Weird Pixelation on iMac g5

baudrillardo · #1 July 8th, 2008, 12:31 PM

Hi everybody, thanks god i found this forum. Im having a major issue with an iMac g5 monitor. All of the sudden it has started doing this crazy pixelation thingy all over the screen. whenever i place the mouse cursor over it shows this thing that i can hardly describe, but for lack of a better term i'd like to say that's as if some small blocks of pixels keep showing off. please help me!!
Im attaching a couple of pictures i took with a MotoRCKR cuz i wasnt able to do the screen capture thing.
i hope it's nothing grave...

Qion · #2 July 8th, 2008, 12:50 PM

I doubt it's a monitor problem... I don't remember precisely, but I believe a certain series of iMac G5 have a leaking capacitor issue, which is fairly catastrophic. It could also be a dying graphics card. I'd check apple.com for issues with your model of iMac.

Calling wouldn't hurt either. If your capacitors are actually bulging and leaking, it should be fixed immediately.

baudrillardo · #3 July 8th, 2008, 01:20 PM

i dont live in the US, i live in Venezuela, im not sure if the 800line could be of any help. excuse my ignorance but what are capacitors and how do i know if they bulging or leaking? u mean leaking as in liquid coming from them?
i already looked for that issue on the apple page but i didnt find anything that resembled my problem.

Qion · #4 July 8th, 2008, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baudrillardo

i dont live in the US, i live in Venezuela, im not sure if the 800line could be of any help. excuse my ignorance but what are capacitors and how do i know if they bulging or leaking? u mean leaking as in liquid coming from them?
i already looked for that issue on the apple page but i didnt find anything that resembled my problem.

Capacitors are like very simple batteries. They're electronic parts of your motherboard that hold a charge. You know if they're bulging or leaking by taking the back of your iMac off and looking for them.

http://images.google.com/images?clie...=1&sa=N&tab=wi

One of the symptoms of the issue is graphical anomalies like the ones you are having. Unfortunately, fixing this issue yourself is a bit tricky. Since you're in South America, I'm not sure what else to tell you.

nixgeek · #5 July 8th, 2008, 02:03 PM

My 2nd generation iMac G5 fell victim to the capacitor problem twice within this year (mine is just shy of 3 years old). If yours is a 1st gen, then for sure you should be covered. Mine is a second gen and I proved to them that it wasn't only the first generation models that were affected. As a matter of fact, the iMac G5 section of Macintouch has listed many people with all three generations of the iMac G5 plagued with the capacitor problems. Apple will replace the logic board and the PSU (as usually both parts are affected by this problem) at no charge so long as the iMac G5 is within the three years of its purchase (regardless of which warranty you have). Contact Apple and let them know your problem.