HELP! 2009 iMac issues.

[J.Gallardo]

Pics:

I had exactly same year model... Nice machine.
Problems used to arise in gpu, and those pink stripes are a symptom. Mine failed completely (the GPU), driving me to an expensive and difficult repair OR, retiring it as trash (sigh) after taking away internal HD.
The icon you see probably means the iMac you have ended same as mine. You could put an HD into it, as first (and cheap) try at fixing it.
Opening this machine is surprisingly easy: pull away the screen, it's "soldered" only with strong magnets! Be careful, though: delicate wires in the way.
You can find tutorials in the web.

 

[rwh63]

Not yet.

 

[EugW]

If you're not seeing the drive, then it's probably either dead or missing.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Not yet.

If it's not showing up in Finder or Disk Utility then the iMac's HDD or the internal cable that connects it to the computer's logic board (motherboard) could be shot.

Confirming this will involve dismantling the computer and testing it with a spare hard drive.

Do you have one on hand or can you borrow a drive from someone in order to check?

@EugW beat me to it. I type too slowly!

 

[rwh63]

got nothing out of the firewire/T method. unplugged and tried the PRAM (control/alt/p/r). nothing happened.

 

[rwh63]

might be surgery time. i do not have an internal hard drive lying around. only my passport for mac external storage HD.

 

[TheShortTimer]

might be surgery time.

It's the easiest way to know for certain. As @EugW pointed out, the drive could have been removed by the owner or whoever decommissioned the iMac. I've bought several Macs whose storage drives had been pulled beforehand on the grounds of data protection.

Here's an iFixit guide on disassembling the iMac in order to replace/check the HDD's status.

 

[rwh63]

It's the easiest way to know for certain. As @EugW pointed out, the drive could have been removed by the owner or whoever decommissioned the iMac. I've bought several Macs whose storage drives had been pulled beforehand on the grounds of data protection.

Here's an iFixit guide on disassembling the iMac in order to replace/check the HDD's status.

its possible. maybe the university did it, gave the body to someone, they never did anything with it, and it ended up in the recycling bin.

 

[EugW]

might be surgery time. i do not have an internal hard drive lying around. only my passport for mac external storage HD.

If you want to be absolutely sure the machine is working fine (considering it has occasional pink bars), you could try installing High Sierra on the external drive first as a test. If it's all working OK, then install an SSD internally.

internal cable that connects it to the computer's logic board (motherboard) could be shot.

Is that a common occurrence with these models?

 

[rwh63]

there are probably a lot of tutorials on the web about opening it up. any that are known to be best quality? any special tools needed?

 

[rwh63]

happy to try installing high sierra. however, if the hd is dead or missing, how does that work? laptop thumb drive direct download, then plug into iMac usb? i'm due for a final high sierra download on my laptop, mainly for browser update.

 

[Amethyst1]

I've bought several Macs whose storage drives had been pulled beforehand on the grounds of data protection.

The truth is, it would have been sufficient to properly wipe the drive.

 

[EugW]

happy to try installing high sierra. however, if the hd is dead or missing, how does that work? laptop thumb drive direct download, then plug into iMac usb? i'm due for a final high sierra download on my laptop, mainly for browser update.

Actually, which OS do you have on your Mac laptop? If you happen to have a compatible OS installed on it, you can boot the laptop pressing T, to put it into FireWire Target Mode.

Then it can act as an external drive for the iMac for boot up. With the laptop in FireWire mode, plug in the FireWire cable into both the laptop and the iMac, and boot the iMac up when holding the Option key. This will bring you to the boot drive selector, and your laptop's drive should show up there. Select that drive, and continue with the boot.

 

[MBAir2010]

try using a external hard drive to see if you can time machine, or disk utility or really anything.
even see if the 2GB OSX something appears
press the option key after turning the iMac on

 

[TheShortTimer]

Is that a common occurrence with these models?

It certainly seems to be with Macs of that era. My 15" 2011 MBP had been put up for sale because of a flashing question mark and folder message and I was informed with 100% certainty that the SATA cable was the culprit because they're notorious for failing.

there are probably a lot of tutorials on the web about opening it up. any that are known to be best quality? any special tools needed?

The iFixit guide that I linked to in my reply will be among the best you can find and it lists all the tools what you're require for the disassembly process.

The truth is, it would have been sufficient to properly wipe the drive.

Of course but given my experiences (which I'm sure are parallel to yours) with IT personnel, they're unlikely to understand how to carry this task out and just opt for (what they perceive as) the easier route of pulling the drive.

 

[EugW]

It certainly seems to be with Macs of that era. My 15" 2011 MBP had been put up for sale because of a flashing question mark and folder message and I was informed with 100% certainty that the SATA cable was the culprit because they're notorious for failing.

Yes, I knew it was relatively common with certain MacBook Pro models, but I hadn't seen a lot of posts about this issue with the iMac.

 

[rwh63]

try using a external hard drive to see if you can time machine, or disk utility or really anything.
even see if the 2GB OSX something appears
press the option key after turning the iMac on

MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH!: maybe not, but pressed the ALT key while turning it on. noticed mouse curser. ?folder did not appear, and can move curser around. what does it mean!

 

[rwh63]

Actually, which OS do you have on your Mac laptop? If you happen to have a compatible OS installed on it, you can boot the laptop pressing T, to put it into FireWire Target Mode.

Then it can act as an external drive for the iMac for boot up. With the laptop in FireWire mode, plug in the FireWire cable into both the laptop and the iMac, and boot the iMac up when holding the Option key. This will bring you to the boot drive selector, and your laptop's drive should show up there. Select that drive, and continue with the boot.

sierra

 

[EugW]

sierra

Sierra will work. Put it in Target Disk mode and connect it up to the iMac. Turn on the iMac and hold down Alt.

MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH!: maybe not, but pressed the ALT key while turning it on. noticed mouse curser. ?folder did not appear, and can move curser around. what does it mean!

It sounds like you’re in the boot drive selector (see above) but there are no boot drives to select.

 

[rwh63]

You should be able to use any USB keyboard to do a PRAM reset, doesn't have to be a Mac keyboard. Option and Alt are interchangeable. Command+Option+P+R will do the trick, wait for it to chime two or three times before letting go of the keys when you start it up.

It's also possible the hard drive was just erased, and is not removed. But if it's making a lot of noise, it's probably going bad (or is already bad). I wouldn't recommend putting a DVD in it until you can verify the computer works alright, because if the noise is indeed the disc drive, it might eat your disc. If you have a FireWire 800 cable, you could put the iMac into Target Disk Mode and check it via your MacBook Pro too.

I second getting a High Sierra installer on a USB external drive and booting it from there. You will be able to check the internal drive by using Disk Utility on the installer.

I hope you can get it to work! The 27" iMacs are nice and big. If nothing else, you got some RAM out of it.

command and control are the same? upon start up, there is a searching sound for about 9 cycles, then it stops. no further noise.

 

[MBAir2010]

MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH!: maybe not, but pressed the ALT key while turning it on. noticed mouse curser. ?folder did not appear, and can move curser around. what does it mean!

tough call
i would attach a external drive with sierra time machine in the imac
turn on
press ATL or Option
see what options appear
before you go nuts make sure the graphics card works and you can see the 4 options

added
i just realized i will spend more on my Mac mini that what i paid for it!
worth every penny for me tho

 

[rwh63]

Sierra will work. Put it in Target Disk mode and connect it up to the iMac. Turn on the iMac and hold down Al

Sierra will work. Put it in Target Disk mode and connect it up to the iMac. Turn on the iMac and hold down Alt.

thats a little confusing. if i put it into target mode, isn't the iMac already on?

 

[EugW]

Put your MacBook into Target Disk mode.

Then connect it to the iMac and turn on the iMac while holding down alt.

 

[rwh63]

ok, excuse my ignorance, how do i put the laptop into target mode? shut it down and start up pressing T?
and then connect the laptop to the iMac via (firewire, usb)?

 

[EugW]

ok, excuse my ignorance, how do i put the laptop into target mode? shut it down and start up pressing T?

Yup

and then connect the laptop to the iMac via (firewire, usb)?

FireWire