Photojoe55

Q: My 27" imac screen is black

I have a late 2009 27" imac that is recently been going to a black screen, despite everything else working fine. Sometimes tapping the keyboard brings it back, but only for a few seconds. I wonder if I should start letting them repair it since I've heard of people getting it home, only to have it happen again!

iMac (27-inch Late 2009), Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on May 18, 2013 3:20 PM

Close

Q: My 27" imac screen is black

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,Solvedanswer

    Kappy Kappy May 18, 2013 3:23 PM in response to Photojoe55
    Level 10 (270,295 points)
    Desktops
    May 18, 2013 3:23 PM in response to Photojoe55

    And, what would happen if you don't have it fixed?

  • by Photojoe55,

    Photojoe55 Photojoe55 May 18, 2013 5:34 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2013 5:34 PM in response to Kappy

    Kappy,

    Did you have yours fixed? I've heard of people paying for one repair, and getting the same problem again. They warranty the repair for 30 days. You can easily spend more than the imac is worth!

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy May 18, 2013 5:42 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 10 (270,295 points)
    Desktops
    May 18, 2013 5:42 PM in response to Kappy

    Did you have yours fixed? I've heard of people paying for one repair, and getting the same problem again. They warranty the repair for 30 days. You can easily spend more than the imac is worth!

     

     

    I've not had the problem. I had a quite different problem that required replacing the display panel. I've not heard what you claim to have heard. If the problem recurs then it was not properly repaired or diagnosed. And, I have no idea what the cause of your problem is.

  • by Photojoe55,

    Photojoe55 Photojoe55 May 18, 2013 5:55 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2013 5:55 PM in response to Kappy

         The screen first went black while watching a music video, I was tapping keys like the others I've read about. it's a wireless keyboard, but it does turn the screen back on, even for a few seconds. Today, it started okay and I connected another display. While it was still on, I was able to set it to screen mirroring. It's been on for several hours now, mostly on the other screen. Once in a while, tapping the keys it comes back. It's done this hot and cold. This mac was only used a few times since it was new 3 years ago. Can't be dust, it was covered while it was n storage. It was turned on once in a while to do updates. Typing BLACK SCREEN IMAC 27" 2009 into google brings up many entries. they're on you tube too. some in other languages, but it''s on tape, they have the same problem. Do you have any ideas? what did yours do?

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy May 18, 2013 6:01 PM in response to Photojoe55
    Level 10 (270,295 points)
    Desktops
    May 18, 2013 6:01 PM in response to Photojoe55

    Have you ever checked the Energy Saver settings as well as the Desktop & Screensaver settings? It may just be the screen is being shut off after a short period of time.

     

    I can tell you that replacing that screen is expensive and difficult. Even finding a replacement screen can prove difficult.

  • by Photojoe55,

    Photojoe55 Photojoe55 May 18, 2013 9:26 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2013 9:26 PM in response to Kappy

    Kappy,

    Nothing was ever changed on the settings, I did look over everything including energy setting, screen saver. it was all set just as it was before, the times that I have used it. I just now set it to shut off or go to screen saver -NEVER. The screen is not damaged, why are you saying that's expensive? From what I understand, the screen is held by magnets and is removed with suction cups, but this unit is still like new. Can it crack when they remove it? Who will be responsible if they break it when they take it off? 

     

    Other events in my life prevented me from using it much. I would be surprised if it had 30 hours on it, despite it's age. I set my itunes and did the updates, each time listening to a few music videos. I am wondering why the wireless keypad is turning it on by hitting various keys, never the same command + ctrl+shift,  alt+shift+eject,   ctrl+shift+eject I can't understand that, but I thought about plugging a new keyboard into it. I'm not sure if that needs a disk to install it. I bought the Mini DVI to VGA cable to try to troubleshoot, I thought connecting the other screen and seeing it work might mean that it's a screen backlight. That does seem to be the case, but I'm no technician. I thought there was a way to hook a laptop to the imac and use that as a screen only, but I don't know how to do that.

     

    The reason that I'm not sure about bringing it to apple is, if they find and fix something I can afford, I will be limited with the time I can use it to see if it's okay. Their warrantee is too short. Also, if it's an expensive repair, I may not be able to cover it now. This was $1,799.00 in late 2009 or early 2010. The macbookpro I bought earlier, is working fine as is the macbook I'm using now. It does seem to be affecting many units, they might have made good for this despite the warrantee. Do the search and see. One of the other sites I looked at was Macrumors. You know quite a bit about macs, can you give me your opinion. Their techs are behind closed doors, they damaged a new Powerbook years ago, I paid for it then had them fill the memory, I waited so long that I just took it when they finished it at closing time. It was like 10 years ago. (15" titanium G4 Powerbook) Aside from antenna reception it still works fine, battery even holds full charge. I hope you can advise me. ..... Thank You

  • by Photojoe55,

    Photojoe55 Photojoe55 May 18, 2013 10:04 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2013 10:04 PM in response to Kappy

    Kappy,

    I just read about a Firmware update for the 2009 27" imac. It says it's version 1.0 but this is not like a camera. Can you tell me how to find out what firmware version is installed? I would have remembered if it was like an update notification. Lately, a new camera that doesn't get a Firmware update is extremely rare. Please tell me if you know how to check the version installed. Thank you!

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy May 18, 2013 10:54 PM in response to Photojoe55
    Level 10 (270,295 points)
    Desktops
    May 18, 2013 10:54 PM in response to Photojoe55

    Sorry, but I can't tell you what you should do. As for firmware updates;

     

    About firmware updates for Intel-based Macs

    EFI and SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Macs

     

    Open System Profiler in the Utilities folder to find out what firmware version is currently installed.


  • by Chicago Dude,

    Chicago Dude Chicago Dude Jan 23, 2015 9:20 AM in response to Photojoe55
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 23, 2015 9:20 AM in response to Photojoe55

    I have a solution that worked for me!!  But first some background.

     

    I have been dealing with the screen on my iMac 27" (Mid 2011) for several months now.  In the beginning it would randomly just go dark and I could not get it to come alive without shutting it down and restarting.  I soon realized that it was only the screen that was shutting down, since certain key strokes produced a sound (e.g., command-shift-escape).  So then I found that if I clicked the power button a few times, then I would get the logging on screen.  I reset the PRAM, etc, but no help.  I called Apple support and they recommended fixing everything in Disk Utilities (permissions, repair disk), but that did not improve things.  I was then using Mountain Lion and they strongly recommended updating to Yosemite.  I eventually did but things actually got worse.   I changed my security setting to "require password after 1 minute" so that I would not have to log in after every dark screen episode.

     

    After reading many blogs, there was much discussion about heat being the cause.  While the screen was bright, I put my hand over the vents and found that every time I put my hand over the middle part of the screen (back of the iMac, near the top), the screen would go black within a few seconds.  Clearly, blocking the airflow raised the temperature sufficiently that it caused the system to shut down.  You should try this!

     

    Solution:  As suggested by someone in one of the blogs, I installed "smc Fan Control", a freeware utility that allows you to increase the default fan speed for the three fans that are evidently in the iMac.  The utility showed that the internal temperature of my mac was 49 °C (120 °F), which seems quite hot.  I set the speeds of the three fans to ca. 2000 and within 15 minutes the temperature had come down to 39 °C (102 °F), still warm, but much better.  Since doing this, the computer had not gone dark on me.  I should note that even at this temperature, if I block the central part of the vent slot, the computer will go dark within a few seconds.  So, as long as I don't do this, I can now use my computer without the dreaded black screen.

  • by Captain L,

    Captain L Captain L Jan 24, 2015 7:57 AM in response to Chicago Dude
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 24, 2015 7:57 AM in response to Chicago Dude

    SOLVED!  (and it's not the other hardware!)

     

    I had the blackscreen/blackout issue (not the backlight, that's a different issue) after I added RAM. I had added 2 x 4Gb and kept the 2 x 2Gb in the original slots.  I now had 12 Gb.

    The blackout issue started shortly after this.

    After reading the post (below) I took out the 2 x 4 Gb and replaced them with 2 x 2 Gb from another Mac I had lying around. This gives me 8 Gb with 4 identical DIMMS in the slots. The Black screen did not occur again, no matter how I try to recreate it changing the brightness, screensavers and/or sleep mode.

    I think the RAM solution makes sense, so far working for me, problem looks solved. Try it and let us know! Thanks Sunfiresaturn!

     

     

    Sunfiresaturn including Apple logo changes for feature 126 Apple image including Apple logo changes for feature 126 Apple image ends here

    Jan 19, 2014 5:03 PM

    Re: 27' iMac (2011) Screen turns off

    in response to Ashadur

    [DocumentBodyStart:b21f0b0e-bbb6-4d8f-827a-58c825f45ac6]

    All of your symptoms were indentical to mine and I tried EVERYTHING to fix it.

     

    My realization?

     

    RAM

     

    I have 4 slots open in my 2010 - iMac

     

    2x2GB DDR3-10600

    2x4GB DDR3-10666

     

    For some reason, my iMac couldn't handle both together. At first I thought it was the 10666, but then tried both RAM types separately, and both work.

     

    I guess you shouldn't pair 10600 with 10666 - or at least different ram sizes.

     

    I am going for 4x4GB 10666 now.

     

    I hope this helps everyone because I was losing my mind for a short while.

     

    iMac is happy and on full brightness.

     

    Life is good.