Imac startup: three beeps continuously, monitor remains dark.

imac startup: three loud beeps continuously, monitor remains dark.

According to Apple's "Power On Self-Test Beep Definition - Part 2" doc, 3 beeps means "no good banks".
Do what Niel says. Reseat all the dimms. Maybe even shuffle them around.

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What do ido if My iMac (intel) starts but the screen remains dark.

What do ido if My iMac (intel) starts but the screen remains dark.

Reset the SMC > Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord.
Wait fifteen seconds.
Attach the computer's power cord.
Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.
Reset the PRAM > Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
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.
Try booting into Safe Mode > Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode
Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
Or if you have installed new RAM, try reinstalling it or the iMac's original RAM making sure that the modules are fully seated in the slots.
Then if it won't light, seek sercice from your Local Apple Authorized Service Provider or Apple Store. > Apple - Support - iMac - Service FAQ

IMac gives three beeps and freezes

My neighbour's iMac starts and runs normally most of the time, but periodically when running emits three beeps and then freezes. This is NOT the usual "three beeps at startup" indicating a RAM problem, but whilst the machine is is actually being used.
Can't seem to find anything about this anywhere. Any ideas, anyone?
(The logic board was replaced very soon after purchase as the machine had all sorts of problems . . .)

My imac mid 2010 worked fine with "new" memory for 6 months, then started hanging in mid-session - meaning it froze and beeped loudly hours or days after it booted OK. Put old memory back in and noticed it ran more smoothly with less memory than more. Put the "new" memory back in and ran memtest for days and days; no problems reported. But, the system still froze after I'd been working for a while - at odd times. So, took the "new" memory back to the store, and, while there, upgraded to (more expensive) Crucial brand memory - just to be on the "safer" side. Put the replacement memory in and my imac has never run better - not even when new. So far, my imac is quieter, cooler, and smoother now than since the day I bought it. Thought I'd post this on this old thread because Apple Care had told me to bring the machine to them for three days of testing - per other posts I'd seen on the net. But, that would have been a complete waste of time - since they'd wind up (with the old memory) telling me "no problem," or, (with the "new" memory,) "it's a non-apple part problem." Meanwhile, bad memory can mean bad writes to your hard drive; mine seems fine, but I generally pay close attention to problems and fix them asap, or, sooner. If you wait until you have additional problems, you may spend a lot more time and money getting things finally done - and you may wind up back at "square one" or worse if you trash your drive and it's contents.

Macmini startup - three beeps - grey screen

When powering on, the fan starts and a few seconds later there are three long beeps and the screen never gets beyond grey. This has happened on a few occasions before, but was solved by 'resetting PMU' procedure. On one occasion it required several repitions of the rest, but now nothing helps.
Anyway around this?

Three beeps normally means a memory problem. If you get the three beeps each time, your memory is bad, and the work around is new memory.

Help. Dead iMac making three beeps

my iMac has a black screen and is making three consecutive beeps. What do I do?

Either the RAM is bad or there is a hardware failure in the memory manager. If you have multiple RAM modules, you can try pulling them one at a time (or pulling all and reinserting one at a time) to test for bad RAM. Otherwise (or if checking the RAM doesn't work) take the computer in for servicing at an AASP.

Monitor remains dark

Is this a HW or SW matter? Or both?
On starting my MBP, Startsound is heared,
keyboard light ok,
higher case light (in key) ok
techtool (4) without error,
MBP getsmounted per target,
Diskfirstaid (HD Utility) festplattendienstprogramm per target, no errors,
checking and correction completed, (MBP is not re-mounted automatically)
(trying the utility on the second line (logically entry?) it could not run because it could not been unmounted....)
Just not enogh HD space let me stop to install OS from the Leopard (CPU-Drop-in DVD ???)
SMC reset performed.
No screen.
_____________ k.

checking and correction OF USER-RIGTHS completed ....

IMac 20in makes three beeps and fails to boot?

I have just changed the hard drive on my previously working 20in Intel iMac. The drive was pre-formatted and loaded with Mountain Lion using an external dock. The computer functions when fire-wired to another iMac, showing the doners desktop. Now I hear three intermittant beeps when pressing the start button on the 20in iMac. The screen remains dark. (It is assembled, but I have not fitted the aluminium front bezel or the glass yet). It does not respond to any keyboard commands. The memory moduls have been re-inserted firmly. Help please?

Sounds like a RAM problem:
Beeps on startup:
1 beep = no RAM installed
2 beeps = incompatible RAM types
3 beeps = no good banks
4 beeps = no good boot images.
5 beeps = processor is not usable
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2538

IMac G4 screen remains dark

my 17' G4 iMac USB 2.0 (10.4.11) screen froze and the following messages appeared:
"System failure: cpu 0 00000008 unaligned stack"
as well as lots of the following lines:
"Unresolved kernel trap (cpu 0) 0x600 Alignment DAR" etc
Had to shut it down by using power switch. Pulled out all cables except for mouse + keyboard.
I can start it - but there is no start-up chime and screen remains black.
Tried safe boot, no response. Tried to open drive door during start up for putting in hardware test disc (mouse held down), door won't open.
Tried PRAM, no response. Tried PMU reset, no change.
Removed extra RAM I had fitted years ago and tried to start it. After I did that the iMac responds
with a 4 x beep morse code signal after turning it back on, but screen remains dark.
Also tried to start in target mode, but other 27' iMac does not "see" G4 iMac.
Anyone has any thoughts ? Don't want to get rid of this machine, I love the design.
Thanks
Walter

There is some likelihood of a hardware failure, to include
perhaps, the logic board; some kernel panic issues on an
iMac G4 could point to such an event.
Not certain if checking out such a machine at that stage is
possible with the original Apple Hardware Test, since that
relies on viewing evidence of the results in said computer.
• What do the beeps mean on startup?
http://www.welovemacs.com/whdoallthbme.html
{After Oct 1999 the four-beeps signal appears to mean a
different symptom, according to the above page...} *4 beeps =*
*no good boot images in the boot ROM (and/or bad sys config block)*
• *Power On Self-Test Beep Definition* - Part 2:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1547
• Technical Note TN2063: Understanding and Debugging Kernel Panics
http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/technotes/tn2002/tn2063.html
• Resolving Kernel Panics:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/kernelpanics.html
While it may not be a major melt-down, you could be in for
a project at some point in the future if you start looking into
finding other similar iMac G4s (they are getting scarce) to
use either for parts or as spares should their needs go there.
I have two running iMac G4 1.25GHz 17" & one in-op for parts.
A skilled and willing computer shop tech could probably
test the computer further, but some shops would rather
you buy something newer from their retail store. In some
cases, you may be able to get a working iMac G4 17" 1.25
for a few hundred dollars; if lucky, one in fine shape.
Perhaps one of the techie folks who frequent these forums will
see your post & offer their insights, based on experience.
Good luck & happy computing!

IMac blank screen & three beeps!

Since I received my iMac I have had issues with it not waking up using the Apple Bluetooth keyboard or trackpad. As I was downloading Lion yesterday the screen went blank and the iMac started beeping three times in a row, this happened twice more during the installation process. The only way to stop it beeping was to force a shut down by holding down the power button. I have run Techtool Pro 5 and it says there's nothing wrong with my RAM.
Are the two incidences related or do I have a faulty Bluetooth module and a faulty graphics card or RAM?
Please help!

Three beeps at startup indicates bad RAM.
Intel-based Mac Power On Self Test RAM error beeps
Power On Self-Test Beep Definition - Part 2

My iMac running 10.8.2 in sleep mode was repeating three beeping sounds and was unresponsive. I had to pull the power cord to restart. Now it appears fine. Anyone know what the three beeps means?

What does a three beep repeating sound indicate?

3 beeps generally indicates a ram problem. Mac computers: About startup tones - Apple Support
3 successive tones, a 5 second pause (repeating): This indicates RAM does not pass a data integrity check.
You say your iMac was beeping during sleep? Have never heard that before. Try removing and reseating the ram.
Reset the PRAM How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support
You might also consider running The Apple Hardware Test OS X Mountain Lion: Use Apple Diagnostics or Apple Hardware Test
You should also update your OS X About the OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5 Update - Apple Support
Finally you don't use Chrome do you? There have been reports of beeping while using Chrome, don't know why.

IMac G5 iSight 2.1 three beeps

I have an Apple certified refurb iMac as described above. It suddenly failed last night. When I try to start it up, it has a blank blue screen with a repeating three beep pattern. After a while the screen question mark symbol comes up. I'm assuming it is a dead logic board and therefore a worthless computer. This seems to be a problem this model had.
Any other ideas for what could be wrong? Any recalls that anyone is aware of? Any likelihood of getting out of warranty repair? Any value of the machine I have left? And lastly, any easy way to get the hard drive out so I could get some files off of it?
Thanks for the help.

I think three beeps means that the RAM has failed. See the Apple KB article [here|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58442]. It's probably time to take it in and spend a few bucks on it.

I have just got an iMac 21" and it continuously freezes when it goes to sleep and also when the internet is trying to load, i have tried three different browsers but it still does it (safari, google chrome and firefox), does anyone know what is wrong?

I have just got an iMac 21" and it continuously freezes when it goes to sleep and also when the internet is trying to load, i have tried three different browsers but it still does it (safari, google chrome and firefox), does anyone know what is wrong?

To fix the freezing when sleeping problem go to System Preferences>Energy Saver and set 'Computer Sleep' to 'Never'. It seems there is a problem for some with Bluetooth failing to wake after sleep. This fixes it 100% for me and many others on here, until Apple issue a software update to address it.
Not sure what to suggest on the internet problem. I assume you are connected and receive and send emails OK.
Edit: To try to troubleshoot the internet issue maybe try turning the Firewall off: System Preferences>Security & Privacy>Firewall tab.

Imac Ram replacement in aluminum duo core now with three beeps!!

Ok, I had a 2 gig stick in a bought a 1 gig stick to put in the other slot. As it turns out both sticks are made by the same manufacturer (Hynix) and both are pc2-5300s-555-12. I put in the 1 gig and got the three beeps with both sticks in. I took out the 1 gig and still with the beeps. I take the 2 gig out and put the 1 gig in it's place and it boots up. I put the 2 gig in the other slot...beeps. I don't understand what happened or why the 2 gig won't work in it's original slot anymore.

Hi Cothirteen
Welcome to Apple Discussions
Perhaps the original module was not fully seated in the slot or popped out when you were adding the second module. Likewise it takes quite a bit of force to fully seat a module in a slot that has never had ram installed in it.
Following the instructions in the link below, it may require a second person to steady the iMac so that you can press real hard on each module with both thumbs.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1760
Dennis

My imac 2007 keeps crashing and then it beeps continuously

My imac 2007 keeps crashing and then it beeps continuously when starting up and just has a black screen.

Don't know what caused it other than RAM does occasionally fail.
Don't suppose you bought it from either Crucial or Macsales, as they guarantee their chips for life and will swap them over for replacements.
Sometimes, pulling the RAM chips out and re-seating them will get things working again.
Did you replace the original sticks or add to empty slots? It's often a case of trial and error to see which one/ones have failed. If the original chips were taken out and you still have them try pulling the chips that are currently installed and replacing them with the originals. Or, if the originals are still installed, just pull the additional chips and test. As I say, trial and error. Good luck!

Three beep startup error even with new RAM.

I have a three beep error at start-up on my Mini. I reseated my original RAM with no improvement. I replaced the RAM with OWC and still have the three beep error. Is the video RAM or the memory controller bad?

I ran for years with the stock 4GB, 2x2GB, in the Mini. Recently, occasionally at start-up I would get a flicker but would boot fine. I was using it and it went dead, black screen. I got the three beeps when I went to restart.
I imagine replacing the RAM slots themselves involves major surgery since they're probably soldered in. Maybe would clearing the connectors on the slot help?

Imac startup: three beeps continuously, monitor remains dark.

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