iM 4,1-14,4 I Broke My iMac

[Hawk108]

This is so embarrassing, but here it goes...

A few weeks ago, I decided to upgrade my 27" Late 2012 iMac with a shiny new 500GB SSD. For a brief, glorious moment, it worked like a dream! But then, disaster struck: I found the screws from the left speaker lying on my carpet. I knew loose screws could cause vibrations, and as someone who loves listening to music, I couldn't ignore it.

Determined to fix it, I opened the iMac again and secured the screws back in place. But while reattaching the display cable, I managed to screw it up—literally. I quickly ordered a replacement from iFixit.com.

A few days later, my excitement turned into horror. As I tested the new cable, a loud popping noise shattered the silence. I inspected the motherboard, and to my utter disbelief, it was burnt. BRO, LIKE WHAT THE HELL?! It had to be the cable's fault. Frustrated and furious, I took a break from the project.

Determined not to be defeated, I bought a replacement motherboard without the CPU from eBay, advertised as working. When it arrived, I carefully installed it, transferring the damn CPU. The back bracket was a nightmare, shifting around, but I got it in there, albeit with a nagging feeling that I had damaged some of the pins.

It was go time. I fired up the machine without the display. Diagnostic light 1 came on... but nothing else. The power supply detected trickle power, but the motherboard wasn't receiving proper power.

Hours of double-checking connections and ensuring the RAM was seated properly led to nothing. Just that first light staring back at me...

Any help is appreciated.

 

[eyoungren]

I can't really help, but I can commiserate.

I once had a video card in my Quicksilver and I brilliantly decided to do something with a metal screwdriver while the door was down and the Mac was running. An arc connection happened at some point when two metal points were united together by my metal screwdriver.

The video card failed a few days later…

Moving around displays once I bumped a 17" Acrylic Studio Display with my elbow. There was no time to do anything except watch it cartwheel to the ground while the video cable shredded on the edge of the desk. It landed with a loud crack and the screen broke. Aside from that, the shredded video cable no longer was sending proper video signal. Sigh.

Once when working inside a 12" PowerBook G4, I managed to break the sleep light and it's holder by stripping the cable off the LB. When putting the Mac back together, I broke three keys.

That was the first attempt on that Mac to replace the screen. I thought at the time, 'Why do I need this heat sink over the CPU?' When the Mac went into thermal shutdown within five minutes or so, I knew I had to reopen it and put the heat sink back.

And last but not least, when replacing the LVDS cable on my first 17" PowerBook G4 I fell victim to the nasty, little metal hooks that keep the cover connected to the back. There was an unscheduled blood sacrifice from my fingers. And the strip that held the hooks ripped off. After that I just replaced the entire display.

Oh, two more! There was the time when I plugged a different power supply into my router without thinking. The power supply had more power than the router could handle and 'pop' went the router.

Then we have the Chinese knockoff power supply that caught fire inside Starbucks. Yeah…that was FUN! 👿

 

[ToniCH]

To all: here is what the 2012 diagnostic leds mean (bottom of the page).

What if you lost a motherboard AND a power supply in that pop you heard? Maybe one shorted and took another with it?

And did you check the pins you suspected that you might have bent?

Ps. on eyoungrens note: I ripped the display connector off the motherboard of my iMac 27" 2009 while planning to do a CPU upgrade rendering the machine scrap instantly. Sold it as parts for more than a working machine was worth. 😅 You learn by your mistakes. 👍

 

[Bigwaff]

Is this the same thread?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apparently-screwed-up-my-imac.2440625/

 

[eyoungren]

Ps. on eyoungrens note: I ripped the display connector off the motherboard of my iMac 27" 2009 while planning to do a CPU upgrade rendering the machine scrap instantly. Sold it as parts for more than a working machine was worth. 😅 You learn by your mistakes. 👍

You also learn your limitations, at least in my case. The 12" PowerBook G4 is the smallest computer I've ever worked on inside and look what I did to it? I had to replace previously working parts because my fingers just couldn't navigate all the tight spaces.

For this reason, no matter how easy someone will tell me it is, I do NOT work on my iPhones. Just at a certain point, the pressure gets to me and my muscles get all spastic and that's when things break.

 

[Hawk108]

Is this the same thread?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apparently-screwed-up-my-imac.2440625/

Yeah I thought I posted it in the wrong place 😑

 

[Hawk108]

To all: here is what the 2012 diagnostic leds mean (bottom of the page).

What if you lost a motherboard AND a power supply in that pop you heard? Maybe one shorted and took another with it?

And did you check the pins you suspected that you might have bent?

Ps. on eyoungrens note: I ripped the display connector off the motherboard of my iMac 27" 2009 while planning to do a CPU upgrade rendering the machine scrap instantly. Sold it as parts for more than a working machine was worth. 😅 You learn by your mistakes. 👍

So the power supply was fine, according to the guide u sent me.
Cpu pins are bent 💀💀💀. I really would appreciate advice to unbend them, I attached a image:
seems like they are bent in the wrong direction, a lot of them!

 

[eyoungren]

So the power supply was fine, according to the guide u sent me.
Cpu pins are bent 💀💀💀. I really would appreciate advice to unbend them, I attached a image:
seems like they are bent in the wrong direction, a lot of them!
View attachment 2440508 View attachment 2440509

If you can find (or have) a jeweler's screwdriver you can use that to bend the pins back. This is a very small type of screwdriver and the flat head can slip in between pins.

I've used one to bend the pins back on the LB to my PowerMac Quicksilver once. You'll just need to view the pins up close to make sure they're straight.

Jeweler's screwdrivers come in varying sizes, you'll want to find the smallest you can get.

 

[Hawk108]

well bending them back in the right direction is simple, the ones on this motherboard are bent in another direction overall, and the heads are twisted...

 

[Noot]

well bending them back in the right direction is simple, the ones on this motherboard are bent in another direction overall, and the heads are twisted...

That is normal, not all all the pins on the motherboard point in the same direction!
You can find some info and tricks on youtube, for example:

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

So the power supply was fine, according to the guide u sent me.
Cpu pins are bent 💀💀💀. I really would appreciate advice to unbend them, I attached a image:
seems like they are bent in the wrong direction, a lot of them!
View attachment 2440508 View attachment 2440509

The pins look normal to me...
Try looking from a different angle like from top down.
Or watch the below video before trying anything.
Even the professional repairman has to use microscope to fix this issue.
I hope you get very sharp eyes to do it without one.

And don't bother with the idea of replacing the entire socket... Not a doable or viable option for you...