Help with diagnosis of iMac

[Punksous]

Hi everyone,

Hoping someone can help me. My iMac just crashed a week ago and I reformatted the drive and reinstalled OS High Sierra.... and it’s been giving me problems ever since...

Now whenever I use the creative cloud apps, they take forever to open up and the computer is just generally not as efficient as it used to be.

Prior to the crash, the fan would be going super fast/ loud (for a while that’s been happening for a few months) so I’m thinking it maybe a hardware issue?

Since the reformat, I havent even heard the fan... just sometimes clicking sounds...like it’s trying to do something but can’t.however I’m not having issues installing things... and when I do a verify disk it says it looks ok. At this point, im able to log in but eventually will just lock up randomly and then I have no choice but to turn it off by clicking the power button in back.

Oh and I’ve seen the null symbol displayed (the circle with a diagonal bar inside it) a couple times when trying to load it back up. But if I do cmd r and go through the disk Utility it usually takes care of it.

Here are the specs of my system:

27inch iMac Late 2012
3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor
32GB RAM

Since I need a functional computer for my work (I’m a freelance designer), I had to get a new iMac... but would like to try and fix this one if I can... or at least use it as a display.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

It does sound like a hardware problem, possibly with the drive. We need more info about what type of drive is installed in your iMac. Is it a Fusion drive or a hard drive?

 

[Punksous]

Welcome to our forums.

It does sound like a hardware problem, possibly with the drive. We need more info about what type of drive is installed in your iMac. Is it a Fusion drive or a hard drive?

Hey thanks for the response... it’s a 1tb hard drive.. not fusion

 

[chscag]

Okay, thanks for the additional info. Disk Utility does not always give a complete picture of problems on a hard drive. I recommend downloading the "DriveDX" application and run it to do a complete including SMART check of the drive. Let us know.

 

[lclev]

I am betting on a failing hard drive.

Lisa

 

[Punksous]

Okay, thanks for the additional info. Disk Utility does not always give a complete picture of problems on a hard drive. I recommend downloading the "DriveDX" application and run it to do a complete including SMART check of the drive. Let us know.

Here’s a photo of results from test
Let me know if you want to see something else... looks like HD failure, right?

If that’s the case, how come I’m still able to log on

 

[Punksous]

Here’s full report

 

[chscag]

Yes, it's a failing hard drive. Not completely failed yet but definitely not safe to use any more. Back up your data as best you can and prepare to replace that hard drive.

 

[honestone33]

Here is the link to ifixit which describes how to replace the hard drive inside your iMac:

iMac Intel 27" EMC 2546 Hard Drive Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide

Looks like a very challenging project. And note that it says "It describes how to install the SSD's temperature sensor so that the Mac's fans will operate at the correct speed.".

Good luck!

 

[Punksous]

Yes, it's a failing hard drive. Not completely failed yet but definitely not safe to use any more. Back up your data as best you can and prepare to replace that hard drive.

Thanks! All my data was backed up actually the HD was already erased and everything reformatted...since I couldn’t even log on when it first crashed..

So since the HD is shot and it’s obviously not worth getting a new one... I would like to use it as an extra display monitor... can I still do that? If so how can I do that without having to use the HD?

 

[chscag]

The monitor on that particular iMac can not normally be used as a separate display since there is no video input. There was an app called "ScreenRecycler" but it appears the developer has discontinued it. If you can find a copy of it, that might work to use your iMac as a spare monitor.

 

[lclev]

Hey - the old "girl" might still have some life left in her yet. Put an SSD in her and you will see a whole new computer. You would see a huge speed increase from the SSD> Of course, I would do that as I like tinkering and repurposing them. ;D

Of course - it is a bit difficult to do! iMac Intel 27" EMC 2546 Hard Drive Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide

Lisa

 

[honestone33]

Hey - the old "girl" might still have some life left in her yet. Put an SSD in her and you will see a whole new computer. You would see a huge speed increase from the SSD> Of course, I would do that as I like tinkering and repurposing them. ;D

Of course - it is a bit difficult to do! iMac Intel 27" EMC 2546 Hard Drive Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide

Lisa

Yes, that's for sure (and I already had that link in my post above).

Also, your tag line "Recommend using Onyx to clean your Mac." is PERFECT, as I use it religiously.

 

[pm-r]

but would like to try and fix this one if I can...

That iMac has both two Thunderbolt ports and Four USB 3.0 ports so it wouldn't cost very much to add and use an external drive that would work with with either of the various ports.


- Patrick
======

 

[Punksous]

That iMac has both two Thunderbolt ports and Four USB 3.0 ports so it wouldn't cost very much to add and use an external drive that would work with with either of the various ports.


- Patrick
======

That’s what I’m thinking of doing. I have an external HD that Was sent to me with my backup... can I use that?

Lisa: i wish I felt confident enough to replace it but I’m sure I’ll break something in the process lol

 

[Punksous]

The monitor on that particular iMac can not normally be used as a separate display since there is no video input. There was an app called "ScreenRecycler" but it appears the developer has discontinued it. If you can find a copy of it, that might work to use your iMac as a spare monitor.

Are you sure? I found a help guide on the Apple site that says otherwise - I can use Target Display Mode apparently with this one as long as I can connect them both

 

[chscag]

Target display mode is different from using the iMac just as a spare monitor. Go over what Target Display mode does and see if your iMac qualifies. If you can operate that way, then that may work for you. Let us know.

 

[Rod]

It's not uncommon with a failing HD for it to crash after a complete reinstall of the OS. It just seems to push it over the brink. Logical when you think about it. If it's the original drive then it is 8 years old which is well past the average of 5-6 years years for a HDD.
Personally I'd go with the replacement SSD, my wife did this on her 2011 MBP some years back and the improvement was very noticeable. I think using an external drive will negate the speed advantages of an SSD but it would get you up and running.