Video display works only in safe boot...

Question

mac midiguy Author

Level 1

77 points

Video display works only in safe boot...

When I boot up my iMac the on screen graphics are a complete scramble.

However when booted in " safe mode " the graphics card works.

TechToolPro's Machine Profile shows the following information:

Model Name: iMac

Model Type: Early 2006, 17-inch

Model Identifier: iMac4,1

Board Identifier: Mac-F42786C8

Processor Name: Intel Core Duo CPU 1400

Processor Model: Yonah

Processor Speed: 1.83 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 2

Memory Size: 1.5 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Graphics Model: ATI Radeon X1600 128 MB

Assembled in: China

Manufactured during: January 2006

L1 Cache: 64 KB

L2 Cache: 2 MB

L3 Cache: -

Processor Bitrate: 32 bit

EFI Bitrate: 32 bit

Kernel Bitrate: 32 bit

Bus Speed: 667 MHz

Boot ROM Version: IM41.0055.B08

System SMC Version: 1.1f5

Power Source: AC Power.

Hardware Universal Unique Identifier: 00000000-0000-1000-8000-0016CB856CA8

Minimum Supported Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4.4 Build 8G1165 (Tiger)

Current Boot Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6.8 Build 10K549 (Snow Leopard)

Maximum Supported Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6.8 Build 10K549 (Snow Leopard)

Why does the video card work in safe boot but not in boot up ?

What do i do ?

Posted on Apr 27, 2015 5:03 PM

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Answer 1

mac midiguy Author

Level 1

77 points

Apr 28, 2015 1:46 AM in response to mac midiguy

For greater certainty, I erased the hard drive and made a fresh installation of SnowLeopard ( 10.6 ) but the video display only works in Safe Boot. but surrounding the pointer is a small grid. Obviously the video card needs replacement. Wonder how much that will cost and is it worth the costs ???

Comments/advice please .

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Answer 2

mac midiguy Author

Level 1

77 points

May 9, 2015 7:00 AM in response to mac midiguy

Made a trip to my local apple service centre. They could not replace the video graphics card because this iMac is nearly 9 years old and they do not keep parts that long. Service ( an older gentlemen ) noted that the " fan " system in those early iMac's were prone to failure as well as the video graphics cards were prone to over heating especially during extensive live video downloads.

I would like to fix this iMac some how because i am not a " fan " of sending computers to land fill.

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