosure (or pay a repair shop to do that for you).

Or you could retrieve whatever data you have backed up from your backup disks … if you've been keeping any.

faeriekises wrote:

I got the mini display to hdmi adapter. I connected to 2 different displays, all that shows is the “galaxy” looking screen, I’ve looked up key commands and have tried multiple keyboards, I can’t get a login screen to appear.

Do these displays have multiple inputs? If so, you may need to toggle the input source on the display until the display selects the signal from the Mac.

Well it probably will not boot up if it's been in a box a long time, the PRAM battery is likely dead. You can try it though, however if it does not boot then take it to your local third part Apple Authorized Service Provider and ask them to remove the HD and put it into an enclosure. DO NOT take it to an Apple Store, it's too old for them to work on it.

Apple Authorized Service Provider Locator (AASP) & Genius Appointment

Try an external monitor if the screen is the only problem.

Why not simply remove the hard disk, and use an enclosure to connect it to your current Mac. A 2006 computer is really considered a relic by todays standards.

According to MacTracker, the 2006 iMacs had a Mini-DVI display connection, which could support DVI, VGA, Composite, and S-Video with an adapter. The maximum digital resolution was 1920x1200 pixels.

I think the Mini-DVI connector is the one on the far left in your photo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini-DVI

DVI is a legacy / obsolete video standard these days. You may find some monitors that support it, but it is my understanding that it is fairly trivial to adapt single-link DVI to HDMI (or vice versa).

Here are two adapters that might be useful. Each plugs into a Mini DVI port and offers a HDMI socket for use with a HDMI-to-HDMI cable. There may be more like this, but this should give you an idea of what to look for.

https://www.amazon.com/Mini-Video-Adapter-Macbooks-iMacs/dp/B07VXGPNQ7

https://www.amazon.com/Mini-Video-Adapter-Macbooks-iMacs/dp/B001ODNBDK

Try https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ME3QHKIT0GB/

As for the rest of the ports – they are (left to right): Ethernet (10/100/1000 BASE-T), FireWire 400 (x2), USB 2.0 (x3), audio in (microphone symbol), and audio out (headphone symbol).