mac won't turn on SMC issue or power pack issue?

Using my iMac today working away and all of a sudden the screen went black, there was no power to the computer at all. I have checked the fuse and that is ok. I am getting power to everything else. I reset the SMC as per Apple instructions on their website. Again nothing.


I then left it turned off for a good 5 mins and then turned on the power. The fans turned on and the mac then chimed, the creen came on and I thought everything was ok. Then the computer turned off, fans and hard drive sped It didnt even start booting to the Apple logo or the log on screen.


I am thinking this is a power issue within the computer and this will need to be replaced. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem. My iMac is a 2008 21inch iMac. It is connected to a APC UPS which again all power ports are working, as I have tested that with a desk lamp. What I do normally is turn the UPS when I have shutdown my Mac in the evening and then power it up next day. While the UPS is doing is power self test I then boot the Mac, I am wondering if I should just leave the UPS turned on all the time and just unplug my iMac when I am not using it. Sometimes I do pop it to sleep last thing at night, but recently I just turn it off.



It has had heavy use so I am wondering if it is indeed curtains and I need to buy a new iMac. Maybe it is an excuse to buy a 27inch one! (Would be nice)


Thanks for any help.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Apr 13, 2012 12:06 PM

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6 replies

Apr 13, 2012 12:38 PM in response to Chama9876

Pull out the original OS X gray-faced disks that came with your system, find the one that says 'AHT Version x.x' in small print on the label. Insert and boot holding the D key down. If that doesn't work, reboot holding the alt/option key down. Choose the Apple hardware test, and when prompted, choose the extended test. Does that identify any hardware issue(s)?

Apr 14, 2012 8:46 AM in response to John Galt

Thanks for the help. I took it to the genius bar here in London and they said that it will take a week for it to be repaired. The part was out of stock. It was indeed a power supply problem. The imac booted in the store which was good. They have said that they will check out my hard drive to make sure that nothing is damaged.


Because I have a lot of confidential stuff on it I had to create a guest account. Hopefully they will not pry around my stuff.

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mac won't turn on SMC issue or power pack issue?

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