iMac will not boot up

[panamaniac]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me.
I have an iMac late 2012 model, and recently it has been crashing - particularly when sharing screen on MS Teams.
The last time it has crashed, it is now stuck on the Apple loading screen with the loading bar at around 50%.
I have left it over night still not loading, I have tried resetting the NVRAM, still stuck, it does not boot into safe mode or recovery mode. Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Will

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

-Which exact model is the iMac?
-Which version of OS X/macOS?
-How much free space is left on the drive?
-Does it freeze in any other applications, or when using other collaborative applications to share you screen - i.e. Google Meet, Zoom, etc.?

C

 

[JesseOnate]

Turn the iMac on and immediately hold down "D" ..........report back the results

 

[MartyByrde]

I addition to what Cory asked above, did you make a backup to an external device "close to" the time this issue started happening?

 

[panamaniac]

Hi Cory!

Thanks! - here is the info

iMac 13,2 (27-inch, late 2012 model)
macOS Mojave
Processor 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX 1GB

The free space I think it was around 250GB out of 1TB
It has frozen a few times before (probably over a year ago whilst playing computer game) but after a reboot it was fine and hasn't done it since. I have also added some more RAM at the time so it has been running on 24GB.

The last few times (3/4 times) all was involving MS Teams and whilst my screen sharing screen or viewing another person's screen - It could all be coincidence though. The screen would freeze up first, I would still be able to move the mouse (but nothing is responsive) and still speak and hear the other person on the other line.. probably for another 10mins or so before it goes completely frozen and then I would have to reboot. I have used Google Meet and Zoom as well but it hasn't crashed whilst sharing screen on those.

The last time it crashed - once rebooted it was very sluggish, I started opening the apps that I needed to work, MS Teams, Photoshop, Vectorworks, etc. But it was constant beach-balling until it automatically rebooted - but this time it never got out of the loading screen.

Thanks,
Will

 

[panamaniac]

Turn the iMac on and immediately hold down "D" ..........report back the results

white blank screen - no logo - how long am i supposed to hold it down for?

 

[panamaniac]

I addition to what Cory asked above, did you make a backup to an external device "close to" the time this issue started happening?

unfortunately not - it hasn't been backed up for a long time

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK, thanks.

There have been a lot of reports of Macs running Mojave freezing when using video conferencing software - Google Meet, Zoom, MS Teams. It sees to that the recent Apple Security Update 2020-002 added to the issue, albeit on newer Macs that the 2012 models.

Users reported succcess with disabling hardware acceleration in Google Chrome, updating to the newest Zoom client, but I haven't seen a successful permanent fix for MS Teams. Microsoft Tech Community > Teams Hanging/Freezing has one solution that seems to help - disabling Read Recipients. Maybe there are more things to try there.

I have never used MS Teams, so I don't have many suggestions.

C

 

[MartyByrde]

unfortunately not - it hasn't been backed up for a long time

A backup is really a necessity, no matter how one uses their machine. Maybe you should start making them again. If and when you do, what software would you use?

One other thing that could be beneficial is whether or not you have ever performed any disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs on your internal device. For disk cleanup, you can do a good amount on your own. Also, there are some excellent programs (both free and commercial) that can help with all those tasks.

If you decide to try any (or all) of them, I can make some suggestions. But the first thing would be to start making backups again. That is vital.

 

[panamaniac]

Thanks! everyone, I think I will just have to take it into an Apple shop, the iMac is not even booting up the disk repair etc. it is just a white blank screen.