I wouldn’t bother with a clean install of Yosemite at this point. Whatever RAM you use, make sure both sticks have the same specs and are made by the same manufacturer. IOW, a matched pair. RAM from different manufacturers or that isn’t perfectly matched can do weird stuff, intermittent and otherwise. The most common problem is that each stick will have a different latency, which will cause boot hiccups or intermittent freezes.. G3 iMacs were notorious for being very picky about needing matched pairs of RAM sticks.
It’s possible mismatched RAM is one of your problems, but don’t be surprised if you install a matched pair and still get no video. Dust buildup inside an iMac — or any other electronic device — is like wearing a heavy insulated jacket in the middle of August in Florida. It causes heat strokes that kill electronics, especially video cards that tend to run hot because of all the juice that flows through the micro circuitry. Jim Scott > On Mar 31, 2018, at 9:50 PM, fishjoy...@gmail.com wrote: > > One other piece of info-- > I can get a startup chime when I use two 1GB RAM cards. The screen will stay > black, but I can connect through Teamviewer. > This is the same when I use either (but not both) of my 2GB RAM cards (so I > assume that both of them are good) . Using both of the 2GB RAM cards, I do > not get a startup chime, screen stays black, and I cannot connect remotely. > > I do not have the adapter to connect a second monitor to the 08 imac, but I > will get one. Once I get one, do you think it would do any good to do a clean > install of Yosemite? > Thanks, > Joe > > On Monday, March 26, 2018 at 8:27:21 PM UTC-6, fishj...@gmail.com wrote: > Hi all, > My mom's 2008 iMac with Yosemite and 4 GB RAM will no longer start. (Sorry > that I don't more specs, but it won't start) > When I push the power button, all I hear is a clicking sound near the optical > drive. No startup chime. > > What I have tried: > If I unplug the machine, and remove the two 2GB RAM cards and then try to > start, I get the "no RAM present" tone. > If I then unplug it, put one of the RAM cards in, and then push the power > button, I hear the startup chime, but the screen is dark. > > I have tried booting from a flash drive with Yosemite, and booting from the > AHT disk, but to no avail. > > The same thing happened last week, and I kept swapping RAM cards out with > some old 1 GB RAM cards from a previous machine. Somehow, it eventually > started and the screen came on. > I was able to run the Apple Hardware Test, which gave this error: > 4MOT/2/40000004:HDD -1392, and a subsequent running of the AHT gave the same > error, with -1384 at the end. > > After searching the internet, some folks said that the error was a HD fan > error. Some suggesting vacuuming as much dust out as possible, which I did. > Then I ran the AHT again, and it found no errors. > I also ran Disk Utility, which found and corrected permissions errors. It did > not indicate other problems. > > The machine worked fine for about a week, but today when I tried to wake it, > I got a black and white checked screen. I had to force it to shut down, and > now it will not start again. I get the same clicking sound near the optical > drive. However, if I pull out one of the RAM cards, I can get a startup > chime, but I still have a black screen. > > Any thoughts on this issue, or how to troubleshoot it? > Thanks! > Joe > > > -- > You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group > for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. > The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette > guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml > To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com > To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "iMac Group" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to imaclist@googlegroups.com To leave this group, send email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "iMac Group" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to imaclist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
