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Don't die, Powerbook!

KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered User regular
edited November 2006 in Help / Advice Forum
OK, my G4 Powerbook (15"). I got it in the summer of 2004, and it's worked swimmingly ever since. Recently however, it's been crapping out on me. So far i've noticed it happening while i'm watching a DVD and have to pause it, and it just happened again after i'd watched a DVD and quit the DVD player. It locks up except for the touchpad, the mouse cursor turns into the rainbow spinny, and the fan starts kicking up hard. Force quit doesn't work - the only thing I can do is a silver-button shutdown.

I've been planning to put more RAM in (it's got 512 now) b/c i'll be taking it with me to London next semester and relying on it as my only computer (i have a PC desktop as well). What should I do to make it better?

KalTorak on

Posts

  • WuckFarcraftWuckFarcraft Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    I had a similar problem with an older Mac Laptop that happened to me when I was watching DVDs.

    I later found out that the computer was overheating and the batter was recalled. YOu should check to see if your battery was recalled.

    WuckFarcraft on
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    Hmmm, according to apple's website my battery doesn't fall within the recalled series of batteries. I wouldn't be surprised if it was overheating anyway though. Any tips on keeping it cool? It's just been sitting on a desk - i guess i could put it on a couple pencils or something to prop it off of the surface.

    KalTorak on
  • sarksark Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    Repairing permissions can sometimes help a lot.

    Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility

    Select your drive, and click repair permissions.

    You might try doing a file system check, and see if it turns up anything.

    Boot into single user mode (hold option+s while booting)
    At the prompt, type fsck- f -y
    Repeat until it says the volume is ok.

    If you're not opposed to spending a little money, get Diskwarrior.

    If all appears to be lost, you can do an archive and install. That will reinstall the OS while letting you keep all your programs and files.

    sark on
    tron4.png
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    So occasionally when i start it back up after it does this, it'll play the little "turn on" sound, then just sit with a grey screen. Last time it did this i waited for a while then hard-shut down again and powered up after a few minutes, and it worked fine.

    KalTorak on
  • vonPoonBurGervonPoonBurGer Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    KalTorak wrote:
    So occasionally when i start it back up after it does this, it'll play the little "turn on" sound, then just sit with a grey screen. Last time it did this i waited for a while then hard-shut down again and powered up after a few minutes, and it worked fine.
    I'd try sark's recommendations. If they don't work (especially the OS reinstall), then you may be dealing with a dying PowerBook, in which case you should make sure to back up any important files!

    vonPoonBurGer on
    Xbox Live:vonPoon | PSN: vonPoon | Steam: vonPoonBurGer
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    Hmmm now it's just doing the grey-screen loud-fan thing when i try to start it up - holding down key combos does nothing, i've tried to eject the disc on startup and do single-user mode from sark's post. :(

    KalTorak on
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    OK, another update. I got my Tiger install disc and it at least booted - sort of. I haven't tried an Archive & install yet, right now I'm trying to use Disk Utility to figure out if it's a disk problem but... when i open disk utility it just sits at "Gathering disk information..." with the spinny thing.

    KalTorak on
  • Brodo FagginsBrodo Faggins Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    I don't suppose you have Applecare? Take it to an apple store anyway, they might be able to help.

    Brodo Faggins on
    9PZnq.png
  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    Yeah, that's my next plan. I think my hard drive might be busted, since Disk Utility dies when it tries to find it. I can't get into single-user mode to run fsck unless the Install DVD is in there, and if I run fsck then it just tells me that the Install DVD is fine.

    It's not on warranty anymore, does anyone know how muc it'd be to replace/repair the hard drive? I might just splurge on a new Macbook...

    KalTorak on
  • sarksark Registered User regular
    edited November 2006
    KalTorak wrote:
    OK, another update. I got my Tiger install disc and it at least booted - sort of. I haven't tried an Archive & install yet, right now I'm trying to use Disk Utility to figure out if it's a disk problem but... when i open disk utility it just sits at "Gathering disk information..." with the spinny thing.

    It sounds like your hard drive is borked.

    The machine is posting (that tone you hear at startup), so your logic board, ram, and cpu should be ok.

    If disk utility is choking on "Gathering disk information..." there are probably parts of your drive it's having trouble reading.

    Your laptop should have come with an Apple Hardware Test cd. I'd run that, and see what it finds.

    sark on
    tron4.png
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