WTF happened to my iMac ??

[miffed]

oo-er ! , my peaceful Sunday off (I usually work 10am-2pm has all been consumed by a little computing nightmare !! Come on chaps at Apple , I expect better from you guys - The way things have been today I may as well have been using Microsoft products !

With the benefit of hindsight , this has been brewing for a week or so , my "perfectly working" iMac was serving me well , but I noticed for some reason there was an empty "progress bar" underneath the Apple logo on boot up , a bit like when you ugrade the firmware on an iphone , I also noticed it took a while to boot up one morning , but it all worked fine and I thought nothing of it - subsequent boots were all fine (but with the progress bar thing)

Then , yesterday things started to get spooky !

I was listening to some music , and itunes kept giving errors , as every song played it was saying something about unable to write a song to library (or words to that affect)

I though maybe a reboot was in order , so tried that , it took AGES to reboot , all seemed fine when it was done though

Then this morning , I went to use the printer (Epson RX520 , been working fine up today )
I tried to use it , but it has dissappeared from the printers list - so went and added it again , it asked to download the driver via software upadate (funny ! it should have one already !) , it would download it , but then report >20 errors "File not found" , "Duplicate file" "two files exist" etc.
But the printer would appear to install , but not print - I could scan (it's an all in one ) , or print using a related models driver (not ideal though) - tried downloading the drivers directly from Epson , and the DMG would not even open , can't remember the exact error though , something about the file not being recognised I think

Tried Repairing permissions etc , made no difference

So , OK I thought - Time for a clean install of Snow Leopard

Went to transfer my Docs , iTunes & iPhoto libraries over to my MBA , when I notice I cannot access the iMac from my network , messed around for ages , no joy !

Plan B , I'll put my iPhone into disk Mode (wasn't even sure if this was possible ) ...but didn't get that far ! iTunes simply wouldn't recognise my iPhone ! (iNow , those of you that use an iPhone with Windows may think this is not a biggy , but Phone /mac users will know this just doesn't happen ! ) Great !

Plan C - OK , it'll be a pain in the ass , but I'll copy the data to DVD's - loaded the first DVD up , pressed burn ....
"Unable to write DVD as file with the same name exists"

......Now I was getting angry !

I eventually remembered that my 16GB Nano I had got for Xmas was already enabled for Disk use ... so I was able to use that to ferry my data back and forth between the iMac and MBA .

Re-installed SL on the imac , and put all my data on there - all is well again !

Anyone like to hazard a guess at what my iMac is playing at ??

[miffed]

hmm, it seems the progress bar is hinting at hard drive problems

Since the clean install I have checked the disk with Disk Utility and it says its OK - Feel like I'll be looking over my shoulder now though

[Hands0n]

I am not at all sure but it does rather sound like a disk-related issue.

Whether this is a disk controller or actual drive issue at the moment is hard to tell. But as I read through your descriptions the thought of it being disk was constantly in mind. It is somewhere that I would start first.

For it to have had such a widespread effect my instinct would be that something happened around the /Library directory - perhaps it became inacessible through damage or loss.

I would suggest grabbing a copy of Onyx and run through the various tests and cleanups that it performs. That may reveal something or even repair something that your re-install has resolved. Get Onyx from here --> http://www.apple.com/downloads/macos...ties/onyx.html

[miffed]

Cheers dude , just ran that and it says all is fine - certainly is running OK , and it boots up at normal speed now.

....Just got a horrible feeling I haven't heard the last of this !

[3GScottishUser]

Whats this?

A fruit machine that needed a rinstallation!!!

Thank goodness for honesty!

[Ben]

Have you got Techtool Deluxe? Should be with your Applecare stuff. Install and run a thorough check, it should pick up any hardware faults.

I think your HDD may be on the way out, but the symptoms aren't clear cut.

OS X doesn't just melt down by itself. It's UNIX, it doesn't happen.

[Hands0n]

Thank goodness for honesty!

See? Us Apple folk have no need to hide anything at all. Its all good.

A re-install of OS X is very straightforward and not something to be feared. It does it so well that Windows 7 has copied in much of its sophistication. And that can only be a good thing for Windows users, for which us Apple people are happy to share the experience and expertise What is it that old adage says? Copying is the most sincere form of flattery

However, in this case I strongly get the whiff of a failing HDD - for which we probably have to thank Seagate or Hitachi.

[miffed]

I'm pleased my misfortune has brought you such joy 3GSU

I won't be too pleased if the HDD does fail , the machine is only 3 months old and I had a Macbook HDD fail at just of a year old IIRC

Ben , I don't have Applecare ! I am not a fan of extended warranties of any flavour.
Of course ,I am still under my initial 12 months though , but how would I fair with getting it replaced at this stage ? Disk utility and Onyx both say that it's fine. so I suspect this is the line that Apple will take .

I don't like messing around TBH , my instinct is to simply replace the current HDD and be done with it , but looking at the some of the guides online , this is more a job for an Apple service centre than a clumsy heavy handed oaf like myself , so I suspect it'll be costly

Yesterdays drama taught me a lesson about backing up my data though !! I am usually "semi" good in this respect, but had it all gone tits up yesterday I'd have lost around 100 photos , a couple of videos and some very important letters !
Lesson learned ! I think I'll stop messing around backing this stuff up manually and get an external HDD and start using time machine.

[3GScottishUser]

If the machine is under warranty then the vendor is responsible to make good a repair or provide a replacement under the Sale of Goods Act.

Most PC makers have an RTB service arrangement and some are pretty quick. The last time I had to return a laptop to DSG it took just 4 working days to return it with a new motherboard!

Sad to hear you lost some pics etc. I now tend to back these up on USB flash drives as they are so cheap.

[Ben]

Get an external hooked up, miffed, and get Time Machine running. It's the best backup solution out there, and it's only on Mac

[Hands0n]

Expect to see Time Machine in Windows 8

[miffed]

LOL , I've been keeping an eye out for the innevitable

"Hi , I'm a mac ....and Windows 7 was my idea" advert

[Ben]

LOL , I've been keeping an eye out for the innevitable

"Hi , I'm a mac ....and Windows 7 was my idea" advert

How they've resisted thus far is, quite frankly, beyond me!

[The Mullet of G]

Basically your iMac sucks, this is quite a common fault with iMacs. Other than that it does sound like your hard drive could be failure cascading, having been the victim of about 7 or 8 failed VelociRaptors, I can sympathize. My current one was failing, but has now decided it is in perfect health and will perform as stated. Good luck with the drive thing.