Need help bad....emac just shut down and died last night.

[macartistkel]

I don't know what happened but when I left my place yesterday the emac was running and when I came home it was off (no power failure happened--everything else was fine). I cannot get it turned back on (button will not work). I need to know what to do?? This computer has everything from the last three years AND everything from my old imac and old ibook. I just want everything off the hard drive immediately and backed up.

I had dreams last night that I lost all my photos, music, and school papers. This a nightmare to me.

 

[macartistkel]

Also I have never opened the emac case before....can I take the hard drive out and use it in my computer at work to get everything off?? I have a G5 and G4 here. I did that one time with my imac's hardrive...it worked for the most part but then it started causing the G4 to crash. I got the main stuff I wanted off of it.

I don't understand why this happened?? I did put a DVD in the other day and it gave me a disk error message...but that's it. I am sure I quit the program but left the disk in the drive. Why would my computer just cut off and never cut back on though?? Major stress right now.

 

[Lau]

I'm sure it is possible to get the hard drive out and put in either another computer or an external enclosure, so as long as it isn't the hard drive that has failed, you should be ok. Hopefully someone else will be along in a bit who can tell you for sure though.

In case it is the hard drive that failed, do you have a backup anywhere of your data?

 

[macartistkel]

In case it is the hard drive that failed, do you have a backup anywhere of your data?

Thanks Lau, but NOOOO, I don't...nothing is backed up. I never thought of a hard drive failure...does it really just erase everything???

 

[Lau]

Thanks Lau, but NOOOO, I don't...nothing is backed up. I never thought of a hard drive failure...does it really just erase everything???

Yeah, sorry. Sometimes if it slowly dies you can get stuff off, but if it won't spin up at all, that's not good. On the bright side though – it might not be the hard drive, and the reason it's not spinning up is because the computer's broken, and then you can get the data off the hard drive.

 

[macartistkel]

Yeah, sorry. Sometimes if it slowly dies you can get stuff off, but if it won't spin up at all, that's not good. On the bright side though – it might not be the hard drive, and the reason it's not spinning up is because the computer's broken, and then you can get the data off the hard drive.

I will be praying nonstop--this is a crisis...I don't know what i am going to do if I cannot get my stuff off. I am really worried because the computer just cut off on its own??? I have never had that happen?? I am going home soon to pop that hard drive out. I guess I will know soon.

 

[macartistkel]

Ok, the mac it dude here at work told me to hit the reset button on the mother board first before taking out the hard drive so I am going to try that to see if it will start. Also any other suggestions would be great...I'll be leaving in an hour.

 

[bowdeni]

Just wanted to add good luck!

I had a similar problem but with my Dell last year. Mine WAS a hard drive failure and I did lose everything (fortunatly I had photos backed up..) but yours sounds a bit different to my case. For starts your computer isn't turning on at all, where as mine did, just didn't get much further than that.

I'd say that there is a good chance that you'll recover all your data. It's just a matter of either fixing the emac, or taking the HD out and putting it in another computer.

 

[macartistkel]

Just wanted to add good luck!

I had a similar problem but with my Dell last year. Mine WAS a hard drive failure and I did lose everything (fortunatly I had photos backed up..) but yours sounds a bit different to my case. For starts your computer isn't turning on at all, where as mine did, just didn't get much further than that.

I'd say that there is a good chance that you'll recover all your data. It's just a matter of either fixing the emac, or taking the HD out and putting it in another computer.

Thank you for the support...much appreciated! I am a basketcase right now.

 

[macartistkel]

where are all the mac techies in the house??!!! geez, I just work on them--I don't fix them!

Anyway, I reset the button and plugged it back in...all of a sudden I heard POWER, then I heard the CHIME! For about 2 seconds I thought everything was fine. However it cut off immediately and I smelled burnt plastic like it sparked a fire. At this point I guess I should not mess with it anymore and move on to taking out the hard drive...UNLESS of course someone else with some apple care knowledge has another suggestion!

 

[njmac]

Can you bring it to an apple store for repair?

BTW, we missed you in the American Idol thread

 

[jsw]

Hey, sorry I just saw this.

It sounds like you have a power supply issue, although it could be the motherboard. It is probably not the hard drive, and so, before doing anything else, I strongly recommend getting that drive out and connected to something else (G5 at work, etc.). Once you've backed it up, then you can proceed to worrying about the eMac.

However - and this is important - don't take the drive out yourself. You need to find someone with experience in the area, as the eMac has a CRT and those things can be quite dangerous. Do you know of anywhere you could take it nearly?

Edit: it's not hard to disassemble one, but it's not the thing you should do unless you're confident around high-voltage equipment.

 

[Sutekidane]

Didn't emacs have known transister problems? that would explain the smell.

 

[cait-sith]

Didn't emacs have known transister problems? that would explain the smell.

Capacitor problems. Certain eMac batches have had blown capacitors after a few years, causing bad video distortion and a number of problems. This could be the case here.

That your machine powered on and then off again after hitting reset means it's probably not a power supply issue, otherwise the machine wouldn't power on. Likely it's a logic board issue.

Bet you'll be backing up your data from now on.

 

[macartistkel]

Can you bring it to an apple store for repair?

BTW, we missed you in the American Idol thread

AWWWW, I bet I would have had SO MUCH FUN in here talking about AI--I still watched but I had to go MIA from MR for awhile and then I ended up hanging out at the American Idol boards until the end of the show. After Chris got the boot--I was so DONE. I still watched of course (can't live without it) but it was all kind of ruined for me. I will definitely have to search out the thread though---I bet it would be fun for me to read everyone's comments about it! Oh yeah, and didn't I predict Kat would make all the way to finals from the SAN FRAN audition...I called that one back in a post in January!!

And there isn't an Apple store within 3 1/2 hours of me...BUT there is one coming in the Knoxville mall soon (which isn't that far)...plus I am moving to San Diego in a couple of months and I have visited that particular store before so I'll be set! I desparately needed some new Apple Gear but I was holding off a little while longer because of the move...this is usually when this kind of stuff happens though! I am having a bad week for sure!

Well hard drive coming out in a few!!

 

[macartistkel]

Hey, sorry I just saw this.

It sounds like you have a power supply issue, although it could be the motherboard. It is probably not the hard drive, and so, before doing anything else, I strongly recommend getting that drive out and connected to something else (G5 at work, etc.). Once you've backed it up, then you can proceed to worrying about the eMac.

However - and this is important - don't take the drive out yourself. You need to find someone with experience in the area, as the eMac has a CRT and those things can be quite dangerous. Do you know of anywhere you could take it nearly?

Edit: it's not hard to disassemble one, but it's not the thing you should do unless you're confident around high-voltage equipment.

Oh SH%$!! Ok, just seeing this post...I'll go bother the mac guy here. Hopefully he will not mind...I brought my computer to work anyway but I was just going to take it apart on my break! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[macartistkel]

Found some disassembly instructions for the emac online. I have to wait 12 hours AFTER the computer was last unplugged to start taking it apart or could be very dangerous (so you were right jsw). Oh well, thanks for all the help everyone! I feel a little better about the whole thing now....I will be able to calm down once my hard drive is backed up though!

 

[bowdeni]

I know exactly how you feel, and trust me, you'll start backing up after this!

My story is a bit funnier though. I had had this Dell for a good two years without a problem. It was an ok machine. I was about to go to university and was purchasing a machine for myself, so decided to switch. I booted up the Dell to order the imac, and that very moment in time the HD crashed. When I was about to buy Apple.

Always thought there is something fishy about that.

 

[CubeHacker]

Found some disassembly instructions for the emac online. I have to wait 12 hours AFTER the computer was last unplugged to start taking it apart or could be very dangerous (so you were right jsw). Oh well, thanks for all the help everyone! I feel a little better about the whole thing now....I will be able to calm down once my hard drive is backed up though!

Getting to the HDD inside an eMac is not as easy as one might think. Its pretty much right in the middle, and the entire thing, including the motherboard needs to be removed to get to it. Make sure to take it slow so that you'll be able to put it back together again.

And like someone else mentioned, watch out for the CRT neck. It can kill you!

 

[cait-sith]

Be extremely careful! There is enough voltage in a CRT to kill you! Try to use rubber-handled screwdrivers as well, since a slip won't cause you to become an unwilling resistor in the CRT circuit. <-- (not ? lines, more like smoke lines)