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iMac mid 2011, gray screen of death!

Hi all! (sorry my spelling Im danish)

I have a iMac mid 2011, 2TB HD, 16GB Ram and an Video Card AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB. My problem is the gray screen of death! After boot, i see the Apple logo and the progress bar. When the progress bar stops, the screen goes gray and stops loading. I have tryed the following.

Reset SMC og PRAM
Start in single user mode, and fsck -fy
Internet boot form Apple Hardware Test - No errors at all!
Tryed to start i SAFE mode, I see the logo and the progress bar, but it ends with the gray screen of death
Tryed to start with only the orginal RAM
Tryed to start without anny perihperal eqiptment (keyboard, mouse ect.)
Tryed to start in recovery mode and from an USB stik and an install DVD, I see the logo and the progress bar, but it ends with the gray screen of death
Tryed to do an internet restotre from Apple, I see the logo and the progress bar, but it ends with the gray screen of death
Started the iMac in disk target mode, and got acces from another iMac. Ran Disk Utilities and First Aid, still on go!
Started the iMac in disk target mode and made an complet HDD wipe! Made tree new partitions and an clean install from the other iMac. And after this, the probleme iMac cant still start up!
I can boot from the probleme iMac's HDD (in diks target mode) via the other iMac, so I guess that the disk in the probleme iMac is in working order
I also guess that the screen (video card) on the probleme iMacis in working order due to the fact, that I can see the Apple start logo and the progressbar. As well as the Apple Hardware Test ran via the intrenet (no video error)

Anny surgestions on what to do? Is my iMac dead?

The very best regards Dan

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Jan 22, 2016 8:21 AM

31 replies

Jan 23, 2016 7:46 PM in response to Dan Plesner Henriksen

I have had the same iMac and i have gone through 3 video cards in 4 years and it has just died again, im not happy.

But i am glad to see that Apple have finally recognised that something is wrong with those AMD Radeon cards as they now have a replacement program see below.

I wonder if there is an Nvidia alternative?

iMac (27-inch): AMD Radeon 6970M Video Card Replacement Program - Apple Support

Jan 23, 2016 10:55 PM in response to John Allmighty

My iMac is from 2011 and is to old for the replacement programme!

"If the iMac (27-inch) meets these requirements, Apple will replace the video card free of charge for four years after the first retail sale of the computer."

Jan 23, 2016 11:08 PM in response to Dan Plesner Henriksen

Yes you and me both, although I did notice that there may be a chance of getting a reimbursement for my previous card?

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Jan 23, 2016 11:49 PM in response to georgefromspring

To me it seems that you may not have the same issue. At least.

You better start a new thread with the same sort descrption as Dan gave in his first post. Then post the link to that new thread here, so that we ind you fast.

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Jan 23, 2016 11:54 PM in response to Suzimac42

Hello Suzi, glad you are happy. But I have the strong impression that you posted in the wrong thread. Or describe what was successful a bit better. The kiss is always welcome 🙂 anyway.

Jan 24, 2016 1:26 AM in response to wizbang_fl

After booting in single user mode and after completing fsck -fy I type "exit" and the boot process complets. There is on error messages. When the process is at its end, the screen turns gray insted of showing the user login screen. When in single user mode, the machine works perfekt. All UNIX commands works like they should.

The things that I have tryed. Was in different orders. And sometimes one at the time, and at other times more things at the same time. And never with anything else but the usb keyboard and wifi mouse. Tryed evean without the keyboard.

I have allso tryed internet recovery. I see the progres starting up, the download progress starts. And when the download is finished, and the recovert/reinstall screen should be showing on screen, the screen flickers once (one blink) and turns gray. Nothing more happens. Tryed to leve the iMac for an hour, still gray screen.

So I guss, after all. The video card is dead??

Jan 25, 2016 1:57 PM in response to Dan Plesner Henriksen

Ok so you were able to get into single user mode (Terminal) which described the same issue I had, Booting into Single User it referred to a Failed IO Monitor. Digging in support I found the linked thread that referred to corrupt CSS files which are being used during boot up.

Once I followed the steps on deleting the CSS files used during boot and then restarted my system came back to life. It did take about 30 minutes for it to go through all the steps but it did slowly respond. As of today I have a working machine again

Hope this helps you like it helped me. 🙂

Link to this post

Old Toad

Level 10

207,463 points

Jan 25, 2016 2:34 PM in response to Dan Plesner Henriksen

The recall is good for 4 years from the date of purchase. Has it been longer than 4 years? If not then go back, show them the document that rkaufmann87 linked to and politely ask that they repair the graphic card.

Jan 26, 2016 1:23 AM in response to wizbang_fl

The solution you linked to didnt help :-(

Tanxxxx anyway :-)

Jan 26, 2016 1:25 AM in response to Old Toad

I have already talked to Apple support, and they say NO! I'm too late.....

Jan 27, 2016 2:19 AM in response to Dan Plesner Henriksen

I'm up and running!!! Almost :-)

I tryed to wipe the intire HD agin from my other iMac via disk target mount, and then I installed the system, via disk target, that my iMac was born with (Snow Lepard 10.6.6). Then I rebooted the probleme iMac, and got a flickering screen! But NOT the gray screen. Then I rebooted in safe mode, and the iMac startet up and I could log in to the machine!

So now the quistan is. How to get rid of the flickering screen, and will et be safe to update to Lion, or all the way to El Captain?

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Jan 27, 2016 2:50 AM in response to Dan Plesner Henriksen

You have to update to 10.6.8 now, use the combo update:

Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1

Then see if that changes anything.

Then you can go to ElCapitan direct in Appstore.

I am hesitant to say that the issue will be solved, but let's see....

Jan 27, 2016 8:28 AM in response to Lexiepex

I just tryed to install the combo update when booted up in safe mode. Went ok Then I booted up normaly, and I got a frossen screen with horisontal stribs agin! Booted in safe mode agin with no problems. So I guss that is't a software (driver??) problem now? I still dont know if it is a good idea to update furthere, before the machine runs ok.

Maybe I sholud try an internet recovery to get the correct system and drivers?

Lexiepex

Level 6

14,102 points

Jan 27, 2016 9:16 AM in response to Dan Plesner Henriksen

That is what the Combo update is for.

When booting in SafeMode a lot of the OS operations are not running, only what is absolutely necessary.

I still am very suspicious about your graphics. I think the load by Lion and higher is not less than SnowLeopard, maybe more.

A analysis by Apple and a price budget is recommended.

Old Toad

Level 10

207,463 points

Jan 27, 2016 9:26 AM in response to Dan Plesner Henriksen

I sounds like your graphic card is failing. There's no software solution for that. Get an appointment at the nearest Genius bar to get a free diagnosis by Apple. Then you'll know for sure exactly what the problem is.

iMac mid 2011, gray screen of death!