iMac expert needed...

[Destiny]

iMac expert needed...

by Destiny » Sat Oct 24, 2015 2:54 am

Hi..

Not sure if I have asked this question before..

I have a 2009 iMac where the graphic card has died. I need a replacement but Apple do not support it. They have probably got a big box of them but no way of buying from them...

Doing searches for a replacement is not as easy as it should be.. Can someone please guild me into buying a replacement. The Mac shop will fit it as long as I buy it.. But it has to be the right one..

Thank you

Destiny..

Attachments

[Christian Stüben]

Re: iMac expert needed...

by Christian Stüben » Tue Oct 27, 2015 11:00 am

I dont know if they have the spare/replacement parts you need, but i have made good experience with:
http://maconline.de/

Yes the shop is in germany, when you call them by phone consider the nearly 12 hour time difference.


Another place where you could ask for some tips concerning recommended used parts dealers:
http://www.macrumors.com/

greetings from germany
Chris

[Destiny]

Re: iMac expert needed...

by Destiny » Tue Oct 27, 2015 11:14 am

Thank you Chris...

Today I tried to boot my old iMac in Safe Mode but it will not even do that anymore.. It finishes loading then goes black.. Real real real shame.. Not a scratch on it.. To look at it looks new... Not a mark anywhere.. If it doesn't boot up and the local Mac shop will not fix it due to Apple relating it as redundant to they cannot buy spare parts for it.. What am I to do.. Real shame to throw it away .. and if I did, we will have to smash it into bits since we never got a chance to wipe the hard drive.. It still has personal stuff on it.. When I bought my new iMac I cloned the HD and transferred it via my Time Machine onto my new iMac... That in itself was not so straight forward since many of the software apps had to be reinstalled...

I then found out that Shake will not work on the new OSX ... Thats just terrible to allow such a wonderful software app to be made redundant by Apple... That was since Yosemite...

Then came El Capitan where that is causing compatibility issues with software.. Apple need to realise that a Mac machine is not going to JUST run Apple software.. If they do not support software like Adobe whats the point in having a iMac like I have.. Thankfully, so far, all of the Kolor software runs fine.. But I have heard that Neutralhazer is dead now due to it.. I never use that so I do not know...

Destiny...

[Christian Stüben]

Re: iMac expert needed...

by Christian Stüben » Tue Oct 27, 2015 11:36 am

Maybe target disk mode gives a last chance to copy and wipe your disk, without disassembling. When my first mac mini died due to mainboard failure, this has helped.

Press "t" while booting.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201462
https://support.apple.com/de-de/HT1661

more boot / startup keys:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201255

greetings from germany
Chris

[Destiny]

Re: iMac expert needed...

by Destiny » Tue Oct 27, 2015 12:04 pm

Thank you Chris..

I am doing the D key now.. Taking a bit of time, but I might get into it..

What I would like to do is install El Capitan onto it.. Since I feel that Yosemite might have upset it.. I had huge issues with my graphics card with Yosemite on my new iMac. I was wondering if this issue also effected my old iMac in other ways.... My big issues turned out to be the fact that my Graphics cards were not compatible with Yosemite... Now there is a HUGE difference.. My iMac takes 3 to 4 seconds to boot up.. Almost immediately.. Everything is better apart from some software conflict issues..

Perhaps Apple created an OS X that gave rise to issues with older hardware so people would go out have buy a replacement Mac.. Perhaps its a big Apple conspiracy.. haha... Hey.. It might be true....!!

Destiny...

[Christian Stüben]

Re: iMac expert needed...

by Christian Stüben » Tue Oct 27, 2015 1:28 pm

... Perhaps its a big Apple conspiracy.. haha... Hey.. It might be true....!!

A few weeks ago i bought a new mac pro. Ahem, used mac pro, the 2010 5.1 model.

Apple told me that...
- a blue ray burner cannot be inserted. I inserted one. Works perfect.
- ram is limited to 32 gb. Filled half the ram slots, i already have 64gb. Due to internet sources, this mmodel is good for 128gb, and 64 bit Windows will use it completely. Only (early) OSX itself is limited to 96GB. Other sources say that mavericks (and maybee newer versions) will support 128 gb too.
- video cards must be selected from a short list of video card types that nearly are ready for scrap. I inserted a gtx980ti with uefi patch. Works perfect. Including boot screen / boot selection screen.
- windows 10 is not supported on this old model. I made a test installation on separate disk. Installed 7, hundreds of patches, bootcamp support drivers installed, GWX to 10. Works perfect. The only glitch is when booting win 10 under vmware or parallesl. The windows setup tells you that win must be activated again, due to changed hardware. Back to bootcamp windos again thinks it is activated.
- metal grafic framework is not supported. I installed a metal only screen safer, works perfect. Metal needs at least OpenGl 4.3, so when you can insert a videocard that has OpemGL 4.3 or newer, you have good chances to have metal in mac models that officially don´t support it.

In many ways, apple computers are simple pc´s too, you simply have to try it.

Hmm, conspiracy, in a way, yes. Many statements from apple are made to protect them against legal actions "my combination of hardware, os, software does not work, gimme back my money".

greetings from germany
Chris

[Destiny]

Re: iMac expert needed...

by Destiny » Tue Oct 27, 2015 9:02 pm

Hi Chris.. I tried to boot up my old iMac using all the keep options.. Its slow and when it gets to the end it turns off... So I guess its dead.. I must have done the transfer to my new iMac just in time.. I think my old iMac looked after me and died at the very end... . I did a lot of work on that old iMac so I am very reluctant to throw it away.. I think I will put in it back in its box, which also look brand new, and just wait until I meet up with some Mac guru that might bring her back to life... If what you suggest about the bits inside, I think a computer wise will work it all out...

One of the big things I am not happy with Apple, when I told them I want my money back, the lady said she has to talk to their Legal Team first.. When she got back to me she said they have said its ok to provide a refund, but it can take up to 3 months.. I am going to go and chat with my local member of parliament to ask her to investigate whether that complies with Australian law.. If I bought my iMac through a local computer store, they would be legally bound to give me a refund there and then.... But because my iMac is a custom built one, I have to buy it through Apple Australia..

I will go to chat with here as soon as I have time..

Thank you for all the info Chris..

Destiny...

[mediavets]

Re: iMac expert needed...

by mediavets » Tue Oct 27, 2015 9:33 pm

until I meet up with some Mac guru that might bring her back to life... If what you suggest about the bits inside, I think a computer wise will work it all out...

Perhaps an independent Apple-savvy repair shop might fix it - or at least retrieve the hard drive.

[Destiny]

Re: iMac expert needed...

by Destiny » Tue Oct 27, 2015 9:42 pm

Yes Andrew.. I was thinking that the Apple Approved shop might not be the way to go.. They seem to have restrictions. But an independent shop who knows their way around a Mac might bring her back to life... Cheaper than buying another computer.. perhaps!.. We need one for our little girl.. Cannot afford to buy a new one.. But if we cannot get it fixed then we can destroy the HD... Mac screens are just wonderful.. never had a headache using a Mac...

Destiny...

until I meet up with some Mac guru that might bring her back to life... If what you suggest about the bits inside, I think a computer wise will work it all out...

Perhaps an independent Apple-savvy repair shop might fix it - or at least retrieve the hard drive.

[klausesser2]

Re: iMac expert needed...

by klausesser2 » Wed Nov 11, 2015 5:16 pm

... Perhaps its a big Apple conspiracy.. haha... Hey.. It might be true....!!

In many ways, apple computers are simple pc´s too, you simply have to try it.

Hmm, conspiracy, in a way, yes. Many statements from apple are made to protect them against legal actions "my combination of hardware, os, software does not work, gimme back my money".

Hey Chris!

I can state that! But on iMacs it´s quite differently!

I have pumped up my 2007 (!) MacPro 2x3GHz, 8 cores to 32GB RAM so far an i´m running Mavericks actually -
@Destiny: Shake runs fine! - put in a NVidia Quadro 600 from a PC and will go to a Quadro 4000 in January.

Tweaking old MacPros works very fine!

Tweaking "old" iMacs is somewhat tricky - but i heard about funny projects. I´ll look for some infos!

Klaus

[Christian Stüben]

Re: iMac expert needed...

by Christian Stüben » Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:30 am

... I can state that! But on iMacs it´s quite differently! ... Tweaking old MacPros works very fine! ...

Mac Pros are modular, expandable design, Eimacs not. That´s the difference.

Ahem, yes, when you name three free slots as expandable

Ok, Ram can be expanded up to 128gb for some models, video card can be changed easily, more hard discs. And as Bill Gates already sayd, no one will need more than 640 expansion slots. Something similar like this he sayd.

greetings from Wuppertal to Düsseldorf (and to Australia too!)
Chris


ps: why klausesser2? is your old login lost?