Please Help :( iMac 20" refuses to boot up with anymore than 1gb ram?

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Please Help :( iMac 20" refuses to boot up with anymore than 1gb ram?

Please Help 😟 iMac 20" refuses to boot up with anymore than 1gb ram? It was fine 4 days ago and had been working with a 1gb stick in one slot and a 2gb stick, which had replaced the orignal 1gb stick that I got it with, in the other and it had shown 3gb of ram and was working just fine with that since November? It went to sleep briefly 4 days ago while I was waiting on a customer and I came back to try to wake it up and it never would forcing me to hard boot it. When I did that it would only go to a black screen with a solid white light on the power indicator. Over and over again and same thing. I read and tried every suggestion I could possibly find in this and a few other mac forums to no avail.

I finally after reading about RAM issues etc. I decided to power off and take out the ram sticks and try them one at a time in each slot. So I took out the 2gb stick and did the SMC reset and it would boot up and work just fine with the 1 gb of ram. So then I went through the same process with the 2gb stick and it would not boot up only go to a black screen with white solid light again (NOT flashing). So then I tried the other original 1gb I had replaced with the 2gb and it worked just find like the other 1gb. So then I tried just 1gb stick in the other ram slot (back facing one) and with just the 1gb strip it booted up and worked fine. Tried it with the other 1gb stick and once again that one too worked just fine. So I determined it wasn't the slot itself I thought? I then tried the 2gb in the back slot and it would not boot only go to the black screen white solid light deal like before. So I thought well ok it's obviously the 2gb ram must have somehow went bad (even though I have only had it since November) and I thought well I will just use the (2) 1gb sticks in each slot and then that will at least give me 2gb because only 1gb really ***** LOL. So I proceeded to go through the same shut down process installed both sticks (I always push them to I feel them click and my fingers have a nice indention on them) reset the SMC and turned the power one and.... It would only go to the black screen with white solid light on power indicator???? I went through the same above process at least 3 times and again today a few times and I can't figure it out and I tried to search and search and I couldn't find anything like what I am experiencing.....What happened? Please help this slow Imac is killing me. It will work with 1gb ram only nothing more? Here are the specifics of my Imac.

It is a 20" Late 2006 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16 ATI Radeon X1600 256 MB graphics card and Ram with now only 1gb (did have 3gb) and I am running OSX Lion 10.7.5

When I go to system report and go under memory it shows this:

BANK 0/DIMM0:

Size: 1 GB

Type: DDR2 SDRAM

Speed: 667 MHz

Status: OK

Manufacturer: 0xCE00000000000000

Part Number: 0x4D342037305432393533435A332D43453620

BANK 1/DIMM1:

Size: Empty

Type: Empty

Speed: Empty

Status: Empty

Manufacturer: Empty

Part Number: Empty

Serial Number: Empty

Any help I can get would really be appreciated. Thanks in advance 🙂

ALSO...Here is also a pic of the system log right before it happened. It even changed the date to 07/2014????

I have some more if needed???????????????

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Feb 11, 2014 12:07 PM

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Answer 1

iMac-Mike Author

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Feb 11, 2014 12:08 PM in response to iMac-Mike

I noticed the pics came out blurry but if you click on them to open them up you can read everything. Sorry about that. Mike

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Answer 2

K Shaffer

Level 7

34,966 points

Feb 11, 2014 12:38 PM in response to iMac-Mike

So, do you have a pair of known good RAM chips that have not already been tried in this machine? Could be the one slot is bad, but I'd suspect perhaps the newer RAM was part of the problem. A fair test would be two matching chips, since two- 2GB chips still appears as 3GB, if both slots get a connection & work.

Also, as the computer is getting old maybe it wants a vacation, just short of a recycle center. Maybe it wants to visit a genius for a diagnostic and their take on how much blood you can give? LOL

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

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Answer 3

Feb 11, 2014 1:53 PM in response to iMac-Mike

You could try the AHT if you have no RAM to try.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509

If it is a memory addresing failure as opposed to the RAM fault the AHT may show it up even on 1GB memory. If it is memory addressing then that would be a Logic board and you may find that it is BER. If you decide that is the problem and require a new machine then research the software and hardware you use to make sure it is compatible with a new machine.

When you had to perform a hard shutdown it is possible that the software on the Hard drive was corrupted, have you run disk utility with the 1GB?

Can you boot from the original install disks with the extra memory? If you can it could be software corruption.

After all that is said and done it does look hardware related but it is worth checking, you may be lucky.

Other than the above you have the Genius bar if one is within travelling distance.

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Answer 4

MichelPM

Level 10

80,958 points

Feb 11, 2014 2:30 PM in response to iMac-Mike

It may, also, be either the RAM modules went bad (which can happen) or the RAM may need to be reseated in their respective slots. Sometimes, over time, the RAM modules can become loosened in their slots when they are heated up and cooled down over long periods of time.

Also, just to make sure your Mac doesn't have a heat issue, when was the last time you vacuumed all of the various vents, exhausts, slots and ports around your iMac?

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Answer 5

iMac-Mike Author

Level 1

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Feb 11, 2014 2:35 PM in response to rack0 tack0

Thanks for your all's posts back. The weird thing is everything was just fine it went into sleep mode for about 10 min. and then would never wake back up so I had to do the hard reset 😟. I am hoping somehow it is software related and not the logic board etc. Yikes 😕 Can you tell anything from the system log I provided in the pics. The thing that seems odd to me is right after I had to hard reset because of the failure the log said :

2/8/14 10:36:33.000 AM bootlog: BOOT_TIME 1391873793 0

After hard Reset (it changed the Date and time etc. from the 2/8/14 listed right before the reset as noted above?

7/20/14 8:33:29.000 PM bootlog: BOOT_TIME 1405902809 0

7/20/14 8:33:46.169 PM fseventsd: event logs in /.fseventsd out of sync with volume. destroying old logs. (55162 16 14084132)

Could it have written over the system somehow that it will let me not have more than 1gb of ram now? Like I mentioned above I have both 1gb ram chips that came with the Imac and know they both work and had tried each 1gb ram in both of the slots and the computer recognizes them in either slot so I don't think the slot itself is bad if they both read it but it just won't do it or boot up with both slots filled with them at the same time? It used to when I first got it and it was fine with the 1gb ram and 2gb ram sticks I had in them at the same time previoulsy all up until what I posted above? I am having a headache just trying to search for something similar on the internet and see how or if they fixed it but I am having no luck with finding any info from anyone who has a similar problem as mine? I will try the link you gave me and see if that helps etc. I will post what I find but in the mean time based on what I speculated above is that possible? And if so any ideas to fix it without throwing my Imac into the dumpster, using it as a paperweight or taking a second mortgage out on my home to fix it? 😀

Thanks,

Mike

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Answer 6

iMac-Mike Author

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Feb 11, 2014 2:40 PM in response to MichelPM

Thanks MichelPM for your answers but both ram chips work individually as stated above. So it couldn't be that and both slots work as well. Their is noway that the ram could be reseated in my instance as I had previoulsy tried that oh about a 100 times and some very sore fingers later 🙂. Also the imac is in my business which unfortuanely its been very cold out and with my heating arrangements (a couple portable heaters) the temp never reaches above 67 or below at the very worst at night when I am gone of about 41 degrees F. ???

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Answer 7

Feb 11, 2014 2:40 PM in response to iMac-Mike

I could not see anything from the logs but that does not mean there is a clue there.

Did you do a PRAM as well as a SMC reset?

If you have a spare external disk and want to test the software you could install OS X on that with !GB and test it with the extra RAM, if it works you know it is software if not then it is hardware, hopefully RAM modules.

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Answer 8

iMac-Mike Author

Level 1

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Feb 11, 2014 3:20 PM in response to rack0 tack0

I tried doing the AHT restart by powering off computer and then powering on and holding the D key down before the gray screen comes up even holding it down all the way through but it only goes to my startup screen when I log on with my password to access the desktop like normal? Tried it about 6 times now. It doesn't go to any tests or trouble shooting etc.? I don't have any OSX discs because I bought this second hand last year and it didn't come with any. It was loaded ( OSX 10.7.5 ) by the seller before he shipped it to me? Any other way I can access the AHT program. I even tried to do a search through Easy Find but nothing came up either? Any other ideas??????? 😕

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Answer 9

Feb 11, 2014 3:27 PM in response to iMac-Mike

I think you need the disks with your computer to run AHT.

There is an application "memtest", it can be run under the OS or I think it now can be run stand alone on the Mac but not too sure.

http://osxdaily.com/2011/05/03/memtest-mac-ram-test/

I used it at one time on x86 PC's stand alone but not on a Mac, you will need to read about it and check for your self. The application is excellent at finding memory errors.

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Answer 10

iMac-Mike Author

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Feb 11, 2014 5:12 PM in response to rack0 tack0

I am running memtest now. Before that I ran the disk checker and alot of the permissions were wrong it was saying so I ran the repair permissions to clean that up. Now running memtest and go from there I guess? I gonna somehow try to figure out how to get AHT or download it or something? I probably need to buy the OSX just to have the discs in case anything ever happens in the future as well. Any idea where the best place to buy the 10.7.5 discs? Thanks....Mike

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Answer 11

iMac-Mike Author

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Feb 11, 2014 5:17 PM in response to iMac-Mike

The Memtest just completed and came back like this? It only test the single 1gb chip because anything more in this computer it won't go past the black screen with solid white power light.

Memtest version 4.22 (64-bit)

Licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2 only

NOTE: No command-line arguments have been specified

Using defaults: Test all available memory, one test pass, no logfile

Mac OS X 10.7.5 (11G63) running in multiuser mode

Memory Page Size: 4096

System has 2 Intel core(s) with SSE

Requested memory: 250MB (263086080 bytes)

Available memory: 250MB (263086080 bytes)

Allocated memory: 250MB (263086080 bytes) at local address 0x0000000101000000

Attempting memory lock... locked successfully

Partitioning memory into 2 comparison buffers...

Buffer A: 125MB (131543040 bytes) starts at local address 0x0000000101000000

Buffer B: 125MB (131543040 bytes) starts at local address 0x0000000108d73000

Running 1 test sequence... (CTRL-C to quit)

Test sequence 1 of 1:

Running tests on full 250MB region...

Stuck Address : ok

Linear PRN : ok

Running comparison tests using 125MB buffers...

Random Value : ok

Compare XOR : ok

Compare SUB : ok

Compare MUL : ok

Compare DIV : ok

Compare OR : ok

Compare AND : ok

Sequential Increment: ok

Solid Bits : ok

Block Sequential : ok

Checkerboard : ok

Bit Spread : ok

Bit Flip : ok

Walking Ones : ok

Walking Zeroes : ok

All tests passed! Execution time: 362 seconds.

logout

[Process completed]

Seems Okay I guess?

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Answer 12

Feb 12, 2014 1:22 AM in response to iMac-Mike

I am presuming you ran the test under the OS, it would have tested the 250MB that was free, it would not be able to test the part of memory occupied by the OS.

If testing with AHT is not possible, no disks, and memtest only does the unused memory, then I think you are stuck looking for good RAM, or taking it in for service.

If you can take it in you will at least get an answer, hopefully one you can live with, that is bad RAM or software.

If it does turn out to be logic board then it will at least save you time.

Apple or the Apple Authorised dealer should also be able to confirm if it is software that is causing the problem, they should have the required disks to install new software and also run the AHT test. I would also expect them to have other diagnostics equipment available.

I think without further RAM you may have gone as far as you can, unless other posters can some more ideas.

Hope you get it sorted out.

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Answer 13

K Shaffer

Level 7

34,966 points

Feb 12, 2014 1:51 AM in response to iMac-Mike

The original system disc set for an iMac (20-inch Late 2006) included

the correct hardware test for the computer, on boot DVD partition.

Original OS	Mac OS X 10.4.7 (8K1106)
Later OS	Mac OS X 10.4.8 (8N1430)
Maximum OS	Mac OS X 10.7.5
Hardware Test	AHT 3A111

{from http://mactracker.ca database}

A later OS X version on DVD would not have had an AHT.

While machines that shipped with OS X 10.7.5 installed

and did not have an optical drive, would have had a new

Recovery system installed, too, as part of this setup, an

OS X 10.7.5 likely would not have.

If a Recovery mode were possible, the boot method to try

and access that (and OS X Utilities) is not D on startup.

Given the vintage of the iMac, the slow data speed transfer

of hard disk drive, and the other issues, you'd best look in

to a different computer with more upward mobility.

If that old iMac were running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 with 3GB RAM

and in otherwise fair shape, that would be plenty RAM for some

basic things. Sparse for 10.7.5 along with a load from applications.

Also, the device is just ancient enough for most Apple Store genius

bar people to say 'its too old for us to look at' and point at a new one.

An Apple Specialist authorized service, on the other hand, would.

There are some fairly good ifixit.com guides that could be used to

take apart the iMac, should the logic board be toast due to static

shock of some surge through the mains, or a spark from a touch.

In any event, have fun...

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

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