Comments | i_heart_to_____: Mac Friends

i_heart_to_____

Mac Friends - Help!

Sep 28, 2008 07:27

Dear People Who Know About Computers,

Any thoughts on this? I have an ibook G4 from 2005 and I just started getting the infamous black "You need to restart your compute. Hold down the power button for several seconds or press the 'restart' button" message. (It comes up as a semi-transparent black box; the message is in several languages, it was ( Read more... )

Comments 10

eqe September 28 2008, 17:25:45 UTC

That behavior indicates that there's probably some kind of electronics problem -- either motherboard or memory. Memory is easy to try a replacement for, but alas I don't have any DDR modules handy. Your laptop is probably either one of these or one of these, and generally you can install a faster module than needed, so a PC2700 module should work in either case. (Do verify on the serial number, though.)

eqe September 28 2008, 17:28:50 UTC

Oh, it could also just be overheating. You can use a can of compressed air to blow gunk out of the vents and see if that improves things. I *do* have a spare one of those, if you want to pick it up in the mission. :)

i_heart_to_____ September 29 2008, 02:55:42 UTC

thank you so much! So a PC2700 is memory that I can buy? (Sorry, I am totally lame when it comes to this stuff.) Should I buy direct from the apple store, or is there a cheaper or easier way?
Thank you thank you thank you!

eqe September 29 2008, 03:04:11 UTC

Yes, you can buy one -- but you should verify which iBook you have and buy the right one for your Mac (either PC2100 or PC2700). If you have a friend with a spare DDR module, though, it's a pretty easy test to swap 'em out for a week and see if that makes the problem go away. Alas all my DDR memory is in use right now. :(

Don't buy memory from Apple unless money is no object. You can get it way cheaper at MemoryX or at Sweet Memory in downtown SF at Mission and 1st or at Central Computer at Howard and 4th.

Thread 6

Some advice celina September 29 2008, 01:04:28 UTC

Hello, I stumbled upon this looking through LiveJournal friendsfriends.

Doing a clean install of the OS is one of the first things they would recommend so well done in getting that out of the way.

You said you had a repair done in July? If that repair was done at an Apple Store, they usually have the policy of covering that repair through the end of your warranty (AppleCare) or 90 days, whichever has the longer coverage. If you still have your paperwork from that repair I'd recommend reading the fine-print to make sure that's the case! They can also look up your information at the store if you don't have it.

Re: Some advice i_heart_to_____ September 29 2008, 02:56:28 UTC

aha! Great advice, thanks a ton. I'll check on that ASAP--my applecare is expired but I think the repair happened less than 30 days ago.
Many, many thanks!

Re: Some advice celina October 14 2008, 20:18:40 UTC

Any update on your situation? I hope it all worked out!

also burnunit September 29 2008, 20:58:32 UTC

startup from the OSX DVD and run the utilities to repair the disk and repair permissions.

but also the memory replacement might be a good guess.