Imac screen grey with vertical stripes

hi,
i have an imac 24' late 2009 silver, and sometimes the screen suddenly "switches off" and shows a grey screen with thin vertical lines about 1cm apart.  this happened twice this month now, usually when the mac was switched on for a few hours. What can it be ? is the screen broken ? Should i reinstall everything ?

You should run some diagnostics to see if you have a hardware issue first. Where I'd start is running Apple Hardware Test in Extended Mode. It isn't the best test available for testing hardware however it does uncover some problems. If you get an error code you can post it here or Google it to get a clue what it means.
You can also do some basics such as restarting in Safe Mode and doing a SMC and PRAM reset however I don't think those will help from the way you are describing the problem. Resetting both the SMC and PRAM is simple though and it can't hurt.
SMC RESET
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord and all peripherals.
Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
Release the power button.
Attach the computers power cable.
Press the power button to turn on the computer.
PRAM RESET
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.
Roger

Similar Messages

  • My iMac starts up with vertical stripes on the screen

    My iMac starts up with vertical stripes on the screen, does anyone know what it could be?

    My issue is Blue Strips on start up and its frozen at Grey screen forever > I only successfully log-in on SafeBoot mode only actually while I'm typing this
    been looking for solutions until came through your posted , ITS HELP! :-) Thanks to you!
    so turn out mine was the LCD or Cable like you said,
    What should i do from now ? already been tried many solutions :
    Clean installed , PRAM , AHT ,
    iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)
    OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)
    Please, Any suggestion ?

  • I start the computer the screen has blue vertical stripes and says that the Adobe Air application can not be found. Some of my programs don't run and say: You: Error access violation at 0x0055F525

    I start the computer the screen has blue vertical stripes and says that the Adobe Air application can not be found. Some of my programs don't run and say:
    You: Error access violation at 0x0055F525. I reinstalled Adobe Air. No change. I went to the Adobe webside and they said to repair it with a program. I bought RegCure. Didn't change anything. What to do?

    Hello cor-el, thanks for your reply. I changed my settings for downloads to desktop and it has appeared on there. When I double click I am asked which program I want to open file. I click firefox and another box "opening install" says I have chosen to open the file which is an application and do I want to save it. This is the only real option so I press save file. I get a box saying this is an executable file which may contain viruses - do you want to run. I press ok and the final box showing C drive file name and desktop appears stating application not found.
    This happens the same whenever I try to install.
    To my untrained eye the application is not being recognised as an application and I cannot work out how to get it to do that.
    My plugin is still showing as out of date.
    Is there anything you could suggest. Thanks for your time.

  • IMac 27 : Screen covered with vertical straight lines

    It started a week ago while playing Civilization V on my iMac : the screen suddenly displayed vertical blue (alterned with dark blue) vertical straight lines, the sound was still working, i could hear the music from the game. Then the screen turned black and i could'nt hear anything anymore, i had to restart the computer with the apple button.  The same happened again with civilization, once with green lines. And today, while restarting after this bug, the screen displayed multicolor lines instead of the grey wallpaper with the apple.
    What is that due to ? Is it a physical problem of the screen ? Any solution ?

    If it only happened while your were playing the game I would have suggested it was an video card overheat problem.  But if you are now having problems even when not playing the game then perhaps the video card is just failing, maybe accelerated or caused by the overheating.
    Try doing an smc and pram reset and see if that affect anything.
    If you are having a booting problem then try booting in safe mode to see if there is still a booting problem. Also boot from your installer dvd and repair/verify your drives (not repair permissions).

  • IMAC 2" wide white vertical stripe middle screen, what to do?

    my older iMAC has 2" wide white vertical stripe middle screen, it started out as single red line, what to do?

    I don't know if this will "fix" your problem but:
    As old as your iMac is, have you cleaned out the dust? Dust buildup can lead to over heating issues. Remove any and all things plugged into it including the power cord, Remove the RAM access grille. Vacuum all openings starting with the RAM access area (air intake). Vacuum all ports and plugs, DVD slot and the opening across the top of the rear of the body. Blow compressed air through all your openings and vacuum again to remove any dust you loosend. Reinstall the RAM grille. Plug in the keyboard and mouse if not blue tooth. Insert power cord...
    You are now in a perfect position to do a
    SMC RESET
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
    Shut down the computer.
    Unplug the computer's power cord and ALL peripherals.
    Wait 15 seconds.
    Attach the computers power cable.
    Wait another 5 seconds and press the power button to turn on the computer.
    Here is a Widget to monitor your temps and other operations:
    http://islayer.com/apps/istatpro/

  • HELP!! MY IPOD SCREEN DIMMED WITH WHITE STRIPES AND BLACK BACKGROUND

    im wake up this morning and find out that my ipod got boot loop, it's stuck in apple logo. i try to connect it to itunes and reset it. its work, i can hear charging sounds, and unlock sounds. and also im trying to test camera and seems it worked (i can hear camera sounds) and after taking 1 picture, the camera show up  but with these stripes, but i cant access picture library. but when im looking at the screen, i just see black screen with dim white stripes in the middle. i was thinking if my screen just broke or something. but the apple logo appear good without any scratch or stripes.
    Here's the picture
    these stripe dim alternately. i only can see these two stripe
    Some one please help me about this problem. i have no idea how to fix this. sorry for my bad english

    Try:                                               
    - iOS: Not responding or does not turn on           
    - Also try DFU mode after try recovery mode
    How to put iPod touch / iPhone into DFU mode « Karthik's scribblings
    - If not successful and you can't fully turn the iOS device fully off, let the battery fully drain. After charging for an least an hour try the above again.
    - Try another cable       
    - Try on another computer                            
    - If still not successful that usually indicates a hardware problem and an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store is in order.
      Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar                                              

  • G4 froze, screen filled with rainbow stripes, won't restart

    My powerbook G4 was transferring some files across my wireless network while I was on Firefox, just surfing. Suddenly everything froze and several one pixel wide vertical coloured lines appeared. Then more and more till the screen was full. Nothing responded to input - keyboard, pad, etc. I left it for a while then powered it down. Now it won't restart. Machine was running kinda slow, but I thought it was because of the wireless transfer, but not unusual. Didn't notice any fans going nuts either. Any suggestions? Thanks!
    1.33ghz, 2 g RAM, osX Leopard

    jon_eh, welcome to Apple Discussions.
    Which direction were you transfering files - from the Mac or to the Mac? Was your hard drive almost full?
    Not sure if you had a hardware or software problem. My only suggestion is to try a PMU reset.
     Cheers, Tom

  • Startup screen freezes with vertical lines and a restart message

    So this problem just started a couple of days ago it seems to be getting worse. Occasionally it will start-up but not often and at the moment it won't, I just keep getting this screen on start-up: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42697060@N04/3933706005/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/42697060@N04/3934486754/
    Not sure if this is the same problem people are having with the video card or not. Thanks for the help!

    I'm getting the same look, with all kinds of squares and lines on screen, although mine starts while the computer is running with color reversals and lines on the working space. Then I get a freeze and have to do a hard re-start with the power button, and finally, what you're seeing. I did notice that when I unplugged the power adaptor, the problem has gone away, at least for the past 30 minutes or so.
    I originally thought it was overheating, since if I shut it down and left it, it would re-start normally after 15 minutes, but crash again in 10 minutes of running. Then I came here, and read about the video card. That could be, but why only when plugged into the power adaptor? The power adaptor has been acting up lately, in that the light is sometimes off, sometimes amber when screen shows 100%, like that.
    I'll plug back and in and see what happens, and put it here. 4:53 PM Saturday.
    I'll keep fooling around with it, and report back here. I'll also make an appointment for next week with the nearest Apple store - 1.5 hour drive. Grrrr. I'm home with the flu this weekend. I'm tempted to go now and shake everyone's hand.

  • Ipod touch screen frozen with vertical lines

    I tried syncing my ipod and updating and while this happened the syncing kept stopping and then it said I needed to restore. While i was restoring my ipod touch froze. I was finally able to turn it off then turn it back on again and I tried to restore it again and then these vertical lines on the screen showed up and now it is frozen again. My ipod isnt in warranty anymore and nothing has happened to it, it was working perfectly fine before i started to sync it.

    See if Apple would be nice enough to replace it anyway. You must have had it for quite a while if it is out of warranty, so these problems usually do happen on older devices. You could really benefit from a new iPod touch.

  • Edit screen grey with exclamation mark

    i read this question may have been answered earlier but i couldn't find it. how can i fix this? it only happens with my unedited photos - all rotated or otherwise edited photos show up just fine. any tips would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

    mattieK:
    Welcome to the Apple Discussions. That exclamation point means that iPhoto thinks the file is no longer where it should be. Make sure they are really there by noting the name of the file and roll it's in. Then in the Finder go to your iPhoto Library folder and look inside the Originals folder. There will be a subfolder with the same name as the roll. Open it and look for the file. If it's there then your database file had been damaged and you can try a couple of fixes. None guaranteed.
    1 - download and run BatChmod on the iPhoto Library folder with the settings shown here, substituting your account name for mine. You can either type in the path to the folder or just drag the folder into that field. (This has a low probability of success but try it anyway.)
    2 - launch iPhoto with the Command+Option keys depressed and follow the instructions to rebuild the library. Select all of the options presented.
    3 - use iPhoto Library Manager to rebuild the library as follows:
    Using iPhoto Library Manager to Rebuild Your iPhoto Library
    Download iPhoto Library Manager and launch.
    Click on the Add Library button, navigate to your User/Pictures folder and select your iPhoto Library folder.
    Now that the library is listed in the left hand pane of iPLM, click on your library and go to the File->Rebuild Library menu option
    In the next window name the new library and select the location you want it to be placed.
    Click on the Create button.
    Note: It can take some time to create the new library if you have a lot of photos. One user reported that with a library of about 5,000 images it took about 12 hours so plan ahead.
    This method has succeed where others have failed. If it doesn't work you can just delete the new library that iPLM created and return to your original library.
    4 - the last is starting over from scratch by moving your problem library folder to the desktop. Drag the Originals folder out of that library onto the desktop. Then launch iPhoto, and, when asked, create a new library. Drag the Originals folder into the open iPhoto window to start the import.
    That will give you your photos back and in the same rolls as before but probably with different roll dates.
    If you have a lot of keywords that you need to preserve then you can follow the workflow in Tutorial #1 before you move the library folder to the desktop.
    Do you Twango?

  • Screen grey whit black stripes

    Hello, few days ago bought a 2GB 270x MSI R9, from time to time I made the mistake of image that leaves attached, it is curious that makes doing everyday tasks such as surfing the internet and does from time to time or "when wants "so to speak. Probe doing everything first started to erase drivers and install them again, formatting, etc etc. EVEN reaches update my BIOS thinking that maybe could be a "failure" for incompatibility, I NEVER did playing, if he did, he did with everyday tasks, please I need help from already thank you very much for your time and sorry for mi english.

    Quote from: Svet on 19-February-15, 18:56:02
    what VGA drivers you are using?
    have you tested the card in another computer?
    Vercion 14.12 Omega
    No , i dont probe the card in another pc, becouse its in warranty in the place were i buy it, now i send mi computer to that place and they gonna probe.

  • R7970 Lightning grey/blue screen with vertical lines crash

    Hi there,
    Hoping to get some help from MSI regarding this issue
    I've had this R7970 Lighting for about a year now and up until now did not have issues with it. Yesterday I was trying out how far I could OC with stock voltages using MSI afterburner and the screen suddenly went grey with vertical stripes in a ordered fashion (dark grey, light grey, with a pattern). The computer seemed to have completely locked up and required a hard power off (reset switch didn't work)
    Over the next 24 hours I've installed multiple drivers (some people online have issues with the newer AMD drivers) from 12.4 to 13.4 to no avail (I did proper cleaning using Driver Sweeper and CCleaner in between each). I did a complete reformatting and reinstall of win7 (UEFI) to no avail.
    The issue can now be triggered easily by launching any 3D program (crash immediately upon display of 3D material) or just by booting and running a few standard programs like browsing around windows explorer and launching CCC.
    Is my card dead? Should I RMA or is this a software/BIOS issue?
    Thanks in advance.

    if it happened when you had the issue happen while pushing the clocks up you have probably damaged the GPU internally from a frequancy it couldn't handle!
    if it doesn't now work at stock clocks for the R7970 lightning then i would say you need to RMA the card as the GPU is shot...

  • Grey screen with vertical lines game crashing

    Hello,
    I am getting game crashes that are not usual.When crashes happen cant go back to windows I need to restart my computer.When game crashes screen is gray with vertical stripes, most of time,somtimes is just black screen.I thought graphic card is
    faulty and took it for testing in store where I bought it but they couldn't find any problems and said that game I play causes crashing or some driver incompatibility.Game I play is World of Tanks.Game crashes are totally random it could happen after 15-20mins
    of playing,then I restart and for the rest of the day I don't get crashes.somtimes it crashes after 2 hours then I restart and could countinue playing.Can anyone help because those hard restarts cant be good for computer
    Here is what it looks like:
    https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=C49767339BC71C08!160&authkey=!AO0YarQSpJowf64&v=3&ithint=photo%2cJPG
    There are no files in minidump,but there are dmp files in LiveKernelReports folder
    Here is LiveKernelReports folder:
    https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=C49767339BC71C08!161&authkey=!AG2Wj9UtAbcE6zQ&ithint=folder%2cdmp
    Here is my configuration
    i5 4670
    asus z87-c motherboard
    Kingston hyperx 8gb 1600
    asus radeon r9270x dc2top 2gb
    Windows 7 64bit Ultimate

    Hi,
    The latest dmps show that the crash is probably caused by : atikmpag.sys which is driver for ATI Graphic Card, I would suggest you update to the latest graphic crad driveror just reinstall as a test, you can manually look for the driver in the manufacture
    website.
    And this is the requirements to run World of Tanks
    http://worldoftanks.com/en/content/guide/general/system-requirements/
    Would like to share it with you
    NOTE
    This
    response contains a reference to a third party World Wide Web site. Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you.
    Microsoft
    does not control these sites and has not tested any software or information found on these sites.
    Yolanda Zhu
    TechNet Community Support

  • TS3274 I have a new iPad mini w/retina display.  Recently, the screen flickered with red lines across the entire screen.  Anyway, the screen eventually went black. Now it does't work.  Anyone have any suggestions?

    My screen just went haywire.  The screen flickered with red strips vertically.  I thought it was part of the game I was operating until the screen went black and a white strip illiminated at the top.  I tried turning teh system off, but it would not allow me to turn it off.  After about 5 minutes, I was able to turn it off.  Anyone have this occur?  The Ipad mini appears to be ok now.

    I Also have this problem!!
    In my situation, the screen simply started exhibiting the same symptoms a few weeks ago (early February) for no apparent reason.  At first I thought the screen was dead, but discovered the heat solution by accident.  Now I turn it on and keep it from going to sleep until I go to bed.  Thank goodness the battery is still awesome on this thing.
    I bought it new and still has the original screen, I keep it at home (never below 62 degrees).  Coincidentally, this happened a day or two after the expiration of the warranty!!  Any help figuring this one out would be eternally appreciated.
    iPad mini retina Wi-Fi, iOS 8.1.3

  • My macbook pro went from startup screen to grey vertical stripes

    my macbook pro went from startup screen to grey vertical stripes with a bit of flashing.  Force quit twice and it is still doing it.  Had a bit of problem last time I started it with flashing screen, but it settled.  After leaving it on screen went black (as usual) and on waking had desktop up but continued to flash.  Any suggestions?

    Hi there Lochside,
    You may find the troubleshooting steps in the article below helpful.
    Apple computers: Troubleshooting issues with video on internal or external displayshttp://support.apple.com/kb/ht1573
    -Griff W. 

Maybe you are looking for