Narcoleptic laptop - screen goes black while working

Question

Hi ho,
About a week ago my mac started acting strange. I'll be working and the screen will just go black. (it just did it again! Sometimes if I'm listening to music on my mac, the music will stop, so it's not just the screen going black, it's like the computer goes to sleep out of the blue.
I was trying out bittorent for the first time and I'm wondering it it's related to that, if there is something I don't know coming on to my computer from the internet, please advise. I took bittorent off and it'll still appear. A window from Opera will open, so I took Opera off my computer in case there is something downloading. I never use Opera, so I don't know why it keeps coming up.
When it goes black, sometimes if I click the power button, I'll hear the disk repower up and the screen will go on, but it isn't all the time. Once I get it started again, it may be a few minutes and it'ss do it again without warning, or it could be 10 seconds. There's no rhyme or reason.
Another thing I notice is that the laptop will get hot, and I'm wondering if it's an emergency mechanism if the computer is getting too hot.
Please help, of course, I'm dead without being able to use my computer! And this is totally messing with my productivity!
Message was edited by: madamep

Answer 1

Hi, madamep. A properly-functioning Powerbook should put itself to sleep (not shut down entirely) before it gets hot enough to do real damage to itself. That may be what's happening with yours, as you say it seems to be getting pretty hot.
I suggest opening Activity Monitor and seeing whether something is using a lot of CPU cycles a lot of the time, thus generating extra heat. If you find that something is, and it's something you recognize and can comfortably turn off, do so. Then see whether the unexpected-sleep problem diminishes or disappears. If there's nothing drawing heavily on your processor, are you using the Powerbook on a soft surface (bed, sofa, lap, etc.) that's inhibiting airflow around the PB's shell and through its cooling vents? If so, don't: it needs unobstructed airflow all around it, including underneath — that's why it has little rubber feet, to keep it elevated slightly above your table- or desktop. Always use it on a hard, flat surface, and if the feet have come off it, replace them with something that will provide airspace under the PB at all times. Also check to make sure the vents haven't become clogged with dust or fuzz: use canned compressed air or a household vacuum cleaner (not the brush attachment — that can generate a lot of static electricity that's dangerous to electronics) to clean the vents from the outside.