What a weekend!

[thewayne]

Friday I got my Moderna Covid booster. I specifically got it on Friday because I was anticipating the possibility of running a low-grade fever for a couple of days just like I experienced when I got my second Moderna shot back in March.

And I was not disappointed.

I was lucky this time in that the fever broke during the night and today I am in good shape.

Which is good because my 27" 5K iMac was not.

The display started glitching, very much indicative of a failing video card. Not good as the card is integrated into the motherboard which means it isn't really replaceable. Apple is really good at choosing bad video cards: this is two out of two iMacs - from different model years - that have suffered video card failure!

I have a 24" ViewSonic HDMI 1080p monitor, so I should be able to plug that in, right?

Yeah, sure.

Problem is that the iMac has Mini DisplayPorts, not HDMI. So an easy trip down to Staples to get an adapter. Easy, right?

Heh. Yeah, sure.

First, they don't have the one shown online, which is just an adapter. But they do have a 6' cable that adapts the two, so I can get the job done. Go up to the cashier.

Their internet connection is down and won't take either of my cards, and I don't have $40 cash on me. Go to the bank, do a withdrawal with its $2.50 service charge, get back to the store and the internet connection charge is working again now. I should have just gone for a burger and come back and checked before heading to the bank.

Here's the best part.

Checked my bank balance, and I've got four charges for $37 on my account, so I'm going to have to call about that in the morning.

Finally the 24" is connected, works just fine.

And I decide to try something.

The 27" is still as glitchy as anything, but what happens if I turn the resolution down a notch?

Stopped glitching.

I'm not sure what that means. Is the monitor going bad and the video card driving it at 5K resolution showing that the monitor can't handle it, but it can handle a lower resolution? Or the lower resolution doesn't tax the card as hard?

I have no idea.

But at least I have a good display on my iMac.

For now....

Comments

[bibliofile]

Glad you got the booster and recovered okay!

As for computers, well, they make your life easier, until they don't. Best of luck resolving the problem more permanently.

[thewayne]

Yeah, that pretty much sums up computers.  Makes me glad that I got out of tech support over 20 years ago, and now out of IT altogether! (sorta mostly)

[silveradept]

That is very much a story of aggravating inconveniences. And that it stopped flickering at a lower resolution might mean that you've prolonged the inevitable. Or maybe it's finally dropped into a resolution it knows how to handle. Either way, keep the spare handy.

[moonhare]

I was not aware that there was a Moderna booster available.

But at least I did get my flu shot a couple of weeks ago.