Have you re-installed the OS?

Could be hard-disk fault - not sure if MACs have an equivalent to chkdsk?

I thought MACs were immune to viruses (virii police click here) ??

First thing to try is to Repair Permissions. You need Disk Utility:

Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility

Click your hard drive at the top left
Click the "Repair Disk Permissions" button.

I would also consider deleting any virus checking software. There are no mac viruses in the wild. The antivirus will probably mess up your mac more than anything else.

Applemacster

Applemacster
Thanks I will try that now. I guess the term visus is wrong but there seems to be lots of Trojans. Are they termed the same? Don't know, but I will try what you said now. Thanks :ok: ooh it just did it again:ugh:

Get a PC.:E

How much memory do you have?

How full is your hard drive?

Had this problem with my old Mac Mini (in spite of 1GB of memory)
Repairing permissions helped, but the 60GB drive has only 10GB free and a lot of the wait is disk thrashing as it pages in and out.

I'll get a new Mini in September when Snow Leopard comes out.

:ok:

(Never been a problem with my Macbook (2gb/160GB)

Now I know it is a little premature, but by Jove sir I think you may have done it! It is suddenly much faster already. Yippeeeeeeee!:ok:

Tarq

Wash your mouth out with Draino!

We call it "caustic soda" in this part of the world, ZB.:hmm:

AppleMacster
well I was premature, I am afraid I am still getting the spinning thinks bubble thingy. Aaaaaagh! By the way Mac The Knife, out of 110 G or so hard drive, 60 are spare.

Sorry to hear that you're still having issues. Here's a checklist:

Make sure all Apple updates have been done: Apple Menu>Software Update

Remove the antivirus and anti-spyware software.

Go back to Disk Utility, select your hard drive again and try the disk repair buttons on the right-hand side.

If all that fails, it may be a logicboard failure. Under warranty, there is no charge for the repair. Out of warranty, it's around £500.

Applemacster

£500...? As the man says, get a PC! you'll get some change as well!

WP

They do cost more but I tell you "Once you gone Mac there ain't no goin back'. Didn't Linda Lovelace come out with that quote? Oh it wasn't Mac, sounds like:E

Thanks again AppleMacster I will try what you have mentioned. Just like now as I was typing, the letters stop coming up when i hit a key. The only way to start retyping again is put the cursor in another text box outside this one (i use the heading box), hit a couple of keys or hit space, cursor back in here then continue. It is driving me nuts.

Other things to try:
If you feel confident, google for & install Applejack, which allows you to run low-level tests.

Is it just Safari that locks up, or everything? If it's just Safari, have you any 3rd party addons? You could always try downloading Firefox (simply put it in your Home folder if you like - you don't have to be running in an admin account for this. See other posts I've made about not running as an Admin. If you run as a User (not admin) then there's no (realistic) way rouge software can compromise your OS without you typing the admin password. Worst it can do is consume 100% CPU, or steal or erase your data, but not bring down the whole machine. That might read as flippant, but I don't mean it to.

Does sound like it might be a hardware problem, however. Try googling for some SMART monitoring software, which will at least track you HD's state over time & might give you some clue if there's increasing degradation.

Sorry for the rushed post but I'm sitting in semi-darkness in the garden & my Macbook battery's well into the red.

OnyX
 

how about some info about your system? You've said you have a macbook pro, but what type? How old? What OS, what memory have you got? etc

I reckon it's probably down to memory shortage (Even if you are running a MBP) or maybe to software running in the backround,

hope this helps?

Shinobi

Laptop in Trouble?
 

I own a 4 yrs old iBook G4. Am still working with 10.4.11 on that.

This evening, I saw one white line stretched across the screen, about an inch from the bottom edge. I did a restart, hoping the line would vanish -- but no such luck. :ooh:

Since then, I have realised that every time I shut the lid and reopen, some more lines keep turning up along which there is no display of any of the pictures or text or whatever in that area. As of now, there are about NINE such line across the screen, fortunately all within about a centimeter of each other. :{

So, I intend to avoid shutting the lid from now on -- just switch the laptop off instead!

I took a screenshot with Cmd-Shift-3, but the lines did NOT show. So, have now taken a picture of the screen with my mobile and this is what it is at, right now:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z...ss/Desktop.jpg

The question is: Is this the end of my laptop? Or, is there a solution for this problem?

HELP!!

Great MAC experience
 

I've never had a problem with the MAC, nor a virus.

If it isn't a memory issue (which it might be) then maybe it's just a "bad apple" from the lot. They usually are fantastic to work with once you figure out it isnt' a PC.

KB

Sounds like the cable to the display from the logic board is on the way out.

You cane either give it back to apple and let them change it or do the job yourself although it involves totally stripping down the iBook

Before you dismantle the iBook, did you try a PRAM and NVRAM reset?

PRAM/NVRAM reset

Applemacster

The elastomeric connector at the edge of the screen has separated from the screen itself. If you apply very gentle twisting pressure to the screen you'll probably (but not necessarily) see a change in the white lines. That's why you were seeing a change in the lines when you opened and closed the laptop screen.

The reason you don't see the lines on a screen grab is because the video ram is working fine and has a complete and correct copy of what the computer wants to display, so that's what's turning up on the screen grab. The fault occurs at the very last physical connection between the computer and the display.

There are two options : You can replace the screen, or use an external display. The lines will not appear on an external screen for the reasons explained above.

Laptop in Trouble?
 

Thanks, Applemacaster: just did that and has not made any difference to the lines.

PS: Never lost anything else like time etc: so, I guess, I must have had those OK! :hmm:

Jet II: Once upon a time about 20 years ago today, when the Mac had started selling here with inadequate Tech support, I had got the special screw driver made to open and service etc my own Macs. However, this laptop is another matter and I do not feel that confident of being able to hack it myself! Maybe it is got something to do with the fact that when you are younger, you are willing to try on any dare -- or some such! Thanks, anyway. I shall toodle across to the Mac shop and see if they can look at it.

Unhinged: The option of changing the screen is not really there. This being a four+ years old model, the spare backup is quite minimal here. I suppose if I insisted, the local Mac shop would obtain it for me from Apple, but, I suspect, that may cost me a horrendous amount: might just be wiser to add a bit and buy a new Mac Book! As for the second part: Yup, that is what I intend to do after I have got myself another lappy: use this one as a desktop with a TFT screen.

Thanks very much, all of you!

These guys will ship internationally:

DVWarehouse

Screentekinc

Instructions here:

iBook G4 Screen removal

Good luck!

Applemacster

Can anyone help my landlady? (She's a Mac user, but I know very little about them, preferring Linux.) Yesterday, she updated Microsoft Office 2008 to SP2 (I think) when prompted. She used to have DOC files associated with Microsoft Word, as you'd expect, but that's gone and she can't get it back:
- now, when she tries to load a Doc file, the Mac tries to start iWork '06 Pages. It's a Trial version - she didn't even know it was on there, and never used it. Word still works, she can still launch it as normal and open files - so the Office installation appears fine. (She's contacted Microsoft by email in case they know something about this.)

So, we try to restore the standard file association using a method I looked up, which goes something like this:
- launch the "Get Info" menu for a Doc file
- under "Open With" it says "Pages (default)". There's a way to select another application, so she selects Microsoft Word and "Always Open With", then "Add". This should add Word to the list of applications for that file.
- Back on the "Get Info" menu, there's a "Change All" button, that is supposed to set the association for all files of that type.
- Hit that, the confirmation dialog seems to confirm what it's doing, but after she hits "Continue", things go back to how they were before: "Pages (default)". Microsoft Word does not even appear on the applications list. Finder has completely lost the change she just made.

edit: the procedure that is supposed to work is described on this page - but it keeps reverting to Pages (default)

It's as if something is fighting this change. She has totally uninstalled iWork '06 now, but Finder still associates Doc files with Pages (even though it's gone), and will not let her change that permanently.

Any ideas? (Something to do with permissions?)

edit: on further investigation, I suspect it's a problem with something called Launch Services, which I was not previously aware of. See: Resetting Launch Services

bnt,

It could be the permissions. Just go Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility, click the top disk on the left hand side and then click "Repair Disk Permissions".

You can do the method described in your link to thexlab.com a little more easily by pasting the following into ScriptEditor, clicking "Compile", then "Run":

display dialog "The Finder must quit and will relaunch after the Launch Services rebuild is complete. The rebuild may take several minutes, during which time you should refrain from using any other apps." buttons {"Cancel", "Rebuild LS Database"} default button 2 with icon caution
ignoring application responses
tell application "Finder"
delay 2
quit
end tell
end ignoring
delay 5
tell application "System Events" to set running_applications_ to get name of every application process
if running_applications_ contains "Finder" then do shell script "killall Finder"
do shell script "/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user"
tell application "Finder"
delay 2
activate
end tell
tell me to activate
display dialog "The Launch Services rebuild is now complete." buttons {"OK"} default button 1 with icon note

Applemacster

Use RCDefaultApp - available free from 6. RCDefaultApp (file associations) or Rubicode - RCDefaultApp

http://www.rubicode.com/Software/RCD...ionsScreen.png

:ok:

Mac on Mac

Thanks for the advice! I think my landlady would not want to do anything difficult, or let me do anything like that (since I'm a Mac know-nothing), but I'll see. I also like the look of Yasu for clearing the cache and fixing permissions, before we go scripting anything.

Disk Utility should repair most disk issues. However, if you really want to get into Mac disk maintenance (and I don't recommend it), this is an excellent article:

Mac OS X Routine Maintenance

Applemacster

Update on the problem: we ran Yasu with the options to clear caches, reset system permissions, and reset Launch Services. It chundered for a bit, restarted, and then we could go in and re-associate Doc files with Word in the normal way. This time it worked, so landlady is happy.

Microsoft were saying "uninstall Office 12.2.0" (SP2), which sounded like overkill to me. I didn't want to go to the console and script anything, since landlady has literally never seen the console, and was already way past her skill level and freaking out. I can recommend Yasu as a nice and friendly way of doing these maintenance jobs. Thanks for the help, Maccums - I promise to be nicer about Macs in future. :ok:

MacBook Pro slo-o-o-o-o-o-ow wheel
 

Please....
Have just upgraded my iBook G4 to a MacBook Pro. When it's good its very very good (fast, between programs, in and out, up and down, great!) but after a couple of days it slows down so that I have to restart to maybe get it together again, maybe not. Depends on the modd of the thing. That little coloured wheel comes on and goes and goes...
Have tried emptying caches, and there's millions of 'em! Is that normal? A cache in the system library, in fact the Apple help line told me to just throw them in the bin, but that hasn't stopped the problem. I thought you guys might have better idea.
(have had a Mac since 1987 - I know, that makes me old. Would not even consider a PC, but this Pro job is the most problematic so far).

Jokova,

You could try repairing disk permissions: Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility, select the top disk on the left-hand side and click "Repair Disk Permissions".

It might be a RAM issue, although*if you have at least 2Gb and it is seated properly, it probably won't be this.

Have you installed any outdated control panels/utilities which might be causing some conflict with 10.5? Some older Applications and their extensions can also cause issues.

Have you got any anti-virus software? This has a tendency to cause more trouble than it's worth on the Mac.

Applemacster

Thanks - I've run the Repair permissions and hope that this fixes things. I don't have any virus detection I know the problems they can cause and I haven't put any old control panel things on but of course have all my old programs from the G4....
The RAM should be ok, but not sure about it being seated or not???? I dont have any programs on when I'm on the internet which seems to be when it happens. Maybe something to do with the Bigpond wireless program?

Could be. Are you using the 3G USB dongle? I've not used the device, but I know some people find that adjusting the "Disconnect when idle" settings can help. If the device is disconnecting and connecting all the time, this can slow the Mac down.

Applemacster

Just giving my old Mac Mini to a nephew (teenager) so he can write iPhone programmes. (he's the only one where the geek genes seem to descended) and am including the software and disks already on it.

Working from the basis that I already have a Macbook Pro, Macbook Air and a Time Capsule, what do you think I should get myself as a replacement in hardware and software?

I have the monitor and wireless mouse/keyboard from the Mini (he has a monitor and I providing the original cable mighty mouse/keyboard), so could possibly get one of the new Minis. I like the size and price, but it isn't terribly fast or expandable; the iMac looks not much better in speed and the Mac Pro seems a bit OTT.

Recommendations?

As far as software goes I have lost the copy of Leopard I bought :( so will be buying Snow Leopard when it comes out in September; have already bought Office 2008 and Toast 10 Pro and, through the education programme, will be getting a copy of Adobe CS4 Design Premium in September as well

Any recommendations for any other useful programmes?

Re hardware, I am of the same view about hardware. The MacPro is more than I really need, (did not say want!;)), the Mini does not really have enough grunt to cater to my photo uses, 21MB raw files and I am not keen on the All-In-One aspect of the iMac. The 20 inch iMac does not have the quality of display panel that is in the 24" and I prefer my HP 2475 IPS panel anyway. I do not care for the glossy screens that Apple seems to think we should all like.

Apple do not seem to be interested in producing something between the Pro and the Mini as a standalone. BTW try suggesting that in some Mac forums to see how quickly you get flamed.

Anyway I ended up with a 15" MBP, maxed RAM and a couple of external HDs.
One is for Time Machine back up and the other I keep my photo library on where Lightroom references them.
I do a separate back up of my photos on another drive.
I run the MBP as a desktop with the lid closed. I have a 320GB 7200 rpm drive in it and 7200 500GB 2.5" drives are available.

If your MBP is reasonably recent it may be all you need as you already have the keyboard and monitor.

The MBP is about 3 years old; RAM is already at max and I did a DIY HDD upgrade about 6 months back and swapped the old HDD for a new 320Gb one.

I use it on the coffee table in front of the TV and use it most of the time. The Mini is/was upstairs in the study, but I only use it when I need the big screen, the desk space and the extra storage space etc.

I found the following Mac Repair video fairly educational:



:ooh:

Wow, that's definitely one way to open a mac up...... :eek:

I have a question. Am I correct in thinking that apple software allows for one transfer of ownership to still be legal ? That is to say transferal to a newer computer from the old computer for example.

Any ideas appreciated.


SHJ

Picture transfer from iBook G4 to iMac?
 

Mac Laptop Repairs
 

Saw the previous video of man destroying Mac.:) but:sad:.
But reminded me of when my PowerBook G4 screen went on the blink. Did some searching and came up with probable cause being blown inverter board.
Found one on ebay - £18. Good result - but fitting?

I found this site
Powerbook 17 Inch Repair Video

Decided it was too much for me (not that brave!) Luckily I have a pal who's quite an electronic/computer boffin. But he took it on and completed the repair in an evening.
Been reading previous posts of problems with screens, hope it helps. Search around the site it may have similar videos for your mac.