20" imac troubles again

about a week ago my imac froze so i restarted it & got the gray screen with a flashing folder. i booted from the install disc & tried to reinstall but it told me it could not be installed on my hd. i took it to the apple store and of course it worked fine so i bring it home & 2 days later it does the same thing. the only thing i can do is unplug it for the night & it works fine in the morning then about 2 days later it will mess up again. now it is showing no hd at all in disk utility. does anyone have any ideas what the problem could. any help would be much appreciated.

HI,
Never unplug the computer from it's power source. If you can't shut the iMac down from the Apple Menu, hold down the power button until the screen goes black.
Try booting while holding down the Option key which should prompt the Startup Manager. If that doesn't work...
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
Reset the SMC
If none of the above helps, you need to take your iMac into an Apple store or an Apple certified repair provider.
Carolyn
Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit

Similar Messages

Having trouble again with my phone connecting with iTunes

Having trouble again with my phone connecting with iTunes

Is iTunes giving you a error code?? Exactly what problem are you having?

IMac troubles

I have an Intel-Based iMac running OS 10.4.11 Tiger. Although most things seem to work normally, any attempt to load OS 10.5 Leopard results in the error code, "System X cannot be installed on this computer." Yet System X is obviously already installed in the form of OS 10.4.11, and has been for some time.
Any attempt to run "Repair Disk" also fails because I cannot force a startup from any CD or DVD when holding the "C" key. This is true for the Tiger and the Leopard installation disks. It starts from the hard drive whether or not I hold the "C" key.
The DVD drive is working properly otherwise. I can read whatever is on any CD or DVD that I insert into the drive. I just can't start up from a DVD.
The first sign of trouble was when I attempted to load some MS Word documents into Documents to Go on my Palm. I immediately received a Fatal Alert on my Palm. Fortunately, my Palm backup was only seven days old. My Palm has been working fine ever since a hard reset and a reload of my backup.
Immediately after this incident I found that the documents that I had attempted to load were corrupted. Any attempt to open them in Word resulted in a #10660 error code. That was the same code as had appeared in the Palm Desktop before I reloaded it. I trashed the offending documents. But then I realized that the #10660 code was showing up in various parts of MS Office as well.
Twice I uninstalled MS Office, reinstalled it, and loaded all of its upgrades. Each time, Word has worked fine and Excel has worked fine, but PowerPoint does not work at all. Keynote presentations work, but not PowerPoint presentations, although I receive no more #10660 error codes anyplace.
I have run "Repair Privileges" and have been told that there were no problems with privileges. I've left the computer run overnight so that the automatic UNIX maintenance routines could be run in the wee hours. As I've already said, I'm not allowed to run "Repair Disk." I have searched for any software upgrades and made those installations.
In summary, this is where I now stand:
1. I still cannot run "Repair Disk" because I cannot run Disk Utilities from
the DVDs.
2. I still cannot install OS 10.5 Leopard because it says, "System X cannot
be installed on this computer."
3. I still cannot use the "C: key to force startup from any DVD, including
the installation disks for Tiger or Leopard.
4. PowerPoint is still totally inoperative, even though anything else in
MS Office works fine.
5. Keynote presentations work even though PowerPoint ones don't.
6. Everything related to Palm works fine now.
7. All other software seems to work normally.

Is it saying "System X" or "OSX"? The precise working for an issue can make a difference.
Are you using a retail installer DVD (black) of Leopard or a DVD that came with another machine (gray)? Only retail installer versions will install on any computer. Machine-specific versions only work with that particular computer.
I cannot force a startup from any CD or DVD
Again, precise wording is critical. What CD are you trying to start from? No OSX operating system (except a few issued with utilities) for Intel Macs has been released on CD. This suggests to me that you are trying to install from an old version that will not boot your computer anyway, unless you didn't mean CD. What other DVDs have you tried?
In general I am trying to determine if you are even using versions that should boot your computer. If you are sure you are then you can try restarting by inserting a DVD (say, your Tiger DVD that came with your computer which should work) and holding down the option key.
Do you mean "Repair Privileges" or "repair permissions"?
You can only repair a disc from which you are not booted. You need to boot from your original DVD that came with your Mac and run Disk Utility from that in order to repair your internal hard drive.

IMac trouble opening certain programs

problem is: i will try to open certain programs, they will quickly appear in the dock, and then the icon will fade away without ever opening the program.
this particular problem began a little over a year ago when i upgraded to tiger. i was running pro tools frequently at the time, and did not realize that my pro tools program would not be compatible with the new OS. so i downgraded back to 10.3.9, and that's when this particular problem began.
i knew there would be consequences to my downgrade like this. my printer no longer interfaced with my computer, safari no longer opened, etc. and i dealt with it. however, i got a strange message yesterday when i went to open a .txt file saying "this is the first time you've used the program Text Edit", and then i got it again a few minutes ago when i tried to open System Preferences ("this is the first time you've used the program System Preferences"). now for the first time ever, my System Preferences will not open.
my most recent actions have been updating iChat A/V, updating Limewire, messing with some .bin files, and it says my "AppleScript" was modified last night around the time i got the message about Text Edit (which is odd because i've never used AppleScript).
iMac G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

If you think a corrupted preference file may be the cause, you can run a quick command line in Terminal to diagnose any troublesome ones. If it shows any corrupted prefs files, then you can delete only those, then restart.
Open Utilities>Terminal
enter:
plutil -s ~/Library/Preferences/*.plist <enter>
This checks for corrupted prefs files in your home folder. If there are any, it will display the file's path. Just delete that file and reboot. If nothing is displayed, then everything checked out okay.
You should also check prefs files OUTside of your home folder by omitting the tilde "~" in the terminal command. Like so:
plutil -s /Library/Preferences/*.plist <enter>
Again, bad prefs files will show, otherwise you get nothing.
This may not help your problem if it's not prefs related, but couldn't hurt nonetheless.
iMac 20" 2GHz Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.4) iBook G3 Dual USB 640MB 30GB -- Two iMac SE DVs
iMac 20" 2GHz Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.6) iBook G3 Dual USB 640MB 30GB -- Two iMac SE DVs

Canon iR C3380 - Aggghhhh! Trouble again

After a long time trouble shooting, and much help from Pahu and others, I had got our office Canon iR C3380i printer to print. I have no idea what happened, but I get the following error every time I try now:
+Cannot find output destination. Check the printer power connection, make sure the printer is switched on, and then try again.: -3150+
The printer is fine, other Win users can print ok. Odd thing is that two Macs on the network suddenly weren't able to print, so it is something on the OS side - maybe a recent update? One of the Macs can print ok from bootcamp, so...dunno what is up. I tried deleting the old driver and other Canon detritus from the system and re-installing, and one time could actually print for a very short time (less than one day), but then it stopped again. Error is always the same, the -3150, whatever that means. If I go to the webpage for the printer I can print jpg files, but, well, we never print jpg files, so it is pretty useless, but does indicate that the computers CAN communicate with the printer, there is something up with the driver.
Sigh...10.6+Canon = disaster, as far as I am concerned. Worked ok with 10.5.x, too.

sbolin wrote:
Spoke too soon, can't print again. Extremely frustrating. I keep getting the same error (can't find the printer). Delete and re-install didn't help. I am using the 2.06 driver, I'll try to revert to 2.05 if I can find it somewhere, though not sure that will help.
I don't think it will help either. Comparing the v2.06 to v2.05 I cannot see any major difference between the two, except that additional models have been added.
I checked the URFII Print Monitor, sometimes it doesn't give an error, sometimes it does. If it does, search for printer doesn't do anything. Canon Thailand just told me to download the newest driver, and haven't been able to help more than that.
For the printer not to be found, I wonder if your Mac is losing its network connection? At the time that the monitor doesn't find the copier, I would open the Network Utility and ping the IP address of the machine. This would at least show if you have a connection from the Mac to the Canon.
We lease the printer, so not sure if the PS was available or not, I'd guess not as we normally would have PS printers. Next time they come out to service I'll ask and see if we can get PS added at some point. That said...it should still work regardless. One of our machines just upgraded to Win 7, no drivers added at the start, but it found the printer easily enough, downloaded the driver on its own, and prints fine - that is how it should work. Whether it is Apple or Canon's fault that it doesn't work this way with 10.6 is up for debate, though other printers we have worked fine out of the box without problem, only the iR C3380 has been a pain.
Win 7 comes with a lite driver for the iRC3380, which lets you print and use some features. Would have been nice if Canon could have provided their business product drivers to Apple like they have done with their consumer products.
I cannot remember if we previously checked for the availability of PS on this copier. If it does have PS, then you could use the Canon PPDs which I believe would avoid the errors you are getting.
Also, Canon has released a PS driver for their new iR Advance models. I have been using this driver to our iRC3380, and it has been working fine for me.
Can you check if you have PS on the copier. If you connect to the copier with a web browser you will see the built-in web page of the copier. On this page, select the Additional Functions button and then select Custom Settings (note that you may have to enter an ID and password). On the right side, you will see an entry of Printer Settings and under this will be the supported protocols. Hopefully you have an entry of PS.
Pahu

IMac trouble login - need help badly

I need real big help here. My wife iMac decided to act up this morning, out of no reason. She didn't download and anything from website or new apps. This is what happening now.
As usual, we type in the password and click login. It started as normal and show the desktop but almost immediately (2 seconds), it goes back to the same login password screen. We type the password again and again and it does the samething. We restart same thing. We shut down and let it sit and start again, same thing.
Now, we have so many important files and memories in this machine!!! Can anyone advise how we can get it started again normally without reinstallation?
MANY THANKS.

If you have the install disc, boot from it and use
Disk Utility
   1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc that came with your computer, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
   2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
      Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.
   3. Click the First Aid tab.
   4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
   5. Select your Mac OS X volume.
   6. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk.
Then reboot from your internal drive and repair permissions.

IMac freezing again

Hi,
My iMac has started freezing again, this time it's when I'm using iMovie. I switched it off by holding the power button and then when I turned it on again my screen had all these white lines.

Now when I try turning the computer on it freezes and does nothing, in other words, the computer won't turn on properly. I have tried the single-user mode and it says the disk is OK. What do I do?????

YOUTUBE TROUBLE AGAIN!!!

Hello Everybody,
There is more trouble with YOUTUBE again. I have the latest ATV with up to date software. And I have reset this thing a couple of times with no change.
The "TOP RATED" list for the WEEK & MONTH haven't updated since the end of January. My SUBSCRIPTIONS stay in some jumbled order, and just change very little from day to day. They aren't in alphabetical order, nor are the in most viewed order. They are just HOSED UP!
Can someone at Apple please get these things corrected????
It took weeks for someone to get the subscriptions & favorites fixed last years about this time.
Apple, if you guys aren't going to support YOUTUBE, please delete it off of the menu. You all are suppsed to be about the experence. This blows.
It's like no one is home.
-T

I'm having the same problem. I've been trying to be patient, but it's well over a month now. The lists are no longer updating. I'm finding new content in my Subscriptions, but "Top Rated" and "Most Viewed" haven't changed at all lately. I hope we're not victims of another Apple/Google snit.
Apple TV 2 with latest patches, no jailbreak
WiFi
HDMI -> HDTV
Opt ->DAC->Amp

Imac sleeps again just after waking up

After waking up my imac the hard drive and/or fan whirrs and within ten seconds it falls asleep. If I press the space bar to wake it up again all works fine for that session. This is a sample of system.log if that is relevant:
Jan 16 09:03:18 user name-imac com.apple.launchd[682] ([0x0-0xae9ae9].com.apple.TWAINBridge[33551]): Did not die after sending SIGKILL 335526 seconds ago...
Jan 16 09:03:23 user name-imac com.apple.launchd[682] ([0x0-0xae9ae9].com.apple.TWAINBridge[33551]): Did not die after sending SIGKILL 335531 seconds ago...
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I get caught by this all the time.
I found that its my display that is sleeping and not the iMac. This was due to an external hardrive still running.
I've come to my mac and pressed the power button and this "wakes" the display then will sleep the mac shortly after.
Its always worth tapping a key on the keyboard or move the mouse to make sure.
Hope this helps.

IMac Trouble

Here's the story:
I have a friends iMac. Older CRT DVD drive. OS 9.2. It has the blinking question mark which as I recall means the system folder is corrupted lost or altered in some way. Worst part is the DVD drive is not working so I can't reboot via that route.
All attempts to start have been futile. last attempt was hooking up an external drive-Lacie CD burner-with the software install disc. Held down option key and chose this as the start up volume, but as soon as it starts up it ejects the disc.
Any ideas what to do? Don't have the cash to repair and the kids just need something to play on the internet so we could live without the DVD dirve for now.
I have a house full of Macs networked via ethernet and cross over cables, original software etc.. Anyway to somehow use them to replace the system folder or do some diagnosis?
Thanks,
Warren

Hello! If the computer has firewire you may be able to use FTD (firewire target disk mode) as a workaround. In FTD mode you may be able to hook it directly to your other computer. Tom
Description and requirements
FireWire target disk mode allows a Macintosh computer with a FireWire port (the target computer) to be used as an external hard disk connected to another computer (the host). Once a target computer is started up as a FireWire hard disk and is available to the host computer, you can copy files to or from that volume.
Important: The computer will not go into FireWire target disk mode if "Open Firmware Password" has been enabled.
Host computer requirements
Host computers must meet the following requirements:
• Built-in FireWire port, or a FireWire port on a PC card
• FireWire 2.3.3 or later
• Mac OS 8.6 or later
Target computers
The following models can be used as target computers:
• iMac (Slot Loading) with Firmware version 2.4 or later
• iMac (Summer 2000) and all models introduced after July 2000
• eMac (All models)
• Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics) with ATA drive
• Power Mac G4 Cube
• Power Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) and all models introduced after July 2000
• Power Mac G5 (all models)
• iBook (FireWire) and all models introduced after September 2000
• PowerBook G3 (FireWire)
• PowerBook G4 (All models)
FireWire software
You can download the latest Firmware and FireWire software from the Apple Software Updates Web site (http://www.apple.com/swupdates/).
How to use FireWire target disk mode
Important: Unplug all other FireWire devices from both computers prior to using FireWire target disk mode. Do not plug in any FireWire devices until after you have disconnected the two computers from each other, or have stopped using target disk mode.
Tip: If you will be transferring FileVault-protected home directories (Mac OS X 10.3 or later only), log in as the FileVault-protected user and temporarily turn off FileVault. After transferring home directory contents to the target computer, enable FileVault protection again if desired.
To use FireWire target disk mode
1. Make sure that the target computer is turned off. If you are using a PowerBook computer or iBook computer as the target computer, you should also plug in its AC power adapter.
2. Use a FireWire cable (6-pin to 6-pin) to connect the target computer to a host computer. The host computer does not need to be turned off.
3. Start up the target computer and immediately press and hold down the T key until the FireWire icon appears. The hard disk of the target computer should become available to the host computer and will likely appear on desktop.
4. When you are finished copying files, drag the target computer's hard disk icon to the Trash or select Put Away from the File menu (Mac OS 9) or Eject from the File menu (Mac OS X).
5. Press the target computer's power button to turn it off.
6. Unplug the FireWire cable.
If the target computer's hard disk does not become available to the host computer, check the cable connections and restart the host computer.

Help Make my iMac New Again!

Hey there friends,
Here's my deal. I just got a new MacBook Pro for my wife and it's blazing fast. So much so that it has caused resentment towards my old, slow iMac G4. I figure after five years of futzing with it, I've installed a number of things that are probably slowing it down. In all my OS upgrades over the years I've always gone for the easy install. But it's time for my iMac to reborn, like the little speed demon she once was.
I just got a 250GB Firewire external hard drive (7200rpm/8mb cache). I have my Tiger install discs back out again. What now? I figure I'll use SuperDuper to make an exact copy of my hard drive on the external. But then what?
* What's the optimal way to make my iMac factory fresh?
* Once I install it, what can I copy back over from the my external hard drive and what should I freshly re-install? I don't want to waste too much time, but I also don't want to bog down the computer again.
* Also, since I haven't done it yet, I have over 30 GB of music. Am I better off keeping that on the external hard drive or will I notice a lag when trying to play things?
A link to a previous post you found helpful (or wrote) and/or a link to a guide you've used for such a situation would be helpful. Or why not type up a fresh one and help me and certainly others with this somewhat terrifying but ultimately liberating procedure.
Thanks,
cg
iMac 800mhz Power PC G4, 768 MB SDRAM Mac OS X (10.4.8)
iMac 800mhz Power PC G4, 768 MB SDRAM Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Honestly, I think what you propose to do is the wrong path. Making an iMac G4 "factory fresh" is not going to yield a signficant performance increase. Your "factory fresh" iMac will still be running on the same hardware with the same OS and presuambly the same apps. So you are proposing to spend a lot of time trying to fix a problem that can't be fixed in that manner.
What you need to look at is possibly optimizing your iMac's hard drive with Disk Warrior and perhaps adding more RAM if its RAM is not already maxed out.
You might also look at utilization of your iMac's boot drive. You need to make sure that 10-15% of the disk's total capacity is always available to the OS for internal use.
Doing this stuff might yield an improvement in processing speed, but do not expect anything near to what you see on your wife's new MacBook Pro. To get that kind of performance boost, you need to replace your iMac with a modern Mac.

Impossible to make the imac run again

hello, I have got a brand new iMac and after shutting down for updating software it is impossible to make this machine run again? Any idea what happened?

If it's brand new, and it won't boot at all (no sound, no light, etc.), then bring it in to your nearest Apple Store for warranty service.
Even if it is making some sound, or generating some light, if it's brand new then it's under warranty. Call your local Apple Store for an appointment and bring it in for in-person help.

How Can I get My iMac Running again when its stuck in the Loading boot up Screen?

My 2010 21.5 Imac wont stop loading, The wheel just keeps spinning and it doesn't even boot in safe mode. the only thing i can do is get into single user mode. My Mac doesn't respond to command + r. I am able to pull up a disk to boot from but it doesn't show a recovery disk, only "Macintosh HD", when i click it I'm back at the apple logo screen with spinning wheel.At this point i want to do one thing and that is factory reset the computer. a fresh install, delete everything, NO BACK UPS. I don't have the install CD (This Computer had a previous owner). If i were to buy a copy of the OS X from the apple store (I believe my computer was running 10.6.8, Im not 100%sure and i dont now how to find out at this point) would i be able to even put the CD in the disc drive? would it read the CD even though its stuck in the boot up(loading) screen? How would i get it out if the Drive doesn't read the disk? Do I have Other options? Thanks guys!

You are using Snow Leopard. There is no COMMAND-R for a startup. That's for Lion or later.
Call Apple and purchase replacement discs for your model. You cannot use the retail version of Snow Leopard on your model. You have no other options unless you have the original discs that came with the computer. When you get the discs:
Clean Install of Snow Leopard
Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase
the drive and everything on it.
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
         with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
         After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
         a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
     2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue
         button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
         After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
         size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
         partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
         and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
         (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
         with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
     4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
         Assistant. Be sure you configure your initial admin account with the exact same
         username and password that you used on your old drive. After you finish Setup
         Assistant will complete the installation after which you will be running a fresh
         install of OS X. You can now begin the update process by opening Software
         Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your installation current.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.

New internal hard drive in my imac - troubles installing Mac OS

I just had to replace my imac's internal drive because it died. I bought an 500gb Western Digital Caviar Blue OEM WD5000AAKS. I installed it just fine, and I reformatted it by going to utilities and erasing the drive and setting it to mac os extended journaled. After reformatting it the computer recognized the drive.
So now when I go to install the mac OS (I can't remember what vers. it is but I know it's at least 10.4) it starts the installation process but it is very sluggish. The first time, after about 20 min., it told me to retry the installation because something had gone wrong. I retried it, but it ran across another error and couldn't complete the installation. This time it gave me the option to view and save a log of the error. I looked at it but it meant nothing to me because I'm not familiar with the techie stuff.
One thing that i can point to is that the new hard drive is 300mbps (or 3) and my old one was 150 (1.5). I was reading about the jumper settings and i saw that I'm supposed to set my new HD's jumper a certain way, but I don't even know what the jumper is. Though i believe it is that series of 8 pins on the side of the new hard drive. Anyway, what am i supposed to do with those pins?
any help at all would be amazing

From accelerateyourmac:
Reader Comments: Computer: iMac G5 running OS X 10.5.2+
Replacement HD: WD5000AAKS
A week and a half ago I replaced the dying 160 GB HD that came with my iMac G5 (non-iSight) with a new Western Digital 500 GB WD5000AAKS, about $105 from Newegg. The drive is OEM and came with absolutely nothing but the drive itself, but mounting hardware and cables from the Mac worked perfectly, and HD replacement instructions on Apple website had beautifully detailed photos and clear instructions.+
+In short order I booted from the Leopard install disk, formatted (erased) the new drive, which was immediately recognized, and installed the OS. Leopard proved its worth, as it was very easy to restore the system from Time Machine. Of course, it restored the OS files that had been corrupted by the old HD, so I had to reinstall the OS, archiving the system settings so everything worked the way I wanted it to.+
+New drive is quieter, faster, and cooler -- fan never runs, where it ran constantly with the old drive, perhaps a symptom of its impending demise. Despite constant heavy use since installation, I've encountered no compatibility problems attributable to the HD. And with over 3X the capacity of the original drive, and at this bargain price, the new drive is hard to beat.
I wish I could say the same!!! This guy has the same computer as I do and bought tthe same hard drive. His review is a major reason why I chose the HD that I did.

Late 2012 iMac Trouble. Prohibitory Sign help!

Hi, so I've been trying to partition my drives and install Windows on my late 2012 imac. However I've screwed up. I last adjusted my partitions using disk utility and now receive the prohibitory sign on startup and cannot boot up in safe mode; pram reset; type commands in single user mode. Please help!! Running on Mavericks OS.

Hello ssnacario
Start with booting up to the Recovery HD and then use Disk Utility to verify the hard drive. Check out the first article to go through those steps to sort you out. If for some reason that it checks out and you are still having issues booting up, then you will want to reinstall OS X Mavericks.
Also if you can somehow back up before you go through the troubleshooting to ensure you have a safe copy of your data.
Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1417
OS X Mavericks: Reinstall OS X
http://support.apple.com/kb/ph13871
Regards,
-Norm G.

20" imac troubles again

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for