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iMac Intel 27" EMC 2309 (Late 2009, Core 2 Duo 3.06 or 3.33 GHz) ID iMac10,1, EMC 2374 (Late 2009, Core i5 2.66 GHz or Core i7 2.8 GHz) ID iMac11,1

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Unresponsive white screen on startup

Hi there,

My iMac ("Core 2 Duo" 3.06 27-Inch (Late 2009)), has suddenly started showing a blank white screen after the startup chime once powered on, no apple logo or question mark, nothing. I run both Yosemite and Windows 7 via Boot Camp.

I have tried a number of 'white screen of death' fixes, such as PRAM reset, SMC reset, booting into safe mode, booting into target disk mode, single boot mode etc. The imac is completely unresponsive to any startup commands except the PRAM reset, which successfully restarts the iMac but does not seem to help. Also, holding the option key no longer shows me the available disks.

I'm beginning to think this may be a hardware issue, but if so, what?

Considering taking this along to my local repair shop but I'm a student and can't really afford that, hoping there are some cheap fixes I could attempt.

Many thanks for any insight or advice you guys might be able to offer.

Oliver

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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This on a 21.5" same as above

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Did you solve this issue? The same problem just happened to my iMac tonight. My iMac motto is the same as yours so I'm wondering if you were solution can be applied to mine.

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Zap the PRAM. (Command, option,P, R. Let chime twice. Then boot holding down Command, option and R. Reinstall OS from internet. Then you migh have reboot holding down option key to reset the boot up drive.

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I had this problem also now with my iMac. I have to make so many retries in restarting with Option key. SOmetime I could get in and most of the time will be stucked with the white screen. Were you able to get your issues resolved? If so what was the permanent fix ?

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It sounds like the firmware boot loader is corrupted. I've seen this only once before. We suspected some malware running under Windows messed up the firmware. Apple has addressed this risk in the most current firmware. Sadly, you need a bootable system to apply the update (catch 22 here). I would visit an Apple Store to see if they can fix this (they should do it for free).

Otherwise, it will likely need a new logic board - Ouch!

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Insert your original system installation disk and restart holding down the C key. If it boots, go to Utilities > Disk Utilities and see if you can repair the hard drive.

Replace the hard drive, format it, install a system and restore from your Time Machine backup. You do have an external hard drive back up, of course.

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Oliver S will be eternally grateful.
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