2009 IMac 24" starts to freeze

[ajeffcoat]

Hello,

I have a new IMac 24" and it has started to freeze and not respond. At one point it would only work in Safe mode. After working with Apple for several hours, we did a complete ease and reload of the OS. It would only install the first disk. We called Apple again and made an appointment at the local store. Brought it in and it booted right up. He even reinstalled the OS for us. We brought it back home, plugged everything in and it worked. It then started having the same issues after 4 days. I forced **** it down and unplugged everything. Plugged in the keyboard and mouse and everything works. The only think we have is a Lexmark printer - X5320.

The strange thing is everything was working fine for 3 months and with my Mac Mini before that. Could it be a power issue? It is plugged into a APC UPS.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. All hardware tests pass.

Abel Jeffcoat

 

[rev.b]

Exactly the same thing my 20" started doing. Tested the disk with Tech Tools pro, lots of bad sectors.

 

[edgew8]

Could it be a power issue? It is plugged into a APC UPS.

have you tried plugging it directly into the wall socket?

It might be bad hard drive or bad ram. Listen for any weird clicks or whirring sounds, because then it would be your HDD. Ram problems are "silent but deadly" however.

Also you could try booting without the printer's USB plugged into the iMac and only connecting it when you need to print.

just a few things to try, probably wont help tho sadly.

 

[ajeffcoat]

I was thinking of a HDD issue too. Since I do have Apple Care and received Techtools Deluxe, should I do a surface scan? All other tests pass.

 

[scottlinux]

The previous model iMacs had (have) the problem of overheating, especially the video card. Once they get too hot, it freezes or shuts off. If it's just the video card freezing, you can try this:

Do not shut off your iMac when the screen freezes. Try hitting the power button twice to put it to sleep. And then wake from sleep and see if it wakes up. Then you know it's the video.

The only 'fix' for the previous models were to use the various smc fan controls and turn the fans up some to keep it cool on the inside.

 

[indg]

most likely the logic board design flaw exasperated by heat. it's a widespread problem with the late 2006 intel imac that apple is refusing to acknowledge. instead they are charging $900 to replace the logic board, which makes no sense for a computer that isn't even worth that much on the open market.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1467276&start=0&tstart=0
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/imacrecall

 

[fhall1]

most likely the logic board design flaw exasperated by heat. it's a widespread problem with the late 2006 intel imac that apple is refusing to acknowledge. instead they are charging $900 to replace the logic board, which makes no sense for a computer that isn't even worth that much on the open market.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1467276&start=0&tstart=0
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/imacrecall

WTF....is this your stock reply in every iMac thread? Did you note the thread title refers to a 2009 iMac? What relevance does talking about the late 2006 models have?

 

[indg]

bad sectors in hdd generally do not cause your system to shut down. and you'll usually hear odd beeps warning you that the hdd is failing. SMART will report problems long before the hdd actually develops a serious problem.

if your system is shutting down randomly, and/or you're seeing graphical glitches, it is most likely a faulty logic board. monitor your temps and keep an eye on the GPU temp and fan speeds. if you notice shutdowns when the gpu temp is relatively low, like 110-130F, then it's most likely a logic board issue. replacing the video card (if the GPU is not on the logic board) may help, but from what i've seen the core issue is the defective logic board.