I have a mid-2007 iMac. It's been getting kernel panics and locking up. I noticed it does this immediately when needing to use accelerated graphics motions, such as running Launchpad, using a translucent dock, etc.
When I run in Safe Mode, the system seems to run alright, as accelerated graphics is off (as I understand it anyway).
I have a picture of a kernel panic (couldn't copy-paste, had frozen by then) if this helps.
I'm planning to open the machine (I have replaced the HD twice) and apply some new thermal glue to the GPU as I think it is overheating. Does anyone have advice on either the process of applying thermal glue here, or on what's going on?
I have tried:
- Resetting power management
- Resetting NVRAM / PRAM
- Running Safe Mode and rebooting to normal
Best Answer
Try this ( http://blog.krzysztof-turek.com/apple-imac-8-1-freeze-problem-solution-en/ ) I had the same issues ; display frozen but pointer moving but no kernel panic on a mid 2007 imac 2.0 ghz and running osx 10.8 Mountain Lion. the kext swap worked for me . Good Luck