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I have an old iMac (not sure what year but it must be 10 years old at least). I want to recycle it but want to wipe it clean first. Problem is that it is not functional (when I press the start button it gives three short beeps then three long beeps). I am worried that if I give it to recycling like this, somebody can work out how to start it and will have full access to sensitive client data on the computer.
The tones indicate corrupt rom
About Mac startup tones - Apple Support
You could try leaving it to see if it corrects itself and restarts.
The tones indicate corrupt rom
About Mac startup tones - Apple Support
You could try leaving it to see if it corrects itself and restarts.
3 long tones, 3 short tones, 3 long tones Firmware restoration from CD in process. See About the Firmware Restoration CD (Intel-based Macs) for more details.
Identify the year of the iMac, you can find the serial number under the stand and then go to everymac.com and type in the SN and it will tell you the year. Once you have that give us the year of the Mac and we will give you a link on how to disassemble it .
If it's about ten years old the front glass just pulls off. Remove the display. Logic board is underneath. The hard disk drive is underneath that. Remove it and install it in an enclosure where you can use another Mac to encrypt it with FileVault, and then erase it. By doing that the FileVault encryption key will be erased also.
Otherwise physically destroy the drive, which is faster and more entertaining. Wear eye and ear protection.
Either of those options will guarantee absolutely irretrievable and permanent data destruction. Simply erasing it won't.
As @Mike Sombrio mentions the three beeps is a memory issue. Most likely either the memory needs to be reseated or one of the memory modules is bad. If you remove the bad module the system may boot although it may run extremely slow depending on how much memory is installed. It should be enough to allow you to properly erase the hard drive for recycling.
If a single memory module isn't enough memory to boot macOS then I can provide an alternative method of booting the iMac and erasing the hard drive.
Edit: Another option may be to put the iMac into Target Disk Mode where bad memory may not be an issue. This will allow you to connect the iMac to another Mac where you will be able to zero out the hard drive.
Yes you are correct. Thanks for correcting me.
Apple does have firmware restoration CDs available which may be able to correct the firmware issue to allow the computer to boot again. I had to use one of them many many years ago. Here is an article containing the links to the various Firmware Restoration CD. The tricky part is identifying the proper one to use.
https://www.lifewire.com/mac-firmware-restoration-2259978
Remove the HDD from the machine before recycling it. You cannot wipe the drive if you cannot turn on the computer.
Thanks for the reply and sorry to be dense, but how do I remove the HDD from the iMac?
Interesting, thanks Mike. :)
Good call on Target Disk Mode. The OP reports three short-three long-three short repeated, isn't a ram issue just three beeps of the same length repeating?
Making any headway?
Wipe iMac clean to recycle, but it is not functional
