Imac 2011 10.13.6. Screen glitch, window server and kernal panic errors

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Level 1

4 points

Imac 2011 10.13.6. Screen glitch, window server and kernal panic errors

Can any one out here help my feeble aged mind. Need to know if the issue is reasonably fixable and either a software or hardware issue.

I had a perfectly working 2011 iMac 27” 3.7ghz 16gb ram multiple ssd drives. Its only had 4 years of realtime use as it was stored air tight for a while as i was away longer than anticipated, been using it for the last 12mths.

Was working perfectly one morning then the following occurred.

Turned on music app screen jitters scattered went black then apricot coloured pixel grids. Did SMC and Pram, log in screen was split right side starting in the middle then wrapped around. Logged in slowly. Started an app and then screen when grey then black with thick blue vertical lines. Shut down , SMC , PRAM, grey screen no load screen no login. Then it got stuck cycling on and off, stuck in a PRAM reset as if delayed from previous input, 11 restarts. Finally login window appeared, opened activity monitor, all processes low , screen went black with white line strobing at top. Restarted, grey screen no loading, turns it self off restarts, white load screen appears, loads goes white, strobes makes os chime goes black then back to load screen, login screen appears. Opened console and activity monitor. A few red window server errors . High cpu with mds, no crash report. Jitters after 5 mins split screen again and logged out. Displays brightness dark then light 6 sec between. And a vertical line of dots appeared next to clock display. These flashed at times. After 3 mins of this login window rectified for 30sec then whole screen went black.....turned itself off then on, vertical blue lines then light grey screen again.... these events are the new normal

Additionally, booted into recovery mode, said 12 mins, took an hr and then white screen freeze

And.... I tried booting in Verbose mode after a SMC reset. Straight to black screen and rapid string of text in white. Screen went white, then grey, showed the login screen for 5 sec then flickered grey into blue screen. Went black and restarted into restart loop.

Flushed SMC, PRAM, flickered in an out of login screen then reset loop.

Retried recovery and safe boot... nada. L

Just got hold of a Thunderbolt cable, booted into iMac via macbook, drive/system functions as normal. ran etre check. Loads of kernel panics prior to window server errors. see below. (it shows hardware as my MacBook even though i booted the iMac?)

etre check report

iMac 27″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Feb 26, 2025 5:10 PM

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Answer 1

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D.I. Johnson

Level 7

32,153 points

Feb 26, 2025 5:37 PM in response to daemo79

As you noted, this EtreCheck report is for your MacBook Pro.

In order to get a report for the iMac you'll need to get that machine running. EtreCheck doesn't report on remotely connected computers.

To be honest, though, it would appear that your iMac has significant hardware problems. It could be the startup drive is failing. It could be the logic board has developed some failure. The computer is, after all, fourteen (!) years old. It is well obsolete, and so is any version of macOS that it can run. I wouldn't spend much time and certainly no real money trying to resurrect this old iMac.

If this were my machine, I'd use the macBook Pro to create a bootable installer for macOS High Sierra, the latest macOS version that iMac can run. Then I'd use that to wipe the startup drive of the iMac and reinstall the OS. Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Another option is to use the MacBook Pro to install macOS High Sierra on an external USB drive, then use that to reboot the iMac. If the iMac starts properly you can assume the problem lies with the old startup disk hardware. Install macOS on an external storage device and use it as a startup disk - Apple Support

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Answer 2

daemo79 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 28, 2025 2:09 PM in response to D.I. Johnson

Hey D.I.

I removed the SSD and reinstalled High Sierra cleaned the fans etc and looked for any visible faults . all clear.

I booted using all variations of key commands, the only one which worked was 'Single User mode'. Screen acted as normal. Os worked seamlessly as it did prior to the original crash. I reinstalled SSD Fan Control but fans still go full blast until user logged in. New Etre check report below. Kernal panic suggests potential hardware fault. How do i find out what is at fault if ? thx again for your time.

Etre Check

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Answer 3

daemo79 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 26, 2025 8:13 PM in response to D.I. Johnson

Cheers thanks for your insight, oddly enough the etre report is indicating imac issues as none of those dates or software are indicative of the macbook i used. I generated that report booting the imac as the startup disk through the macbook.

Alas i shall attempt a reinstall of high sierra..... once i reeducate my self on doing it via target disk mode as i cant boot anything on the imac itself.

Said macbook is slowly dying too....

time to jump ship to a hakintosh perhaps

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Answer 4

Feb 27, 2025 7:28 AM in response to daemo79

daemo79 wrote:

Said macbook is slowly dying too....

time to jump ship to a hakintosh perhaps

Or a much more recent Intel iMac that will run High Sierra, e.g. a 2017 iMac. Or, become resigned to a later OS e.g. Catalina on a 2019 iMac, prices of which are going down all the time.

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