iMac 2011 3 beeps and black screen

I have looked into it a lot over the past day, apparently its a RAM issue, nothing is working though. I have tried the RAM in all 4 slots, nothing. I have isolated a stick so there's only 1, nothing. These were factory sticks, over 4 years.
Today I went out to buy a new stick (8GB) in hopes that it would fix it, tested it in all 4 slots, still nothing.
The screen does not light up at all, nothing, you hear sound from the DVD drive as the mac boots up, and some other faint sounds, but nothing else, leave it for about 30 seconds start getting 3 beeps.
Its not under warranty, so that's not an option.

Any other suggestions?

It is rare for memory to all of a sudden fail especially if it's the same memory that shipped with your iMac. Is this the original memory or is it new? A 2011 iMac (both 21.5" and 27") has 4 memory slots. The type of memory the machines use is: 4 - 204-pin PC3-10600 (1333 MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM and can accept up to 32 GB (4 x 8 GB modules)

Are you therefore using the correct memory modules?

When and how did the problem first start??

Is it an early or mid/late 2011 iMac and what OS X version are you running??

Do you have a known good bootable clone backup you can try booting from??

Can you boot from a Recovery HD??

Have you tried a Safe Boot?? An SMC Reset??? PRAM Reset???

PS: I have and use a late 2011 27" iMac, just for the record.

@Patrick:

There is no such animal as a late 2011 27" iMac. There are only Mid 2011 21.5" and Mid 2011 27" iMacs. The late 2011 21.5" iMac is a special student school model with a different memory configuration.

This is the stick I purchased for replacing, http://www.corsair.com/en-au/corsair-mac-memory-8gb-ddr3-sodimm-memory-kit-cmsa8gx3m1a1333c9
Its only started doing it as of yesterday. Completely random. It was unplugged and moved prior to it, but didn't suffer any damage.
I believe its a mid-2011, OSX version im not 100% sure on, it was bootcamped. I think it was 10.7 prior to the bootcamp.
I don't know how to or if I can do the rest that pm-r suggests, honestly im completely unfamiliar with Macs. Work on PC's myself. This is just for my sister.

chscag said:

@Patrick:

There is no such animal as a late 2011 27" iMac. There are only Mid 2011 21.5" and Mid 2011 27" iMacs. The late 2011 21.5" iMac is a special student school model with a different memory configuration.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I left out the "mid" part, or mid-late 2011 as some refer to them , aka: released after the release of OS X Lion 10.7, and of which the mid-2011 27" I own.

PS: It did not come with SL 10.6.x at all when I received it, neither could the Apple techs confirm that it could even run SL, so they sent me a special 10.6.7 install disk at no charge and some comments saying - "Good Luck, we can't guarantee it working".

It did with a few coughs and sputters to get the SL install booting and working properly. Now running Mavericks but SL on a bootable partition. Anyway, I digress from the OP's posted problem…

There is a mid 2011 model 12.2 which you have, and a late 2011 21.5" 12.1 period.

As stated it came as an education model cheaper for schools etc, had a 3.1GHz i3 CPU, and that was the only version offered.

bmadden said:

This is the stick I purchased for replacing, http://www.corsair.com/en-au/corsair-mac-memory-8gb-ddr3-sodimm-memory-kit-cmsa8gx3m1a1333c9
Its only started doing it as of yesterday. Completely random. It was unplugged and moved prior to it, but didn't suffer any damage.
I believe its a mid-2011, OSX version im not 100% sure on, it was bootcamped. I think it was 10.7 prior to the bootcamp.
I don't know how to or if I can do the rest that pm-r suggests, honestly im completely unfamiliar with Macs. Work on PC's myself. This is just for my sister.

Click to expand...

I can't tell from the link you posted if that's the correct memory as there is no identifying nomenclature, only that it's Mac memory. And that tells us nothing. The memory you need is as I posted above.

chscag said:

I can't tell from the link you posted if that's the correct memory as there is no identifying nomenclature, only that it's Mac memory. And that tells us nothing. The memory you need is as I posted above.

Click to expand...

What you have posted matches the stick, so it should be fine. I hope so at least.
I've tried a PRAM Reset, now I get the startup sound, hear the disc drive, and thats it. No more beeping if I leave it. I don't even know if im going forward or backwards.

Well you get the beep which is great and rules out power supply. Looking more and more like a failed hard drive. It is a pretty daunting task to do it yourself and remember that model has special heat sensors so either install an identical hard drive or look at OWC's suggestion for this.


http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDIMACHDD11/

harryb2448 said:

Well you get the beep which is great and rules out power supply. Looking more and more like a failed hard drive. It is a pretty daunting task to do it yourself and remember that model has special heat sensors so either install an identical hard drive or look at OWC's suggestion for this.


http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDIMACHDD11/

Click to expand...

So there is no possibility that the screen has given out?
You're sure its the HDD?
Just really want to make sure of this so I don't spend more than I have to.

harryb2448 said:

There is a mid 2011 model 12.2 which you have, and a late 2011 21.5" 12.1 period.

As stated it came as an education model cheaper for schools etc, had a 3.1GHz i3 CPU, and that was the only version offered.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure who or what your post is referring to Harry, but it sure isn't my iMac, and these are it's specs:
Apple iMac "Core i5" 2.7 27-Inch (Mid-2011) Specs
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...inch-aluminum-mid-2011-thunderbolt-specs.html



- Patrick
======

bmadden said:

So there is no possibility that the screen has given out?

Click to expand...

The dark display is troublesome. Usually if the computer powers on…the display will almost always light up…even with other issues (ram, hard drive, etc.). Of course if there's a logic board or video issue…this could cause the display to stay dark. It would seem to me this computer has two issues…dark display & ram (3 beeps).

- Nick

In case anyone is interested. Here's the "Late-2011" 21.5" iMac that's been referred to a couple times in the thread:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...-inch-aluminum-late-2011-education-specs.html

- Nick

**UPDATE**

Ok so I went out to buy suction caps today, so I could take it apart, ended up giving it a really good clean behind the screen/logic board? The Mac is now working how it used to be, screen is powering on and everything.
There is a slight issue now, half the screen is darker than the other half. Its basically like a shadow, its recognisable on a white screen, as it looks like a grey patch.

There is a slight issue now, half the screen is darker than the other half. Its basically like a shadow, its recognisable on a white screen, as it looks like a grey patch.

Click to expand...

Check the backlight. Make sure you have everything connected correctly.

This is the 27" correct?

That is the symptom when the display inverter cables are not plugged into the Inverter on older iMacs. The 2011 has an LED lit display so there should be no Inverter. When you plugged back in the cables before dropping the display back into the iMac, are you sure they all seated properly? None pulled and broke? Tore?


My 2008 iMac with Non LED display had that issue. It was one of the wires not plugged into the inverter board.

Ill have another look later when my sisters done with it, ill let you guys know how it goes.
Thank you for the help so far

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=24&v=03Lg4IgJd04

That is the OWC video. The Backlight cable has a lot of pins and wires. Be sure it's all plugged in correctly.

Taken it apart multiple times now to verify the cords/connections, they're all plugged in properly, every time.
Probably just going to leave it, its only noticeable on boot up screens, majorly at least.