24" Early Intel iMac won't restart...

1st 24" model, so 2006, plastic case.

Here's the sequence of events:

• Late night while listening to music the unit shuts down instantly with no warning. I assume I had the sleep scheduled and don't think too much about it.
• Try to reboot in the morning and get some indications of starting (a slight fan/hard drive spin) but they quickly stop and I am faced with only a solid white light. No beep, no video, no fan...
• I unplug all accessories, unplug the computer for 2 minutes, plug only the comuter back in, power up, same high speed fan, no lights or other sounds.
• I unplug the computer. I plug back in while holding the power button. (To reset the SMU) I release the power buttong after 10 seconds or so, and press the power button again to power up. I only get a fan running at full speed, no other indications. Power down, up, no change.
• I unplug, wait, plug back in, and restart. Now I am back to the beginning, slight fan/hard drive spin, then just a solid white light and nothing else.

The hard drive is a fairly recent replacement.

At this point I've purchased a replacement iMac. Partly because this one is getting old and after this I've started to loose confidence in it... and mostly because it will be cool to have a new 27"!

I'd still like to see if I can bring the old one back to life and either hand it down or use it in my garage (I've always wanted a iMac in the garage!).

Any ideas from the symptoms what may be the problem?

Any comments on how much it's worth throwing at an old machine like this?

Thanks!

It's hard to say what died on your old iMac but from the symptoms you describe, it sounds like the logic board may have given up the ghost. It could also be a bad power supply - even though it seems to power up.

Either way, it may not be worth the time and money to repair it. Certainly not worth it if it's the logic board. Also, any work that has to be done on the machine means removing the entire front display. Not an easy job.

You might consider selling it for parts on eBay or locally on Craig's list.

I was hoping that it didn't sound anything like a logic board

It's been such a good computer, I hate to give up on it! But you are right, that may be the best call at this point.

Well, I feel a little embarrassed to post this, but hey, it might help someone else out!

Here is the long story...

Dragged my Mac to a local Mac repair shop. They connect a plug and what do you know it fires right up!! What?? He does a quick check to see what OS I am running etc... and comments that I only have 1MB of RAM. I say that's strange, I should have 2MB. He powers down and opens the memory door to find one of the memory cards completely loose. Seems that it must have been coming loose when I was having issues trying to start. It wasn't until I boxed it up and drove around with it that it fell completely out allowing the machine to successfully start again. I went ahead and maxed out the RAM while I was there and took home my old girl to run for a few more years. It will be second seat to my new 27"!

Looking back I had removed the memory when I installed a 2TB hard drive back in January. Obviously I didn't get the memory card seated properly when I completed the job and it eventually worked its way out to the point where it was not making good contact. Someone recommended that I back track my steps from that installation just to be sure I hadn't caused a problem... but I didn't take the time to do it or I would have found the problem myself.

Short story... if you have troubles, check the easy stuff first, including making sure your memory cards are firmly inserted.

All is well that ends well!

No worries, it happens to the best of us lol. Just glad to hear she is still running.

You must find a HUGE difference between your original 2mb's of RAM - and 4 gb's !!

pedropete said:

You must find a HUGE difference between your original 2mb's of RAM - and 4 gb's !!

Click to expand...

It's like a new machine! No doubt.