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iMac problems

A

Andrewxyz

pfm Member
My father has an Imac, it's newer than mine, late 2009. It's got a problem , it boots up & gives a password prompt, but as soon as you move the mouse or try to enter anything with the keyboard it crashes (or so I'm told, not been able to see it yet). Hence it's unusable.

Can anyone suggest what is causing this & how it might be fixed ?
 
Not sure what model this is but is the keyboard and mouse connected via Bluetooth? If you perhaps try a usb mouse and keyboard?
 
Andrewxyz said:
My father has an Imac, it's newer than mine, late 2009. It's got a problem , it boots up & gives a password prompt, but as soon as you move the mouse or try to enter anything with the keyboard it crashes (or so I'm told, not been able to see it yet). Hence it's unusable.

Can anyone suggest what is causing this & how it might be fixed ?
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First you need is ascertain what exactly is happening. Then you can try booting into macOS Recovery by holding down Command (⌘)-R whilst switching on the computer. I can do this with a wireless keyboard but take a wired one as well in case it doesn't work for any reason. Once in the recovery utilities you have several options to check the disk, recover from a backup, reinstall the OS etc.

Just a thought but does the Apple logo and progress bar appear during boot or does the machine go straight to the login prompt? If the latter it may be that FileVault has been turned on.

Cheers,

DV
 
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Do the PRAM reset first. Hold down cmd, alt, P and R down while powering up. On the second chime release the buttons.
 
Should SMC and NVRAM (PRAM) resets not solve the problem then, before assuming a hardware fault, consider the possiblity that the system is failing to recognize a macOS/OS X startup disk/partition. In the absence of a second system disk, should your father be using Time Machine as his backup method then it is possible to boot from that drive by selecting 'EFI Boot' via Startup Manager (steps below), however, I'd attempt to select and boot from the (usually named) 'Macintosh HD' volume first.

[Apple Inc.]Use Startup Manager
When you use Startup Manager to select a startup disk, your Mac starts up from that disk once, then returns to using the disk selected in Startup Disk preferences.
  1. Press and hold the Option key immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac.
  2. Release the Option key when you see the Startup Manager window.
    If your Mac is protected by a firmware password, you can release the key when you're asked to enter the password.
  3. Select your startup disk, then click the arrow under its icon, or press Return.
    If you press and hold the Control key during this step, your selection is saved in Startup Disk preferences, so it persists until you change it.
macos-sierra-startup-disk.png


If your Mac is using OS X Lion v10.7.3 or later, you can also use this method to start up from your Time Machine backup disk. Startup Manager identifies your Time Machine backup as ”EFI Boot.”[/Apple Inc.]

If the system doesn't boot from Macintosh HD but will from 'EFI Boot' then follow DV's steps (in post #4 above) to using macOS Recovery to check the system disk.
 
Well I went around for the old gits 85th birthday & had a look. (wine had been taken, so it wasn't a thorough check)
It boots up & gives you a password prompt but if you try to put a password in it wouldn't take the letters & you just got the spinning beachball.

Going into single user mode worked, I got a load of diagnostics, File System Check said it had been modified. I ran this again and then rebooted , this time it let me input the password , but still gave me the spinning ball.

Holding down the Alt key on startup took me to the disk health utility, I used the first aid option to look at the drive , but it's still the same result.

He's not got a backup , but barring his porn collection I doubt there's anything irreplaceable on there. What next ? (my 2008 machine has been totally reliable, so Ive never had to get down & dirty with it)
 
If you've got an OS installer in your computer you could make a bootable copy on a memory stick or SD card then use it to format and install a clean copy of the OS.
It's a lot of work because you'll need to reinstall all his software again.
And he better remember his passwords, unless he was using iCloud keychain.
 
Andrewxyz said:
Well I went around for the old gits 85th birthday & had a look. (wine had been taken, so it wasn't a thorough check)
It boots up & gives you a password prompt but if you try to put a password in it wouldn't take the letters & you just got the spinning beachball.

Going into single user mode worked, I got a load of diagnostics, File System Check said it had been modified. I ran this again and then rebooted , this time it let me input the password , but still gave me the spinning ball.

Holding down the Alt key on startup took me to the disk health utility, I used the first aid option to look at the drive , but it's still the same result.

He's not got a backup , but barring his porn collection I doubt there's anything irreplaceable on there. What next ? (my 2008 machine has been totally reliable, so Ive never had to get down & dirty with it)
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Don’t quote me on it but I’m pretty sure that when you reinstall the OS via the recovery utility, it keeps all your files and settings... but even if it doesn’t, it sounds like you’ve lost nothing. These vintage iMacs are pretty bomb proof so I doubt there’s any hardware issue beyond a possibly failing hard drive.
 
Late 2009 imacs were far from bombproof, infact they are a right royal pain in the arse. If you are lucky to have one still functioning at this stage then the typical fall overs in the near future will be the power supply or worse the graphics card. The graphics card can be regenerated by reflowing the solder but is considered a short term solution.
 
garyi said:
Late 2009 imacs were far from bombproof, infact they are a right royal pain in the arse. If you are lucky to have one still functioning at this stage then the typical fall overs in the near future will be the power supply or worse the graphics card. The graphics card can be regenerated by reflowing the solder but is considered a short term solution.
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Sorry, I misread and thought his was the earlier one. I have a 2008 24” iMac still going strong.
 
It's thermal cycling that kills the late 2009, mine's been on 24 7 since the day it was bought, rock solid.
 
Mine was always in too,alas the hard drive went which is to be expected but Apple with their bull shit on the temp sensor! Then the graphics card which is very very common issue.
 
If you can get into safe mode then at least add an external drive and get a Time Machine backup done. Then if the worst comes to the worst you can restore fully.
 
Its very difficult trying to diagnose problems without the computer in front of you as little things may go unnoticed. Having said that I think from what you say it is a launchd issue. First verify that you can boot into safe mode by holding down the shift key at start up. If this works make a time machine backup onto an external disk. Then restart in verbose mode by holding down Command (⌘)-V at start up. If the text stops scrolling move the last item on the screen to another folder and reboot. You can do this with finder in safe or single user mode.

As a matter of interest what OS is installed? You can upgrade to Sierra from here https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1921?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US You can even down load this dmg without a Mac!

Cheers,

DV
 
Andrewxyz said:
I don't know what he's done , but he's emailed to say it just started working again. Thanks for all the advice.
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I have actually seen an Apple O/S repair a none booting but crashing start up machine. After each start up the O/S gets so far and crashes but it 'remembers' and corrects. After several re boots the machine fired up and became stable.

Make a time machine backup!

Cheers,

DV
 
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