Apple stuff - Mac, iPad, iphone

[smallfry]

Sorry to hear that.
I tried the brightness and it also turned off the apple logo, so i hoped that it was the problem.
Do you still have the discs which shipped with the computer?.. try to put the install disk in and start holding the Alt key..
Failing that, I will have to hope someone else has some ideas..

good luck...

[Gentleman Jim]

Smallfry
No apologies needed, you have been very helpful. Your post led me to a Mac troubleshooting site, but still no luck.

It definitely seems to be the DVD that is whirring away. I get no start up chime and no screen visuals at all, just black screen.

I do know that the battery is buggered, it holds its charge for maybe 20 mins, so I normally just use the macbook with the power lead connected. There is power going to the computer, even without the external connected. Battery underneath is showing 4 lights, so I guess 75-80%.

edit
sorry meant to say, there is a disk (dvd movie) in the drive and I cannot eject it, so can't try anything with original disks etc.

Gentleman Jim

[Saab Dastard]

there is a disk (dvd movie) in the drive and I cannot eject it, so can't try anything with original disks etc.

Is there a pinhole in the front of the DVD player? You should be able to shove in a (straightened) paperclip (with the power off) to open the tray.

SD

[AppleMacster]

You could try starting up holding down the mouse/trackpad button. This should eject a disk on startup if there aren't any other problems. I've had this once where it didn't work, but it turned out that Applemacster Nš1 Son had managed to put two DVDs in the MacBook's drive...

Applemacster

[Pelikanpete]

Remove the battery and power lead then hold down the power button for more than five seconds. Then replace the battery and power lead and try starting. This will reset the power management settings back to default - they may have some how got corrupted.

If this does not work try switching on whilst holding down CMD, ALT, P and R. Do not release these keys until you have heard the chime noise a second time then allow it to restart normally. This will reset any corrupted display setting etc. that might be preventing a normal start up.

Hope one of these fixes your problem.

As stated by a previous poster switching on whilst holding the track pad button down should cause the DVD drive to eject after a few seconds - do not release the button until the drive actually ejects. This is probably not your problem though (unless the DVD in the drive is a recognised start up disk).

[BusyB]

I had a very similar problem with the screen which turned out to be a lead problem requiring a new screen (under warranty). It was possible to see very faintly items on the screen but no brightness was possible. If you have the facility to plug in an external monitor you may be able to check this.

[Gentleman Jim]

BusyB

I tired plugging in to my projector, to check that, but no joy. The problem is at the moment I am nowhere near an Apple repair centre.


Gentleman Jim

[ORAC]

Try a bit of cardboard - see here.

[dubh12000]

Quick Mac question - Blu-ray

Guys and gals, I can't seem to find the answer anywhere on the Apple website. Can I play Blu-rays on the newer iMacs?

[ORAC]

No, Mac does not support BluRay because of disagreements concerning licensing issues.

[dubh12000]

Oh poo.....

Thanks for the heads up.

[AppleMacster]

Steve Jobs described it thus:

"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. I don't mean from the consumer point of view. It's great to watch movies, but the licensing is so complex. We're waiting until things settle down, and waiting until Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace before we burden our customers with the cost of the licensing and the cost of the drives."

So, never say "never". I think the Apple aim is to download HD movies via iTunes, cutting out the middleman of physical media altogether.

Applemacster

[mcdhu]

Gents,

After 10 years of PC, I've been persuaded that Mac is the way ahead by legions of colleagues and friends. I propose imminently to get a 21.5" iMac for all the usual purposes. As ever, the start is the most confusing, so I would be grateful for basic advice on the following points for Day 1! (I have read as much of this thread as I have time for):

Any need for antivirus yet?
The best way to transfer 20Gb of iTunes music from PC to Mac (it is backed up on a 30G iPod)
Office for Mac or Open Office or iWork for docs/WP etc.
Any need to tweak my Netgear DG834Gv3 to operate the iMac wirelessly?
Likewise the Canon Pixma MP520 Printer which is wired to the main household PC(which will stay)?

Many thanks
mcdhu

[AppleMacster]

mcdhu,

Welcome to Macintosh!

Any need for antivirus yet?

No. It invariably makes the computer slower and is *totally* unecessary.

The best way to transfer 20Gb of iTunes music from PC to Mac (it is backed up on a 30G iPod)

Migrate iTunes from PC to Mac

Office for Mac or Open Office or iWork for docs/WP etc.

For maximum compatibility, Office is the best choice, if you are exchanging a lot of work between PCs and your Mac. OpenOffice is free and does a really good job, but it still has a slightly "weird" feel to the user interface. iWork is the easiest to use with your Mac, giving very professional-looking results with the least effort. "Keynote" presentations are far, far easier than using Powerpoint (and look better imho), and adding pictures and other media to your documents simpler than in Office. You get a trial of iWork included with your iMac, so you can try it out and see if fulfils your needs.

Any need to tweak my Netgear DG834Gv3 to operate the iMac wirelessly?

No. It's the same as mine. Works great. Due to being on O2, who changed the way their servers allocate IPs, I had to put some non-Netgear firmware on the router so that it didn't drop the connection all the time. It was an O2 thing, not a Mac issue, though.

Likewise the Canon Pixma MP520 Printer which is wired to the main household PC(which will stay)?

The driver for your printer is included in the Mac OS 10.6 (which will be pre-installed on your iMac). It should work fine, both printing and scanning. You may have to check that the PC to which the printer is attached is set up to share the printer.
Canon Printer Drivers in Mac OS 10.6

Applemacster

[The Nr Fairy]

As an addendum, I'd propose you get the LARGEST iMac you can afford and / or fit on your desk and read comfortably. The resulting screen area is gorgeous.

I have seen problems (admittedly with MacBooks - the small plasticy white ones) with a specific model of Netgear wireless access point - the laptop crashes needing a reboot, but no problems on plenty of Macbook Pro living in the office. You shouldn't have problems but this was a bugger to track down.

Also, spend some money on, or reuse an existing, USB hard disk as the "Time Machine Backup" - automated easy to use backup and restore.

[mcdhu]

Thank you both AppleMacster and The Nr Fairy for the advice. I've had the tape measure out to see if a 27" would fit on the desk!!! Tight, but as one's eyesight fails perhaps there is merit in it!!

mcdhu

[ZEEBEE]

As an addendum, I'd propose you get the LARGEST iMac you can afford and / or fit on your desk and read comfortably. The resulting screen area is gorgeous.

I would most certainly endorse that.

I have a 24" IMac and it's simply stunning.

Also, if you need to run Windows programs then Parallels 5 makes Windows on the mac better than the native Windows in my opinion.

[mcdhu]

I'm convinced!! Hopefully off to order tomorrow!!

mcdhu

[The Nr Fairy]

Hope you have fun !

Bear in mind that it works differently, not better / worse than Windows / Linux, but differently.

Keep that in mind and the initial frustrations will soon become trivial.

[Bell_Flyer]

Time Machine Question

I have a 3 year old MBP 17" which I want to swap for the latest model.

Does anyone know if I restore from Timemachine backups whether my Parallels 5 + WINDOWS + MS Office applications will be restored perfectly? What about the Mac MS Office programs?

Thanks.

BF