eMac freezes randomly, open window turns into broken up jibber

I recently had my logic board replaced for this problem but had to chase after Apple to supply the part to my repair centre. Took 3 weeks to get the part.

Actually, my eMac was only in the shop for two weeks before they called and offered me the new iMac. I think one of the reasons they made the offer after only two weeks was I told them it belonged to my daughter who is in college and she used it for her homework, etc. (which is true). The "Genius" at the Apple Store seemed to be sympathetic when I told her that.

Király, my advice, though painful, is to take the eMac in to be diagnosed, which I would insist on having done as you wait, (as you should know, it's as easy as opening the RAM hatch), then get them to order the part, but take your eMac home with you until they get the part.

By using "Safe Mode" or removing the ATI extensions, you'll be able to at least use the computer with limited functionality until they get the new board, or decide to give you an iMac.

I have an eMac that has had similar trouble. Usually only a small icon somewhere has turned to jibber, like the circular rotating thing when you computer is checking for mail, or when the little thing is rotating on startup. My eMac's serial number begins with G8429. Freezes on startup, Mail, and when using Skype.

APPLE HAS EMAC REP. YOU HAVE SWOLLEN AND LEAKING CAPACITORS ON
MLB. YOU HAVE TO REPLACE MLB.

How do I open my mac to check the bulging or leaking? I only know to use computers not to open them... Is there some procedure to follow? I saw what a bulging or leaking capacitor photo online. But I don't know how you open the emac up and where these capacitors are (are they going to be right in front of me?). I have not plug this computer for ages, I guess I won't be shocked... But can you give me details on opening my comp up....

Hi Ceren,

It is easy - doesn't require any special tools or know-how.

With everything from the eMac unplugged (power, keyboard, mouse, etc), lay the computer down on a towel, screen side down (towel is to protect the glass).

You'll then find the small access panel - about 5" x 4" - on the base of the computer. All you need is a "philips" (or "star") screwdriver. Unscrew the 1 screw, until the panel lifts off.

Inside you will see 2 RAM slots, a battery, and - on the right, 2 capacitors. If they have any brown stuff coming out of them, or appear to be "bulging" (should have a flat bottom, not curved) then they are faulty, and Apple will repair for free.

G842<edited by host>
All emac with serial number that fall in G84XXXXXX G85XXXXX Apple issue a recall for these machines that display the freezing problem. You best move is to contact an Apple store near by to have the Logic board replace for free of charge. Good luck!

NJ Mac OS X (10.4.9)

I'm posting a late response to Charles's message above, for the benefit of anyone currently reading this forum:

Charles says "Dead caps means dead motherboard. The thing is, if there are dead caps your system should not start up. Period."

Wrong. Some dead capacitors in some circuits won't prevent a computer from starting up. It depends on which capacitor and which circuit. A dead capacitor can cause various symptoms after startup, like crashing, freezing, video problems, etc., as people are reporting here. If everyone's eMac that has leaking capacitors just wouldn't start up, nobody reporting here whose Mac has leaking capacitors, would be reporting anything but an eMac that wouldn't start up, but instead they're reporting crashes, video problems, etc.

And, a leaking capacitor isn't necessarily automatically dead. It may have some life (capacitance) left in it, just enough to allow the circuit it's in to still function to some degree, until some other factor kicks in, like the Mac heating up after it's been on for a while, or some process, video action, etc. causing the bad capacitors to be "used more", or used in a way, that they're not being used at other times while the Mac is powered up, causing one of these problems to start to show.

As someone else posted below, the leaking capacitors in the eMacs, and in the iMac G5, were apparently from a batch made using electrolyte from a stolen formula that didn't include a stabilizer chemical. Apple's approach to this problem at first seemed to be, if they weren't responsible for the part being manufactured improperly, they couldn't be held liable (hence the infamous Apple support phrase, "Not a known problem"). It's nice that Apple finally decided to replace, at no charge to the Mac's owner, the eMac and iMac logic boards that had these bad capacitors, though the threat of legal action against Apple by some Mac owners was probably what really did the trick.

Power Mac G4 Mirrored Drive Door, dual 1.25 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.9) 2 gig RAM, two serial ATA drives connected to a FirmTek SeriTek/1VE2+2 card

For anyone trying the approach of deleting the ATI extensions to fix the eMac screen and freezing problems: This will also prevent DVD Player from working. VLC (VideoLANClient, an alternative video player) will work, but will drop most frames, and same with video played using Quicktime. Not a good longterm solution if you use any of these.

Power Mac G4 Mirrored Drive Door, dual 1.25 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.9) 2 gig RAM, two serial ATA drives connected to a FirmTek SeriTek/1VE2+2 card