The 2011 iMac From Hell

[TRDGT4Writer]

Two weeks ago I received a mid-2011 iMac 27" as present from a friend and now it's unusable. Before I received it, it had a fist-sized hole of broken glass (but that was fixed with new glass and screen along with a new Samsung 860 EVO SSD as the old hard drive was malfunctioning. Then a week later. Then out of nowhere, it shuts down and restarts itself soon after acquired it from the Mac repair store. Then a day later, it was sent back where it received a new power supply which they thought it was the culprit (they also tested if it had bad RAM but determined it wasn't the case). I told them to wipe out the hard drive as it was fresh but they didn't. 48 hrs after the power supply was replaced, I was greeted with this loud 120dB+ audio skipping alarm which sounded like a .30 caliber plasma machine gun from Star Wars even though I was watching a tutorial video at below comfortable levels.

I opened two apps: Console and DiskDrill to see what errors were recorded and it spit out a university-like essay. I printed them out and showed it to one of the Best Buy Associates and he determined it had a Kernel Panic but he couldn't determine what kind...which bring me to this forum for help.

I've read on other forums that it might be the GPU, but I don't know if it was replaced or not and/or not using Apple-compatible peripherals. I have an Apple Keyboard with numpad, a Black/White Logitech G502 SE HERO gaming mouse that I bought as I have medical problems (which on the box it says it's compatible on "MacOS 10.11 or later").

So I now have come to ask for help on what could be causing random shutdowns/restarts and kernel panics as I'm on my last legs here and I need this iMac for work and compatible purposes only.

System Specs:

Mid-2011 iMac A1312 (iMac12,2) • MacOS 10.12.6 Sierra • 3.4GHz i7 QC CPU • 32GB RAM • 2GB AMD Radeon HD 6970M • 1TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD (about 87-99% free).

Installed Software:

DiskDrill • MalwareBytes • BitDefender Total Security 2020 • VLC • Audacity • OnyX • QuickTime 7 Pro • Mac Fan Control...I'm not sure about the rest of it but they're all 64-bit freeware programs (except QT7) that you can find on the official vendor sites.

Regards,

 

[CooperBox]

It sounds to me that as it initially had "a fist-sized hole of broken glass" through the screen, that something else was partially damaged at that time, and not recognised when the replacement screen, SSD and then the power supply were changed.
I'll leave the analysis of the kernel panic reports to those more knowledgeable than myself.
However, I can advise that the BitDefender app is of little use, as to the best of my knowledge there are still no virus's affecting recent Macs, although there are a number of products which fool the user to the contrary, and to buy their anti-virus programs. MalwareBytes on the other hand can be useful for screening unwanted, questionable web sites.
It sounds that the "Mac repair store" you used were really not competent for such a repair.
I've repaired a 2010 27" iMac for a defective graphics card, and worked on my own 2011 iMac to install an SSD (whilst retaining the original HD and optical drive). These iMacs really do require great care and patience on disassemby and especially on rebuild.
I suggest you take the iMac back to the repair shop and insist on them finding the real cause of the problem and offering some commercial compensation.

 

[TwoH]

Kernel panic is definitely an issue most commonly appearing from RAM and GPU.
You say "120dB+ audio skipping alarm" and this has me believe that the fault would actually be with the RAM -- I've only had this happen a few times to me with different iMacs, and it has scared the **** out of me every time.

 

[sahnert]

I recently installed an SSD with clean install of High Sierra in my mid-2011 21.5” iMac. the first boot was ok but after that I was getting Kernel panics at startup. The SSD tech support said this model year sometimes needs to have its original OS installed first and and then updated from there.

I begrudgingly erased SSD and installed 10.6 from the original install DVD (internet recovery offered 10.7 which probably would have worked too), then installed El Capitan, then finally High Sierra. Since then I haven’t had a kernel panic, been running smoothly for weeks.

nothing else about my setup changed, just clean install of High Sierra vs. update from 10.6 and the problem was resolved for me.

it sounds like your machine might have other issues too, but if you are fishing for a solution this one might be worth a try.


note: all installers were direct from Apple. 10.7 was available via internet recovery, El Capitan and High Sierra we’re both available via Apple support Website

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

Also sounds like the temp sensor cable wasn't used for the SSD. There are debates on whether or not it is necessary, but it could be causing issues.

OWC In-line Digital Thermal Sensor for 27-inch iMacs

OWC's in-line solution is the only hardware digital thermal sensor on the market allowing a third-party SATA drive to be installed in your iMac.

eshop.macsales.com

 

[sahnert]

I just remembered a second issue that cropped up with my 21.5”:

Removing the screen to replace the hard drive disturbed nine years of accumulated dust. I carefully tried to vacuum it away (from a safe distance since I didn’t have an anti-static vac) but I could tell there was still some there.

The loose dust ended up collecting in the RAM compartment and caused the computer to restart, fail to boot, and emit three loud beeps repeatedly. I read online that this is usually related to failed RAM. I opened the RAM access door, removed the RAM, cleared out a large amount of dust and replaced the RAM. Issue resolved.

 

[Fishrrman]

Some "gifts" simply aren't worth the trouble and expense... (sigh)

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Give it right back!