Second Life Forums Archive - ll/imac g5 failures... :(

Nyoko Salome

kittytailmeowmeow

Join date: 18 Jul 2005

Posts: 1,378

08-03-2005 11:50

hey, just caught this over at macintouch...
http://www.macintouch.com/imacg5part12.html#aug03...

"
Aug. 3, 2005
Hardware Failures

James Cook
Our company makes Second Life, a massively multiplayer online virtual world for Mac and PC. We've standardized on iMac G5s for development, mostly to save desk space.

We've purchased 20 iMac G5s over the last 12 months, most of them 17". Over 50% of them have failed. Yes, 50%. And we have to take them to the Apple Store to get them repaired or replaced. This is incredibly frustrating, and makes it harder for us to support the Mac platform. We complained to Apple -- they sent us a Power Mac as a bribe, but still won't cross-ship new machines to us.

By comparison, we've purchased 40 Dell machines over the same time period. One has failed due to a bad power supply.

My most recent failure was an iMac G5 20", with second generation hardware. It failed after less than 24 hours of us. Apple Hardware Tool reported 2FAN/4/8, so I assume a fan was defective. Still, I would hope that Apple would "burn in" their machines at the factory for a little longer.

My advice? If you buy an iMac, get it set up, run Software Update, then run Apple Hardware Test. (Put in the DVD that came with the computer, restart holding down the Option key, click on AHT, click the next arrow.) Run the "extended test", which will take 30 minutes or so. If it reports any failures, take the computer back to the Apple Store and exchange it for a new one.
"
thought with in-the-shop experience like that, the notice was worth repeating... think they're a nice compact form, but apple's had a number of probs with the design, it seems.

_____________________

Nyoko's Bodyoils @ Nyoko's Wears
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Centaur/126/251/734/
http://home.comcast.net/~nyoko.salome2/nyokosWears/index.html

"i don't spend nearly enough time on the holodeck. i should go there more often and relax." - deanna troi

Merwan Marker

Booring...

Join date: 28 Jan 2004

Posts: 4,706

08-03-2005 12:42

Is this for real?

James Cook - a LL employee posted this??

_____________________

Don't Worry, Be Happy - Meher Baba

Jesrad Seraph

Nonsense

Join date: 11 Dec 2004

Posts: 1,463

08-03-2005 13:41

This is old news already. At hardmac.com we have received many related testimonies last month, and found the problem: some of the capacitors on the motherboard are faulty in most iMacs from the same production series from the end of 2004, you can check your iMac for this defect by opening it and looking at the capacitors. Image example:

Apple knows about it. Useful information here: http://www.oliver-kreuzenbeck.de/iMac_problems/iMac.html

These are capacitors made by Nichicon from March 2003 to April 2004, they are also used in motherboards by Intel and Dell.

_____________________

Either Man can enjoy universal freedom, or Man cannot. If it is possible then everyone can act freely if they don't stop anyone else from doing same. If it is not possible, then conflict will arise anyway so punch those that try to stop you. In conclusion the only strategy that wins in all cases is that of doing what you want against all adversity, as long as you respect that right in others.

Ian Linden

Linden Lab Employee

Join date: 19 Nov 2002

Posts: 183

08-04-2005 14:09

Merwan - this is real; James Cook is one of our engineers. These mind-boggling failure stats are genuine, although his advice to new buyers is his own. Our failure rate with power macs and powerbooks has been alot lower, but still higher than any of our PC hardware (although the Dell reliabiliy record isn't quite as good as James suggests). The "Power Mac as a bribe" thing isn't really the whole story, since Apple does regularly lend hardware to developers like us.

Nyoko Salome

kittytailmeowmeow

Join date: 18 Jul 2005

Posts: 1,378

interesting, ian - thanks

08-04-2005 15:27

i hope i didn't stir up a shitstorm for y'all, reposting that - i didn't think much about that at the time.

just found it interesting - i'm a mac kid, and i whole-heartedly support you supporting macs!!

that is exciting to know.

too bad though about those g5s... know that must be the best option short of tower/monitor combos...

_____________________

Nyoko's Bodyoils @ Nyoko's Wears
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Centaur/126/251/734/
http://home.comcast.net/~nyoko.salome2/nyokosWears/index.html

"i don't spend nearly enough time on the holodeck. i should go there more often and relax." - deanna troi

Merwan Marker

Booring...

Join date: 28 Jan 2004

Posts: 4,706

08-05-2005 06:22

From: Ian Linden

Merwan - this is real; James Cook is one of our engineers. These mind-boggling failure stats are genuine, although his advice to new buyers is his own. Our failure rate with power macs and powerbooks has been alot lower, but still higher than any of our PC hardware (although the Dell reliabiliy record isn't quite as good as James suggests). The "Power Mac as a bribe" thing isn't really the whole story, since Apple does regularly lend hardware to developers like us.

Seems very unprofessional to be making public statements regarding a problem with another business.

Is LL a certified Apple Developer? I've asked that before and have not received an answer.

_____________________

Don't Worry, Be Happy - Meher Baba

Jesrad Seraph

Nonsense

Join date: 11 Dec 2004

Posts: 1,463

08-19-2005 01:05

Good news !

Apple is finally acknowledging the problem in full, and offers extended servicing for affected iMacs: http://www.apple.com/support/imac/repairextensionprogram/

Serial numbers ranges concerned:
W8435xxxxxx - W8522xxxxxx
QP435xxxxxx - QP522xxxxxx
CK435xxxxxx - CK522xxxxxx
YD435xxxxxx - YD522xxxxxx

_____________________

Either Man can enjoy universal freedom, or Man cannot. If it is possible then everyone can act freely if they don't stop anyone else from doing same. If it is not possible, then conflict will arise anyway so punch those that try to stop you. In conclusion the only strategy that wins in all cases is that of doing what you want against all adversity, as long as you respect that right in others.

Ian Linden

Linden Lab Employee

Join date: 19 Nov 2002

Posts: 183

08-19-2005 16:36

I don't see anything wrong with sharing information about our experiences with vendors, and in this situation that's all that Apple is. I talk to IT people at other companies all the time about this stuff. If we didn't do that sort of thing, making technology decisions would be really hard.

The situation would be different if we had some sort of contractual partnership with Apple, but while they do highlight SL from time to time, we're essentially customers. We are members of their Developer Connection program, but as far as I know there is no certification process involved in that. This gives us access to various bits of information, software, and hardware, but it is NOT free.

ll/imac g5 failures... :(
Nyoko Salome kittytailmeowmeow Join date: 18 Jul 2005 Posts: 1,378	08-03-2005 11:50 hey, just caught this over at macintouch... http://www.macintouch.com/imacg5part12.html#aug03... " Aug. 3, 2005 Hardware Failures James Cook Our company makes Second Life, a massively multiplayer online virtual world for Mac and PC. We've standardized on iMac G5s for development, mostly to save desk space. We've purchased 20 iMac G5s over the last 12 months, most of them 17". Over 50% of them have failed. Yes, 50%. And we have to take them to the Apple Store to get them repaired or replaced. This is incredibly frustrating, and makes it harder for us to support the Mac platform. We complained to Apple -- they sent us a Power Mac as a bribe, but still won't cross-ship new machines to us. By comparison, we've purchased 40 Dell machines over the same time period. One has failed due to a bad power supply. My most recent failure was an iMac G5 20", with second generation hardware. It failed after less than 24 hours of us. Apple Hardware Tool reported 2FAN/4/8, so I assume a fan was defective. Still, I would hope that Apple would "burn in" their machines at the factory for a little longer. My advice? If you buy an iMac, get it set up, run Software Update, then run Apple Hardware Test. (Put in the DVD that came with the computer, restart holding down the Option key, click on AHT, click the next arrow.) Run the "extended test", which will take 30 minutes or so. If it reports any failures, take the computer back to the Apple Store and exchange it for a new one. " thought with in-the-shop experience like that, the notice was worth repeating... think they're a nice compact form, but apple's had a number of probs with the design, it seems. _____________________ Nyoko's Bodyoils @ Nyoko's Wears http://slurl.com/secondlife/Centaur/126/251/734/ http://home.comcast.net/~nyoko.salome2/nyokosWears/index.html "i don't spend nearly enough time on the holodeck. i should go there more often and relax." - deanna troi
Merwan Marker Booring... Join date: 28 Jan 2004 Posts: 4,706	08-03-2005 12:42 Is this for real? James Cook - a LL employee posted this?? _____________________ Don't Worry, Be Happy - Meher Baba
Jesrad Seraph Nonsense Join date: 11 Dec 2004 Posts: 1,463	08-03-2005 13:41 This is old news already. At hardmac.com we have received many related testimonies last month, and found the problem: some of the capacitors on the motherboard are faulty in most iMacs from the same production series from the end of 2004, you can check your iMac for this defect by opening it and looking at the capacitors. Image example: Apple knows about it. Useful information here: http://www.oliver-kreuzenbeck.de/iMac_problems/iMac.html These are capacitors made by Nichicon from March 2003 to April 2004, they are also used in motherboards by Intel and Dell. _____________________ Either Man can enjoy universal freedom, or Man cannot. If it is possible then everyone can act freely if they don't stop anyone else from doing same. If it is not possible, then conflict will arise anyway so punch those that try to stop you. In conclusion the only strategy that wins in all cases is that of doing what you want against all adversity, as long as you respect that right in others.
Ian Linden Linden Lab Employee Join date: 19 Nov 2002 Posts: 183	08-04-2005 14:09 Merwan - this is real; James Cook is one of our engineers. These mind-boggling failure stats are genuine, although his advice to new buyers is his own. Our failure rate with power macs and powerbooks has been alot lower, but still higher than any of our PC hardware (although the Dell reliabiliy record isn't quite as good as James suggests). The "Power Mac as a bribe" thing isn't really the whole story, since Apple does regularly lend hardware to developers like us.
Nyoko Salome kittytailmeowmeow Join date: 18 Jul 2005 Posts: 1,378	interesting, ian - thanks 08-04-2005 15:27 i hope i didn't stir up a shitstorm for y'all, reposting that - i didn't think much about that at the time. just found it interesting - i'm a mac kid, and i whole-heartedly support you supporting macs!! that is exciting to know. too bad though about those g5s... know that must be the best option short of tower/monitor combos... _____________________ Nyoko's Bodyoils @ Nyoko's Wears http://slurl.com/secondlife/Centaur/126/251/734/ http://home.comcast.net/~nyoko.salome2/nyokosWears/index.html "i don't spend nearly enough time on the holodeck. i should go there more often and relax." - deanna troi
Merwan Marker Booring... Join date: 28 Jan 2004 Posts: 4,706	08-05-2005 06:22 From: Ian Linden Merwan - this is real; James Cook is one of our engineers. These mind-boggling failure stats are genuine, although his advice to new buyers is his own. Our failure rate with power macs and powerbooks has been alot lower, but still higher than any of our PC hardware (although the Dell reliabiliy record isn't quite as good as James suggests). The "Power Mac as a bribe" thing isn't really the whole story, since Apple does regularly lend hardware to developers like us. Seems very unprofessional to be making public statements regarding a problem with another business. Is LL a certified Apple Developer? I've asked that before and have not received an answer. _____________________ Don't Worry, Be Happy - Meher Baba
Jesrad Seraph Nonsense Join date: 11 Dec 2004 Posts: 1,463	08-19-2005 01:05 Good news ! Apple is finally acknowledging the problem in full, and offers extended servicing for affected iMacs: http://www.apple.com/support/imac/repairextensionprogram/ Serial numbers ranges concerned: W8435xxxxxx - W8522xxxxxx QP435xxxxxx - QP522xxxxxx CK435xxxxxx - CK522xxxxxx YD435xxxxxx - YD522xxxxxx _____________________ Either Man can enjoy universal freedom, or Man cannot. If it is possible then everyone can act freely if they don't stop anyone else from doing same. If it is not possible, then conflict will arise anyway so punch those that try to stop you. In conclusion the only strategy that wins in all cases is that of doing what you want against all adversity, as long as you respect that right in others.
Ian Linden Linden Lab Employee Join date: 19 Nov 2002 Posts: 183	08-19-2005 16:36 I don't see anything wrong with sharing information about our experiences with vendors, and in this situation that's all that Apple is. I talk to IT people at other companies all the time about this stuff. If we didn't do that sort of thing, making technology decisions would be really hard. The situation would be different if we had some sort of contractual partnership with Apple, but while they do highlight SL from time to time, we're essentially customers. We are members of their Developer Connection program, but as far as I know there is no certification process involved in that. This gives us access to various bits of information, software, and hardware, but it is NOT free.

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ll/imac g5 failures... :(