The latest yesterday was a request to crash the system with a data capture utility running but that presents a Catch-22 as you want information about a crashed system but you can't capture anything when it's crashed. Apple wasn't playing games as the request was try to capture the data. It probably won't work but it sure would be groovy if it did.
The way it ended up working was the iMac crashed twice after booting and the Internet was neither cabled nor connecting via WiFi. That's the diagnostic information which was captured and which Apple analyzes now.
An additional question arose when Chuck mentioned a sudden power drop causing the crashes. Immediately that makes me think of the battery backup and perhaps there's a flaw in it so I suggested booting without it. An experiment was run with the iMac connected to street power ... but it crashed just the same.
Keep in mind there's a lot of Edison in it when debugging gets to this level. The trick is to do it without breaking a thousand light bulbs and maybe try to keep it down to a hundred or so before you find a way that works. It's frustrating as hell and you can see in the background of the last video there's a big black screen showing nothing whatsoever. That's the iMac and it's been that way over six weeks now. The only way to get it unscrewed is to hang tough with the protocol. Apple's approach is good systems programming and it will work ... but they need time. Just as lefty says, you've got to let it roll.
The main thing in a circumstance like this is do NOT get creative. Follow the instructions precisely and don't add anything to them. Tech is trying to get to something you can't see and any experiment you try on your own may not help and, in fact, may make it more difficult by confusing things. If you don't trust the process then don't do it as it's crucial you follow the steps or you'll be doing it forever and it will be no-one's fault but your own.
The way it ended up working was the iMac crashed twice after booting and the Internet was neither cabled nor connecting via WiFi. That's the diagnostic information which was captured and which Apple analyzes now.
An additional question arose when Chuck mentioned a sudden power drop causing the crashes. Immediately that makes me think of the battery backup and perhaps there's a flaw in it so I suggested booting without it. An experiment was run with the iMac connected to street power ... but it crashed just the same.
Keep in mind there's a lot of Edison in it when debugging gets to this level. The trick is to do it without breaking a thousand light bulbs and maybe try to keep it down to a hundred or so before you find a way that works. It's frustrating as hell and you can see in the background of the last video there's a big black screen showing nothing whatsoever. That's the iMac and it's been that way over six weeks now. The only way to get it unscrewed is to hang tough with the protocol. Apple's approach is good systems programming and it will work ... but they need time. Just as lefty says, you've got to let it roll.
The main thing in a circumstance like this is do NOT get creative. Follow the instructions precisely and don't add anything to them. Tech is trying to get to something you can't see and any experiment you try on your own may not help and, in fact, may make it more difficult by confusing things. If you don't trust the process then don't do it as it's crucial you follow the steps or you'll be doing it forever and it will be no-one's fault but your own.
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