Mac Boot Error (Black Squares Dotting a White Background)

[Iconoclasm]

When my Mac starts up the Apple logo appears for a few seconds then the screen turns white with little black squares dotting a blank backdrop. It boots up fine in safe mode but as soon as I restart in anything other than safe mode the issue comes up once more. I've only ever owned a PC so I'm unfamiliar with most potential solutions. Here are my computer specs:

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac8.1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: IM81.00C1.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.29f1
Serial Number (system): W882246EZE3
Hardware UUID: 514FEA43-9EE2-5AA8-BD18-F587B83567A1
MAC OS X Version 10.6.8

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

That is an iMac (20-inch Early 2008). More than likely, it has a corrupted OS X install, or a failing logic board. Since it boots normally into Safe Mode, I would bet it is probably an OS X and/or video driver issue.

-Do you have a current Time Machine or other backup of your data/files?

You could try the following:
-How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac
-Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac
-Repair disk permissions with Disk Utility

See if any of those help and let us know.

C

 

[Iconoclasm]

Hi Cory. Thanks for the reply.

I do not have a Time Machine or any other backup of my data/files, but I'm honestly looking to do a factory reset if I can so none of the data in the computer matters to me anyway. Is there any way the functions you listed can be performed with a standard keyboard? I don't have an official Mac keyboard (the owner who gave me the iMac lost the keyboard apparently) and those are expensive.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Yes, all of the above can be done with a standard USB keyboard. On a non-Apple keyboard that doesn't have a Command key, you would use the Windows key, as it maps to the Command key.

C