2007 White iMac Screen Issues?

[Sebct]

Heya folks,

I purchased my 20" C2D iMac mid 2007, and it has been running smoothly up until now. It originally came with 1GB of RAM which I later upgraded to 2GB's.

The problem is that I get some lines across the screen. The position and size change constantly.

Also, it sometimes just completely locks up and requires a restart. Sometimes more than one restart.

I haven't had chance to take it into an Apple retail store yet and was wondering if anybody on here has had the same problems and also if there are any cheap solutions

appreciated,

Seb

 

[Drewbie]

do a smc and pram reset and see if the problems persist after that

if they do then try booting to an install dvd and seeing if the issue persists there, if it does then its a hardware problem, if it doesn't persist there then its probably software and you might have to reinstall.

btw: is the computer under warranty

 

[Sebct]

do a smc and pram reset and see if the problems persist after that

if they do then try booting to an install dvd and seeing if the issue persists there, if it does then its a hardware problem, if it doesn't persist there then its probably software and you might have to reinstall.

btw: is the computer under warranty

Hi Drewbie,

I'll go and try that and see if it works.

I haven't got Apple Care or anything like that so I would guess that it would not have any warranty.

Seb

 

[Drewbie]

yeah without applecare it will only come with a 1 year warranty. hopefully those resets fix it

 

[Sebct]

yeah without applecare it will only come with a 1 year warranty. hopefully those resets fix it

Reset both the smc and PRAM and was still getting the lines.

Then did an Archive and install using Leopard. As soon as it finished and I got logged on, It froze.

Would it be any different if I did a complete fresh installing by erasing all the data and starting again?

Seb

 

[Sebct]

I think this is almost definitely a hardware issue as I have just done a clean install and this problem still persists.

Any idea on what component has died?

Seb

 

[Drewbie]

more than likely your video card/chip set on your logic board.

turn on your computer with the install disc in and hold down 'D' while booting up

do an extended apple hardware test and see what component fails

 

[Sebct]

more than likely your video card/chip set on your logic board.

turn on your computer with the install disc in and hold down 'D' while booting up

do an extended apple hardware test and see what component fails

Tried to do an extended apple hardware test but it said that it was not available for my iMac?

I read on another forum it is a heat related issue. I then downloaded SMC fan controller - turned the fans up - and all seems to be working fine. Just have to keep it under ~45 Celcius

Seb

 

[Trimmer]

Could be logic board

Hi Seb - it sound a lot like you might have the same issue that is emerging emerging in hundreds of iMacs from around that period - mine is. 24" 6.1 - the SMC fan will help a bit but the problem will get worse and worse particularly if you use high graphics demand programs - would be good to know if you ate still having the problem ??

 

[MacHamster68]

the white iMac's are now all hitting 3 year of age so first goes the display usually followed by the GPU or the other way round , it is sort of normal and to be expected by now , sad but true , and yes there are exceptions, but the exception proofs the rule
i was lucky the previous owner of mine had apple care and had all !! internal parts replaced in the last couple month of apple care one part after the other

so as i bought it in 2010 just a couple month after apple care ended i expect to get the same issues again in 2012 latest if i am lucky ,as i do not expect it to last much longer then 3 years
and smc fan controller is only a short therm solution as you need to open it and get rid of all dust inside especially the dust between the fins of the heatsinks of cpu and gpu , if its not to late already and dust is the number 1 killer in iMac's or in any computer for that matter