Imac Intel late 2006 OSx 10.4 Tiger grey screen spinning wheel...

[Katefrog]

Can anyone help?I know this is a common problem but I need some fresh ideas.
I'm new to the forum and my mac is stuck in a coma after I got the beachball so I couldn't even force quit. I had to swich off at the power now I can't get it to boot back up and run.
I have the grey screen with spinning wheel, eventually this turns to the blue screen.
I've tried starting in safe, verbose and single user modes with fsck -fy. I've booted off the disc and tried first aid but it comes up with an error. I've stupidely not backed up my HD and I don't want to reinstall OSx as I will lose everthing. In fact, the reason I wanted to use my mac yesterday before this happend was so I could back everything up to my new WD hard drive!!!! Too late!!!
Please help. I'm very sad.

 

[chscag]

Well, it sounds like your hard drive died. It's possible you may be able to extract data from it with special software. Data Rescue 3 is best at doing this but it's costly. You can, however, download a trial copy first to see if it can read and extract the data from the dead hard drive.

But first, you need to get your computer back up and running. Remove the old hard drive completely from the machine and replace it with the new WD that you bought. Then boot your machine with your original Tiger DVD and install OS X and applications. Afterward, you'll need an external carrier or adapter for the old hard drive so you can attach it to the machine and see if you can extract the data.

Removing and replacing a hard drive in an iMac is a rather difficult task so make sure you're capable of doing it. Go to iFixit: The free repair manual for instructions and tools needed.

 

[baggss]

It could also be the motherboard. These are the same symptoms my wife's iMac of the same breed developed a few years back. $900 and a new motherboard later it was back in business.

 

[Katefrog]

Thanks for your help guys. I got it back running albeit very slowly. The beachball spins for about 10 seconds every few strokes typing this! Think fsck - and various commands did it plus pulling out powercable and leaving off for a while. Complete fluke. Couldn't even find the hard drive. Figured it was dead too! Question is, now i'm backed-up, what next? How do I lose the beach ball??

 

[CrimsonRequiem]

Well now that you are backed up it's time to get a new HDD in there. Then format HDD, install Mac OS X, and put back your data on the new HDD.

Simple right?

 

[Katefrog]

ok so my plan is to avoid buying a new HD if possible. I have the new Mac box set arriving soon - I decided to go for the full thing. That will upgrade me from Tiger to Snow Leopard. To go with it i'm planning on buying 2 gb x2 matched pairs to sort out the RAM. I know my system can only hold a bit over 3 but It can't do any harm and the debate over whether matched pairs are better or just more expensive is doing my head in so I just made a decision!
Today I've been doing some system maintenance but the beach ball is still there. Internet browsing is now fine, as is typing up this but everything else is slow,slow,slow.
Any other tips?

 

[harryb2448]

chscag gave you the best tip.

Download a little utility called SMARTReporter which will advise the state of your hard drive.

 

[Katefrog]

Thank you guys for your advise. My Mac died a second death i'm afraid. It's time for 'Pimp my Mac' I feel. Need new internal hard drive as well as the planned RAM upgrade. Are there any limitations with my Mac model that I should be aware of, or any recommendations regarding brand, RPM, capacity etc? I know it's a big job installing it myself but I'm planning on getting help.

 

[chscag]

The best place to go to find a new hard drive and also buy memory for an upgrade is from "Other World Computing". They're Mac specialists and sell only the best in parts and memory for your Mac. Here is the LINK.

Refer back to my first reply regarding removing and replacing the hard drive in your iMac.

Let us know if we can be of more assistance.