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How to reinstall AHT on my iMac early 2008

My imac 8, 1, early 2008, now has Yosemite installed, after Leopard and then Snow Lepoard. AHT will not load with option D or the nline version, ans as I don't have the original disks so I don't seem to be able to perform the test. Is there somewhere I can download and install AHT from?


I suppose my 2nd Q is does this matter? Are there better/easier ways of testing the mainboard etc?


Thanks.


PS. I had to type my Q 3 times to get to this point. 1. Type Q and then login; 2 type again; 3. Q appears in summary box so edit down and then type again below summary box.

iPhone 4S, iOS 6.1.3

Posted on Feb 4, 2016 11:43 PM

Reply
28 replies

Oct 23, 2017 2:52 PM in response to Sago48

Hi there don't know if this thread is too old for me to be posting here, if so I apologise.

I downloaded the githup dmg for my imac but I just see the readme file and System. Under System I get Library then under that I get CoreServices. If I click the little arrow at left to see what is in CoreServices it shows nothing. There seems to be 14 MB in there. I tried downloading twice and just tried another file for a different mac but same thing. Can't see CoreServoces contents. I would be grateful for any advice. TIA, Terry.

Nov 29, 2017 5:49 PM in response to Terence Norman

Apologies I rarely check in here & missed your post.


CoreServices has a .diagnostics folder. The dot at the start of the name means the Finder will not show that folder. Terminal will only list it if you use the -a option of ls, eg


ls -1a /Volumes/AHTCThree/System/Library/CoreServices

.

..

._Volume Name Icon

.diagnostics

Volume Name Icon

I also added the -1 flag to make it display one per line.


I'm not clear on why you need to see the contents of that folder - Apple hardware test disks are basically 'a whole bundle of wax'. You need to use the entire thing 'as is'. I have rarely had success by copying parts of the AHT disk image, which is why I made the script to image them to another disk.


There are other files that are hidden on AHT disks & the permissions are also critical too.

Either burn to a CD/DVD or the contents of the image to a HFS formatted disk.

Feb 8, 2016 1:17 PM in response to Sago48

I've not tried this but you have nothing to lose.

How to run AHT w/o the system discs


1) SHUT DOWN the computer (Don't RESTART... shut it down)


2) Hold down the OPTION + D keys


3) Press the Power Button (make sure to hold down the OPTION + D keys first)


4) Continue to hold down the OPTION + D keys until the system enters AHT mode


5) Let the app verify the hardware setup before initiating the test.


6) There are two testing modes. To select the "Extended Test" activate the check box below the Test button.


7) Press Test button to begin test

If that doesn't work you can look here to see if your version is available https://github.com/upekkha/AppleHardwareTest

Feb 8, 2016 1:45 AM in response to den.thed

Thanks for the suggestions. I had tried D and option D - the online one - and neither achieved anything. I followed the link in Mike's post to github and installed the relevant .diagnostics file in coreservices but that also made no difference. It's possible I didn't do it right of course. I've now contacted apple support who will send original discs in about a week, which I hope will work.


Many thanks for the helpful replies.🙂

Feb 9, 2016 4:56 AM in response to SeaPapp

Well, this is in fact my Dad's mac and I've been using it whilst on a extended stay with him. It's an iMac 8,1 with the original spec - so 2gb ram and a 2.66 Core 2 Duo chip, plus a 320 SATA hard drive. The OS was Leopard, upgraded to Snow Leopard, clean install, by me. A while back I partitioned the hard drive to allow me to add a more up to date OS so he could try it and see if he could adapt - he's 94 now. I tried for Mavericks, which looks very much like SL, but I just couldn't get it onto his mac. Apple seems all very Windows these days and despite my best efforts I gave up on Mavericks. So I installed Yosemite and it's too different for him as it turns out. I've not upgraded it to El Capitan as it looks as though it's not really compatible with this mac.


I've got the same problem regardless of which OS I boot into. Most programmes I open bounce in the dock for a long time. They rarely close without using force quit. Sometimes they simply don't open at all. The browsers seem to be the main problem in that after using Safari, Chrome, or Firefox for say half an hour they start to slow down and then all I get is the spinner. If I close say Safari and use Chorme then Chrome will be Ok for 20 mins or so and then jam up.


Activity monitor shows large amounts of memory being used by the browsers after a while - 1.5 of the 2 gigs. But it doesn't show an memory pressure - all green and low. My usual approach would be to add 2 gigs and see - but I'm not sure that's the problem. I have a mac mini 2014 core i5 and 4 gigs of memory which shipped with Mavericks and after a few months it ground to a halt. Apple's fixers said just reinstall the OS - not a "genius" solution as it has pretty much ground to a halt again now with El Capitan installed.


So I looked at a hardware issue first - the AHT - and as I know very little about OSX that's as far as I've got. My assumption is that Apple concentrates on other products these days and the OS for actual computers doesn't get the care it needs. When these things have happened with windows I've usually given up and installed the relevant Linux to get the machine to run, but that's not an option here I don't think.

Feb 9, 2016 7:01 AM in response to Sago48

The last OS that ran "well" in 2Gb of ram is Snow Leopard, but I wouldn't jump to conclusions and say that you "need" to upgrade the ram. That would help but your problem sounds like something caused by a software problem. Would you run and post an EtreCheck report so we can get a look at the system and what's running? http://etrecheck.com/

AHT is a good start but it's not always accurate when it doesn't report an error and it doesn't address software issues at all, but it's what they give us so maybe an EtreCheck report will show something obvious.

Feb 10, 2016 2:13 AM in response to SeaPapp

Thanks mike - here it is


EtreCheck version: 2.9.3 (253)

Report generated 2016-02-10 09:17:30

Download EtreCheck from http://etrecheck.com

Runtime 5:23

Performance: Below Average


Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.


Problem: Computer is too slow


Hardware Information:

iMac (20-inch, Early 2008)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac8,1

1 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU: 2-core

2 GB RAM - Insufficient RAM! Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n


Video Information:

ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro - VRAM: 256 MB

iMac 1680 x 1050


System Software:

OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 (14F1605) - Time since boot: about one day


Disk Information:

ST3320820AS_Q disk0 : (320.07 GB) (Rotational)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Macintosh HD (disk0s2) /Volumes/Macintosh HD : 159.86 GB (62.93 GB free)

Macintosh HD 2 (disk0s3) / : 159.21 GB (109.79 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s4) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB


USB Information:

HP Deskjet D2500 series

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Primax Electronics Apple Optical USB Mouse

Apple, Inc Apple Keyboard

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver


Gatekeeper:

Anywhere


System Launch Agents:

[killed] com.apple.CallHistoryPluginHelper.plist

[killed] com.apple.icloud.fmfd.plist

[loaded] 149 Apple tasks

[running] 61 Apple tasks

2 processes killed due to insufficient RAM


System Launch Daemons:

[killed] com.apple.ctkd.plist

[killed] com.apple.ifdreader.plist

[killed] com.apple.nehelper.plist

[killed] com.apple.periodic-weekly.plist

[killed] com.apple.tccd.system.plist

[killed] com.apple.wdhelper.plist

[loaded] 177 Apple tasks

[running] 79 Apple tasks

6 processes killed due to insufficient RAM


Launch Daemons:

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Support]


User Launch Agents:

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Support]

[running] com.spotify.webhelper.plist [Support]


User Login Items:

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Android File Transfer Agent Application (~/Library/Application Support/Google/Android File Transfer/Android File Transfer Agent.app)


Other Apps:

[running] com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000004.EtreCheck

[running] com.google.android.mtpagent.6280

[running] com.microsoft.Outlook.137204

[running] com.microsoft.Word.137772

[running] com.microsoft.alerts.daemon.188892

[running] com.microsoft.autoupdate.fba.153108

[running] com.microsoft.outlook.databasedaemon.139476


Internet Plug-ins:

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.6.0 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 20.0.0.286 - SDK 10.6 [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

Flash Player: Version: 20.0.0.286 - SDK 10.6 Outdated! Update

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10


Safari Extensions:

AdBlock


3rd Party Preference Panes:

Flash Player [Support]


Time Machine:

Time Machine not configured!


Top Processes by CPU:

5% WindowServer

3% com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(5)

3% mdworker(6)

1% kernel_task

1% Dock


Top Processes by Memory:

502 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(5)

262 MB kernel_task

92 MB Safari

51 MB mdworker(6)

43 MB Finder


Virtual Memory Information:

41 MB Free RAM

1.96 GB Used RAM (400 MB Cached)

49 MB Swap Used


Diagnostics Information:

Feb 8, 2016, 07:27:11 PM Self test - passed

How to reinstall AHT on my iMac early 2008

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