I swear I think my 2009 27" iMac is dying?

I was having a problem with the SuperDrive wouldn't work all the time. I took it to the Apple Store to get them to figure it out and he said it would be $150 to replace the SuperDrive. We decided that I would do a complete clean install of Lion and see if that fixed the SuperDrive however it didn't. Amost immediately the problem was still there. So now I need a SuperDrive based upon what the Apple Genuis said however after a couple of weeks I seem to have other problems.
I seem to get a lot of spinning beach balls, the computer becomes unresponsive. Quite a few times the computer won't wake up by hitting anything on the keyboard, mouse or trackpad. So I'll have to hit the power button to wake it up but the mouse, keyboard or trackpad still won't work and I'm forced to manually power it down by hold the power button for a few seconds. After I start it up and it gets to the login screen the mouse, keyboard and trackpad work fine. But if the computer goes to sleep again, it does the same thing [unresponsive]!
Just a minute ago this happenend and my wife hit the power button to wake it up. After the screen came on she put in her USB flash drive and the computer sceen IMMEDIATELY black. I looked/listening to the computer and it just shut down on her. This has never happened and that's why with all of these other things going on, I'm saying that there's definitely something wrong.
I don't want to pay to put in a SuperDrive when there could be something else totally wrong with it, so I'm sure you understand. I feel really bad that this is my FIRST Mac and after less than a year after my Apple warranty is up all of this crap is going wrong with my computer.
Does anyone know of some things I could do to see what's the matter. I don't mind buying a part or two for it but I don't want to buy parts that aren't broken. I have a feeling the hard drive is going out, is there anything I can do to check it. I've also got a little video of what it's doing when it won't wake up if anyone is interested. I've done the reset the PRAM & disk permissions already with no change in behaviour.
Ideas?

I agree. I have just come back from the Genius Bar in Sydney Chatswood where they are looking into a problem with the power. The 27" iMac is only 15 months old and 89 days out of warranty. Martin the 'genius' didn't seem preturbed that this could be a major problem on a machine that cost over $2300AUS such a short time ago - a lot of money in these times - he obviously earns more than we do! I am really annoyed and feel that I have been let down by Mac. As an avid iPhone user and going to iMac, I am feeling very annoyed at both the quality of the product and the attitude of the Genius Bar.
the machine was also showing the same signs as yours - slow wheels etc.
Is there any recourse - it is not sustainable to sell products at that price which only last for 15months.
Anyone else have similar problems.
Anne

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My late-2009 27inch iMac just died

My late-2009 27 inch iMac just died. Or something
I was working with iPhoto, trying to crop a photo, and the curser worked but that affected nothing on the screen.
So, I tried to FORCE QUIT with the keyboard, and nothing.
So, I held the ON button down until the computer shut down.
Then, sadly. It will not start.
I unplugged it, waited 10 minutes, plugged it and tried to turn it on again, nothing. Does not respond to the ON button.
Help?

Out of the black, it started up again.
Thanks anyway.

Black screen in Windows 8.1 on Late 2009 27" iMac

Hi,
My Late 2009 27" iMac i7 will not allow the display to turn on under Windows 8.1. It's not just black, its as though its powered off. This is some kind of a software problem. I am certain of this because I ran Windows 8.1 just fine since its release (10/17/2013). Hoestly, I ran it for months without a problem. I think it was an upgrade install over Windows 8 and not a clean install. Anyways, last week I upgraded to an SSD and needed to re-install Win 8.1. Now the display won't turn on. It works fine when you first boot it up after the setup runs, then a windows chime sounds and the screen goes blank and never turns on again. If you enable RDP before this happens you can still access the computer. I have re-installed Windows 8.1 and also I have tried BootCamp 4.0.4033, 5.0.5033, and 5.1.5621. None of them have enabled the display. Nor has the vanilla driver from AMD/ATI. I am at a complete loss as to what to do. My only hope is there are a handful of other users with this model of iMac who also have this issue and have solved it. If I ever find the solution you can count on me writing it in detail here in this thread or linking to a thread that solves it.
Thanks,
sr.matto

Summary: The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4850 and other "legacy" graphics cards are not yet supported by AMD/ATI on Windows 8.1.
If you are disatisfied with a perfectly serviceable series of video cards being dropped from support make yourself heard: http://emailcustomercare.amd.com
---Details---
Okay after some pretty exaustive research I have found out a few things.
First, that AMD/ATI has decided to not include several series of "legacy" video cards in their support for Windows 8.1. This support may come in the future. There are conflicting reports about wether or not this is happening.
Second, there is a small community that is devoted to unofficial modified drivers that are supposed to allow legacy cards to be used on Windows 8.1. -> http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=372799. I had no success whatsoever with these drivers, even on a clean install of Windows 8.1. I did get the drivers to install, but no games could start and Windows warned me about the drivers being unsigned frequently. So I would be hesitant to devote a lot of time to installing those drivers.
Lastly, I am pretty disapointed with AMD/ATI. Sure, the card is approaching its sixth year anniversary (~June 25, 2008) but it works just fine for most uses. It is a perfectly serviceable card for desktop uses. I just installed an SSD with the hopes of getting four more years out of this computer. I guess I will be religated to Windows7/8 on this machine till the end of its life. People considering the SSD upgrade may want to take this into consideration. I suppose its a non-issue if you are OK with using Windows 7 for four more years.
There seems to be a potential for upgrading the video card to the part used in the 2011 iMac, but for now that part costs $500 or $600, if its even stocked.
Message was edited by: sr.matto (spelling)

Upgrades to my late 2009 I7 iMac?

Goodmorning,
Trying to make a decision. Advise would be appreciated.
I have a Late 2009 I7 iMac that I am very satisfied with. It has 8GB memory, 1TB HD and the I7 processor.   And it has a DVD/CD internal drive.
I need some more screen space so I want to add a second display.   I do not have a thunderbolt only a mini port connector. What model cinema display do I need? A1316
I would like to add a SSD. My question is will it make it run hotter? It already heats my home office very well all by itself.
The most memory I can find is 16Gbs. I am guessing that is the limit.
I upgraded my Alum Macbook 13" with 8 GB memory and a SSD and it performs wonderfully. So I am thinking about updating my iMac. My other option is to buy a new iMac when they come out with second display.   Fusion Drive option with max memory and processor. I will also need a external BD/DVD/CD recorder. I use DVD/CD almost daily.
So any thoughts? Thanks for your time.
Mike

mini display port is the same connector as thunderbolt and converters came make it into dvi if the display only have that port
SSD having no moving parts run much colder then normal harddisks
SSD is faster and run colder then Fusion drives
if you put a smaller SSD in the imac then you will likely be removing the 1TB hd
you can then buy an external box with firewire or USB and still use the 1TB hd for storage

Memory upgrade on a 3.33GHz C2D late 2009 27" iMac

Hi,
I was pretty much ready to buy a 8GB memory kit for my late 2009 27" iMac (KTA-MB1066K2/8G), and now I read on wikipedia that optionally some of the C2D 3.33GHz iMacs had a bus speed of 1333MHz, rather than a 1066MHz.
I just checked on mine under the system profiler, and found out that the bus speed is indeed 1.33GHz. Would I get better performance if I used 1333MHz chips then? If so is there a kingston recommended one I could buy? I ask this because they themselves don't post a product for this particular case, and just suggest to buy the 2x4GB 1066MHz DDR3 chip kit. And the two that are currently in the Mac are 1067MHz according to the system profiler.
Thanks,
Fabrizio

To echo fbartolini, I installed (2) Kingston KTA-MB1333/4G in my Late 2009 3.33GHz Core 2 Duo in the slots opposite of where the OEM ram was installed, and everything works great. I tried to install (3) Kingston KTA-MB1333/4G sticks in the computer, but it would not take it. (2) Kingston KTA-MB1333/4G and (2) of the original 2GB 1067MHz sticks does work, but geekbench memory tests come in at a lower rating.
Below are memory geekbench scores of relevant setups
8GB of 1333 & 4GB of 1067
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/414372
8GB of 1333 only
http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/414391
Hope this helps anyone who is looking for the same info!

The internal hard drive on my early 2009 24" iMac is nearly full. How do I add an external drive so that it functions just like the internal drive on the iMac?

The internal hard drive on my early 2009 24" iMac is nearly full. I have already worked to free as much space on the HD as possible. How do I add an external HD and have the iMac read it as though it was part of the internal HD. I know about external HD for additional storage and I do have an external HD, but, it is so much easier to search the drive when it is internal than having to perform a search on the internal drive and then a search on the external drives. And, it is easier to save files to an internal drive so that I don't have to decide which external drive to use to save files. In other words, I want to add an external HD and have it function as though I had purchased a larger internal HD.

That is simply not possible. Every drive is a separate device. It cannot be used to extend an internal drive as though you had a seamlessly larger drive.
What you can do is to create a striped RAID array using the internal drive and an external drive. However, doing this will erase the internal drive and you will lose everything on the internal drive. Furthermore, installing Lion or Mountain Lion becomes a bit of a problem because you cannot create a Recovery HD on a RAID and this tends to make the installer choke. However, you can clone an existing Lion or Mountain Lion system to the RAID and designate the RAID as a startup volume.
I would not recommend the RAID solution, personally, but there are many who do. I prefer the basic solution of spending the money on a larger internal hard drive instead of an external hard drive.
RAID Basics
For basic definitions and discussion of what a RAID is and the different types of RAIDs see RAIDs. Additional discussions plus advantages and disadvantages of RAIDs and different RAID arrays see:
RAID Tutorial;
RAID Array and Server: Hardware and Service Comparison.
Hardware or Software RAID?
RAID Hardware Vs RAID Software - What is your best option?
RAID is a method of combining multiple disk drives into a single entity in order to improve the overall performance and reliability of your system. The different options for combining the disks are referred to as RAID levels. There are several different levels of RAID available depending on the needs of your system. One of the options available to you is whether you should use a Hardware RAID solution or a Software RAID solution.
RAID Hardware is always a disk controller to which you can cable up the disk drives. RAID Software is a set of kernel modules coupled together with management utilities that implement RAID in Software and require no additional hardware.
Pros and cons. Software RAID is more flexible than Hardware RAID. Software RAID is also considerably less expensive. On the other hand, a Software RAID system requires more CPU cycles and power to run well than a comparable Hardware RAID System. Also, because Software RAID operates on a partition by partition basis where a number of individual disk partitions are grouped together as opposed to Hardware RAID systems which generally group together entire disk drives, Software RAID tends be slightly more complicated to run. This is because it has more available configurations and options. An added benefit to the slightly more expensive Hardware RAID solution is that many Hardware RAID systems incorporate features that are specialized for optimizing the performance of your system.
For more detailed information on the differences between Software RAID and Hardware RAID you may want to read: Hardware RAID vs. Software RAID: Which Implementation is Best for my Application?

Can I use a 27" Thunderbolt Display with my 2009 27" iMac?

I have a 2009 27" iMac w/o the Thunderbolt port. If I buy a new 27" Thnuderbolt Display, will it connect to my mini-display port on my iMac?

No. You need the older version of the display, which is still being sold.
<http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC007LL/A>

Can my Late 2009 24" iMac's video card be replaced without replacing the entire logic board?

Can someone help me determine if my video card is built onto the logic board on my Late 2009 Intel 3.06 mhz 24" iMac? The video shows corruption (checkered blocks) with a progress bar at the bottom of the screen, then it reboots in a cycle.
According to similar problems found on the web, I'm failry sure that the VRAM is corrupt. Apple Tech support had me do a reset on the PRAM and that only changed the direction of the corrupt pixels on my display. I also ran the Apple hardware diagnostic program that came with the iMac 3 times and it found no problems (from what I could tell squinting through my corrupt display). The S/N is W891507C250.
Thank you,
Will W.

I appreciate your reply and you are correct about it being an Early 2009 iMac.
But I'm not sure that you are correct that all Early 2009 iMac's do not have seperate video cards though. You may be, but according to other sources on the net (such as the link below) claim that some Early 2009 24" iMac models with certain video cards (i.e. NVidia, which I have in mine) are replaceable without replacing the entire logic board.
Again your feedback is appreciated, but I was kind of hoping for an Apple employee or at least an Apple Support Forum Admin to give me an official answer.
http://ifixit-guide-pdfs.s3.amazonaws.com/guide_13765_en.pdf
Thank again,
Will W.

What should I set me screen resolution to in photoshop CC with my late 2009 27" iMac?

What should I set me screen resolution to in photoshop CC with my late 2009 27" iMac?

If its native resolution is 2560x1440 then some people do find it marginal with a 27 inch screen, but I'd have thought it workable if you know where everything is. People are using that screen res on tiny laptops, but to be fair, they are not much liking it with Photoshop.
I don't know how Retina support works with CC, but I wonder if you could force it on your iMac?
Any Mac users out there know how Retina support works?

I'm thinking of getting an imac...

Currently I have a docking station for my work ThinkPad laptop and use the screen & keyboard... Will I be able to do this with the imac screen?

With the 2011 iMac's you cannot do that unless the laptop has a Thunderbolt port which I'm sure it does not. The feature you're referring to is called Target Display Mode. The 2011 iMac's have Thunderbolt ports however the 27" 2009 & 2010 iMacs have mini display ports which would work. You can still buy 2010 iMac's from Apple's refurbished store. Now before you discount the a refurbished iMac know that almost every person that get's one cannot tell the difference from a new machine and they come with the same 1 year warranty as a new machine. In addition you can buy AppleCare for them which extends the warranty to 3 years from the date of purchase. That in addition to them saving you some money make Apple Refurbished machines a VERY viable option. For example at the Refurbished Mac Computers you can currently find a 2010 27" i5 iMac for $1419, if you check the store often inventory comes and goes so you can find some pretty nice deals.

Can I still use 2009 27" iMac as an external display if it could not boot successfully itself?

My friend has a 2009 27" iMac. For some unkonwn reasons, this iMac now could not boot succesfully recently.
As I know, this iMac could be used as an external display in "target display mode", right?
Could it be still used as an external display if it fails to boot (turned on) ?
Thanks !

mende1 wrote:
stanleyoowa wrote:
And, what do you mean by " 'display only' is repairable, possibly with little effort"? Thank you very much !!
LousyFool is saying that the iMac is a computer easy to repair, at least with hard disk problems. However, you can't replace the hard disk yourself or you will avoid the warranty, so if the iMac is in warranty, you should take it to an Apple Store. If it's not in warranty, you can try to do it yourself
Sorry, hit Add Reply too soon...
stanleyoowa, your friend should boot the Mac from the original OS X system disk that came with the Mac, then use Disk utility to check the internal HDD. Maybe it's not entirely gone but can be repaired. Eventually, it must be formatted newly and the OS re-installed. Only worst case a new HDD is due.
With the Mac being from 2009, there will be neither warranty no AppleCare anymore, so DIY might be in order in that worst case. There are instructions on the web. In any case, it being a 27" iMac, I find it sad to 'degrade' it to a 'display only' function...
Message was edited by: LousyFool

27" Latest Apple Display compatibility with 2009 24" iMac 9,1

Can anyone tell me whether the latest Apple 27" Thunderbolt Display released on July 20, 2011 is compatible with the 2009 24" iMac 9,1
The Apple Thunderbolt Display tech specs on apple.com/uk states the following system requirements:
Thunderbolt-enabled Mac computer, including MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini and iMac
OS X v10.6.8 or later
Currently I have Leopard installed but I have Snow Leopard 10.6 which I can upgrade so I have that covered but I'm not sure whether my iMac is a Thunderbolt-enabled Mac computer...
Any feedback/guidance would be greatly appreciated... Cheers, Sasdaman

Here's a new article that basically covers and clears up all the new Thunderbolt display questions (same things I previously stated).
Enjoy!!
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/09/18/thunderbolt-display-daisy-chaining-spec-cleared-u p/

Do Early 2009 24" iMacs have display oddities - yellow tinge?

Hi all,
After a dour, very unsatisfying experience with an eagerly awaited 21.5" iMac (and a bad experience at the Apple Store when I tried to replace the unit), I am looking to purchase a 24" refurb unit.
Are the displays on the 24" iMac better - in terms of yellow tinge, gradient display? It would be great if any of the users of the Early 2009 24" iMacs could chime in...
Changed title to reflect question

Mine does. And just about everyone I've seen does. Apple actually sent me the new one to replace a 2 year old white 24" that exhibited the same problem. And, now that I've seen Apple has finally admitted to an issue on the newest iMacs, I'm calling Apple Care.

Need to reinstall OS on late 2009 27" iMac but I can't locate OS DVD

Hello,
I need to reinstall OS on late 2009 27" iMac but I can't locate OS DVD. The original HDD is toast and I'm going to replace it myself. I simply need to know how I go about working with Apple so they can mail me a copy of the original install DVD.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Ken

Contact Apple and for a nominal charge they will ship you a replacement set of the original DVDs. If you are going to replace the HD yourself please note that off the shelf HD's will not work due to heat sensors integrated in to the ones Apple uses in the 2009 and later machines. I'd recommend contacting an AASP to replace it and/or for some advice on how to make it work.

HT201295 Late 2009 Intel iMac Needs Frequent SMC reset - constant high speed running fan

Late 2009 Intel iMac is having reoccurring episodes of high speed fan running, especially after waking it up. The SMC reset by unplug and reboot works, but I worry that this is a serious sign and that the machine is slowly dying. Any thoughts? Works fine otherwise.

wolfgang272 wrote:
Do you have any ideas?
Yes, you just need to reset the SMC and you should be fine
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Whoops you already did that.
Hardware Test then
https://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509
Read more info here
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

I swear I think my 2009 27" iMac is dying?

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