eMac freezes randomly, open window turns into broken up jibber

Good email to Steve. Maybe it will draw some attention. Mine did.

Your story is almost a mirror image of mine - I don't have Applecare, my board went out first, then a few weeks after it was replaced my power source went out. Makes me wonder if there's a link. Thankfully they repaired the power source as a return of the first repair so it didn't cost me the $800 they said it would have. Makes me wonder if they KNOW there's a link.

Thus, I guess all those on this thread need to beware even if Apple does finally come through with logic board repairs. The power source may be next.

Apple usually makes a good product, but this batch of eMacs appear to be mostly junk.

All this talk about a faulty motherboard has got me scared to death. I bought my eMac in June/July 2004 and as of yet, I have'nt had any really serious problems like the ones described. Thing is, my SN G84258F2QJ8 and date of purchase falls right into the same block of time that everyone elses', and I'm petrified of something going wrong with my machine.......it's the only one that I have and there's absolutely no way that I could afford to get the problem fixed much less buy a new computer right now...****, I'm about a month away from losing my apartment as it is. I really depend on this machine for my livelyhood and honestly speaking I've no idea what the **** I'd do if anything happened to it. Please say that Apple is gonna do right by this....

soundguy51 - During June/July04 there were over 100,000 eMacs manufactured... and so far a few hundred confirmed cases of bad caps...

That said - open the inspection hatch, and look at the caps. If either of them are leaking/swollen... you have something to worry about. Hopefully you don't...

BTW, you can still play DVDs... Just download VLC, and they'll work all right (as it uses the CPU rather than the GPU for decoding DVDs).

Add me to the list of those who purchased an Emac in late July, 2004, and have been experiencing freezes for just the past two weeks. Only solution is to unplug it and hit the power button again. Freezes every time I try to open a third or fourth window!

I guess I am one of the lucky ones, because I DID purchase the 3 year extended warranty. Should I even bother with phone tech support or should I just carry this into my local Mac dealer?? It seems to me that those who have posted here have had temporary fixes by deleting ATI files (and a host of other solutions that have been offered!) Don't want to mess around with something I know nothing about if I don't have to!!

Maria, you can just hold the power button in for 5+ seconds and the eMac will shut down, rather than pulling the plug entirely.

Also the easiest option is the "Safe Mode" by holding down SHIFT while starting the computer up. As noted though, this is only a temporary fix as the capacitors will keep leaking til they destroy the logic board.

I too obviously have the same issue's here exact same time frame too. I won't reitterate everything said, my only question is if I know I got 3 year extenbded warranrty but can't find the papers am i SOL? or will Apple have that information and assist me?

Sorry to hear you are joining our unhappy band of troubled eMac users.

Yes, Apple can tell you if you are covered. Go to their webpage, click on support and there is a box (usually in the lower right area) where you can enter your computer's serial number and it will tell you how much time is left on your coverage. Hope you are covered, and if you are, get the eMac in as soon as you can. Your problems will only get worse.

I too obviously have the same issue's here exact same
time frame too. I won't reitterate everything said,
my only question is if I know I got 3 year extenbded
warranrty but can't find the papers am i SOL? or will
Apple have that information and assist me?

I haven't yet read every comment on this thread but I've read enough to know I'm dealing with the same problem others are describing. This certainly sounds to me like it should be a recall or reduced-fee repair issue.

I convinced my father-in-law to buy an eMac. I helped him purchase it online from CDW in July 2004. The serial number is G8429C9HQJ8.

He started having problems with it freezing a few months ago. I didn't realize the problem was so bad until I visited his house and tried to use his eMac. It was locking up every few minutes. Since this was his first computer he didn't know that this wasn't normal. He'd been shutting it off with the power button and then starting it up again. (I'll bet that's put a lot of mileage on the power supply.)

I repaired permissions and I ran the hardware test disk (no problems found) but the freeze-ups continued. I decided to do a clean install. I couldn't archive all his data to CD because the darned thing kept freezing during the CD burns. After the clean install the problem persists. The screen "jibber" is present in at least half of the occurrences.

I'm going to take it to the Apple store and see what they say.

thanks a lot for your quick response, i don't know how i'd get by without these forums!

You can contact Apple, as they have a department that deals with lost or not registered AppleCare Extened warranty. They will require you to send them your proof of purchase receipt, that shows the AppleCare purchase and the computer. It can take up to 14 days to get the Applecare registered.

Some similiar grievences from other screwed Mac users whose actions we should consider from MacInTouch:

The Register http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/03/macbookpro_noise_day_ofaction/ covers an upcoming MacBook protest from customers disappointed in Apple's lack of action to correct heat and noise problems:

A loose affiliation of MacBook Pro owners who together might be called the Apple Noise Abatement Society is calling on fellow users to join them in a worldwide day of action to protest at what they maintain is Apple's unwillingness to solve the noisy notebook issue.
And since the new Intel-based portable Macs seems have a problem with temperature, the group suggests the protest should highlight this too.
The scheme centres on a mass attempt to complain about the heat and noise problems on 20 May, according to a post on the OSx86 Project forum. MacBook Pro owners suffering from either issue - or both - should contact Apple's support services on the day and demand a solution. If enough folk do so, the protesters believe, Apple will take notice and do something about the problem.

Mac notebook expert (and Apple lawsuit target) Jason O'Grady reports Apple has a MacBook battery silent recall:

If it wasn't bad enough that to have processor and CPU whine, poor Airport reception and solar ambient temperatures, it appears that some early MacBook Pro batteries are now failing.
Christopher Price from PCSIntel.com has uncovered what appears to be a potential issue with the first batch of MacBook Pro batteries.
According to his blog entry "Now The MacBook Pro Batteries..." Chris' MBP battery fried last night and a bit of prodding from AppleCare got the serial number block. AppleCare said there was a known issue with some early MBP batteries and are cross-shipping out new ones to customers having similar symptoms.

Another website covering MacBook heat problems got an Apple Legal nasty-note:

I know next to nothing about Apple, so it really surprised me when I received an email from them this morning, threatening to sue me for a post on the forums. The thread in question was posted to help people who purchased a MacBook Pro, which apparently overheats due to Apple engineers failing to apply thermal grease properly or something else completely asinine. It also linked to the Apple Service Manual, to help people get inside their computer. Apparently, this is grounds for Apple to sue me.



1.25 gig eMac and Performa 6320 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

me too! buldging and leaking brown oooz.

G8429ESJQQJ

http://matthewslimmer.com/quickies/emac-oooz.jpg

http://matthewslimmer.com/quickies/emac-G8429ESJQQJ.jpg

James, thanks for the news, which certainly highlights an interesting option: have everyone with the problem call Apple Customer Support on the same day. No idea whether that would have any effect, especially since Apple certainly knows about the eMac problem already, and is simply employing diversionary tactics to avoid Yet Another Costly Recall. Even if only a few eMac owners just ditch their frozen eMacs, it will be far cheaper for the company than fixing all of these lemons.

On a separate note, I suspect your message will be purged from this forum very soon.

I'm not terribly experienced at this, but I'd say that looks like regular old hot glue, not capacitor leaks. Besides, it's not even on capacitors of the right kind to be the leaks in question. The bad caps have a + on the top. There should be two capaciors visible just by opening the ram hatch (no need to take the whole top off).
On my sis's emac, both of them are + caps, with bulges to match.

BTW, nice pics. most people don't seem to be good enough with a camera to get stuff that well in focus when its that close.