I Should Have Known, Cal Poly Students Envisioned and Founded IFIXIT

Mein Problem

Let me start off by saying I am a DIY type by nature and I was born in 1971. Therefore, being DIY for me means I am more familiar with carburetors, brakes, and camshaft installations than hard drive replacement. However, my age does not change my mental disposition to FIXIT myself. When something (anything) is broken at my home it takes a lot before I cave-in for DIFM service. I have even changed my own automotive glass despite numerous service providers offering to do the job "fast" which can be code for "careless".

I should also add that I too graduated from Cal Poly SLO (’94) and built and sold 2 DIY-oriented web properties (row52.com & fordmuscle.com). I was floored when I read the return address as Monterey Street, San Luis Obispo when my hard drive showed up just 2 days after watching the most encouraging IFIXIT DIY video on replacing the HD in my EMC 2390 iMac. So what was the problem? S.M.A.R.T error. Mandatory message to replace my HD.

Meine Reparatur

Replacing the HD itself went very well despite there being no obvious fasteners or access points on the machine. Anybody with automotive repair experience can appreciate how disorienting this can be. The physical component of swapping out the drive was painless. I was surprised with the amount of dust inside my machine so this was also a great time to vacuum the internals. Buttoning the machine back up was a breeze as well due to the video. Little did I know the most painful part of this project would be reinstalling the original OS X from my install CD and optical drive, Snow Leopard 10.6.3. This is where I had to improvise and get a bit aggressive.

Mein Rat

In my particular situation, I was faced with a questionable optical drive or bad install CD. I could hear the CD spin up then spin down until the machine ejected the disk over and over. My screen showed the “?” almost indefinitely. I should also mention my iMac has a wireless keyboard. This is where I almost broke down and took my mac to Macorama for a $159 diagnostic. I was never quite sure the start up keyboard commands were being read.

Regretfully, I even waited at the Apple Store “Genius Bar” like a pathetic lump for 12 minutes before I walked out determined to correct the problem myself. Long story short, for $16 more than the Macorama diagnostic I picked up a perfect used 20” iMac (2010) off CraigsList in order to use the install CD and hard wire keyboard to perform the fresh OS X install. After a little cleaning of my optical drive with compressed air and a fabric covered gift card, I am happy to say I am submitting this story from my fixed EMC 2390 now running El Capitan. Also, I now have a 20” iMac for my 10 and 8 year old boys to use for school this year, pictured.

Thank you and great work. You guys completed the entire loop. From search, to education, to encouragement, to part fulfillment, and finally to summoning customer feedback in a nice web form.