Proper Power Supply Plug-in Sequence
Important
From
Aaron K in response to Screen Spanning Doctor
Causes Black Screen of Death with New iBook:
I am writing this in response the article (link) you posted from
David's Waste of Bandwidth.
The symptoms that he states are exactly the same as what I
experienced with my 1 GHz iBook G4. The root fault of the
problem was mine. When I plugged in the power cord with the adapter
already plugged into the machine, it puts an inordinate amount of
stress (see surge) on a chip inside the machine. Something to do
with the PMU I think.
In the end, it took two system board swaps to resolve the
problem. I have used it for the biggest part of a year since. Being
extremely cautious not to plug it in that way again. Maybe this
info can help some of your other readers.
Aaron K
Hi Aaron,
Since at least the mid 1990s, Apple has advised
that one should plug the power adapter into wall current before
connecting it to the laptop. This seems intuitively incorrect, but
you have provided an explanation of why it is the proper
sequence.
Charles
Pismo Chimes
From Bob Russo, in response to My Poor
Dead Pismo:
I know the chimes well. They are the chimes where there is no
RAM in the computer. (See Power On
Self-Test Beep Definition - Part 2, Apple)
Since this is a Pismo with the RAM on the processor card, I'd
suspect the processor.
I've been there.
Bob
Thanks Bob.
Charles
Dead Pismo CPU Card
From Jeff
Dan Cheng wrote:
After starting it up (Tiger), I logged in and
started up iTunes. After a while of streaming, it froze. So when I
went to restart as normal, it restarted - but no boot chime: only
three short sine wave tones. The HD has spun up, but the screen
remained blank.
I pulled the battery, adapter, reset the PRAM,
pressed the reset button in back - all to no avail. On startup I
still get only the three short sine wave tones - bummer.
Couldn't find any resources on the net about these
tones or what it means, and I haven't had the time to check the
memory, daughtercard, etc. Has my Pismo gone the way of the Dodo?
I'm hoping that someone might be able to tell me what the short
tones mean, so I can at least know where to start looking.
I had the same problem on a Pismo that I got for half a loaf of
bread, from a user who didn't know what was wrong and didn't want
to fix it anyway!
Mine was the dreaded L2 failure on the CPU card.
It might need another daughtercard, 400 or 500 MHz. They both
work - around 100$ on eBay.
Jeff
USB iPods Semibootable
From David F in response to New iPod
Upsets My Hardware Apple Cart:
Charles:
The lack of FireWire on all the iPods is yet more in the
ever-increasing, frustratingly bizarre behavior by Apple towards
its loyal customers who saw them through the bad times.
USB 1.1 is bootable for Classic on post-dual-USB models (apx
post 1991+) - but not for OS X!
Why Apple would deliberately choose such a dumb thing is
inexplicable (it is a similar move to the equally dumb idea to
remove bootable RAM disks in new-world ROM Macs; both bootable
modes are crucially useful in a troubleshooting pinch!).
Since new Intel BIOS support bootable USB, it would be very
interesting if someone could test this out (e.g. one of the iPod
webzines). Word has always been that synching the iPod via USB is a
miserable, unreliable experience, so some baseline viz booting USB
would be in order (especially in light of Apple's own switch to x86
- we can only hope that these new machines will have something cool
& truly different e.g. instant-boot via flash memory, as
Intel's recent Robson demo suggests).
Anyways, the call must go out the to open firmware hackers out
there (I guess from the Linux crowd - gosh, don't they come in
handy every now & again!) to see if it is possible to force
OS X to boot from USB.
Cheers,
David
Boot from iPod shuffle into OS 9.22?
From: Kevin Dailey
Dear Mr. Moore,
Do you know of any way to manage an iPod shuffle using OS 9.22
and iTunes version 2? I am wary of upgrading the OS on my mother's
1998 iMac just so she can
change the songs on her shuffle.
Do you know any runarounds?
Please help,
Kevin Dailey
Hi Kevin,
The system requirements for the shuffle are:
- Macintosh computer with USB port
- Mac OS X v10.2.8 or Mac OS X 10.3.4 and later (Mac OS X 10.3.6
or later recommended for use with low-power USB ports)
Unless there is some hack that I don't know of (possible), it
looks like you need to upgrade your Mom to at least 10.2.8.
Charles
Screen Orientation in 10.4.2
From Tim Lee in response to Pivoting the
Screen in OS X 10.4:
Charles,
I have learnt more about this matter.
To find out if you can rotate your screen, run System Profiler.
If it says the Display (meaning the graphics card) supports
rotation, then you can rotate your screen.
Apple have implemented in 10.4 (possibly fully from 10.4.2) the
ability to rotate the screen - if the graphics card supports it
(this probably means Apple's driver supports rotation for that
graphics card). Moreover, you do not have to perform opt-click;
there will be a selection box automatically available in the
Display System Preferences if the driver has support.
I tested this using 10.4 on the two MDD G4 PowerMacs I own. One
is the Dual 867 MHz with stock Nvidia GeForce 4 MX card. (10.4.2) -
no rotation possible The other is a Dual 1.25 GHz with stock ATI
Radeon 9000. (10.4.2 Server) - rotation is possible
To check that it was not some special function within Server, I
swapped the cards around. I found the rotation capability was now
swapped.
From this I conclude the functionality is very much built-in and
intended to be there, at last, but with restrictions. Then I looked
at System Profiler and observed that it clearly states if rotation
is supported or not!
Incidentally, I also checked to see if it was hiding in 10.3.9 -
it is not. (The Dual 867 has 10.3.9 also, which I was normally
using until running this test.)
I have owned an ADi 17x+ rotatable CRT screen for a long time.
The rotation never worked properly under Windows, and I never
really got around to using Mac Classic. I am really glad to see
full length pages again.
Tim Lee
Hi Tim,
Very cool. Thank you for the information.
Now what I need is a laptop with a rotating
display.
Charles
Display Rotation Depends on Video Card
From Paul Shealy
Tim Lee wrote that the Dell 2005 FPW had a worse viewing angle
than the Apple display. They use the exact same Phillips LCD panel.
I looked at both and bought the Dell.
Speaking of display rotation, I have 10.4.2, along with a retail
ATI 9800 video card in my G5 and don't get the rotate pulldown in
the displays preference. I have to use the ATI Displays preference
to get display rotation.
Paul Shealy
Internal Modem Problem on Beige G3
From James Fulkerson
Charles,
I have an original beige G3
desktop I picked up used on eBay. When I got
it, it didn't have a modem installed. Also on eBay, I found a
replacement system board with a faster processor, more RAM, and the
audio-video personality card with S-video jacks and an internal
modem. I bought it and installed it, but the modem refuses to work.
I even went so far as to get a different one from the seller, but
it doesn't work, either.
When it was suggested that I do a clean install of the System
Folder, I tried that without success. I have also tried doing a
complete reinstall from OS 8.5 with no luck. For whatever reason, I
cannot get the modem Control Panel to give me the internal modem
option - it only allows me to have the external modem or printer
ports. I have been sure to have one or the other of these modems
installed when I try these things, and most times the system
doesn't even see it's there at all, so it doesn't load the drivers
for the internal modems (but it loads every other modem
driver on the disk!).
I'm sure the modem is seated in the slot correctly and that the
personality card is seated in it's slot correctly (I get sound from
the speakers built into my monitor). The only other thing I changed
was to remove the metal knockout plug on the back of the
personality card to allow the modem to fit with the phone jack
visible.
Am I doing something wrong? I've loaded up to OS 9.2.2 as well,
and still no luck. I'm beginning to think the modems are dead. I
can't see any kind of jumper settings or cables I need to connect,
and I've run this by the forum boards at EveryMac.com without success. Any
assistance will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
James Fulkerson
Hi James,
This is a kind of glitch that can make you tear
your hair out.
I doubt that it's anything you are doing. My guess
is some sort of hardware problem.
Two defective modems seems unlikely, but not
impossible. There maybe some other issue with the board that is
preventing it from recognizing the internal modem. I doubt that
it's a software problem, since the external modems work.
As long as there are no other issues, one
suggestion would be to just use an external modem.
Charles
Why Apple Should Hold Off on Intel
From Alvin
Hi, how're you?
This is a sort of wish list, if you could integrate it in your
articles, that'd be great. Apple might be listening:
Basing on Wozniak's suggestion to have more entertaining games
for the Mac and the gap between the price of say a Power Mac to a
DIY Athlon 64, it's best to say that [Apple] should partner with
Nintendo with its Revolution console. It feels that Nintendo is
keeping the competition off-track, saying that it has lesser
graphics, no HDTV, that it won't use HD-DVD as media, and that's
it's greatest strength is just the controller. With that kind of
controller that is handy as a TV remote, it not hard to say that it
should have HDTV, and then it's easy to say that they have a
multicore on the ready, because high resolution means it needs more
power. They also get their CPU from IBM, then for sure they have
prototypes that are multicore. It needs to, because as soon as Sony
says it too has gyros and depth sensors in it's PS3 controller,
Nintendo will be in big trouble as Sony's console offers a lot
more, the controller for the Revolution won't have that advantage
anymore.
The PowerPC seems to be getting better, and its always safe to
say that no matter what locks Apple give to its Mactel hardware,
it'll always get hacked. It's not too late to correct what once
Apple thought was truth about the PowerPC's performance per watt
disadvantage. It seems that it's getting that performance from
engineering outside IBM that its becoming as energy efficient, too.
To adopt Nintendo's Revolution hardware or rebrand it as Apple is
more radical than the Intel switch, and anyway, it's the iPod that
gives the profit nowadays, so to do so would make everyone buy it
because:
- It'll now have the games that even Wozniak said it lacked, and
these games will be exclusive Nintendo on top of the games and
applications already available in OS X
- It'll be price competitive with the DIY PC systems but will be
better because it'll a cheap multicore
- Nobody will hack it because it's got the Revolution games and
may even make the NES, SNES legacy games be free, which a lot of
people have not finished yet
- They could add Blu-Ray
- The Nintendo Revolution form factor's so small, they could
create a Power Mac in an iMac G5 computer and get rid of the
dilemma between Power Mac and iMac G5 sales
- They could save on licensing cost on the Revolution's
technology by exchanging the click wheel technology on Nintendo's
controller and making it better for console gamers
- They can add the Revolution's controller features to the remote
that Apple already has so that people can do Front Row and play the
Revolution games with it
Apple, Pixar, Disney, and adding Nintendo is a very powerful
combination. Once people flock to this Mac that plays Nintendo
games, they will also be dominant because:
- People will forget Windows as the major applications are all in
OS X already and that Aperture and most probably iWorks with
FileMaker will give Photoshop and Office the competition (whose
advantage is OS X integration)
- Dell will be forgotten as well as it will be a little cheaper
because the design is based on a console which is cheaper than a
computer
- Sony will have a harder time with Nintendo as it will sell more
with it's own Revolution and through the guise of a Mac
It's Chinese checker for Nintendo and Sony. If Nintendo still
sticks to propriety media, no HDTV thus no non-multicore Revolution
and Apple sticks to switch to Intel too early, it safe to say that
this will happen:
- Since the Revolution has announced its launch, Sony will just
announce that it too has a similar controller that has gyros and
depth sensors but having more features, people will wait instead
for the PS3 or launch the PS3 at the same time. Nintendo will cease
to exist.
- Because employees could be leaking stuff and there's nothing
really that's unhackable (that companies should just innovate
psychologically to keep them hacking, like if your Mac can play
Nintendo, then even the hackers will buy it) , Apple's Mactel will
get hacked to DIY PCs and then it will just have to rely on iPods
for profit as it is doing now.
To save Apple from being uncredible, they don't entirely have to
reverse their switch to Intel but they just have to be patient
since things have changed on the PowerPC. The truth on it before is
not true anymore today.
God bless,
Alvin
http://www.applecatholic.com
Hi Alvin,
Interesting thoughts. However, I think the
prospects of Apple shifting back to the PowerPC at this point are
about zero.
The PowerPC may well retain some advantages, but
I'm inclined to believe that the Intel move was the right one in
the broad context.
Charles
Re: Apple Should Hold off on Intel
From Alvin
Hi,
it's too bad they are going Intel. I mean all those effort for
PowerPC's gone. I'm not sure how it's sales on it's Mactels will
become once hackers figure out a way to go around it. They've done
that on the Tiger x86 (although incomplete). I hope for once if
they're using Intel, they'll be as cheap as DIYs. It's lost it's
uniqueness on the PowerPC. The OSes are not that significantly far
apart for people to buy it, it's not like DOS/Windows 3 vs. System
1-6 anymore. I do hope that they still team up with Nintendo, I
think a lot would enjoy playing their games on iMac G5s with
multicore using a combo click wheel and Nintendo Revolution
controller (add Front Row too). Apple needs mostly exclusive games
anyway for people to really switch. But still I don't think people
will switch. There's just too much software costs to replace,
infrastructure (schools especially) and training to do.
God bless,
Alvin
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