I posted before that I had managed to bring a late-2009 iMac back to life after a thorough dust clean-out and system update, in the thread 'Brought a 2009 iMac back to life - now what?'
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/brought-a-2009-imac-back-to-life-now-what.2296404/
Sadly, that didn’t last for very long. After about 2 weeks, the graphic glitches slowly returned until the screen was scrambled, so I had to abandon the project for the time being.
Now however, an new opportunity has come up. My son’s mid-2011 iMac finally started to malfunction (it had random shutdowns of increasing frequency), so he got a newer iMac to replace it.
So I now have two broken iMacs for a repair project:
The 2009 iMac has a malfunctioning GPU and Superdrive. The Apple Hardware Test revealed no errors, and Etrecheck revealed no major issues.
The 2011 iMac has random shutdowns. The AHT shows no issues on the shorter test (I cannot run the longer test, because the computer shuts down during the extended memory test). The system logs show no kernal panics, but searching the logs using:
shows the dreaded message:
I call it dreaded, because the shutdown code chart I found says that the cause is “Unknown”, and every similar thread in MacRumors that I can find just ends with the issue not being resolved.
There are some things I can tell about the 2011 iMac’s issue:
Sadly, I’d have to give up the 2011 iMac to do that, and I’d prefer to have that one to hobby around with instead. But I don’t know exactly what’s wrong with it (and there may be multiple issues), and I think I have a pretty low chance of fixing that one.
Either way, I just want a browsing / media playing / hobby project computer, and I don’t want to spend much money on it at all. (I’d rather save that cash for an M1 mac later.)
What are your thoughts/recommendations? Which option(s) do you think I should take? Any suggestions on the cause of the 2011 iMac’s shutdown issue?
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/brought-a-2009-imac-back-to-life-now-what.2296404/
Sadly, that didn’t last for very long. After about 2 weeks, the graphic glitches slowly returned until the screen was scrambled, so I had to abandon the project for the time being.
Now however, an new opportunity has come up. My son’s mid-2011 iMac finally started to malfunction (it had random shutdowns of increasing frequency), so he got a newer iMac to replace it.
So I now have two broken iMacs for a repair project:
iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)
2.66 GHz Intel Core i5
4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB
(Malfunctioning GPU and Superdrive)
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)
2.7 GHz Intel Core i5
4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB
(512 GB SSD replacement and functioning GPU and Superdrive, but random shutdowns)
The 2009 iMac has a malfunctioning GPU and Superdrive. The Apple Hardware Test revealed no errors, and Etrecheck revealed no major issues.
The 2011 iMac has random shutdowns. The AHT shows no issues on the shorter test (I cannot run the longer test, because the computer shuts down during the extended memory test). The system logs show no kernal panics, but searching the logs using:
log show --predicate 'eventMessage contains "Previous shutdown cause"' --last 24h
shows the dreaded message:
(AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: -128
I call it dreaded, because the shutdown code chart I found says that the cause is “Unknown”, and every similar thread in MacRumors that I can find just ends with the issue not being resolved.
There are some things I can tell about the 2011 iMac’s issue:
- The shutdowns are sometimes a random restart, or sometimes a complete shutdown. Sometimes the shutdown requires an SMC reset (unplugging/plugging it) for it even to start again.
- The issue is probably not the graphics card, because the error also happens during the AHT, which does not use graphics acceleration while it is running. Also the GPU board is a replacement added during Apple’s free service program for the GPU issue, so should be newer.
- The issue may be related to overheating. MacFansControl shows CPU temperatures that bounce around even at idle, and I’m concerned that the CPU heatsink temp runs about 7-10 degrees C below the average CPU temp, when I’d expect it to be about 2-3 C lower.
- There may also be problems with the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on the 2011 iMac, or so my son claims. i have noticed the wireless mouse sometimes disconnects for a few moments, when it did not on the 2009 iMac.
- Unlike the 2009 iMac that has been sitting unplugged since about 2016, the 2011 iMac has been heavily used daily until about last week. I think my son has run it into the ground without maintenance.
- Remove the 2009 iMac’s GPU card and bake it to try to re-ball the solder joints. The GPU would occasionally work for a while when the iMac was running hot, but start malfunctioning as it cooled down. That means it might be borderline and baking it might resolve that for a while.
- Try to troubleshoot & fix the 2011 iMac. I could try some simple maintenance, like checking for packed dust behind the logic board, replacing the thermal paste on the CPU, and replacing the PRAM battery. Possibly cannibalize some identical working parts (like the Wi-Fi card or PSU board) from the 2009 iMac to try to fix it.
- Fix the 2009 iMac by cannibalizing the 2011 iMac’s GPU board, SSD upgrade and Superdrive, since I’m reasonably sure those parts are all in working order.
Sadly, I’d have to give up the 2011 iMac to do that, and I’d prefer to have that one to hobby around with instead. But I don’t know exactly what’s wrong with it (and there may be multiple issues), and I think I have a pretty low chance of fixing that one.
Either way, I just want a browsing / media playing / hobby project computer, and I don’t want to spend much money on it at all. (I’d rather save that cash for an M1 mac later.)
What are your thoughts/recommendations? Which option(s) do you think I should take? Any suggestions on the cause of the 2011 iMac’s shutdown issue?
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