Intel iMac 2006 screen suddenly stopped working

Hello! My grandma's iMac screen just stopped working about a week ago. She had it asleep and when she came back, it just wouldn't come on. Ive tried everything I can think of to fix it. Restarted it, unplugged it, and I even took out the RAM and reinstalled it like I read somewhere on another forum. When you turn it on, all you get is the little white glowing dot. It glows steady. It also is making noises like it's trying to turn on. No grinding or anything. Just the regular noise it has always made.

Any suggestion as to what I should do? I ordered a cable online to use an external monitor but it's not working. I figured that it was the screen and I would be able to use another monitor for the time being. Maybe it has finally crapped out on me? It will be six years old in December.

Thanks!

Koocachoo said:

Any suggestion as to what I should do? I ordered a cable online to use an external monitor but it's not working. I figured that it was the screen and I would be able to use another monitor for the time being. Maybe it has finally crapped out on me? It will be six years old in December.

Thanks!

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What you tried with the external monitor & cable is the first thing I would have suggested trying as well. My guess is that this iMac's video hardware has gone bad on you...since the iMac's built-in display & the external display are both not working. Which would solidly point to a video issue.

Since this is a video hardware issue (video hardware is soldered onto the logic board in almost all cases)...there's really not user replaceable part...other than replacing the whole logic board. Which would neither be inexpensive...or worth while doing...since the cost of doing it would most likely exceed the total value of the computer.

HTH,

- Nick

Any suggestion as to what I should do? I ordered a cable online to use an external monitor but it's not working. I figured that it was the screen and I would be able to use another monitor for the time being. Maybe it has finally crapped out on me? It will be six years old in December.

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I doubt it's the display but it could be the logic board as Nick stated. However, it may be the power supply which has failed. Are you able to do repairs yourself? The machine is really too old to have someone else repair it for you which means spending more money than it's worth.

You may be able to order a new power supply for it on line. If you would like to do that, post back and we can give you some suggestions.

Yes...as "chscag" very intelligently suggested ...it could also be the power supply.

A few ways to check if it is the power supply:

1. If you shut down the computer (maybe you have to "pull the plug" to do this...or press and hold the power button for like 5-10 seconds)...then press the power button. Does the iMac make the familiar "happy" Macintosh startup sound?
2. Can you hear the hard drive spinning?
3. If you attempt to insert a CD/DVD...will the computer let you insert it...and if it does...can you hear the CD/DVD drive spinning the disk?

- Nick

chscag said:

I doubt it's the display but it could be the logic board as Nick stated. However, it may be the power supply which has failed. Are you able to do repairs yourself? The machine is really too old to have someone else repair it for you which means spending more money than it's worth.

You may be able to order a new power supply for it on line. If you would like to do that, post back and we can give you some suggestions.

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Ahhh this certainly stinks!
I'm open to doing repairs. I've never done anything inside a computer other than upgrading RAM, but I can more than likely figure stuff out. Do you really think it's the power supply? I don't want to order a new one and find out it wasn't a power issue. Of course it's probably better than paying for a whole new computer! Any idea what the solid white light indicates?

Thanks for the quick responses guys!

Run the tests as Nick suggested in his reply before doing anything else. An iMac is not an easy computer to work on. To get at anything inside the machine the entire front panel display must be carefully removed first.

pigoo3 said:

Yes...as "chscag" very intelligently suggested ...it could also be the power supply.

A few ways to check if it is the power supply:

1. If you shut down the computer (maybe you have to "pull the plug" to do this...or press and hold the power button for like 5-10 seconds)...then press the power button. Does the iMac make the familiar "happy" Macintosh startup sound?
2. Can you hear the hard drive spinning?
3. If you attempt to insert a CD/DVD...will the computer let you insert it...and if it does...can you hear the CD/DVD drive spinning the disk?

- Nick

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Just tried all that. It doesn't make the chime upon startup, the hard drive is spinning, and I tried a CD which was spinning. I had to reboot and hold down the mouse button to eject it though. Eject on the keyboard didn't work. *sigh*

Koocachoo said:

Just tried all that. It doesn't make the chime upon startup, the hard drive is spinning, and I tried a CD which was spinning. I had to reboot and hold down the mouse button to eject it though. Eject on the keyboard didn't work. *sigh*

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Yeah...probably the reason why the Imac didn't make the "happy" startup sound...is because the computer isn't "happy" because of the video issue. But since some things do seem to be working (the hard drive & DVD drive spin)...I'm thinking something related to the video hardware has gone bad.

Unfortunately stuff like this happens! I know that you may or may not like the idea of purchasing another computer. But it is a 2006 model (6 years old)...and (if you want to think of it as a "positive")...it's probably not worth as much as you think.

I'm guessing (depending on the model) somewhere in the $200-$300 range...if it was working 100%. In it's current condition (no video) MUCH less.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Yeah...probably the reason why the Imac didn't make the "happy" startup sound...is because the computer isn't "happy" because of the video issue. But since some things do seem to be working (the hard drive & DVD drive spin)...I'm thinking something related to the video hardware has gone bad.

Unfortunately stuff like this happens! I know that you may or may not like the idea of purchasing another computer. But it is a 2006 model (6 years old)...and it's probably not worth as much as you think.

I'm guessing (depending on the model) somewhere in the $200-$300 range...if it was working 100%. In it's current condition (no video) MUCH less.

- Nick

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I know it's old but it was my baby. It was my first Mac hehe. Oh well. It got a lot of use! Thank you so much for the replies. I really appreciate it!

Koocachoo said:

I know it's old but it was my baby. It was my first Mac hehe. Oh well. It got a lot of use! Thank you so much for the replies. I really appreciate it!

Click to expand...

Yeah...I know...many of us come to really like & depend on our Macintosh computers! And even though it is 6 years old...that doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of 6+ year-old computers out there still working.

Of course not all 6+ year-old computers have the same number of "usage hours" on them:

- Person A could use their computer 12 hours/day (everyday) for 6 years
- Person B could use their computer 12 hours/week for 6 years

Obviously Person B's computer would have far fewer "usage hours" on it...which could lead to Person B's computer lasting longer (more years). Very similar to one person driving more miles/year on their car...compared to someone else.

One the other hand...a computer could simply fail (one of the components) just because it was it's time.

On the plus side (depending what you do on the computer)...you could get vastly greater performance with a new or newer computer!

Good luck,

- Nick

When the light stays on continuously it indicates there's no communication between the video (logic board) and the LCD display. Unless you have a free donor iMac of the same model, it's normally not economically viable to repair.