Image jumping and computer crashing (related prob)
The problem is happening on a iMac DV with CRT screen, slot-loading, never upgraded the RAM (64) or HD (9Gb), or OS (OS 9.0), never changed parts, bought new in 2000.
I turn the computer on and it works fine for a while. Sometimes the screen's image moves all by itself, resizing itself in geometry with no prior warning or nothing seems to trigger it, sometimes several times in a row (and it can be frightening when one is focused on little details on the screen and can't rely on it). So at first there was just this screen wriggling around, but the image didn't move drastically, it always filled 98% of the screen. And the "reset to factory" button in the Monitor control panel doesn't reset it to make the image on the screen match the screen's limits, it just makes it look wrong (not distorted though, just not aligned or escaping outside the boundaries of the screen) but always the same "wrong". Yet it wasn't crashing more than usual. Once the computer is off, it sometimes made a little sound like "ft, ft". That was also new.
And now it has started to just crash after a while. Sometimes it crashes and the screen is functioning perfectly, resulting in "just" a freeze. Sometimes the image moves and wriggles about and it crashes while it's doing that, or this is what makes it do that (I think the screen problem is what makes it crash most of the time).
And today it crashed in another way: everything went black, just like when there are power surges (these things happen here now and then), only there wasn't a power surge.
Now when I restart it, the image sometimes moves uncontrollably, faster than usual, and makes bigger and bigger leaps each time (and it powers all the way up less and lss often, and runs for less and less time each time, but sometimes I get to actually DO something with the computer before it crashes).
Previous uses were normal, there was no coffee spilled onto it, it didn't roll downhill, it has sat on the same desk for 7 years... I just read DVDs on it that are from different DVD zones or PAL and then NTSC, but could it have caused it? Somehow I get the feeling that if the screen stops being haunted, the whole computer will work perfectly again (but it's just vibes, I'm no technician).
So my problems are:
1)-PAIN-Does it risk to blow up in my face? I'm not particularly a coward, but I've seen enough Tex Avery cartoons to know I don't want to look like the dog that smoked a dynamite bar.
2a)-DATA-Is there something I could do, to try to get it to work long enough to back up my data (tried PRAM, didn't seem to make a difference)? After all, I just need it to completely start up and remain started up, and since USB drives and disks don't need plugins, it wouldn't bother me to start off another system if that could help anyhow.
2b)-Also, is it safer to just take it apart now and turn its HD into an external one that I would be able to read on the other computer I have (and only then get my data back), or is it okay for me to power it up repeatedly again and again, and try, and try, until I can either backup my datas or burn them? Or would it make the computer risk going KA-POW or FSCHHH more easily? Links to turning the iMac's HD into an external Hd are welcome.
3)-BTW-Anyone selling a used external Hard Drive by the way? 9 Gb is all I need and I'm low on cash ("and desperate").
4)-EVER AFTER-Okay, so let's say, IMAGINE, I back up my data safely yet under pressure, and still want to use this computer (need to have OS 9 at home), could it be repaired? If yes, how...?
Or as one person said on another post, remove the HD and just sell it for parts on eBay? But then, what computer would you advise me to get to run OS 9 on it, one that's old enough to not be too expensive - around 30, 60 $ - and yet recent enough to not risk doing the same thing after 2 months?
Hope my message isn't too boring to read, I always try to be thorough after I see some people who post way too few infos and annoy everyone.
Thanks very much in advance to anyone who can help me out of this annoying problem... It feels really bad to have 9Gb of more-or-less mysterious/invisible data that would be better off saved and known safe.
Fabrice
I turn the computer on and it works fine for a while. Sometimes the screen's image moves all by itself, resizing itself in geometry with no prior warning or nothing seems to trigger it, sometimes several times in a row (and it can be frightening when one is focused on little details on the screen and can't rely on it). So at first there was just this screen wriggling around, but the image didn't move drastically, it always filled 98% of the screen. And the "reset to factory" button in the Monitor control panel doesn't reset it to make the image on the screen match the screen's limits, it just makes it look wrong (not distorted though, just not aligned or escaping outside the boundaries of the screen) but always the same "wrong". Yet it wasn't crashing more than usual. Once the computer is off, it sometimes made a little sound like "ft, ft". That was also new.
And now it has started to just crash after a while. Sometimes it crashes and the screen is functioning perfectly, resulting in "just" a freeze. Sometimes the image moves and wriggles about and it crashes while it's doing that, or this is what makes it do that (I think the screen problem is what makes it crash most of the time).
And today it crashed in another way: everything went black, just like when there are power surges (these things happen here now and then), only there wasn't a power surge.
Now when I restart it, the image sometimes moves uncontrollably, faster than usual, and makes bigger and bigger leaps each time (and it powers all the way up less and lss often, and runs for less and less time each time, but sometimes I get to actually DO something with the computer before it crashes).
Previous uses were normal, there was no coffee spilled onto it, it didn't roll downhill, it has sat on the same desk for 7 years... I just read DVDs on it that are from different DVD zones or PAL and then NTSC, but could it have caused it? Somehow I get the feeling that if the screen stops being haunted, the whole computer will work perfectly again (but it's just vibes, I'm no technician).
So my problems are:
1)-PAIN-Does it risk to blow up in my face? I'm not particularly a coward, but I've seen enough Tex Avery cartoons to know I don't want to look like the dog that smoked a dynamite bar.
2a)-DATA-Is there something I could do, to try to get it to work long enough to back up my data (tried PRAM, didn't seem to make a difference)? After all, I just need it to completely start up and remain started up, and since USB drives and disks don't need plugins, it wouldn't bother me to start off another system if that could help anyhow.
2b)-Also, is it safer to just take it apart now and turn its HD into an external one that I would be able to read on the other computer I have (and only then get my data back), or is it okay for me to power it up repeatedly again and again, and try, and try, until I can either backup my datas or burn them? Or would it make the computer risk going KA-POW or FSCHHH more easily? Links to turning the iMac's HD into an external Hd are welcome.
3)-BTW-Anyone selling a used external Hard Drive by the way? 9 Gb is all I need and I'm low on cash ("and desperate").
4)-EVER AFTER-Okay, so let's say, IMAGINE, I back up my data safely yet under pressure, and still want to use this computer (need to have OS 9 at home), could it be repaired? If yes, how...?
Or as one person said on another post, remove the HD and just sell it for parts on eBay? But then, what computer would you advise me to get to run OS 9 on it, one that's old enough to not be too expensive - around 30, 60 $ - and yet recent enough to not risk doing the same thing after 2 months?
Hope my message isn't too boring to read, I always try to be thorough after I see some people who post way too few infos and annoy everyone.
Thanks very much in advance to anyone who can help me out of this annoying problem... It feels really bad to have 9Gb of more-or-less mysterious/invisible data that would be better off saved and known safe.
Fabrice
iBook G3 + iMac G3, Mac OS 9.0.x, Both lime!
