Video display is all blue with horizontal lines

J

Jim W

Registered
My iMac boots up (OSX 10.4) and when the desktop is about to appear the little spinning wheel start to get "fuzzy" (yes only the wheel), then when it's time for the desktop to appear the entire screen goes blue with horizontal lines across it. I can see nothing on the screen at all except that mess.

Weird thing is, if I boot using the install disc, everything is fine. he display never screws up. So I am guessing some file or something is corrupted in OSX?

I was going to do a restore, but since there have been some updates since I got it, I am worried about that whole process and not being able to get to my pictures and what not on the HD. The procedure where I can archive the current OS and reinstall the original seems like my next step.
 
Well if you don't have another computer to hook it up to and put it in target mode, that does seem like the next step.

So you are going to Archive and Install? Then that means you are then going to delete the old system and leave it like it is? Do you have an external drive?

Even though you are installing a new system, if you have an external I would recommend backing up then reformatting your drive due to the fact that things can still go wrong if you archive and install.
 
Jim W said:
Weird thing is, if I boot using the install disc, everything is fine. he display never screws up. So I am guessing some file or something is corrupted in OSX?
Click to expand...

Just because it doesn't happen booted to an install disk does not mean its not hardware related. The best thing you could do at this time if you have an external drive is install a clean system to the external drive and then boot the iMac to the external drive and try to reduplicate the video issues to rule out hardware. I've seen plenty of hardware related video issues not show up booted to CD/DVD because it usually takes much less processor and RAM resources to boot a disk.
 
I currently do not have an external hard drive, that was in my plans (of course being the procrastinator I am it's too late now).

I am just so bugged about the potential of losing all the pictures and other files on the hard drive by attempting the archive/install.
 
..and as I was typing that reply I had an idea.....

I had networked my son's iMac with mine, but I never tried to see if I could still get at it. I can still access it. So it must be something with the video for sure. Well anyway I can get all the important stuff I want to save off of mine and move it to his, then I can do whatever I want and not have to worry about losing anything.

*phew*
 
Tried both reinstall processes (with archive and erase the HD), same results.

This is my dilemma now. This machine is old and pretty much out of date. So I don't know if it's worth spending any amount of money on it at all, even a minimal fee for diagnostics.

(G4 iMac purchased 6/05)
 
Oh, well yah if it's a G4 iMac. Even though Apple's computers are known for lasting more than 5 years, 5 years is still pretty good. My iMac G5 already died that they had replaced the motherboard in recently, so sometimes you never know.

I wouldn't throw it out or anything though, there are plenty of people who you could sell it to or give it to and make something of it.
 
icemanjc said:
My iMac G5 already died that they had replaced the motherboard in recently, so sometimes you never know.
Click to expand...

I'd seen on more than a few occasions some iMac G5s that had been through 3 or 4 logic boards. I've done so many logic boards on those things I could literally do one while I was asleep.
 
icemanjc said:
Oh, well yah if it's a G4 iMac. Even though Apple's computers are known for lasting more than 5 years, 5 years is still pretty good. My iMac G5 already died that they had replaced the motherboard in recently, so sometimes you never know.

I wouldn't throw it out or anything though, there are plenty of people who you could sell it to or give it to and make something of it.
Click to expand...

I hear ya, being it actually boots up and works, I could use it as storage. haha

Thanks for the replies folks, I'll let you know what their answer is. (which I assume is pretty much what we already expect)
 
Well it's a logic board, $600 estimate for repair.

I guess for now it's back to a dreaded Windows machine, as I really can't fit the cost of a new Mac in my budget right now.

Thanks again all for the replies.
 
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