Late 2010 iMac 21.5" Processor misinformation

613 said:

Ha, I'll be at that store on the Monday. Good times...

EDIT: I think I'll rely on the warranty first

David

Click to expand...

Some of the ideas offered so far could certainly solve the problem...so if you get a chance to pursue any of them before Monday...go for it. Otherwise it may be easier the let the folks at the Apple Store look at it so you don't continue to "run in circles" trying to figure it out.

If the Apple Stores in Scotland work the same as they do here in the US:

- they should probably have you in & out the same day (no problem)...maybe even in less than an hour depending on the issue.
- since you don't have any OS install disks...if the OS install is the issue...I'm pretty sure they would have no problem reinstalling the OS for you
- while you're at the Apple Store...DEFINITELY buy the £25.00 10.6 Snow Leopard install disk:

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (UK)

Also...if you're going to go to the Apple Store on Monday (I'm assuming Glasgow, but maybe there's one in Edinburgh)...go online & make yourself an appointment with an "Apple Genius".

Good luck,

- Nick

I still feel he should have the OSX DVD's that ship with the machine. Apple Hardware Test for one. Also if his drive fails and no back up, he will loose his iLife also.

I don't know why sellers don't give the purchaser the DVD's with the machine.

dtravis7 said:

I don't know why sellers don't give the purchaser the DVD's with the machine.

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The excuse's I always hear are they got lost or can't find them!

There certainly shouldn't be any reason why someone would sell someone else a 2010 iMac (probably around $1000 US)...and hold back on the original gray disks that are maybe worth $15 bucks...and only good with the iMac model in question!!!

Maybe 99% of the folks that buy a 2nd hand iMac (less than 1-2 years old) do get the original gray disks...and we only hear from the 1% that don't get them. Maybe I'm being optimistic!

- Nick

Nick - I made an appointment at the Glasgow Genius Bar re: 1st gen MacBook cracked wristpad. Hopefully they'll replace it out of warranty since it is sharp and getting annoying.

Edit: Four USB drives. Each for Music, Work, TV series and films, ranking in size. This iMac is the biggest and best Mac I've ever owned, but I don't want to copy anything major to it just yet. Until this is sorted I am leaving everything as it was when my MacBook was my main computer - everything on separate HDDs to plug into it. Especially since Apple may just want to take it in to look at!

I also find it strange the guy had an iMac only a few weeks old, and didn't sell me the disks especially considering the 10 year old G4 Cube came with every single disk under the sun!

I have the £25 disk. I couldn't seem to install the OS with that disk on the iMac. But I'll try again soon.

@dtravis7 - I do plan to purchase those at some point anyway. Especially if I want to sell it at some point.

Cheers!

David

613 said:

Nick - I made an appointment at the Glasgow Genius Bar re: 1st gen MacBook cracked wristpad. Hopefully they'll replace it out of warranty since it is sharp and getting annoying.

Click to expand...

Weren't we talking about an iMac in this thread?

613 said:

Edit: Four USB drives. Each for Music, Work, TV series and films, ranking in size.

Click to expand...

I see. I said firewire...I should have said USB.

613 said:

I also find it strange the guy had an iMac only a few weeks old, and didn't sell me the disks especially considering the 10 year old G4 Cube came with every single disk under the sun!

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I'm always a little leery buying a new computer from someone who only had it a few weeks....and didn't have the disks! I mean how can you "not have" or loose the disks after only a few weeks. But you always have the warranty to fall back on.

I'm not "up to speed" with your G4 cube...just the iMac in his thread.

613 said:

I have the £25 disk. I couldn't seem to install the OS with that disk on the iMac. But I'll try again soon.

Click to expand...

It depends on what version that disk is. Like "dtravis7" mentioned earlier...if your iMac needs a minimum of 10.6.3...that disk could be 10.6.0, 10.6.1, etc. If you get another 10.6 disk from the Apple Store...it should be 10.6.3 or 10.6.4. & should work fine with your iMac.

Good luck,

- Nick

We were talking about the iMac, although the MacBook is the reason I booked an appointment to the store, I'll mention it when I'm there.

It was a Retail Disk with 10.6.3. It didn't work, but I'll try again soon

Just a quick update:

I took the screenshots of my iMac's System Profiler into the Genius Bar today. The guy there said it was a firmware issue and that I should get the back up discs from Apple Care. He said that should solve the problem. However, when I called Apple Care and mentioned this he said it needed fixing by the store. So I've set up an appointment to get that sorted. I also ordered the discs, but they will take about 2 weeks to get to me, apparently.

I'll tell you what they say when I take the iMac in on Wednesday.

Thanks,

David

I don't know why sellers don't give the purchaser the DVD's with the machine.

Simple ~ they sell them separately for more bucks, or quids in the OP's case.

I think if you purchase an OX X.6.4 retail install DVD your problems will be solved. Also ask Apple if they can supply a set of the original install disks so you can access Apple Hardware Test etc.

Harry, I think you're dead right. As a seller I'd definitely bundle them with the computer. The price would suffer a little without them, especially for me. I like to have everything i can in case the computer doesn't work some time in the future!

The problem is that I have the retail DVD, but it is released as the 10.6.3 version, which apparently doesn't work with the mid-2010 iMacs. According to the Genius I spoke to today, they came out with "10.6.3 and a half." The Apple Care person I had on the phone later said it wouldn't work either.

Still, I have an appointment on Wednesday that means lugging the iMac into the city centre to get this sorted. Hopefully all will go well!

David

Another quick update.

I took the iMac into the store today. The Genius I saw had never seen anything like this before. But he found out that when he used terminal to find out what processor the iMac had it could tell you. However he couldn't find a way to fix it. He has documented what was going on and forwarded it to the in-house engineers who would get back to him. He said he'd give me a call to tell me what needed to be done probably early next week.

So he believes it to be a software problem. However they didn't have any Mid-2010 iMac back-up discs to test out in it, which I still think might solve it. I have some on order anyway, but they probably won't be here for another 10 days.

I suppose this shows me the quality of the Apple support staff. Even if they can't solve the problem they will endeavour to sort it out for you as soon as possible. Fingers crossed it won't take long for him to get back to me to keep up my belief in Apple's after-sale care.

David

Thanks David for your report. Let us know the final outcome if you would.

Problem solved:



I received the back-up discs in the post, along with MS Office 08. I didn't expect that, but maybe with Office for Mac 11 out, they have spare stock?

As expected, a simple erase and install did the job and fixed it. The processor is displaying as it should both in "About this Mac" and "System Profiler" So all in all, I have a working, start-from-scratch, current model for £700.

As a student, this makes me VERY happy.

Thanks for all your help!

David

Congratulations...great to see the problem solved!

- Nick