Problem boot up after screen replacement

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Problem boot up after screen replacement

Hello everyone,

I have an iMac late 2006 (2.2 GHz CPU, 3 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, ... etc) that I replaced a broken screen for by a newer one.

The new screen works perfectly fine. However, After I had made this replacement (very carefully without damaging anything, to the best of my knowledge), when I turn the computer on I get the grey screen with the apple logo and the spinning circle. This just stays there like that, no boot and no moving forward.

Things I've tried to do:

1- Pressing Shift (for Safe Mode): didn't work (meaning that nothing happens and I get the same result as mentioned above).

2- Pressing the D for Diagnostics, nothing happens

3- Pressing Command + D: nothing.

4- C after loading a Windows 10 boot CD (because that is the only boot CD I have): it gives a black screen and then white writing says

"1-

2-

choose type of disk"

Just like exactly that. Pressing 1 or 2 on the keyboard didn't change anything, so this didn't work either.

5- Pressing Option + Command + P + R: I did it until I head the chime 3 times, yet nothing happened afterwards.

6- Pressing Command + R: nothing happened.

What should I do? I have a feeling it might be the hard disk or the logic board, but I don't think the logic board is damaged because I swiped the HDD for one that has Windows 10 installed on, and that booted fine and worked well.

So it seems the HDD. What do you think I should do?

Thanks,

FDA

iMac, Mac OS 9.2.x

Posted on Aug 11, 2015 8:34 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

MrHoffman

Community+ 2024

Level 10

116,157 points

Aug 13, 2015 7:23 AM in response to medfreak

If the Mac won't boot off of internal or USB media, then there's a hardware problem.

See if a bootable USB-based Installer for OS X works — don't install from it, just see if it'll boot.

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,027 points

Aug 13, 2015 8:34 AM in response to medfreak

What OS version are you using?

Startup - Gray, Blue or White screen at boot, w/spinner/progress bar

Startup - Gray Screen

Startup Issues - Resolve

Startup Issues - Resolve (2)

Startup Issues - Resolve (3)

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Answer 3

medfreak Author

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Aug 13, 2015 8:22 PM in response to Eric Root

Thanks guys.

I don't remember exactly what version it was, probably OS 9.

I purchased an installer DVD from eBay and waiting for it to come. Will post the updates here.

I think I need to change the hard disk. What type of hard disks should I use? Does the generic HDD work? And would any SSD work as well, or are there specific types that connect to the iMac cables?

And for making a bootable USB, how can I do that? Is there a website that I can download the content from? And would I be able to do that using a Windows 7 laptop?

Thanks again.

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Answer 4

Eric Root

Level 10

684,027 points

Aug 14, 2015 5:55 AM in response to medfreak

See here for possible hard drive upgrade options.

Other World Computing

Crucial

You can make a bootable USB stick to install using this free program which will do all the work for you. A Windows computer will not work.

Bootable USB Flash Drive – Diskmaker X

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Answer 5

Aug 15, 2015 7:11 AM in response to medfreak

SATA disks are usually interchangeable, but there can be occasional problems with different speeds of SATA connections. Disks are somewhat less generic than might be preferred, unfortunately. There are folks that sell disks specifically for use in upgrading the storage in various Macs — OWC is one such vendor. Otherwise, you get to buy and try some disk or SSD. Given you're currently at 160 GB, I'd look at an SSD here, too — prices on the smaller SSDs are dropping, and the speed will likely improve the performance. I'd also usually look at a RAM upgrade as 3 GB is very much a marginal configuration, but various of the Late-2006-vintage iMac boxes are limited to addressing 3 GB. (An SSD will probably help mask the overhead of the memory paging.)

FWIW, Mac OS 9 predates Mac OS X, and predates DVDs and Intel Macs; you're very likely referencing and running OS X 10.9 Mavericks. You're certainly not asking about OS 9 here, but there are folks that do ask about that and are still running that software.

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Answer 6

medfreak Author

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Aug 15, 2015 11:56 AM in response to MrHoffman

Thank you guys, this is really helpful! I am pretty experienced with Windows PCs of all sorts, but not so much with Macs. So much of this is relatively new to me,

I purchased an OS installer disk (10.6) but I got the error "This cannot be installed on this iMac" with no further details. Should I try to install an older version?

What other older versions are available that I can install?

I did run a Disk Utility and tried to verify the disk. It asked to repair which I attempted, but failed. I then erased the disk and the repair failure went away and verification said that disk is OK.

I partitioned the disk and enabled RAID. Tried to install the OS 10.6 again but got the same error message that the OS 10.6 could not be installed.

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Answer 7

Aug 15, 2015 3:19 PM in response to medfreak

One of these OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard installer disks, or something acquired from eBay or elsewhere? The Apple disk is what is known as a retail disk, and usually colored black for Snow Leopard. Many of the disks on the secondary market are not retail disks, and will only install on the associated Mac — these disks are usually grey in color.

Could you elaborate on what sort of RAID you're using here? Software RAID-1 to a second disk? Try the install without having RAID enabled, and make sure the target disk is initialized as GPT-partitioned (GUID partitioned) with the partition you're installing set up as HFS+ journaled.

Most (all?) of the late 2006 iMac models seem to allow 10.4.7 to 10.7.5, per MacTracker.

On newer systems, you'd create a bootable USB installer using a provided tool, and this is also possible with earlier releases though the steps for Snow Leopard differ.

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