Dead iBook
From Andrew Nagy
For about a month, I've been using an indigo iBook (366 MHz,
FireWire) that I found on
eBay. Basically, this morning it stopped working entirely. The AC
adapter is plugged in, but when I press the power button, I just hear a
whirring noise for a second, and then it stops.
The only light is the one indicating that the adapter is in (amber
when the battery is in, green when it's out).
This is my primary computer with all the files I use daily. There
are backups, but not recent enough to be immediately useful.
What do I do? I can't boot from a CD, because it never gets that
far. (Actually, that's what I was doing before. There are three Macs
here supposed to be able to boot into OS 8.6 or 9 from the hard drive,
and they all refuse to.) Is there a way to zap/clear/reset the PRAM
without taking the computer apart and removing the battery?
On an unrelated note, is there an way I can know that a Mac on eBay
hasn't been stolen?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Andrew,
Arrrrgh!
The first thing to try is to reset the Power Manager
Unit. Proceed as follows with the clamshell iBook:
- If the computer is on, turn it off.
- Disconnect the AC power adapter.
- Remove the battery.
- Press and release the reset button located above the Power button
at the base of the display using a small, blunt instrument such as a
paper clip to press the button.
- Wait 5 seconds.
- Reconnect the AC power adapter.
- Put the battery back in the computer.
- Press the Power button to restart the iBook
If that doesn't work and it still won't boot from a
CD, you may have serious hardware problems, but odds are that a reset
will revive your iBook.
As for your eBay question, alas there is no 100% sure
way to know whether a laptop advertised on eBay even exists. A relative
of mine got hosed for $2,000 that he sent to pay for a TiBook
advertised on eBay that he never received. The alleged seller did
exist, but had been a victim of identity theft by the scam artist.
Caveat emptor. One defensive measure is to employ the services
of an escrow agency that will hold the payment until goods are
received.
Charles
WallStreet Screen Swap
From Mark Betterton
Charles,
First let me say that I enjoy reading your columns as I surf
wirelessly with my WallStreet. I have a
wonderful WallStreet II, 233 running OS 8.6 that I am looking to
upgrade. I have searched the Net for information and have found a great
deal of misunderstanding of the WSII 233 and its 12" TFT screen.
While the screen is as good as the one from my old 3400c, I have an opportunity to pick up
a 14.1" from another WallStreet. Will this screen mount up and work
with my WallStreet? I will already have invested in a new HDD a while
back and am very, very happy with this machine. My wife has a Lombard, and I do love the screen,
but don't like the cheap feel of the keyboard enough to consider
putting the WallStreet out to pasture. If the screen would work, this
would be great with a processor upgrade from Wegener Media.
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Mark Betterton
Hi Mark,
I don't know for sure, but I am somewhat skeptical
that the 14.1" display will graft onto your WallStreet satisfactorily.
For one thing, the 12.1" WS had only 2 MB of video RAM, while the
larger screen models had 4 MB.
I'm also wondering about driver compatibility. This is
just deductive speculation.
I also have a 233 MHz WallStreet with a 12'1" TFT
display, and I understand your reasons for wanting to upgrade. Too bad
the great 12.1" 1024 x 768 display from the iBook won't work.
Charles
Little Question and ColorSync Profile
From Nicolas Collart
Hello from Montreal, Mr. Moore!
I already wrote you some time ago, and I have to say that the more I
read you, the more I think your articles are essential to Low End Mac
and the Mac laptop community.
I'm writing this email because I created a ColorSync Profile for the
Lombard under OS 9. I know some already exist at XLR8yourMac, but I find them
too dark and a bit too red. The one that is included with Mac OS 9
is simply horrible - that's why I wanted to try to create my own. I
attached it to this message because I thought maybe you would like to
try it on your Pismo or share it with the Low End Mac community.
Also, I wanted to ask you a little something. I love to see Steve
Jobs during keynotes and events like that. Unfortunately, it is now
really difficult to find those videos on the Net. Do you know websites
where I can find them? Do you know people who would have them? I would
be ready to pay for the CDs, shipping, and time taken to do this
:)!
Thanks again for your great articles.
Sincerely,
Nicolas.
Hi Nicholas,
Thank you for the kind words about my columns.
I also am inclined to create my own custom ColorSync
profiles for each laptop I own using the Displays Preference Panel. If
one takes the time to do it carefully, I've found that you can usually
create a calibrated profile that looks better on your 'Book than the
provided ones.
As for the Steve Jobs videos, I wasn't able to find a
source. Perhaps one of our readers will be able to help.
Charles
Pismo Screen Problem
From Brian Gray re: Pismo Screen
Problem (2004.06.30):
Thank you, Charles!
I tried connecting to an external monitor, and everything was fine.
So it definitely is the LCD screen. It is my secondary computer, so I
have another option if I need an accurate display. I was just worried
that since it seemed to get worse during heavy processing, it was a
major problem. Perhaps that was just coincidence.
Thanks again, and I always enjoy your columns at Low End Mac!
Brian
Pismo Screen Problem
From Andrew Main
Charles,
You might tell this guy to try DT&T Service.
They offer free diagnostics and inexpensive repairs; I've relied on
them for years. Ask for Bryan, and tell him I sent you.
Andrew
Thanks for the helpful tip, Andrew. I've forwarded the
info to Brian.
Charles
Any Workarounds for Fragile iBook Ethernet
Ports?
From Chad
A friend of mine has an iBook G4 which took a bit of a tumble while
an Ethernet cable was plugged in - it broke the Ethernet plug. From
what I hear, this is extremely difficult to fix, and I haven't had any
luck finding a USB-to-ethernet adapter that works under Panther. I'm
recommending that my friend move to wireless, but I'd rather avoid
that. Any ideas on how to get the port fixed or worked around w/o
buying a new logic board?
Thanks,
Chad
Hi Chad,
Bummer about the tumble. From what I've heard, the G4
iBook is not as much of a nightmare to tear down as the G3 models
are.
If you could get at the port inside, it might be
possible to resolder it to the logic board if one is skilled at such
things. My son's Lombard suffered a similar mishap, and he was
successfully able to resolder the port and never had any further
problems with it. However, the Lombard is relatively easy to work on
compared with the iBook.
Going wireless might be a viable workaround.
Charles
iDVD for OS 9
From Ed Hurtley re: iDVD for OS
9:
From what I have seen, it's only on System Restore discs that
shipped with computers that had OS 9 as their primary OS when they
shipped. (That means before OS X became standard in 2002.)
Ed Hurtley
Thanks, Ed.
Charles
Question about Refurbished iBooks
From Thomas
Mr. Moore,
We're in the market for an iBook, and the refurbished iBooks at the
Apple Store look very attractive. One of our concerns is buying one of
them and ending up with one that has cosmetic flaws. Talking with the
Apple Store rep, they couldn't promise anything about the cosmetic
condition of the iBooks - only that they are cleaned and checked;
however she did say that returning a refurbished item simply because of
it's cosmetic condition wasn't allowed.
My question is if any of your readers have had experience buying
refurbished production directly from Apple.
Thank you,
Thomas
Hi Thomas,
I'll post your question in the next Mailbag.
However, in this instance I'm doubtful that anyone's
experience, good or bad, in this context would necessarily carry over
to another purchase.
Charles
Sawtooth and Sonnet 1.4 GHz CPU Upgrade
From Andreas Menn
Hello
Can you give me any hints referring to the compatibility of an
upgraded Sawtooth
G4/400 MHz with booting directly into OS 9.2.2?
I have a G4 (Sawtooth) 400 MHz, 576 MB RAM, no PCI Cards + Sonnet Encore
ST G4/1400 MHz, OS 10.3 + OS 9.2.2 on two separate HD
Partitions, OS 9.2.2 - brand new installation from original CD on a
brand new partition - crashes some when between booting and 5 to 10
minutes later.
Thanks in advance,
Andreas
Hi Andreas,
I don't imagine this is an OS 9 boot compatibility
problem. You should still have the machine's original boot ROM, and you
have things set up nicely.
As to what else it might be, that's a conundrum. My
first suspect would be a RAM incompatibility with the faster processor,
but that's just a provisional guess.
Have you contacted Sonnet tech support?
Charles
Re: Sawtooth and Sonnet 1.4 GHz CPU Upgrade
Hello Charles,
Thanks for your personal effort to help me!
Well, I have contacted Sonnet, and they
will replace my CPU with a new one. They were nice but not really
helpful.
The card was used by somebody else, and he bought it Oct. last year.
So, since then, I hope Sonnet have detected some bad thing in there
product and the new one will simply fit. But maybe You are right with
your RAM guess.
What is a RAM incompatibility? Somebody else wrote me, I should have
"all 8 NS or better speed RAM." I must confess, I can only guess what
this means. I will try to check this out with "DIMM First Aid" (also a
suggestion from the other guy). So you both guess quite the same!
The thing is: I don't know why then OS X runs perfectly well with
the Sonnet CPU. Have You an explanation for that?
Regards
Andreas
Hi Andreas,
All RAM is not created equal. However, you're right
that it is curious that your Sawtooth will boot happily from OS X
but not OS 9. It's usually the other way around with OS X being
more picky about RAM quality.
I hope the replacement card will solve your
problem.
Charles
Beige G3s vs. B&W
From Anna Vinding
Hello, again,
Thanks for replying. :)
I did get a Blue and White
G3, but now I can't get OS 8.5 to install (Jaguar was installed
when I got it, 
along with a PowerLogix 500 MHz
G4 upgrade). I keep getting the message that I can not install the
software in this computer. I have put in the original CPU, and it has 1
GB of RAM, and 80 GB of hard drive.
I know it's probably an imposition, but I'm at my wits end. Would
you have any idea why this is?
I'm a recent switcher, so all my experience is pretty much just with
OS X. One really gets to appreciate the new OS when one is forced
to work with the older ones.
The other problem, of course, is that the resources are just not
there anymore since few people have any use for these older OSes.
Thanks for any clues in my direction.
Anna
Hi Anna,
According to Apple's Mac OS 8
and 9: Compatibility with Macintosh computers article, the B&W
Power Mac may or may not support OS 8.5 depending upon date of
manufacture. If it was manufactured after B&Ws started shipping
with OS 8.6, 8.5 will not work, which is almost certainly what you are
encountering.
The good news is that OS 8.6 will definitely work and
is a much better system version anyway.
I don't recall precisely your exact requirements, but
if OS 8.x compatibility is not a determining issue, I would strongly
recommend running OS 9.2.2 on your B&W.
Charles
Beige G3s vs. B&W
Hi, Charles,
Thanks for that info. I really don't know that it might not run OS
8.5. I have the 8.5 disk and an update to 8.6, but I guess it's
installing the 8.5 that's giving us the error. I'll have to buy the 8.6
disk. We're running an old version of 4D server/client using a program
which my husband wrote himself. This version of 4D won't run on
9.2.
I've been badgering my husband to finish the OS X version, and
I think all the problems we've been having with the old computers is a
great motivation for him now.
Thanks again. I think you are doing such a great job helping out
people like me. :)
Anna
Hi Anna,
My pleasure. ;-)
Yes, you nailed it. The installer won't run on your
B&W because the computer's ROM doesn't support OS 8.5. Even with
the 8.6 updater in hand, it's one of those "you can't get there from
here" dynamics.
Charles
Beige G3s vs. B&W
Hi, again,
I finally got 8.6 on the machine. I used an iMac installer disk,
which surprisingly worked. There were some files that wouldn't install,
but I just skipped those and ran the 8.6 updater that came in my other
disk to update the drivers. Worked perfectly. :) Thanks for
pointing out that the computer probably couldn't run 8.5. At least with
that I stopped trying to use 8.5 and figured out to install 8.6
directly.
Thanks again,
Anna
DVD-R Drives & Panther
From Steven Hunter
Do you know of any place that maintains a list of DVD-R drives
compatible with Panther and/or iDVD? I bought a Dual G4/500 on
eBay that includes a DVD-RAM drive that I didn't really want. I'd
like to replace it with a DVD-R/RW, but I want to make sure it will
work with Panther and iDVD. I'm trying to buy it on the cheap, so I'm
trying to avoid Apple branded drives.
Steven Hunter
Hi Steven,
I don't know of a site with exactly what you're
looking for, but these pages might be of some help:
• http://www.kentidwell.com/idvd4/DVD_4_begin.html
• http://forums.xlr8yourmac.com/drivedb/search.drivedb.lasso
• http://www.macworld.com/2003/05/reviews/firewiredvdrdrives/
Charles
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