On Dec 8, 2008, at 12:03 PM, Michael McMurtrey wrote:
> I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this, but here goes. My
> cousin has an iMac running Tiger (10.4.11) and has asked me for help
> with the following problems, as she relates them:
>
> "My beloved computer is having some problems. If I shut down and
> leave it all night, it doesn't want to boot the next day. I have to
> restart it several times before it will come up. It does come on but
> the screen has shadows around everything or it stays black.
> Sometimes it looks like it is up, but there are little pieces of
> screen showing through stuff, like holes in the desktop. And then it
> will tell me I need to restart if I try to open anything. ????????"
>
> Any ideas? I know nothing else about the computer other than as
> described above.
>
>
>
> Michael McMurtrey
> Carrollton, Texas
>
Ideas? Sure. If the iMac has the original PRAM battery, it's either
dead or too weak to keep startup parameters in memory. This means that
things probably are corrupted, which would explain the on-screen
symptoms and the reluctance to start. For the sake of this discussion,
I'm going to assume your friend has an iMac G3. But if not, the
information below also applies to all G4 and G5 iMacs. Next time, tell
us the model of iMac. :^) Try these steps:
1) Push the power button. As soon as the chime is heard (or even if it
isn't heard), hold down the P, R, Command (Apple) and Option keys.
Keep them held down until you either hear three chimes or you visually
see/audibly hear it try to start three times.
2) That may or may not let it start correctly. If it does, replace the
PRAM battery. It's a 1/2 AA in G3 and G4 iMacs, and a 2032 IIRC in G5
iMacs.
3) With or without a new battery, then do these Open Firmware resets:
a) Immediately after the startup chime, press and hold the O, F,
Command (Apple) and Option keys until a light grey screen appears.
b) Enter these commands; follow each one with a tap on the Return key:
set-defaults (Return)
reset-nvram (Return)
reset-all (Return)
c) This should restart the iMac and restore it to good startup and
running condition.
4) Once it's running well again, set the date/time preferences and any
others, and leave the iMac plugged in to house current. This will keep
everything in PRAM (parameter memory) until the PRAM battery can be
replaced.
5) If none of the above works or even helps, either the operating
system has become corrupted or there's a hardware problem in the power-
analog-video boards. If this is the case, get back to us with the
iMac's model and specs, as well as what each of the steps did or
didn't do.
Hope this helps.
Jim Scott
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