Apple imac 20 inch early 2009 User Manual

iMac (20-inch, Early/Mid 2009) Symptom Charts — Mass Storage 51 2010-11-24
Optical Drive Not Recognized
Unlikely cause:  LCD panel, power supply, fans, speakers, camera, microphone
Quick Check
SymptomsQuick Check
Drive Not Recognized/Mount 
(J05)
•  Discs inject and eject, but do 
not appear in Finder 1.
  Use Apple System Profiler Serial-ATA section to 
see if the optical drive and any inserted media 
appears.
2.  Check Finder Preferences and make sure “CD’s, 
DVD’s and iPods” is checked under “Show...

iMac (20-inch, Early/Mid 2009) Symptom Charts — Mass Storage 52 2010-11-24
5.  Connect original optical drive 
to known-good SATA cable. Do 
both types of media reliably 
read now? Yes
SATA cable issue. Replace 
SATA cable. Go to step 6. X03
No Go to step 2.
6.  Test read compatible known-
good CD and DVD media 
(Install DVD). Verify media is 
recognized and reads reliably. Yes
Issue resolved.
No Replace optical drive.  J03
Optical Drive Won’t Accept/Eject Media
Unlikely cause:  LCD panel, power supply,...

iMac (20-inch, Early/Mid 2009) Symptom Charts — Mass Storage 53 2010-11-24
3.  Connect known-good optical 
drive to SATA cable. Verify that 
known-good optical drive is 
listed in the System Profiler 
device tree. Yes
Go to step 4.
No Suspect SATA cable.  
Go to step 7.
4.  With known-good optical drive 
installed, test for media inject/
eject. Verify drive accepts and 
ejects known-good media. Yes
Known-good optical drive 
resolved inject/eject issue. 
Replace optical drive.  J03
No Go to step 7.
5....

iMac (20-inch, Early/Mid 2009) Symptom Charts — Mass Storage 54 2010-11-24
Optical Drive Read/Write Error
Unlikely cause:  LCD panel, power supply, fans, speakers, camera, microphone
Quick Check
SymptomsQuick Check
Drive Read/Write Data Error (J03)
•  Errors when writing optical 
media.
•  Errors when reading optical 
media.
•  Hang when accessing or 
preparing to write data. 1.
  Test optical media in another drive of the same 
type in the same type of computer to rule out 
media issue.
2.  Check with...

iMac (20-inch, Early/Mid 2009) Symptom Charts — Mass Storage 55 2010-11-24
6. Test write data to compatible 
CD and DVD media. Verify 
burned media is recognized 
and reads reliably. Yes
Issue resolved.
No Replace optical drive.  J03
Optical Drive Not Performing to Specifications
Unlikely cause:  LCD panel, power supply, fans, speakers, camera, microphone
Quick Check
Symptoms Quick Check
Optical Drive Not Performing to 
Specifications (J07)
•  Read or write speeds slower 
than expected 1.
  Test optical...

iMac (20-inch, Early/Mid 2009) Symptom Charts — Mass Storage 56 2010-11-24
4. Connect original optical drive 
to known-good SATA cable. Do 
both types of media reliably 
read now? Yes
SATA cable issue. Replace 
SATA cable. Go to step 6. X03
No Replace optical drive.  J03
5.   Test write data to compatible 
CD and DVD media. Verify 
burned media is recognized 
and reads reliably. Yes
Issue resolved.
No Go to step 7. J03
6.  The balance of some media 
may not perform at higher 
speeds supported by the...

iMac (20-inch, Early/Mid 2009) Symptom Charts — Mass Storage 57 2010-11-24
2. Reseat SATA cable connections 
at logic board and optical drive. 
Do both types of media read 
reliably now? Yes
Go to step 6.
No Go to step 4.
3.   Connect known-good optical 
drive to SATA cable. Do both 
types of media reliably read 
now? Yes
SATA cable and port on logic 
board good. Go to step 5.
No Replace SATA cable and test 
(X03). If issue persists, replace 
logic board (M19). Go to step 
6.
4.  Connect original optical...

iMac (20-inch, Early/Mid 2009) Symptom Charts — Communications 58 2010-11-24
Communications
AirPort/Bluetooth Issues
Quick Check
SymptomsQuick Check
AirPort/Bluetooth Issues
•  Unable to join networks or pair 
devices
•  AirPort card not available
•  Intermittent device or 
connection dropouts
•  Limited wireless range
1.  Verify that AirPort or Bluetooth is turned ON and 
for AirPort issues make sure that a network is 
selected.
2.  For AirPort, check if the wireless access point 
requires special...

iMac (20-inch, Early/Mid 2009) Symptom Charts — Communications 59 2010-11-24
2. Ensure that antenna cable(s) 
are connected properly and 
not damaged, and all software 
updates available for AirPort/
Bluetooth have been installed. 
Do connection issues persist? Yes
AirPort, go to step 3. 
Bluetooth, go to step 4.
No Issue resolved.
3.  Create a computer-to-
computer network with 
another Macintosh computer 
using AirPort. See kBase article 
http://docs.info.apple.com/
article.html?path=AirPort/5.0/...

iMac (20-inch, Early/Mid 2009) Symptom Charts — Communications 60 2010-11-24
AirPort Card Kernel Panic
Quick Check
SymptomsQuick Check
AirPort Card Kernel Panic
•  Kernel panic on startup
•  Kernel panic or freezing while 
attempting to connect to wi-fi 
networks
•  Kernel panic while transferring 
data on wi-fi networks 1.
  Isolate OS by starting up from original Install 
media for the computer, the same model 
computer in Target Disk Mode, or compatible 
known-good OS on an external drive. AirPort...