iMac problems

Question

iMac problems

Hello,
So, i'm on here again, ive a had a number of problems with my iMac and im not sure how its all been caused.
well, the first problem i had was when i installed OS X Lion on partitioning the HD, (the file went corrupt) so i had to switch back to OS X Snow Leopard..
The same thing happened again with Mountain Lion being corrupt and i just erased Mountain Lion and back to Snow Leopard. However this time i made a huge mistake by erasing both Mountain Lion and Snow Leopard leaving my HD completely empty and unfortunately my Install DVD was damaged (looked like it has been used as a skateboard) so i then bought the Snow Leopard install DVD which did absolutely nothing just stayed on the apple logo on startup for a long time, i did wait to see if it loaded anything at all.. however after at least 45 minutes of waiting, it did nothing..

This lead me to taking it to a shop to be repaired and i needed my HD replacing, after i got it replaced it came standard on Lion.. i then installed Mountain Lion which i prefered using the same technique, partition HD, after so many months, again, corrupt. and i continued with Lion then mysteriously after so many weeks on Lion i had to enter a password on startup to log into my account, however i did not set a password at any point, and every password i ever owned never worked and my password for my Apple ID acount did not work either, this then forced me to return my iMac to the repair shop yet again, i had it repaired again for free due to warrenty on the HD however this time it came back with Snow Leopard, after a few months Mavericks then came out, i expected it to be fine with no problems, however Mavericks failed within 3 weeks of usage to, i uninstalled it and kept with Snow Leopard...( im guessing my problem is the partitionning being a bad technique for updated?)

But this time on Snow Leopard Safari keep refreshing itself almost each time i reload a different tab, each tab reloads itself which i did not ask for, plus i keep on getting "plug in failure" a lot.. which is a major problem for me since i use YouTube, i read up on the probem and it is not just me... There was instruction for the problem wich was..delete "Flash Player" and then reinstall it, which i did, and same problem after a day. i also tried reinstalling Safari..no change
so now im stuck with Snow Leopard with it being dodgy. (i also can not partition HD anymore, no idea why, but i tend not to do it anyways).

Is my iMac pretty much dead ?

Thanks,
Dave.

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Dec 22, 2013 4:04 AM

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Answer 1

LowLuster

Level 6

12,105 points

Dec 22, 2013 4:32 AM in response to davefrombillingham

Sounds more like you have a hardware problem and not really the hard drive itself. Like the cable that goes from the hard drive to the logic board is faulty (That is IF there is a cable that goes from the HDD to the LB on your model iMac. I am not that familiar with the internals of iMac's).

Never has anyone I have every heard from had so many problems installing a new version of OS X either over the top of their current version of OS X or to another partition. That should not happen. So that leads me to think there is some other problem with the hardware.

You can try to installl Snow Leopard on an external drive connected by either USB or Firewire and if the install and upgrading goes fine then it is the cable inside your Mac that is the cause of all these failures. Have that replaced.

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Answer 2

Dec 22, 2013 5:23 AM in response to LowLuster

I'm sure when i take it to a repair shop they do a scan to check that stuff out, i'm not too sure, but when i have the chance, i will get that checked out.
Thanks for the reply.

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Answer 3

LowLuster

Level 6

12,105 points

Dec 22, 2013 8:29 AM in response to davefrombillingham

A faulty cable looks exactly like or extremely similar to a failed hard drive. So if the cable ios only slightly faulty when moviing it to disconnect and then reconnecting the drive can bring it back to life for a short period of time. But eventually will fail completely.

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Answer 4

seventy one

Level 7

27,424 points

Dec 22, 2013 8:36 AM in response to davefrombillingham

I get suspicious every time I see the term 'Repair shop' when it is not preceded by Apple.

Are you dealing with an Apple authorised or Apple retail store.

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Answer 5

Dec 31, 2013 9:44 AM in response to seventy one

Sorry with the late response,but I believe it is an Apple authorised shop..

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Answer 6

seventy one

Level 7

27,424 points

Jan 1, 2014 5:14 AM in response to davefrombillingham

I've been away for a couple of days too. If the store is Apple Authorised, that may mean a premium re-seller and if that were the case it should be reliable.

I asume you live in Billingham, Norfolk, UK. So what is the store's name and town where it is situated.

You seem to have a history of problems and we have no idea of what OS you upgraded from initially. Again an assumption suggests Snow Leopard. So did you check the amount of (RAM) you had before you started the upwards moves.

You should not have had the kind of problems you outline with the new Hard Drive if it was an Apple recommended item and replaced under the Apple Guarantee terms. A new Hard Drive supplied that way should carry a 12 month parts and labour guarantee. While Low Lustre's suggestion may well be right, it should have been the store's responsibility to ascertain the causes. Equally, it would not have been unreasonable for the store to load Mountain Lion of Mavericks (as it would be now) for you. First though, tell me who you are dealing with but I will be limited to how I can advise you.

I am just hoping you haven't got a rogue store there.

Regards, 71.

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