I think my iMAC has died!! Help!

AndyWest

AndyWest

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I have had my imac since 2008 and it has worked perfectly up until recently. I usually have firefox, Lightrom, Elements, iTunes and Entourage (Email) open at the same time and have never had a problem. I have had quite a few situations recently where the music would stop and i get the beach ball for a few seconds while working away. It's like I don't have enough RAM but I have 4GB (Which I bought about a week after the Mac and fitted myself) and as said have never had this problem for the past 3 years. I generally leave the iMac on 24/7.

Over the last couple days i have had this annoying poblem and thought i had better back up my stuff but found a few corrupt image files which i deleted. Since doing this the iMac has been fine....well for the last 24hrs it has been! While working on it today the problem came back. The last thing was that the iMac just hung with no sound, nothing, just the mouse icon could be moved. After about 5 mins i had no choice but to turn the mac of at the back. Now when i turn it on it takes ages and then all i get is a folder with a question mark which from research is something to do with the mac not being able to find the start up scipt or something similar.

On doing more research it could be that my HDD is failing or has failed.

Am I right? If so how much would you think it would cost to get the HDD replaced?

Thanks in advance

Andy
from my crappy old laptop..but at least it still works!
 
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UPDATE: I have just turned the iMac back on and it is working. Going to now test to see if it will go wrong again which I'm guessing it will. :'(
 
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Could be a memory issue? A duff stick can make them do weird things. My dear old imac has just gone on the fritz too so I feel your pain :(
 
This is my theory. If it is i would be happy to replace the memory and get 8GB if the Mac can take it. If it's the HDD then a bigger one would be very welcome! I just need to find out the problem.
 
I was having a similar problem with my PC and Laptop. After playing around with them for a while I decided that it was caused by Firefox clashing with another program. I'm not sure if firefox had been auto updated and the update was incompatible with other programs. I no longer use firefox and have had no problems since I have been using just chrome.
 
Strangways said:
I was having a similar problem with my PC and Laptop. After playing around with them for a while I decided that it was caused by Firefox clashing with another program. I'm not sure if firefox had been auto updated and the update was incompatible with other programs. I no longer use firefox and have had no problems since I have been using just chrome.
Click to expand...

Worth trying Safari I guess. Thanks
 
Strangways said:
I was having a similar problem with my PC and Laptop. After playing around with them for a while I decided that it was caused by Firefox clashing with another program. I'm not sure if firefox had been auto updated and the update was incompatible with other programs. I no longer use firefox and have had no problems since I have been using just chrome.
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I think there is a possibility that recent firefox updates have been buggy on some machines - I had exactly the same issues on my iMac [just over 3 yrs old] and my MBP [only 5mths old]. On the MPB had the same thing as Andy where after a few days of everything stopping and generally not running smoothly, it hung itself completely. When I turned it back on, had to try 3 or 4 times before it came on and a couple of times got a folder icon on splash screen instead of Apple, once with a question mark, once with a no entry sign on it. The only common factor on both machines when they locked up for minutes at a time was firefox. I uninstalled on both machines and went to google chrome [I really don't get on with safari] - and ran verify/repair discs on both and they have been fine since, running smoothly as ever.

It is not necessarily an answer Andy, but something to look at.

Firefox also freezes regularly on Mr Yv's XP desktop, but not persuaded him to move to a different browser yet ;)
 
I did update FF recently. I'm not sure how updating it would stop a machine from starting up or booting altogether. That is a worry if FF is interfering with something so low level...

The swirly thing is often a sign of excessive memory being hoofed about. FF uses quite bit.

I have noticed that killing FF with force quit on the old imac would hang the entire machine. If you use kill -9 and the FF pid in the terminal then it kills it off without taking out anything else.
 
When was the last time you verified and repaired permissions? If weird stuff is happening, that should be your first point of call. And basically after every install of an app.
 
Just a wee note on the RAM, if your mac is the same as mine (late 08/09) 4gb is the maximum you can run it in. current and recent 2010 macs with the i3 and 5 chips can run with 16gb
 
digitalfailure said:
Just a wee note on the RAM, if your mac is the same as mine (late 08/09) 4gb is the maximum you can run it in. current and recent 2010 macs with the i3 and 5 chips can run with 16gb
Click to expand...

Thanks Brian. Up until now 4GB was more than enough but it is looking like Firefox may hopefully be the culprit. Since going over to Safari the whole PC seems to be running better and faster. I have had no lock ups and Lightroom is previewing images quickly as it used to.

Fingers crossed it was Firefox!!
 
my 24" is on 4gb and it struggles if I have FF and lightroom open, if i open CS4 too it's on it's knees.

We have a newer imac here that's got 12gb in and it still flies along with cs5, lr3 and firefox blasting out you tube even with a 1.5gb composite image being edited!

might be time to upgrade the 24 :D
 
I am now saving up for a replacement. They don't do the 24 inch anymore so it will probably be the 21.5 inch. If i can save a bit more then i would love a 27 inch!!!! Nice!

As of 11.30 this evening my iMac is still behaving itself. (touches wood again!)
 
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FF is becoming a PITA. It used to be reliable now it is just a bloated crash monster. Wonder if it is a particular extension that causes the hanging?
 
AndyWest said:
Thanks Brian. Up until now 4GB was more than enough but it is looking like Firefox may hopefully be the culprit. Since going over to Safari the whole PC seems to be running better and faster. I have had no lock ups and Lightroom is previewing images quickly as it used to.

Fingers crossed it was Firefox!!
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I'm glad to hear you are back up and running.
 
I think my iMac is just about young enough to take more memory, I seem to recall when I upgraded it to 4, I could have had 8 just couldn't afford it then. Crucial, the memory website, has an auto check system whereby you can check your system and have it point you at what can be accepted. I was just about to try it but they are currently in maintenance mode, so will have a play this evening. If I can up it further, I probably will, as it was fine with 4 when I ran CS4, LR2 and older versions of FF, but with 5, 3 and new FF it was definitely overloading. Now whilst I can live without FF [anyone know a good, freebie/cheap mac compatible ftp program other than fireftp?], one wonders what program will next upgrade and cause the next problem? :shrug:

Suz, only extras I ran on ff were fireftp and of course, that wasn't running all the time, in fact quite infrequently these days with online website editing and built in uploaders for various things. I would wonder if it was a Mac compatibility thing, but it's doing similar things on Mr Yv's XP lappy, although that machine has always been a bit tempermental anyway, so I guess the combination of the two...... :bonk:
 
digitalfailure said:
Just a wee note on the RAM, if your mac is the same as mine (late 08/09) 4gb is the maximum you can run it in. current and recent 2010 macs with the i3 and 5 chips can run with 16gb
Click to expand...

Actually you can fit 6GB into the 2008/9 models (system identifier iMac 8,1) by having one 4GB DIMM in one slot and a 2GB DIMM in the other. Apple states only 4GB for this machine, but in reality it can detect and address 6GB.

Obviously this will prevent memory interleaving from taking place. However having the extra 2GB headroom may well more than compensate for the circa 10% performance loss on memory intensive operations that will occur by not using matched DIMM pairs.

Yv said:
(Snip) ....Now whilst I can live without FF [anyone know a good, freebie/cheap mac compatible ftp program other than fireftp?]
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You could try Cyberduck which is what I use. It's nice, simple and effective. Tip if you get it from the app store it'll cost around £20 (I can only see prices in CHF), but if you download it from the link provided it will just ask for a donation every time you quit the program - just click on later ;).

If you're feeling a little more techie then FileZilla is a truly free and full featured FTP client. It's just not quite so intuitive to work with.
 
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Yv said:
horlicks, its a 2009 model, I am stuck with 4 or the 6 Slaphead mentions. Probably not worth the hassle, easier to keep it as the processing machine it is meant to be and the MPB as the internet machine its meant to be :)
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If it is an early 2009 model then it'll take 8GB. Just click on the apple menu, select about this mac, and then click on more info (if you're running Lion you'll then need to click on "System Report").

If the Model Identifier says iMac 9,1 then you're good to go with 8GB.
 
Cyberduck is great. Use it all the time. Think I even coughed up for a donation!

Meanwhile looking in the apple store wondering about going for the 10 months 0% finance... i5 quad core is now the base spec. Looked at Dell and power consumption looks scary. Dell boast about a 470w psu..I really want a pc burning nearly half a kw while on, not! Mac max power use is 240 ish watts. Dell don't mention power usage much either or I'm too dim to find it....XPS ones seem similar spec and build to a mac. Cost nearly the same when you include the 3 year warranty too.
 
srichards said:
Dell boast about a 470w psu..
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PC PSU is all about headroom. You should be running about 50% of the PSU capability to get maximum efficiency (PSUs vary on efficiency depending on how much is drawn through them). A 470W will be most efficient at ~250W which is actually far more than a top of the range i7 system will draw.

The real problem with power is it depends what you are doing as to what will be drawn. For example, the latest Sandy Bridge procerssors dynamically clock. This means if they are doing nothing, they draw WAY less power than if they are doing something. System load at idle tends to be ~130W, at full tilt can be up to ~220W (assuming a standard graphics card). Power supplies are rated at a maximum value. That doesn't mean they deliver it at all times....

Bottom line: if a mac or PC have the same processor in them, power consumption will be almost equal for similar tasks (power consumption of the Mac display excepted of course as that's integrated in the iMacs...).
 
I'm just about to fit a 750w psu to my desktop to support a crossfire graphics card set up. Doesn't mean it'll be using 750w permanently, as andy said it'll be much much lower during average use, just means it can cope with peaks in draw up to 750w.

Peak power incidentally is normally at first switch on, which is why more cheap psu that are labelled as ratings they cannot actually handle fail at this point.

As a crude example my ups handles 980w and has my desktop, 2 screens, nas and peripherals plugged in and even with the i7 maxed out (currently desktop has 480w psu) uses 2/5 of the load gauge.
 
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I wish Dell would just say what typical power usage is. Apple are much better in this respect. If it is similar then they should say so! It's a selling point these days.
 
srichards said:
I wish Dell would just say what typical power usage is. Apple are much better in this respect. If it is similar then they should say so! It's a selling point these days.
Click to expand...

How can they with, like andy said, modern processors throttling back power usage at idle?

I wonder how accurate apples figures are unless they're not taking that into account..
 
Apple manage to. They have a peak and an idle wattage. Can't be beyond the wit of man to plug them into an energy monitor!
 
srichards said:
Apple manage to. They have a peak and an idle wattage. Can't be beyond the wit of man to plug them into an energy monitor!
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See my edit. What would you define average length of time at high CPU usage?

Edit - okay so apple don't seem to list typical power usage just max usage. You also have to take into account something like an iMac has a finite amount of hardware whereas a dell have a multitude of customisations.

But anyway wandering dangerously off topic now :D
 
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Apple ones are fairly accurate I think as my imac usage on my energy monitor shows the same numbers as the online info.

If I get a new one then I can let you know whether it is still the case :)

It must be possible to check peak and average energy use over a couple of hours of a fixed test cycle.
 
Update: iMac running like a super trooper now I'm not using firefox!! In fact it is like the Mac has a new lease of life! Still going to save up for a replacement I think as the screens are nicer and they have much larger HDD's.

Happy again!
 
Glad you've had some luck with yours :thumbs:

Apple 0% finance offer is on at the moment ;)
 
Thanks, It's a BIG relief!!!
 
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