...and now it's dead again. All I did was start iTunes.

Did the speaker/abnormal current in the speaker wire make the computer overheat, possibly?

Maybe you need to leave it alone for an hour or so.

Check your breakers, turn stuff off. I don't want to be alarmist, but it's better for you to have had a short in your computer than an electrical fire in your home wiring.

Go from room to room (if you have more than one, I dunno) and smell for concentrations of that smell. if you smell it neart outlets, call the fire department and tell them what you've observed. Home circuits can burn for a little while before they catch something else on fire.

I could be wrong; I hope so.

What kind of crazy man uses words like "neart?"

I'm leaving it off for awhile. I don't have access to the breakers in this apartment, but I'm pretty sure it's just the speakers, since this has happened before.

I know nothing about electricity. I'll walk around and smell stuff.

Could the speakers have done something to the computer?

Sounds like your (computer) power supply is gasping its last breaths. I can't imagine any possibility thta your speaker could affect your computer in this way - it would more likely happen the other way around.

Can you trace the smell to the back of the computer, where the fan blows air out of the power supply (if Macs work that way)? If you put your nose close to the air vents in the case, you should be able to quickly isolate whether the problem in your computer and, if so, turn if off and leave it off before the power supply shorts out and fries the innards of your computer - either replace the power supply or get someone to do it before turning it on again.

if you can't isolate it to your computer, do the room-to-room thing as Hugh outlined. Smell around appliances in each room as well. My bet is on the computer power supply, though.

There's a little of the metal smell at the back of the computer, too. Fuck. I hate using this little laptop.

And now it's starting to look like the smell didn't come from the speakers at all. They're working fine.

I think the speakers are a bit of a red herring in this case - I am almost certain (based in your last comments) that your power supply has died. Don't turn the machine back on until you get the power supply checked out, or you risk having everything fried (unless that has already happened, which it probably hasn't). Power supplies are pretty cheap, motherboards not so much. Don't risk it.

All right, thanks, everyone. The smell's definitely coming from the computer, not the speakers. I'm using the speakers right now, and they're fine. I'm leaving the computer off, and unplugged.

But I'll have to talk to all of you on this clownishly small screen for a couple of days. Boo.

Hi, interrobang, can you read this now?

Yes.

i feared for you fron the title of your post.
i hope it's salvageable, not ridiculously expensive to fix, or you have a warranty.
Work that warranty.
it's been worth it for me just in keyboards and mice.

Thanks, ethylene, but the warranty expired a couple of months ago. I'm hoping that this won't cost very much.

What generation iMac? The Rev. A iMac G5s have bad capacitors. They could very well smell bad -- the tech at the Apple store used his nose to diagnose my PSU as bad. They replaced the main logic board and the power supply unit for free.

See here. The problem is big enough that it is kind of shameful that Apple did not do a recall, methinks. But it's covered for two years from date of purchase, if it is this issue.

If your iMac G5 is a Rev. A, I'd lay 10 to 1 odds that's the problem your having. And if it is, it might not cost you a penny. Get it to the Apple store.

Had a similar problem (G5 iMac with a dodgy logic board). It crapped out on me and after the tech guy had come round and replaced the logic board he showed me the old one, which had scorch marks on it.

Dunno why, but Mac power supplies are the most common part to go. It's a pity, because there's all sorts of other stuff on the same board which makes it more expensive. Another $2 in manufacturing cost to make it a separate board and there would be a lot of Macs still running.

Even if the warranty shuffled off this mortal coil just before the (suspected) power supply did, it's still worth working the warranty. If you can get the dealer's Mac tech on your side, the odds improve greatly. Apple will often allow late warranty calls, with a diagnosis, a tech on your side and a little social engineering. I've seen it done many times.

it's true. thanks for extrapolating for me, warbaby.

Thanks for the advice, warbaby; I will print out that page and take it with me to the local Mac store; I bought the computer within the time-frame in question, and had some of the other problems mentioned about eight months ago.

don't you have some uni affiliation? because big us uni's often have mac affiliation deals and i figured you could swing something free or cheap
eh, mail me if you like
but if you need somone to be the cut a deal/ "let me talk to your supervisor" rep--
credential: i am a black starred whore of this nature