iMac acting out again

hpw · 03-21-2004, 03:55 PM

Back on February 13, I posted about some unusual behavior with my graphite iMac. Until last night, it was behaving fine again. Now there's a new set of symptoms, and then the computer appears to have fixed itself somehow, but I don't know how or why.

Last night, out of no where, after a boot-up, the display got a heavy dark margin on the left and right sides of the screen. It was about an extra inch wide on each side of the screen, and the usable part of the screen got very wavery and flickery, and then went dark. The next couple times I tried to boot up, I could hear it start, but nothing happened. I finally got it to boot using the Symantic disk, and ran Norton Disk Doctor. There was almost no fragmentation, so I didn't bother to de-frag.

I backed up all my files, and went to bed. Today the 'puter had difficulty again. Sometimes the flickering and wavering sometimes led to a shut down on its own, or by me holding down the power button. When it would boot up, the screen was squished betewwn the two vertical columns on the sides, and the splash screen showed tall skinny images. Several attempts to complete starting up got no where. The computer would freeze. Then suddenly, for no apparant reason, the computer is acting just fine again.

I attached my old Sony Trinitron 17" monitor to the port in the rear, and it's working too. But if my iMac display goes kerfluy again, will I get a useful image on the other monitor, of will it show the same thing as the iMac display?

When I phoned a local tech support at a store, the guy said it sounded like my display was shot. (That was prior to my getting the 'puter up again.) Does anyone have any idea what's going on here?? Thanks.

Holly

DeltaMac · 03-21-2004, 08:56 PM

Typical of video going bad. You may see the problem go away for awhile, but eventually will get worse. Specifically, you will probably need the PAV board replaced (That's Power-Analog-Video). This board provides the actual video to your internal display. The external connection comes from the logic board, and probably won't be affected by this. Probably will cost a couple of hundred dollars to replace.

03-21-2004, 03:55 PM	#1
hpw Triple-A Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Upper Bucks County, PA, USA Posts: 121	iMac acting out again Back on February 13, I posted about some unusual behavior with my graphite iMac. Until last night, it was behaving fine again. Now there's a new set of symptoms, and then the computer appears to have fixed itself somehow, but I don't know how or why. Last night, out of no where, after a boot-up, the display got a heavy dark margin on the left and right sides of the screen. It was about an extra inch wide on each side of the screen, and the usable part of the screen got very wavery and flickery, and then went dark. The next couple times I tried to boot up, I could hear it start, but nothing happened. I finally got it to boot using the Symantic disk, and ran Norton Disk Doctor. There was almost no fragmentation, so I didn't bother to de-frag. I backed up all my files, and went to bed. Today the 'puter had difficulty again. Sometimes the flickering and wavering sometimes led to a shut down on its own, or by me holding down the power button. When it would boot up, the screen was squished betewwn the two vertical columns on the sides, and the splash screen showed tall skinny images. Several attempts to complete starting up got no where. The computer would freeze. Then suddenly, for no apparant reason, the computer is acting just fine again. I attached my old Sony Trinitron 17" monitor to the port in the rear, and it's working too. But if my iMac display goes kerfluy again, will I get a useful image on the other monitor, of will it show the same thing as the iMac display? When I phoned a local tech support at a store, the guy said it sounded like my display was shot. (That was prior to my getting the 'puter up again.) Does anyone have any idea what's going on here?? Thanks. Holly

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread:

03-21-2004, 08:56 PM	#2
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,937	Typical of video going bad. You may see the problem go away for awhile, but eventually will get worse. Specifically, you will probably need the PAV board replaced (That's Power-Analog-Video). This board provides the actual video to your internal display. The external connection comes from the logic board, and probably won't be affected by this. Probably will cost a couple of hundred dollars to replace.