Dark blotches - Imac 27"

I have dark blotches in a large area of the upper right corner of my display on my Sep. 2010 IMac 27. Any one have a similar issue?

Contact Apple Support > Apple - Support - Contact Apple Support or your local Apple Service Provider > Apple - Support - iMac - Service FAQ and make an appointment to have it looked at.
Dennis

Similar Messages

How to overcome prints too dark from iMac

I calibrate my iMac 24 with a spyder and use a stylus Photo R1800 but still have prints that are much darker than what appears on monitor. What do others do about this.
Bob

Bob,
It's a very common problem (Google "My prints are too dark". BTW, both North Light Images and Luminous Landscape are superb resources). The first places to consult are Datacolor and Epson.
Things to look into and perhaps change:
- Are you using the most recent printer drivers?
- is your OS and Aperture up-to-date?
- What luminance is your iMac calibrated to?
- Have you confirmed your screen brightness setting?
- How are you viewing your prints?
- Have you (can you) calibrate your printer/paper as well?
- Have you controlled for your environment?
- Have you used any on-screen proofing?
- Have you turned off dynamic screen brightness?
Robert Coder wrote:
What do others do about this.
You'll not likely be pleased to hear that my solution was to purchase much more expensive monitors (NEC), hardware calibrator (Munki), software (NEC SpectraView II), and printer (Epson Stylus Pro 3880).

Dark Blotches on Bottom of Screen...

Hey all,
I've had my 12" PB for a month or so. I noticed everytime when I open up my PB and turn it on, there's 2 oval dark spots, (Right under the Dock) until the screen warms up, it's fine and goes away. Is this okay? Just wanted to make sure. Any comments is appreciated.
- SJ
G4 Digital Audio Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi Seth
As long as the uneven illumination clears up once the screen has warmed up after a few minutes then the chances are that it will be deemed 'normal' and within spec. My own 12" PowerBook has had the same symptoms since the day I bought it.
However my 15" PB has suffered the same problem (twice) but, importantly, it never cleared up so rendering the screen unusable for any serious work. On both occasions the screen was replaced under warranty though this was before Apple announced their Display Repair Program.
So, in your case, the screen is probably OK.
15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, PPC Mac minis, 12" iBooks G3/G4, Mac OS X (10.4.5) Cube, TAMs, iPods 2G/4G, iPs, AEBS, AX

Darker area on iMac screen

I noticed on the left side of the screen there is what looks like a darker blotch underneath the glass. It shows on a white background. The iMac is a 3.06 Ghz 22 inch model.
I bought it just under a year ago. Will Apple replace it for me?

Hi.
I also noticed the exact same thing on my 27" iMac Core i7.
The iMac is purchased 1 year ago and I luckily have bought the Apple Care Protection Plan for both iMacs. First I thought that my screen was dirty so I cleaned it (as described by Apple in there guide) but the result was the same. After a few weeks the screen went darker an darker. The surface area with the problem was getting bigger and bigger. It was really ugly compared with the other iMac and the comments from my family and friends... It's like "Dougal222" reported underneath the glass! I can see it even when I boot up my iMac!
I can't say what this dark stuff underneath the glass is but to me it looks like 'smoke' or 'dust'. I was happy, in a way, to read about the problem over here and that I was not the only one...
@Dougal222: Did Apple repaired or replaced your screen?
B.T.W.: I was reading the HardMac.com forum yesterday and they also noticed the same problem. Again it's exactly the same I really love my iMac it's so beautiful and powerful a the same time. I'm a Mac user since 1996 when I bought my first Performa 5320 and this is the first problem I have with a Mac. In between I bought the original iMac rev.a, a PowerMac G4 dual and just before this one a PowerMac G5 with also 2 G5 processors in it and 8Gb of RAM. The G5 is still a great and fast machine but I needed an Intel Mac for developing. And the Intel Mac is the 27" Core i7 iMac 11,1!
Lets hope that this problem will be fixed under my AppleCare Protection Plan. I'm feeling bad about the Mac users without AppleCare and the same issue... Maybe Apple can fix it in a rather cheap way? I just hope that I don't need to replace the whole screen!
Sincerely, Iwan.

New MacBook Pro retina 13" arrived - first impressions and questions!

My new MacBook Pro retina 13" arrived today, two weeks earlier than the promised delivery date. My version is the 2.6 GHz i5, 512 GB SSD and I maxed the RAM out to 16 GB, since there is no upgrade later. I also customized the keyboard, since I live in Japan but prefer the US keyboard.
I posted unpacking photos and initial comments to my blog: http://lerner.net/new-macbook-pro-arrived/
I want to talk about some of those points, and ask some more detailed questions here. I hope others find the questions useful.
1. The keyboard is extremely nice. I like it better than the Bluetooth keyboard I have for my iMac right now. It has a nice feel to it.
2. No dead pixels! As some of you might now from old messages, I get really paranoid about new Apple notebook computers. If I find even one dead pixel it gnaws at me and I call Apple and complain until they exchange it for a perfect screen. Well I’m happy to report that I went through thorough pixel tests in white, black, red, blue and green and all the pixels seem 100% perfect. Yay!
4. The speaker seems quite nice. I played some music, and it sounded very beautiful to me, with good volume. I know some reviews of the MacBook Pro criticize the speaker quality, but it sounds as good or better than any of the speakers I currently have. I was quite pleased with that.
5. The retina display is very beautiful of course. I don’t need to have it turned up anywhere near the maximum brightness. There is a very good illumination range.
6. Because of the SSD drive, start up is very quick. Also it makes no noise at all. And it’s very light. I’m glad I went for the 13 inch pro model. It was just a little bit more expensive, and just 200 g heavier. I can see this replacing my iMac with the external monitor I bought.
Some questions:
Q1. Do I need protection pads for the hand rest to prevent discoloration over time? My old MBP 17" would get black-blotchey after a while. Eventually I got the top case replaced under AppleCare and protected it with pads. That was the late 2006 model. Is the construction material the same? Will my nice metal body lose its metallic finish and show dark blotches over time without protection?
Q2. What are the best practices for battery use and sleep? My iMac is on all the time and only the display sleeps. I hear it's not best for the lifetime of the MacBook Pro to leave it connected all the time. Yet I need to run my daily CCC (Carbon Copy Clone) complete bootable backup, which runs at 3:30 am every day. So it seems I need to keep it plugged in all the time. Any suggestions here, regarding both battery charging and also turning it off vs putting it to sleep vs power nap vs leaving it running all the time like I do with my iMac?
Q3. Is the "put hard disk to sleep when possible" meaningful at all for SSD?
Q4. Is there a sleep indicator when the lid is closed? I didn't notice any.
Q5. I notice I can view my iMac's music and TV library and everything plays instantly. That’s just wireless right? Because I have sharing turned on on my iMac I suppose. It seems as fast as if it were on my MacBook Pro though.
Q6. A strategy question: I wonder if I should migrate from Time Machine and carry along years of garbage and wasted disk space, or just install and move things as needed. I'm tempted to do the latter and start afresh. Especially since a lot of stuff is in the cloud already: Evernote, Dropbox, etc. Initial installation of some apps, like Parallels Desktop and Office might take some time, but I bet I would save a huge amount of disk space. Yet the Migration tool which uses Time Machine is supposed to be good.
I guess that's it for now.
Thanks,
Doug

hands4 wrote:
Q6 (Migrate using Time Machine?)
If you don't want to automatically bring over everything, I would use CCC to clone the old system drive and then use that clone to drag the wanted files onto the new machine. I would treat that CCC clone as a read-only archive until you were sure there are no additional files you want to migrate.
I use a combination of CCC and Time Machine to backup my Mac. CCC provides the reliability of simplicity and quick booting should the internal drive fail. Time Machine's incremental backups have saved my bacon several times when a file "disapeared" or I saved a modificaton that I needed to reverse. However the complexity of Time Machine during full restores can be a problem. I have had Time Machine full restores fail at which time I was very happy I had a second backup to fall back on. It is prudent to maintain more than one backup.
I agree completely about using the combination of CCC and Time Machine and it sounds like you and I use it the exact same way, and for the exact same reason. I hae also had Time Machine full restores fail (particularly with Apple Mail) and was very glad to also have the CCC backup.
The only thing I'm concerned about is making sure I grab everything I need for particular applications. For example, I'm not quite sure what all needs to be copied over from CCC to the new computer for Office 2008, which I am still running. It might be easier in that case to re-install certain software.
Thanks,
Doug

Outook PST to Entourage, iCal etc?

I know its probably been asked many times before and I have read a few posts and googled it many times. I have Outlook 2007 with about a 2-3gig PST. I am looking to go over to the dark side (iMac) and want to know the best way of converting this into Entourage with attachments dates etc all keep in the emails.
Any feedback or suggestions welcome.

I ended up getting MobileMe in the end, and it worked a treat...cheers

1-day Week-19 17" MBP Review!

Hello, all...
Well, I had been avidly reading the forums for the past week, waiting in eager and dreaded anticipation of my new MBP17 to arrive, coming straight from Shanghai (per the tracking number). Will it moo? Or whine? Or be scorching hot? Will I have to fix key alignment? Or hold the thing closed because the latch isn't working? Or maybe stare in disbelief at screen sratches, dead pixels, or dark blotches in the corners of my screens?
My specs: 17" MBP, 2.16Ghz, 1GB RAM, 100GB/7200rpm HDD (my first Mac).
My baby arrived yesterday in a beautiful little black box. With the utmost care and ease, I unpacked it ever so softly, easily placing all the packaging together neatly (in case I needed to return/ebay it in the future!). I must say first and foremost, Apple has the form factor DOWN. Gorgeous machine, sleek lines, streamlined design, and a pleasure to look at. Mine came with no physical defects at all.
I wanted to put mine through as much stress as possible so I could make my yay/nay decision within the 14-day return period. So I booted up, updated the software, tried updating the firmware (it was already up to date), pushed my remote menu button no less than 30 times, then went straight into Boot Camp and XP installation. I don't really intend on using XP much (although I may have to use CS2 and Studio in XP until the UB versions are released), but as I mentioned, I wanted to put this thing through the wringer right away.
Boot Camp installed fine, XP followed, and I was up and running relatively quickly. A few minor driver issues arose in XP, but they were quickly remedied. XP worked beautifully (or as beautifully as XP works) on the MacBook Pro.
During this whole process, I hadn't heard any whine... but I also knew that the whine dominated in OSX, not XP. So I spent a fair amount of time in OSX, playing with the built-in programs and such. Absolutely no whine or strange sounds. Period.
I knew that the heat test loomed around the corner. "How can I really test this thing out?" I asked myself. Enter my little brother, a gaming expert. I hesistantly handed the MBP over to his anticipating and impatient hands, praying that he break it in gently. He immediately went to work, installing Half-Life2, Steam, and Counter-Strike Source. After the never-ending installation process, he finally started up. With all detail settings on high, the game was stunning. Sharp, beautiful graphics and smooth gameplay. I assigned him the "task" of playing CSS for the next hour, which he did without hesitation.
An hour later, I came back to take my laptop's temperature (with my hand). I expected high temps with the load he was placing on the machine. The MBP was very warm, hot in certain places, very warm on the bottom. Possibly a "thermal paste" problem, but I can't say for sure. The fact that the case is aluminum comforts me tremendously (I have worked with metal extensively in the past and aluminum transfers heat very efficiently, especially when compared to other metals and definitely other materials such as plastic). The case acts as a huge heatsink. So when I imagine that all the heat I'm feeling is heat that could have been smothering my machine's internals, I don't dislike it nearly as much.
Could it be cooler? Yes, but it was only slightly warmer than my office G4 Powerbook 1.33GHz/512MB, especially on the bottom. Is it so bothersome that I will consider returning it? Absolutely not. I paid $3000 for a good machine and I feel I got one. I also understand the laws of thermodynamics and the properties of aluminum, so I'm less inclined to whine about that. If you ask me, I personally prefer a hot aluminum laptop over a cool plastic one. The former is constantly ridding itself of the heat, while the latter is essentially a convection oven.
The screen: beautiful. A noticeable bit brighter than the PB, but I don't know if I'd say "36% brighter." I specifically looked for dark blotches in the corners and didn't see anything. I noticed an extremely slight difference in brightness in the corners, but I'd expect that from a 1/4" laptop screen. When using the computer, it's definitely not noticeable at all.
Overall impression: I love it. I'm extremely difficult to please (I'm one of those guys that goes for the middle of the row of items when buying stuff off the shelf) and a perfectionist on top of that. But Apple [finally] got it right with this thing. The fact that it's a Week-19 machine may have something to do with it.
I hope this helps anyone on the fence. I read every thread I could find about the new MBPs so I could make an informed decision. Keep in mind that forums such as these usually attract the users with problems, not those who are happily using their machines and are satisfied with their purchase.
If I missed anything, let me know. By the way: what program can I use to take specific temperature measurements? I'd like to do that and post the results.
Good luck to everyone.
Regards,
Zayd
17" MacBook Pro, 2.16GHz, 1GB RAM, 100GB/7200rpm HDD Mac OS X (10.4.6)

My pleasure... I thought it would help to hear some good news for a change.
My MBP is still great. I got around to checking the CPU temp after an hour of intense gameplay: 64 degrees Celcius. I haven't seen it get warmer than this. With average use, I'm usually around 55 degrees. When first powered on, I'm at 30 degrees.
It is important to note, however, that the case does get warm -- warm enough to think that it's bad for my CPU. But, as I mentioned, I switched back to OSX and immediately checked the temp, which was always around 60-65 degrees.
Whine update: I've detected a minute whine from the processor -- likely the same whine everyone has been talking about. I can only really hear it when my ear is to the left speaker, so at normal usage distances, it's hardly audible. Definitely not bothersome at all.
Feel free to ask any questions!
Zayd

Dead like black pixel splotches..

I have a mbp c2d 2.16 ghz...
Ive been reading and it seems that many people has had this same problem..
I have some dirty like dead pixels in my screen that look like if it was dirty.. but it is not, it is under the screen...
Ive seen some pictures of other posters and they are exacty.. what worries me is that theyhave been multiplying...
has someone that had this same problem have been helped or the problem has been solved ?
thanks

For reference, here are all the threads I found that appear to discuss this problem:
"Dispay Bruising"
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1170476&tstart=45
"Dark Blotch on Screen"
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1219609&tstart=45
"Display black spots"
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5768589&#5768589
"Dead like black pixel splotches.." (this thread)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1092319&tstart=0

Lenovos website + maintenance center says warranty valid, metafore says its not.

I've lost my proof of purchase, is there any way to use the information #here# as proof?
They claim the warranty information you gave them says the warranty is invalid. I'm having an issue with my display having dark blotches at the bottom, which does not occur when using another monitor, and is clearly a panel issue.
Moderator note; link deleted as it showed s/n
Solved!
Go to Solution.

3secrets, welcome to the forum,
the site you linked to gets it's information from the database service will look at regarding warranty entitlement. You shouldn't have any problems.
Andy ______________________________________
Please remember to come back and mark the post that you feel solved your question as the solution, it earns the member + points
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X201i 1st year report; warranty disappointment

I got a X201i last summer. I immediately took out the hard drive into an external case as backup storage and put in a SSD to run Arch Linux. It was a steep learning curve but after not too long had everything working on it except the volume buttons (although suspend and hibernate only worked with certain kernel versions making updating the system a pain). It served me well for most of the year without any major issues.
The first test of the Thinkpad quality came when I set it on the edge of a cot (fan just over the edge) and it fell about a little less than 2 feet onto a wooden floor when I got up. The hard drive cover came off and the screw went flying, yet to be found. Replaced it with one that doesn't look quite right but no serious problem there. However, within a day or two I noticed the Thinklight wasn't working. This is a problem because I often use the machine in the dark with the screen turned down all the way to conserve battery power, occasionally on excursions where I have no light available. This is a serious fail for the Lenovo brand for me if this light and durable "roadwarrior" machine is going to have things break from a 1.5 foot drop.
Being busy with summer, I didn't look into the warranty immediately. I packed it with me on the 4th for a family gathering. A bottle of beer packed nearby leaked from the cap a little being shaken up by the ride. Not to worry, there isn't enough beer missing to tell and there doesn't seem to be any fluid, just dampness. The Thinkpad is safely zipped inside the Thinkpad-branded neoprene sleeve I ordered from Lenovo along with the laptop. However, once I return home and go to use it, the screen looks like a Rorschach test of bright/dark blotches. Upon further examination, the neoprene sleeve has holes in it at the corners and other random spots. I'm so glad I forked over that extra money and went to the trouble of zipping it up every time I took it with me to get a false sense of security about providing some kind of protection.
Speaking of false sense of security, this was the point I definitely started looking into warranty information. If I'm paying 3 or 4 times what I could get a functional equivalent for, at least I'm sure to get outstanding service to make things right. No sarcasm intended, that was what I believed up until a couple hours ago. I was particularly heartened when I was looking at the warranty information (from the thinktools, couldn't find much in the paperwork shipped with) and saw the part about being covered for keyboard spills. My incident sounded similar enough that it might fall under the warranty, especially since there was no mention of spills in an exclusionary manner.
It was a bit of a pain to determine what to do for service, being guided to providers that only did business accounts, but after an hour or two of looking into it was hooked up with the free UPS return service. I was hoping to ask someone about specifics of coverage, but it was not readily apparent how to get a hold of someone and I figured at the least I could get the Thinklight repaired and take care of the screen on my own.
Today I received a voicemail saying the repairs to my thinkpad would be billable for $950. That is about 80% of what I paid for it, and about $200 MORE than what the X220 with equal capabilities now costs (sans Windows which has been a burden because I needed to keep it around for the Warranty service). The service rep I have since talked to said spill damage anywhere near the screen is automatically excluded from warranty coverage. He has submitted a request to have the Thinklight worked on separately, but didn't sound reassuring even on this point.
To me the thinklight repair seems so insignificant compared to the hundred$ I'll be shelling out for the screen, but is the bare minimum of what would still make dealing with Lenovo an acceptable experience. Still, at this point I feel extremely stupid for not just buying a $400 netbook from whatever generic company didn't make me feel like I was getting superior quality.
The one thing I am still not sure about is the warranty on the carrying case which I've just found. I've done nothing unusual with it; when I travel I place the Thinkpad in the sleeve and place this in another waterproof bag and then into the case in my motorcycle. That these conditions resulted in holes worn through the case seems ridiculous to me. I've not seen any claim that the case is waterproof, but I can't see how what little moisture there was could have damaged the screen if the case did not have holes worn in it. Isn't the failure of this Lenovo case reason to see the damage to the laptop as a warranty issue? Is this an issue to discuss with the service rep that called me or is there another avenue I should pursue?

I don't mean to rag on Lenovo baselessly. I recognize the problems I'm describing aren't unique to them of their own creation. I'm just saying that I went with a Thinkpad knowing I was paying a premium over what many other brands would charge for a similar spec device, but expecting I would see a more cohesive, helpful all around experience.
In comparison, a few years back I stepped up from a Yamaha motorcycle to a BMW. Not the same type of bike but I checked around enough to realize what a premium I was paying compared to a similar speced Japanese or American cycle. And there were inevitable failures and a process where I figured out that stateside dealers were going to gouge me for money so I learned to fix it myself. But everything I've bought from BMW has lived up to a higher quality standard. Finding what I need from them is straight forward and their stuff works significantly better than any entry level type competitor's. When I buy BMW riding gear I know I"m not going to get something made of plastic mesh that melts into my skin if I crash and slide, for example.
I don't have a laundry list of specific items I want/ed Lenovo to incorporate into their policies. I'm just relaying my experience that I feel I wasted my money paying a premium to deal with them. I wouldn't be surprised if their equipment is a good investment for someone who's corporate overlords give them a hefty IT allowance to find top notch tools for the office, but it seems to me they are a poor choice if you are a regular end-user consumer on your own.
I don't see that I have any choice but to be responsible for my mishaps, just that I could have done it for about $500 less if I hadn't wasted my time with the Lenovo name brand.

Itunes/apple, wake up and fix your tv shows downloading problems!

What gives with all the messed up tv episodes, there are episodes missing in Prison Break, season 1, as well as other episodes. A quick look at the reviews indicates a long list of upset users. Apple, at least let us know what is going on with all the missing episodes. I downloaded the whole first season of 24 and found one of the episodes wasn't the whole show, it was missing about 10 minutes at the end. Just let us know whats going on here, we're all in the dark!
IMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.3)
IMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

I just discovered a really bizarre problem with Prison Break season 1. First of all, I bought the entire series and discovered, like many others, there was a duplicate episode. It seems they might be trying to fix this, because they've withdrawn all the later episodes after the duplicate - perhaps renaming and reposting them? But suddenly, my iTunes displays an exclamation mark next to the episode entitled Brother's Keeper (which really is the episode before that), indicating that the file doesn't exist on my disk. And it doesn't! The file has been removed and I did not delete it. It isn't in the trash or anywhere else. But I watched it last night! Has anyone else had experienced anything like this? A file just gone missing? To make things even worse, my purchase history lists all the episodes except this one - it is as if I never bought it! But the total charge on my account shows I bought one more episode and I have the file on my iPod. It's very strange and disturbing this...

IMac Aluminum 24" with yellow horizontal blotches

We have an out of warranty iMac 24" with yellow/dark horizontal blotches on the screen. The closest I can describe is that they look like residue from someone smoking around the iMac and the internal air currents have deposited the smoke/tar onto the inside of the screen.
But since we do not smoke this isn't the case.
Is this a similar ongoing issue that I read about the 27" in that it is the screen and not some sort of haze forming on the inside of the glass panel?
Has Apple acknowledged this as a problem and issued an extended warranty or recall or is this down to the old 'squeeky wheel gets the grease scenario"?
It is most obvious with a bright white background but less so once you have a darker pattern up. Still makes me think it will throw off any colour correction being done and since we're talking prepress work....
Thanks
Kevin

This is sounding similar to what i am now experiencing. Bought the Mac in early Sept, this started yesterday (Nov 17th), after "waking up" my computer from sleep mode out of no where. I have a 27in iMac, noticed - what I thought were smudges or dirt in the upper right portion of the screen. It's not, right now as I am typing on the white page I see slightly light yellowish spots, blotches, one looks like a 1/2 inch "drip" pattern.
Appears it's apparently spreading as well, the upper middle, and upper left I am noticing it now as well. Yet the center and bottom of my display is fine..so far.
This is not the first post about this issue here, so there is an obvious flaw.
I bought the AppleCare, "One on One"..so I suppose I will try to get in touch with them Friday. What upsets me is this is my FIRST Mac..dealing with Windows since March 1994 until I simply had it with them. Never once had screen burns or issues with monitors.
I love this Mac, but darn this is not the great 1st impression.

Display Problem on MacBook Pro 13-In: red blotch when screen is dark/black

I've been having a really weird problem: a red blotch near the center of my screen, visible if the screen is black, or dark background in video playback. It's about an inch off center (right) and it look like a "T" made by a paint brush stroke. When it first appeared (in the same spot to the left of center), Apple replaced the display (in the last year of Apple Care), and it disappeared. It reappeared 4 weeks later as clear lines (in the same spot). They replaced the display again, and it disappeared once again. It happened a third time 4 months after that, and they replaced the logic board as well as the display; again, "fixed." Here's the weirdest part: because, after all this, the computer would not charge, they threw up their hands and gave me a brand new MacBook Pro. That was a month ago, and last night, there was the red blotch again (except now, again, just to the right of center).
I can't find anything like this (online) happening to anyone else, and so far Apple hasn't determined what they think the problem is. I sort of feel now the problem must lie with me. But what could I be doing? I haven't dropped it; I'm just using it for email and reading online.
Anyone have any idea what this might be? Thank you very much in advance for any suggestions.

I can only do wild guesses at this popint, only thing I can think of on your end is possible AC power problems, but I've not been impressed with Apple's quality since the 68K or Beige days.
THe iMac7,1 I'm on now needed repair 3 times & still scares me with it's PSU temps.

TS1587 I tried everything, except for reinstalling the SO-DIMM memory modules. Still, my iMac will not wake up. Turning it on you can hear the fan run, but the display stays dark. Any ideas what to do? Thanks Maja

My iMac won't start up, or wake from sleep. I've tried everything, except for reinstalling the SO-DIMM memory modules. Still, my iMac will not wake up. Turning it on, you can hear the fan run, but the display stays dark. Any ideas what to do? Thanks!

Mac doesn't boot
Can you hear the fans and hard drive and see the white boot screen? Flashing question mark? The circle just runs and nothing happens? Only black screen and nothing else? These can be very helpful to diagnose the source of the problem. [1]
Flashing question mark [2]: This is usually a sign of a failed hard drive. This indicates that boot up volume can not be found.
Black screen: This is usually a sign of a failed logic board. There is no single reason for this and this may be caused by failed GPU, screen, CPU or RAM.
Circle of death/no circle/blue screen: This is usually a sign of a hard drive failure. This may NOT be a dead hard drive, just broken permissions or something
Gray screen/Apple logo/spinning gear or globe/prohibitory sign/folder with flashing question mark [3]: This could be a sign of faulty hardware but more likely a software issue, i.e. broken permissions, failed software update, etc.
[edit]
What to do
First, hold down the option key (also known as the alt key) just after you've pressed the power button. This should show all the available options to boot from, so if you have Windows installed through Bootcamp or a disk in your SuperDrive, you should be able to see them along with your OS X drive/partition. Select the OS X partition with arrow keys and press enter. Startup key combinations
If that doesn't help continue doing the steps from below:
1. SMC reset [4]. Shut down and unplug all cables including power cord for at least 30 seconds and then plug in power cord and keyboard/mouse.
2. PRAM reset [5]. Hold down option, command, P and R while booting. Start it when you hear the sound and don't let go before it reboots.
3. Safe boot [6]. Hold down shift while booting to boot into safe mode. If this works, open Disk Utility from Utilities and repair your permissions and verify the disk
4. Hardware test [7]. Insert the install disk (disk 1 in Mac which shipped with OS X 10.5.4 or earlier, disk 2 if shipped with OS X 10.5.5 or newer) and hold down "D" before the grey boot screen opens. Follow on screen instructions
5. Boot from install disk. Boot from the disk that came with your Mac. Hold C while booting. Select Disk Utility from top bar and repair permissions and verify the disk. Reboot normally and see if it works now.
6. Boot from another Mac (Firewire target disk mode). Connect the machines with a Firewire cable. Power on your Mac and press T. Select the other Mac's hard drive. Download the current OS X combo update. Run the combo update installer and select the drive that won't boot as the destination.
7. "Repair" OS X. Boot from the install disk as in point 5. and reinstall OS X. This should NOT erase any data, just replaces the system files which may have caused your booting problem. Now install the latest combo update for OS X and repair permissions on your drive with Disk Utility.
7.1. Install OS X into an external hard drive and then boot from it [8] and try to copy your data from the hard drive before proceeding. If you have done a backup recently, you don't have to do this.
8. Restore OS X from Time Machine backup. Boot from the disk that came with your Mac and choose the Time Machine restore option. This step will lose any changes made since your last backup but the system and your data will be put back to exactly as it was on that date.
8.1 Reinstall OS X. Boot from the install disk as in point 5. and select Disk Utility again. Now erase the whole hard drive and install OS X again. If you had a Time Machine backup and step 7 worked you don't have to do this.

IMac won't boot, dark screen after normal grey start up screen

Quite perplexed with this problem, have tried everything I can think of.
Computer: iMac 2.16 gHz 24" mid 2006, 4 gig RAM
OS: 10.6.8
Froze and required hard shutdown. Subsequent to this, has behaved consistently:
Normal grey screen with Apple logo and spinning timer, can hear disk activity. Then the screen goes dark and nothing else happens (although the computer is still on). Have to perform hard shutdown.
Have tried:
1. Booting into single user mode (multiple times) and performed fsck, no errors noted
2. after using 'exit' command in single user mode, computer attempts to reboot but then freezes after noting 'panic'
3. Reset PRAM (no change)
4. Tried safe mode boot, progress bar on grey screen progresses, then spinning timers comes on, then same crash with dark screen
4. Disassembled computer, removed hard drive, mounted normally in external SATA enclosure. I backed up critical data, ran Disk Utility Repair, no errors noted.
5. Reinstalled HD, reassembled computer, rebooted, same issue
6. Attmepted to boot with Snow Leopard Install disc to perform a fresh Achive and Install - after prolonged grey screen with spinning timer and audible DVD drive access, same switch to dark screen and no further progress
7. Same panic message and stalled boot attempt noted when booting into single user mod
I'm stumped. My assumption is that there is a courrpt file that is causing a kernel panic during boot and I assumed that I'd be able to perform an archive and install but when this failed I'm guessing all I can do is replace the hard drive with a new one and then go through the hassle of transferring all the data over manually.
I would welcome hearing any other observations, similar experiences or other ideas. MTIA.

One update ... when I boot the computer and get the 'dark screen', I hear disc activity. So I started hitting the return key and I get the chime with each return as if I'm on the log in screen and hitting the return to log in without entering any text.
That would argue there is a problem with the screen.
However, it does not explain why the computer display works normally during single user mode and hangs (without the screen going dark) when trying to reboot from this mode.

Dark blotches - Imac 27"

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