Faulty iMac. Need help!

[Kenzie]

So my wife has a 24in iMac and all has been well until recently. She has updated to the new OS X 10.9 Maverick and the computer now refuses to boot. I have tried safe mode, recovery mode and booting from the install disc but all hang on the Apple screen with the spinning wheel. The machine won't do anything now. I have also removed one stick of ram at a time to see if it is faulty memory but still nothing. Any ideas? Have seen a lot of complaints about Mavericks online.

[munkygunn182]

One of my mates is having similar problems. Took it to the Genius bar and they sorted it there and then. It's less than ideal, and probably will drive you crazy being patronised for half an hour...but will make your machine work.

[Kenzie]

Appointment booked for tomorrow down at Thurrock. The local authorised repairer wants £50 to send it off and diagnose then repairs. Managed to salvage her files though.

[Spank86]

http://www.wickes.co.uk/content/ebiz/wickes/invt/152832/Facing-Brick-Rustic_large.jpg

[Kenzie]

Well we took it to the Genius bar and they have diagnosed a faulty graphics card. This ain't gonna be cheap!

[L3nny]

This ain't gonna be cheap!

Well you should have realised that when you bought a Mac lol

Do you know what graphics card is in it?

[Kenzie]

I'm the sensible one, I own a pc! The Mac has an 8800gs inside. It's in bits at the moment.

[L3nny]

I'd say just get a new gfx card if it was a pc but I know nothing about Macs sorry

[Paul the 6th]

when my last 2008 iMac got sick because of a faulty hard drive (factory 250gb item), I took it to a local apple specialist (1st byte it solutions of York) who diagnosed it.. Ended up being something like £130 all in for an hours labour and a replacement 1 TB drive. That's the only bit of attention it's needed in 6 years of service. They're not as expensive as you expect - have you tried looking for a local independent shop with apple knowledge? You might be surprised :)

[Jabba]

How new is the machine? If it's not too old, even outside of the official warranty, Apple might replace the card as a freebie, particularly if there's a history of a faulty batch.

I agree with the others...... once bought, iMacs are cheap to run. Software tends to be cheaper, too, so all in all not that expensive.

[Kenzie]

The system is six or seven years old and classed by Apple as vintage. They are unable to repair it. The card is more like a laptop card rather than a pc one.

[Kenzie]

Well we sent the graphics card off to a company to be inspected and refurbed. It has been repaired and now works on their rig. Should get it back in a couple of days and put the system back together.

[Kenzie]

The card arrived back today and the mac is back in business! One very happy wife!

[PyroUK]

Good stuff mate!