Imac won't boot

Operating Systems & Open Source Mac & iOS
1

I have an original imac on the shelf that I can't seem to get working again.

The machine worked perfectly fine , but I decided to add more ram. I added the ram , tried to boot , the machine gave me a frowny face , so I figure the ram wasn't compatible. I take the ram out , try a reboot. Nothing , still frowny face.

And that's it , you turn it on and it gives a frowny face. Sure would be nice if instead of a frowny face it actually said what was wrong , so that , you know , it could actually be fixed.

Maybe they changed it in modern macs but not this one , where do I start?

2

Older Macs required specific ram that was approved by Apple. I would check your model against the ram you put in it.

3

Can you boot into single user mode?

4

when it turns on it just goes straight to the frown face

5

im not using it just want it back the way it was.

6

hold command + S when you press the power button.

7

ok now what

8

Press the keys command + S to boot into single user mode.

9

ok i should clarify its not a frowny face , it's the normal face and it flashes between that and a question mark.

as for command s , it's not doing anything

10

The question mark means it cannot find a boot device. The connection to the hard drive may be loose, or you may have had particularly bad luck and had the hard drive fail while you were replacing the RAM.

Do you have the model/year the iMac was manufactured? You can derive this from the serial number and EveryMac's Ultimate Mac Lookup.

11

It's the original bondie tray loading Imac first run no revision.

12

So the G3/233? If you have the old install disks, I would try installing with those.

Based on the age its a fair chance that the hard drive has stopped working.

13

the drive worked fine before I went to touch the ram , only right after I touched the ram did the machine stop booting.

The drive spins up and doesn't have the click of death

14

sounds like a disconnected hard drive make sure the PATA drive connectors are pushed a the way down (on the hard drive and the motherboard.)

EDIT: make sure the ram is properly inserted.

15

nvm im getting some help at vogons , some dude has a bunch of then apparently lol

i wish it was as easy as a loose cable