iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2308 Glass Panel

Mon problème

I had the iMac 2011 grey screen, to blank screen, to crazy demonic rainbow screen.

Ma solution

Ordered the Pro-Tech Toolkit a Magnetic Project Mat and the suction cups. Figured it would be cheaper to try to open and check for damaged cables or power assembly. I’ve never done anything THIS involved. Reluctantly and carefully opened the Mac (warranty already expired anyway and thought it for a gonner) and found nothing. Put it back together and it was was still not working. Browsing through YouTube I watch a detailed video about BAKING the graphics card. I’m like “ screw it let’s have fun “ and tore that entire motherboard up, got to the chip, baked it (accordingly, don’t try this without adult supervision), and put it all back together. My computer is alive and well!!!

Mon conseil

Really. I wouldn’t have been able to fathom this repair of it wasn’t for all of ifixit videos of encouragement and your tools. I mean, when the repair failed, I at least knew the tools you provided worked and I was completely satisfied and surprised with their great quality. My advice is get the right tools and make up your mind that there’s no going back when you start tearing things down. That magnetic MAT??? LIFESAVER. Oh and I EASILY popped open my PS3 to pull out a disk my daughter jammed in there. I’m all “Mr. Fixit” in my house now ha!!!

Mon problème

Hard drive in an iMac 21.5" was failing so needed to replace the hard drive for continued use of the machine.

Ma solution

It was smooth for most part outside of a couple of annoyances (detailed in the "Enlightenment section). Had it not been for the lack of connector puller/long fingernails and magnets near the screw holes, I would've saved myself a decent amount of time on the repair.

The new hard drive booted up without issue and the steps in the guide were easy to follow.

Mon conseil

It may have been the way I had the computer laying when doing the work but during the process of disconnecting the cables from the display, I did feel like I needed to prop the display from the motherboard while I disconnected everything. A flashlight may be needed as well if you have a poorly lit work space.

A mild aggravation when reassembling the screen was the magnets that were close to the screw holes kept "stealing" the screws away. Quick work-around was to use a thin piece of plastic between the hole and magnets.

Also, if you have short fingernails like me, you may need to look into something for the cables like the IC Extractor/Connector Puller (IC Extractor/Connector Puller I purchased one shortly after the repair). I didn't have one but felt it would've saved me about 10 minutes and been a lot safer on the components than the flat-head I had to work with.

Mon problème

My iMac’s screen showed yellow vertical stripes and the boot process would not complete.

Ma solution

Spread over two days, the repair process was tedious, but thanks to the iFixIt guide and especially a few of the added comments on missing steps, transposed descriptions of connections, etc., it was ultimately a great success! So good to hear the start up bong and to see a clear image of my desktop.

Mon conseil

There were some illuminating comments in the guide (e.g., the Airport card connectors were described backwards, the ODD cable connections to the logic board were omitted). Also, as per one of the comments, the suction cups are not necessary, but they do work well.

Mon problème

The backlight turned itself off every 5 seconds when the brightness was above level 3. (16 is full brightness). Needless to say I got fed by all the squinting I did at my screen just to see what was going on.

I sent my iMac to 2 different repair shops, but unfortunately without getting it fixed (amateurs)

I then searched around the web and stumbled upon IFIXIT and the repair guides.

It was obvious to me that the LED Driver Board had to be changed.

Ma solution

I skipped steps 7 to 9 because I managed to replace the LED Driver Board without removing the LCD screen completely. I placed a small cardboard box upright between the screen and the outer case while repairing the machine, but I had to be careful because the screen was still connected to the logic board among other things, with rather short cables.

The repair was a success and I'm very happy I did it.

Mon conseil

You can skip steps 7 to 9 if you are careful.

Mon problème

Upgrade battery for better speed and performance.

Ma solution

My son is 14 y.o. and has done many display replacements since he is careless and drops his phones often. This was his first battery upgrade and everything went well until he had to use the credit card trick to remove the battery and adhesive strips. He finally ended up using the .009E guitar string trick. But it took longer to pry it out then the rest of the procedure from start to finish.

Mon conseil

Try prying adhesive strips very, very, gently around the corners.

Mon problème

We had a mid-2011 27" iMac that had never been used much.... sometimes bigger isn't always easier to use! Moving some furniture allowed us to consider using it again but it wouldn't start up, no lights, no sounds, just dead. Rather than recycling a barely used machine we decided to risk spending the money and replace the power supply.

Ma solution

The repair guide, and similar video demo, was very helpful. Things went smoothly with no surprises.

Mon conseil

The only trick I would offer is using a short piece of a plastic straw to hold the T10 screws upright when reinstalling the screen. The magnets around the perimeter of the screen are very strong and can grab the screws making it difficult to get them in their holes straight. By using a 3/4" piece of plastic straw inserted directly over the hole, the screw will easily slide down straight making insertion simple. Once done the straw pulls out easily.

Mon problème

Original power supply was dead.

Ma solution

About an hour.

Mon conseil

Wow, this replacement was awesome. I've been working with electronic equipment for 30 years and this was one of the smoothest replacements I've ever done. The part from Ifixit was beautifully packed and the part appeared to be OEM. Thankfully the Mac is a great design so it made the project all that much easier. I took my time to make sure I was careful with a couple of the more delicate connectors. It works GREAT! Thank you Ifixit!

Mon problème

I have two five year old thunderbolt displays, One with no video and one with broken glass. I determined that the one with no display had a bad built in cable by plugging a thunderbolt cable into port on the back. When I found the teardown guide, I looke like a straighforward procedure. To test the bad cable theory, I removed the cable from the display with broken glass and installed it into the one with no video and it worked! I ordered the new cable and glass and put them into the other dipslay and both are now working perfectly, and as good as new.

Ma solution

The repair guide was very thorough and gave me all the information I needed. The first display went back together the first time with no issues. The second one had one of my ham fisted hand prints on the LCD behind the glass.

Mon conseil

I thought the cable replacement would be the easy part but removing the glass is step 1. I can't beleive I lived with a display with broken glass for two years when it is literally a two minute fix. Removing the cable was a little more involved.