Tag: baking Page 1 of 2

I never knew baking could provide an adrenaline rush until I engaged in this kitchen skill myself recently for an oven treat that has to be very much removed from most chefs’ regular concoction rotations.

No, it was not biscuits.

No, it was not lasagna.

No, it was not a potato.

Is this as much fun for you as it is for me? It should be.

What I “baked” was a dead graphics card from a late 2009 27 inch iMac computer that essentially was reduced to its new role of doorstop since it would no longer boot with the aforementioned toasted card.

A very dear, long-time customer was looking for anything that might bring the beloved iMac back to life. She had been quoted $300 for a replacement graphics card plus labor which put the cost of the repair well above what the computer was worth.

What to do

I had suggested she take it to a Mac repair shop so she might get an estimate for repairs. She did so and was disappointed to find out the repair was not really a practical solution for a 12-year old computer.

After letting me know of the repair guy’s findings, I told her to put the money that would have been spent on the repair for the purchase of a newer iMac, which she did. She still wanted me to at least extract the hard drive and put it in an external enclosure so she’d be able to access its contents on her new iMac (which ended up being a 2011 27-inch).

The thing that irks me about Apple is the way the company includes planned obsolescence in its business model. I say this often and I am aware Apple must sell new kit to continue to thrive. It’s unfortunate, though, that things like graphics cards can burn out from all the heat the iMac’s case generates, causing premature hardware failure of things like hard drives as well.

Bake to my Lou, my darling

After reassuring her I could at least remove the hard drive and put it in the enclosure for her, I also indicated I would further research the issue of her spent graphics card.

All you have to do is google “bake graphics cards” and you’ll see a variety of movies and how-tos about the subject. I read a bunch of things and the common denominator in the case of 2009-2011 27-inch iMac graphics cards was the pronouncement that you should only try it if you have nothing to lose.

In this case, the graphics card was already seemingly “lost” and so I set out with courage and conviction on my baking extravaganza.

10 pounds of stuff in a 5 lb. bag

Taking it apart and putting it back together is always the biggest time suck for me when it comes to working on iMacs. I was undeterred in my pursuit of baking the card, however. Once I finally had the card out, I cleaned it up with 91% isopropyl alcohol. I also cleaned off the heat sink too. I had brand new Arctic MX-4 for the GPU and K5 PRO Viscous Thermal Paste for the card’s memory chips. It was all coming together and got very real once I preheated the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit) and readied the card by putting it atop four rolled up aluminum foil balls on top of a baking pan lined with said aluminum foil.

I put the card into the oven.

Ten minutes later I removed the card.

Was it overcooked?

Was it undercooked?

Better yet, I was thinking why did I do this again?

I was distracted with another project and ended up letting the card cool for a couple of hours before applying the MX-4 to the GPU and the K5 to the card’s ram chips. The whole process to this point was very fatiguing. I started to doubt myself and questioned why I was trying this in the first place. I knew my exhaustion needed to be respected so I left it overnight.

The following morning I put it all back together and doggone it if the iMac didn’t start stuttering and eventually freeze halfway through the startup progress bar. I took an immediate time out as I needed to either chalk it up to the failed card or something else. I opted for something else.

I’ve pulled a few of these things apart and back together in my day. After consulting my memory banks, I thought it might be the LCD video cable that was not connected properly. I opened up the iMac once again and reseated the cable.

I decided this next pressing of the iMac’s power button would be my final one–success or not.

A white screen came up first. Before my repair, the computer threw yellow vertical lines on a white background and froze halfway through the startup process.

This time, though, and all of a sudden the Apple logo came up while the progress bar continued making its way through the startup process. NO stuttering, too!

I began to rush with the adrenaline that I described in the first sentence as the progress bar cleared all the way through startup bringing up the iMac’s login screen.

IT WORKED!!!

I entered the password and the iMac dutifully brought up the desktop of the computer. IT WORKED! IT WORKED! IT WORKED! IT WORKED! IT WORKED!

Your mileage may vary with this repair. Although I didn’t remove the logic board it was still a difficult repair. I spent a lot of time inserting the graphic card’s temperature sensor to the underside of the logic board. It was a very tight squeeze. I finally loosened up enough screws on the logic board until it gave me better clearance when I pulled it towards me so I could manipulate the tiny connector into its receptacle. To not have connected this sensor would have left the iMac’s fans blowing at full speed. If you try this yourself, be patient and take your time.

I let the iMac’s owner know of the success of the project. She was as delighted as I was. The first thing I advised when she picked it up was to back up the hard drive’s contents. This is because of reports web-wide indicating that baking is only a temporary fix. Some people have had upwards of three years running while others have reported just days of uptime before the problems resurfaced.

Apple decided a few years back this late 2009 iMac is obsolete.

This may be true, but for those Mac lovers of meager means and/or who want to eke out as much time with their beloved machines as possible, this repair, while not for the faint of heart, is one way for their machines to keep on providing useful service.

And to boot, haha, it is most definitely worth the trouble, especially when you consider the smiles its restored functionality brings to users’ faces.