Thread

My new Imac

68kMLA Troubleshooting 17 posts Feb 14, 2015 to Mar 1, 2015

#1 Sat, 14 Feb 2015 - 18:55 68kMLA

Wasn't really looking for another machine, was rather looking to get rid of some units, but monday, a lonely 20" Imac was lying on the street, just side by side with my car...just grabbed it.

The unit looked fine on first sight, but the screen was smashed.

Started looking for a screen, but prices were rather expensive... but i spotted a new ad for a complete unit for spares (the unit was complete but the owner advised will not boot or show any sign of life)

I removed the broken screen and exchanged it with the donor one, in the end the hard drive was faulty also (maybe the reason the screen was damaged), and the donor Imac had no spare (the previous owner removed it...but did not advised)

I had a spare and after a quick install and upgrade, have a new (to me) Imac to replace my Linux station.

Not bad for a 70 euros investment.

Posting with it right now.

#2 Sat, 14 Feb 2015 - 19:01 68kMLA

Nice. Specs?

#3 Sat, 14 Feb 2015 - 19:16 68kMLA

Cool ! It's an intel or a G5 ?

I have a G5 , nice but can be noisy… Also can't sleep in Linux :-/

#4 Sat, 14 Feb 2015 - 19:49 68kMLA

Intel 2.16 Ghz Core 2 Duo, upgraded at some point to 2 Gb of ram.

For some reason i made a quick test of the donor one, and fan started spinning and leds blinking.....

#5 Sat, 14 Feb 2015 - 19:54 68kMLA

Should support 3GB of ram should you want to upgrade.

#6 Sat, 14 Feb 2015 - 23:31 68kMLA

Yup, itll be a nice unit until the screen starts filling with lines

#7 Sat, 14 Feb 2015 - 23:42 68kMLA

Technight, looks like a 20" model? Those don't usually go bad. Just the 17" I thought.

#8 Sun, 15 Feb 2015 - 02:36 68kMLA

20" I dont know, but the 17" for sure is plagued with it.

#9 Sun, 15 Feb 2015 - 06:23 68kMLA

Yes, like i said in my post is the 20" one, hope the screen won't go bad, is nice right now.

#10 Sun, 15 Feb 2015 - 06:25 68kMLA

I think it was mainly the 17" versions that were bad, the 1440x900 resolution ones.

#11 Sun, 15 Feb 2015 - 07:43 68kMLA

That's too bad, as the 17" model is one I might get if I decide to collect any of these (primarily because they're more compact and easier to store).

Is there a generation of 17" machines that was less prone to this?

c

#12 Sun, 15 Feb 2015 - 13:39 68kMLA

Anything before the G5 iSight model. Everything after all do it.

The only fix is making an adapter with the correct EDID and fitting a 17" aftermarket panel in place.

careful. the G5 isight model uses a TMDS panel, and the intels all use LVDS panels.

#13 Sun, 15 Feb 2015 - 14:00 68kMLA

The 17" 1.67GHz PowerBooks suffered the issue too, the low-res models. Hi-res isn't affected if I remember correctly. It wasnt jus't Apple that had issues, Dell did too around the same time.

#14 Tue, 17 Feb 2015 - 08:42 68kMLA

I picked up a late '06 17" 2GHz Core 2 Duo with the screen lines issue for cheap, then picked up an adapter kit from realmacmods.com and a 17" 1920x1200 panel pulled from a toasted Alienware laptop. Works like a charm. I've not personally encountered a 20" with the screen lines issue at all.

#15 Fri, 27 Feb 2015 - 13:22 68kMLA

I stuck my Late 2006 17" back in the original box. Not only did my display have the lines but 1/3 of the screen is a big block of nothing. On top of that my slot loading drive won't eject and the hard drive failed. I replaced the hard drive but never used it much because of the other issues.

#16 Fri, 27 Feb 2015 - 17:20 68kMLA

I had a bunch of 17" machines at my work that had lines. None of the 20" had the same problem. Ended up buying a 3rd party screen replacement. Not only did it fix the lines, but it increased the resolution.

#17 Sun, 1 Mar 2015 - 08:56 68kMLA

Very nice score.