iMac took a spill - suggestions?

[1adam12]

One of my delicate children caused a relatively heavy door to fall over and strike the rear of my imac, causing it to then fall approximately 20" onto its face. The outcome is mixed and unpredictable. It will boot and operate as usual for several minutes, but then evidence of damage is noticeable in one or more of the following forms:

- Audible "reving" up and down of what I assume to be the HD
- OS freeze
- System shutdown
- CDR does not seem to be functioning propertly (sometimes does not recognize blank disc, other time will begin writing, but stalls. Often will not read).
- I should mention that in the case of shutdowns, it will not immediately reboot. It will either start to and then just stop, or it will get further into the boot process and then stall out with the fan going nuts. After the system has had time alone and off, it will boot up.

So, my questions are:

1. Does this sound like something a HD and CDR drive swap could correct?
2. What are other implications?
3. How difficult is it to replace a HD and CDR?
4. If difficult, is it worth taking to a mac professional for repair?

Thanks very much!
Adam

OSX 10.4.11
2.1 GHz G5
1.5 GB DDR2 SDRAM

 

[icemanjc]

It is possible that by dropping it, you might have damaged the hard drive. Disk Utility might not be able to tell if there is something wrong, but it's worth a try. Go to Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility, select your disk then tell it to verify it. If you have another hard drive laying around or an external you can try using that to boot off of and seen if that is the problem for it. The hard drive could very well cause a problem with both Freezes and Burning discs.

It is pretty simple to replace the hard drive, there are three screws (may be different on your model, just look for all the screws on the bottom) on the bottom of the case. Put the iMac screen facing down, unscrew the screws (they won't come out). Then pull up the back using the stand. You will see a plate over the hard drive, remove the screws. The drive in a sled, and connected to a temperature monitor so disconnect that first. Then replace the drive.

A full manual can be found here.

 

[icemanjc]

Oops: pressed button twice (delete please)

 

[djackmac]

It is pretty simple to replace the hard drive, there are three screws (may be different on your model, just look for all the screws on the bottom) on the bottom of the case. Put the iMac screen facing down, unscrew the screws (they won't come out). Then pull up the back using the stand. You will see a plate over the hard drive, remove the screws. The drive in a sled, and connected to a temperature monitor so disconnect that first. Then replace the drive.

A full manual can be found here.

The 2.1Ghz is an isight G5. That's not one of the (user serviceable) types. This particular model you need to pull the front bezel and the screen to get to the hard drive.

 

[1adam12]

Thank you both very much...

I'm not near it now, but just for future reference: how do I "pull the front bezel and the screen to get to the hard drive"?

Adam

 

[DeltaMac]

You do that by taking it to an Apple service shop, and pay them to do that.
That will likely be a good idea in any case. A tech should look around inside for other parts that may have banged loose as a result of the fall. According to your symptoms, you may have damaged one of the heat sinks (and the system is now overheating), and a repair tech may be able to see whether that can be fixed by re-seating - or if the part (like the logic board) really should be replaced.

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Thank you both very much...

I'm not near it now, but just for future reference: how do I "pull the front bezel and the screen to get to the hard drive"?

Adam

icemanjc's first post contains a link to a web page that will walk you through the process.

Oops, saw that the link icemanjc posted may not be valid. Here's an Apple discussion (with photos) on replacing the hard drive in the specific iMac model you have:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=996617

 

[icemanjc]

The 2.1Ghz is an isight G5. That's not one of the (user serviceable) types. This particular model you need to pull the front bezel and the screen to get to the hard drive.

Not true. The manual I provided is for the iSight model (yes it's a very extensive process, but it's still the right one).

 

[djackmac]

Not true. The manual I provided is for the iSight model (yes it's a very extensive process, but it's still the right one).

I know, I've taken apart several of both kinds. Yeah the manual looks right, but your paragraph on how you explained removing the HD pertains to the non isight user serviceable iMac. Does it not?

It is pretty simple to replace the hard drive, there are three screws (may be different on your model, just look for all the screws on the bottom) on the bottom of the case. Put the iMac screen facing down, unscrew the screws (they won't come out). Then pull up the back using the stand. You will see a plate over the hard drive, remove the screws. The drive in a sled, and connected to a temperature monitor so disconnect that first. Then replace the drive.