Imac displays shows stripes at boot

[jacobDK]

My IMac 27" shows five vertical stripes on a white background when I turn it on, while also showing the progress bar for starting up.
After that the screen turns completely white and only shows the mouse arrow with thin horisontal lines around it. It stays that way.
Tried command-R and get to the recovery-screen. But it doesnt help and the five vertical stripes remain. When I restart it is the same situation Again with vertical stripes and then white screen.
The IMac uses the latest IOS.
Any good ideas? Thanks a lot, Jacob

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums Jacob!

We're going to need some more info regarding your iMac. What year and model is it and which version of OS X are you running?

One way you can test your iMac display is to attach an external monitor or TV to it and see if the same occurs. You'll need a proper adapter and cable to do that.

 

[TattooedMac]

Boot into Safe Mode using these instructions for Yosemite and see if there is a difference.

After your Mac shuts down, wait 10 seconds, then press the power button.

Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold down the Shift key.

You should press the Shift key as soon as possible after you hear the startup tone, but not before.

Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple logo and progress indicator.

To leave safe mode, restart your Mac again, but don’t hold down any keys during startup.

 

[Crichard]

I'm having the same issue. I have a mid 2009 27 inch iMac. It will boot in safe mode but on a regular start up I have five vertical yellow lines. The boot process will get to about three quarters and stop and the screen will be filled with hundreds of small yellow dots. Is my GPU toast?

 

[lclev]

This is a very old thread but hopefully others will chime in. My guess - if it will boot in safe mode:

1. Get any thing you want to keep off of it - data, apps, etc.

2. The fact it will boot to safe mode and you don't see the yellow lines or dots I believe is only temporary as it looks like the GPU is going.

Here is a link to a person who had a very similar set of symptoms on a 2010 iMac. There are some links to some suggestions to fixing it. It is on the ifixit site so there will be a lot more information on how to's there.

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/120164/The+display+boots+up+with+vertical+yellow+lines.

Lisa