S.M.A.R.T. Status: Failing -- Is my iMac HOSED?!

[mattkime]

my biggest concern would be dust collecting on the inside of the glass during removal and replacement.

are my fears unfounded?

[JoeH]

Yep, drive failing. I just finished getting back my 2.8 GHz i7 iMac yesterday from the Apple Store to replace my drive for the same reason, it failed the SMART test. As mentioned, the drive temperature sensor is an issue. But, as I bought this iMac as a refurb last August it was still under warranty. They did replace the failing drive with one of the same model Seagate. I am assuming that you transposed digits, model ST31000528ASQ.

The unfortunate side of this was that a number of files were damaged before I noticed, and I had to copy off the rest piecemeal as other backup software would fail at each bad file. Still copying back on as I left for work this afternoon. A previous backup drive had become too small to do backups in full, so I was shopping around for a larger drive. The one I decided on went on sale at Amazon the same day I realized my drive was going bad, so I ended up getting it for $30 more at Staples to have it right away.

[Black]

jdc wrote:
I would call OWC tomorrow and confirm.

Any 99¢ suction cup will take the screen off -- in the grand scheme of the disassembly its the *easiest* part. Takes all of 5 seconds. Ive even removed the screen just by prying up the edge with the thin screw driver.

No need to call OWC-- here's the info courtesy of OWC:

http://macs.about.com/od/faq1/f/upgrade-...9-imac.htm

As long as you replace it with a drive from the same manufacturer you should be fine.

[jdc]

mattkime wrote:
my biggest concern would be dust collecting on the inside of the glass during removal and replacement.

are my fears unfounded?

Totally. Unless you are replacing the screen outside in a dust storm its totally a non-issue.

usually my last step is to blow the glass inside and screen with compressed air -- but honestly I have just used lung power the last few times. I have never seen a speck of anything.

[Article Accelerator]

Black wrote:
I imagine it applies to the 2010 and 2011 iMacs too?

One of the teardown articles I read mentioned that a special cable was not used in the new 2011 iMacs.

[3d]

From an Apple Support Discussion:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/13...D=13053887
...installing a replacement hard drive does not allow the HD temperature sensor to work correctly. The original Apple drive has a unique firmware that allows the factory sensor connector to work as the logic board expects. Any drive without Apple firmware will not feed the temperature info to the motherboard and the internal fan speed will eventually crank up to its max RPM. Even installing a new drive that matches the brand of the original factory drive will not stop this from happening. I tried putting a Seagate 7200.xx drive in place of the original 7200.xx drive and the fan still went full tilt boogie.

This sucks.

I have no major problem swapping out a drive. As mentioned before I swapped out the drive on the G4 Powerbook I'm typing away on now. That had something like 72 tiny little screws and a ribbon cable which I'm convinced only the tiny fingers of a gnome could install. But now I'm reading about a proprietary Apple firmware on the stock Seagate drive to read the internal temp correctly or the fans go berzerk 24/7 on this particular iMac model? Come on.

My plan of action is...
Call Amex to be sure it's covered and see if the required procedures do not involve me dropping trou and bending over. Going to the Apple store and getting an OEM stock drive with that stupid proprietary Apple firmware. Then go home and SuperDuper the drive from a backup.

Needless to say, if this was NOT covered by the Apple/Amex warranty it would be a different story. I have to give this Amex extended warranty a shot out of curiosity having never used that feature of the card.

[DP]

jdc wrote:
[quote=mattkime]
my biggest concern would be dust collecting on the inside of the glass during removal and replacement.

are my fears unfounded?

Totally. Unless you are replacing the screen outside in a dust storm its totally a non-issue.

usually my last step is to blow the glass inside and screen with compressed air -- but honestly I have just used lung power the last few times. I have never seen a speck of anything.
Well, I'd still pay attention to it. When my iMac was finally repaired (I had posted about it multiple times last Fall and Winter and it turned out-apparently-to be a bad video card) and I got it home I noticed a small dust speck that is on the inside of the screen. It's about the size of a period and it's near the top edge so it's not worth taking it back but I see it...

[rz]

One of the many reasons why I don't particularly care for iMacs...

[3d]

rz wrote:
One of the many reasons why I don't particularly care for iMacs...

Totally agree. If I could do it all over again. I would not get an iMac.