Problem with My Powerbook G4

I have had problems with my 15" Powerbook G4 for the past year and a half. Suddenly it seems to only have half of the RAM that I bought for it. Initially I was terrified that I had somehow mistreated my computer and that it had lead to its malfunction, but I had never dropped the computer or done anything to damage it. I had always put it in a case when I carried it, I never spilled anything on it, I never ate near it, there was absolutely no way that I could have damaged it! And then I talked to someone who was having the exact same difficulty and they told me of the Powerbook Memory Extension program.
I went online immediately to see if my laptop met the specifications required, and was quickly told I didn't. My computer unfortunately was built just a few too soon to make it into the program.
So my question is, what do I do? I am incredibly upset that my computer no longer functions at the level at which I expected, and which I paid for. I can't have more than 1 program open at one time or the computer will freeze. So what is the solution?

Welcome to the Apple discussions.
The cheapest fix is to put a 1GB RAM strip in the working memory slot. Tiger works pretty well in a 1GB environment.
Apple will be glad to swap in a replacement logic board for a fee.
There are also one or two companies that say they can repair the logic board (do a search of the discussions).

Similar Messages

Problem with friends powerbook G4

Ok so heres the deal
My brother called me last night and told me that one of the girls in the place that he is living in is having problems connecting to their wireless network. Here are the facts that I know
1. Their ISP is Verizon Wireless and they have a Versalink gateway/router 327w.
2. She is using a 15 Powerbook G4
3. OS is 10.3.9
4. She has airport extreme
5. She is able to see the network and connect but can not use the internet
6. The probelm persists even if she is right next to the gateway.
He thinks that I know a lot about computers which I do but what I tried to explain to him is that I am very new to dealing with Macs and I am still trying to learn all that I can about my own mac
So I am asking anyone if they can give me any kind of suggestion as to what the problem might be, and what resolutions are there.
I should also mention that my brother is in Washington and I am in California, so I cant really just go over there and take a look at it which is why I need some expert Mac users to help me out
thanks

Ok Now that i've got a new system and user account going, still no joy.
I've indented the lines that seem to be relevant. AS ever any ideas greatfully received.
I just got the console log, could someone with way more knowledge than me explain what might be causing it:
02/09/2008 22:30:29 com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.UserEventAgent-LoginWindow[64]) Exited: Terminated
02/09/2008 22:30:42 org.ntp.ntpd[14] Error : nodename nor servname provided, or not known
__02/09/2008 22:33:56 com.apple.launchctl.System[2] fsck_hfs: Volume is journaled. No checking performed.__
__02/09/2008 22:33:56 com.apple.launchctl.System[2] fsck_hfs: Use the -f option to force checking.__
__02/09/2008 22:33:58 com.apple.launchctl.System[2] launchctl: Please convert the following to launchd: /etc/machinit.d/dashboardadvisoryd.plist_
__02/09/2008 22:33:58 com.apple.launchd[1] (org.cups.cupsd) Unknown key: SHAuthorizationRight__
__02/09/2008 22:33:58 com.apple.launchd[1] (org.ntp.ntpd) Unknown key: SHAuthorizationRight__
02/09/2008 22:34:21 com.apple.launchd[1] (com.apple.UserEventAgent-LoginWindow[62]) Exited: Terminated
02/09/2008 22:34:34 org.ntp.ntpd[14] Error : nodename nor servname provided, or not known

Start up problems with G4 powerbook

hello all,
My Powerbook appears to start up fine, but about 3 mins after my desktop appears the system freezes. I can open applications in the first few mins but no mater what I do after a couple of mins the spinning ball appears. When this happens I can't even use the keyboard commands such as force quit.
What I find particularly odd, is that when the computer freezes it continues to sound like its processing something, but the only thing I can do is shut down the computer and restart it.
There is plenty of space on the hard drive and I do regular disk utilities and use mac janitor, so there appears to be no clear hardware or software problems.
Any suggestions as to what wrong would be very welcome!
Thanks!

Activity Monitor is a good place to start.
Can you relate the problem to your starting up a particular application?
What happens if you log in and don't start any applications for, say, 5-10 minutes?
Have you been getting crash reports when you log back in? You might try to use that three minutes to look at the most recent crash log (in ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/). Whatever application's log is most recent may point you in the right direction.
Also, you can access the console log through the Console utility (in the Applications/Utilities folder). That may tell you what was the last thing your Mac thinks it was doing.
Let us know what you find.

Problem with my powerbook G4 15''

i woke up the other day to find that my powerbook was making a weird sort of sound, when i looked at my powerbook, the charge lead light was flashing (twitch) orange and there was a sort of sparking sound. When i tryed to turn my powerbook on i would just get the fans turning on for about 30 seconds then they would stop. I left my powerbook for a few days then tryed to turn t on again with the powerlead in and this time my powerbook turned on and loaded how it should but after about 5 minutes it turned itself off and started doing the sparking sound and fan thing. is there anyone who knows what is causing this and how to fix it.
cheers

OK, so my PB is 2 months old. I have gone from about 2.5 hours to about 1.75 hours on a charge. Coconutbattery says my current capacity matches the original capacity, so I'm guessing there is something I am doing wrong...(My first laptop, so I am a newbie).
I check my Energy settings, and while I am not on the Better Battery Life, I am in Custom, with the computer to sleep after 15 min and the display the same; plus having the HD sleep whenever possible. Bluetooth disconnected (WiFi on, though).
So I don't think I have screwed my battery yet... but how did I go from about 2.5 hours to 1.75 hours in two months??? (I have had 46 Battery Loadcycles according to coconut battery...

Very BIG problem with my powerbook G4, won't boot!

Hi nice people here,
This is the most serious problem I have for my powerbook G4 1.67GHz...
When I turn it on, it has the start up sound as usual.
However, the apple logo is not on the display, in fact, i doubt the display is not even turned on because it's all black and no light.
Also, the keyboard is not working either, the numlock and capslock are both not lit up when I push them.
Also I notice that the USB is not powered either, because I have a USB cooling pad and it was usually turned on as the computer is turn on. Now it's not turning on so I think the USB plug is not powered either.
I have tried reseting the Power Management, doesn't help.
I have a weird idea, maybe the computer was turned on as usual, but because the screen is not on, the keyboard is not on, and the usb is not on, so it feels like it won't boot?
The powerbook was fine before this happened....
Anyone has any clue about this? I will be very grateful if you can help...
Thanks a lot!!

I think it's time for an appointment at a Genius Bar. The only other thing I might try is to put in your original OS install DVD and see if it will boot off there, but it does sound like there might be a hardware issue.

Problems with my powerbook, need help!!!

hello
1) my powerbook is over 1 year old, suddenly my backlight do'not working anymore, when i am ind a dark rum, most of time it won't turn on, but som time it turn on, bus there are no light comming up from, even i turn the light too full.
2) the light that will light when powerbook is in sleep not working probably, it on all the time, even when the powerbook not in sleep.
3) my auto ambient light change is not working probably, it is not sensitiv enoughe, and som time, when i was ind a very bright place, the light turn lower, insteed turn brightere. anybody can help me!!! becuse, if i fix it ind af apple workshop, it will kost me a lot of mony, when my powerbook is not under ganranty anymore.
thx
machi

Hey Macho Man,
No problemo. You could go into the powerbook yourself and stick some LEDs to the side of it. Of course, if you screw up your computer will be messed up forever. So maybe not...

Weird problem with my powerbook

recently my powerbook has been acting strangely.
I go to start it and first nothing happens.
then i press again and the cd drive starts to whir as if there were a cd in there (but there really isn't).
then i have to press it at least one or two more times before it finally starts up.
no "bong" sound.
if you have any ideas about this behavior, i'd sure appreciate it.
thank you,
lily

Lily,
Please head over to the Powerbook G4 Discussions...you inadvertently entered the G3 powerbook forums.
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@@.ee6ba8c

Problem with 500MHz PowerBook G4

My computer has MacOS 9.2.2 and OSX 10.4.
I had been using OS 9 for a while, and today I tried to start up on 10.4. The computer chimed and the apple logo appeared on the screen, and then i got a message to restart the computer with a lot of text in front of it. I tried starting up from an OSX install disk, and the same thing happened.
Is there a way to get the computer to stop doing this, or to just start up in OS 9?

That's a kernel panic*:
http://www.macmaps.com/kernelpanic.html
For computers that old, you may need to replace the clock battery.
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

10.4.7 update and external firewire problems with HD corrupion

Dear all,
Advised by Jpfresno I started this new topic about Tiger 10.4.7 update.
I will repeat my post and what was happening 2 weeks ago:
“In 5 years 10.4.7 update was a tragedy for my Powerbook Ti 667. When I update from 10.4.6 to 10.4.7 my 300 GB firewire drive gets corrupted, after repairing it with DiskWarrior and after connecting it to my PowerBook my computer freezes and I must shut it down via powerbutton. Safari also crashes after the update.
I just erase my Hard Drive and after that install 10.4 and update with combo to 10.4.7. But I had the same problems: finder freezes with connected firewire devices and also safari when browsing. I spend a week trying to solve the problem but no luck.
Yesterday and with no firewire devices, 10.4.7 freeze and I have big trouble in order to started my powerbook!!! Even when i insert the 10.4 install DVD it did not detected my HD. Finally I get it to work and install 10.4 and combo update to 10.4.6 and everything works. My external firewire drive and safari. I already diagnose my HD with disk utility, TechTool and directories with Diskwarrior and everything is ok.
I clone my 10.4.6 to firewire, boot from it and everything is working. I let my external drive connected and finder does not freeze.
My conclusion is that the problem is 10.4.7 update. It only give me problems and I was getting crazy with it. 10.4.6 is working good and I do not advice anyone to update to 10.4.7.”
Last week after reinstalling 10.4.6 I started to have HD problems with my Powerbook 667. I did a surface scan with TechTool I it reported bad sector. Then I done a zero disk format but after a second surface scan TechTool also reported bad sector. Then I take the decision to replace my internal HD. I bought a Samsung 40GB Hard Drive and installed it on my PowerBook. Then I have done a clean installation of 10.4.6 with all applications that I need and clone it to my hard drive with Intego Personal Backup software. Everything works on 10.4.6. and external firewire drive.
After that everything is ok. But I decided to test if my problem derivates from 10.4.7 update or from previous HD corruption. Then I install 10.4.7 update on my Internal Hard Drive. Everything is working good but after connecting my external Hard Drive the finder started to freeze!!!!!!!!!. After that I tried cloning HD to external firewire with Intego personal Backup. Everything was working good but when it was finishing the backup process started to give errors!! I started panic. I interrupted the backup process but after and after restart I found something strange with 10.4.7. The system started up, I login but I could not started any application!!!??? All my application died!
Then I have done one more clean installation of tiger and 10.4.6 update.
My conclusions are that the 10.4.7 update causes all the problems that I have on my PowerBook, because I used the same methods and same software/hardware on 10.4.6 and did no have any problem.
This last two weeks were very difficult to me. I tough that these problems do not happen with Apple computers but I was wrong!!! It is very hard to me to deal with it. I always said to my friends that I never had problems with Apple computers. I accept that a hard drive died because the use of it but I can not accept that a system update cause me 2 weeks of hard problems and make me loose precious work information! I always love apple computers and Apple OS but now I am disappointed
If anyone can explain what happen or have a solution for those problems?
Thanks for the comprehension and collaboration.
Best Regards
Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi, alsvieira.
There are some things you did not check in all of your troubleshooting:
1. Run the Apple Hardware Test (AHT) that came the affected computer. See my "Apple Hardware Test" FAQ for comprehensive advice on using the AHT in troubleshooting.
2. re: FireWire troubleshooting: Here is some general troubleshooting advice that may help if problems return with your FireWire drive:1. Review the AppleCare Knowledge Base document "What to do if your computer won't recognize a FireWire device".
2. If this problem occurred after installing a recent Mac OS X Update, and you are also unable to mount CDs, DVDs, or disk images perform the steps in this Mac OS X Hints article. This worked under Panther and may also work in certain situations under Tiger.
3. Power-on the FireWire drive before starting up (booting) your Mac.
4. Reset PRAM and NVRAM.
5. Resett the power-management chip in your Mac.
6. Try a different FireWire port. James Wiebe, CEO of WiebeTech, has published FireWire Port Failures in Host Computers and Peripheral Devices, a white paper providing backgroud information and technical analysis concerning the causes of failure for FireWire ports. This may provide additional diagnostic information.
7. Micromat TechTool Pro version 4 can test the FireWire bus in your computer: this tests the bus — not the ports — but if the problem is on the FireWire bus on the logic board, it should reveal it.
8. Check with the manufacturer of your FireWire drive or enclosure to see if any firware updates are available for such.
9. Hopefully, the partition map on the FireWire drive is not damaged. This can happen if the FireWire drive was not Ejected before being disconnected or powered off. If it still refuses to mount, you may need to employ data recovery tools or services: see my "Data Recovery" FAQ.Note that some of the information above is from the "FireWire Problems" chapter of my book, Troubleshooting Mac® OS X.
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

Help...problem with my Modem - Dial Up connection

Hi...I having the following problem with my Powerbook G4 1Ghz Titatium. Hope you can give a hand.
I am trying to conect to the internet with dail-up but the System Profiler utility says that "Modem Driver Not Found". I went into Network Preferences, and into Network Port configurations and the option of "Internal Modem" simply does not appear. What can I do?. I have been trying to find any installer for the modem but no lucky so far (I have the OS 10.3.9). I can imagine that the drivers were deleted.
Any help will be highly appreciated. Greetings from Mexico.
Jorge

Sounds a bit like my problem mate....
http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=dap&message.id=06323
Device Manager: Start --> Settings --> Control Panel --> System --> Hardware(tab) --> Device Manager.
The error i'm getting is:
The drivers for this device are not installed. (Code 28)
To reinstall the drivers for this device, click Reinstall Driver.
anyone know how to resolve this? it searches the cd for the drivers and cannot find them. What kind of files are drivers?
Thanks
Ewan

Problem With Starting Mac

Hi I have this problem with my Powerbook that Im trying to solve without having to reinstall the operating system. Heres what happened. I was using the Mac when an update popped up that was for the PowerPC and so i clicked install. As the update was installing I went on the internet through Safari yet suddenly the computer froze (other then then itunes which was still playing my song). As it happens, I decided to manually shut down the computer, but when I started it up again, it went to the gray loading screen and then would pop up the is black message that said please restart your computer. I did this and the screen came up again and thus is now a never ending loop. If anyone has any ideas on how I can fix this problem it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

If you have access to another G3 or G4 Mac with a FireWire port, hook your PowerBook and that computer up with a FireWire cable and restart the PowerBook with the T key held down. From the other machine, download and run the Mac OS X 10.45 updater on the PowerBook's hard disk, and then restart your PowerBook normally.
If not, you need to reinstall Mac OS X to fix your issue; doing an Archive and Install while saving your user and network data should be sufficient. This issue happened because you restarted your computer while the 10.45 update was running, which resulted in a damaged set of components which cannot start up any machine.
(10578)

Problems With Transferring To A New Computer...PLEASE READ

I recently had problems with my Powerbook G4 and called Apple about it. Long story short, I had to erase and install Mac OSX thus erasing everything from my hard drive. I have around 2,000 songs and 1,300 pictures on my iPod that I need on my computer. Is there any way of doing this?
powerbook g4 15 Mac OS X (10.4.1)

Sorry I can't help with photos however there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve song files from your iPod, this is just a selection. Have a look at the web pages and documentation for these, they are generally quite straightforward. I use Senuti but check the others out particularly if you need to move videos for which you' d need iPod Copy.
Senuti Mac Only
iPodRip Mac Only
PodWorks Mac Only
iPod.iTunes Mac Only
iPod Access Mac and Windows Versions
YamiPod Mac and Windows Versions
PodUtil Mac and Windows Versions
iPodCopy Mac and Windows Versions

I have a strange WPA problem with my airport card

To set the scene, I'm using a powerbook G4 with built in airport card. My home router is a Belkin Pre-N MIMO.
I have had a recurring problem with the router for a few months now, I don't quite know when it started, but it has gotten to the point where I must do something about it.
The security on the router is set to WPA PSK with a TKIP system. I understand that in order to preserve the integrity of the encryption, the WPA key is routinely changed. In normal circumstances, this transfer is instant, but for some reason on my powerbook, it results in the computer becoming disconnected from the Internet, although it thinks it is still connected. Even more strangely, only port 80 is affected by this, as ftp, POP3, online games and instant messengers work fine.
Disabling the security on the router seems to fix the issue, but leaves the network open to others. Other wireless computers, including a G4 MDD with a Belkin Wifi card, are not affected by this issue.
I thought it might be a problem with my powerbook's built in wireless card not dealing with the WPA key change process, but i'm not sure. I'd appreciate any insight.

This was solved by buying an Apple Airport Base Station.

Power issues with my powerbook g4 display and keyboard

Hi I have been having problems with my powerbook g4 17 inch 1.67 GHz low-res model. The issues that I have been experiencing are related to pmu issues, my display powers on every now and then and my keyboard appears to not have power. The usb and firewire ports appear have power going to them especially the firewire the usb ports seem to be under powered. So my question to you is do you think that it is the pram battery or the logic board all together. When I power on the computer I sometimes hear the chime and other times I only hear the sound of the fans spinning. Please respond back A.S.A.P. your thoughts on this matter are greatly appreciated.

Sounds like there may be damage to either the cables to the display or the inverter, which provides the power for the backlight.
If the screen is viewable, especially when exposed to bright light, then it's probably just the display backlight.
Unfortunately, a repair will probably require replacement of the display assembly, which can be expensive and would not be covered under warranty if the product of a drop.
You may still be able to pull video from the DVI port (or VGA with the adapter) to still use the computer, or so you can back up your data.

I recently upgraded to Firefox 13.0.1 and I'm operating a Mac Powerbook Pro with OS of 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard). Now I'm having intermittent problems with sending

I recently upgraded to Firefox 13.0.1 and I’m operating a Mac Powerbook Pro with OS of 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard).
Now I’m having intermittent problems with sending emails where Firefox freezes up. There is often a yellow warning above suggesting 32-bit mode, sometimes I can click to shift it that way, sometimes not.
Anyone having these problems?
Any suggestions?

I recently upgraded to Firefox 13.0.1 and I’m operating a Mac Powerbook Pro with OS of 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard).
Now I’m having intermittent problems with sending emails where Firefox freezes up. There is often a yellow warning above suggesting 32-bit mode, sometimes I can click to shift it that way, sometimes not.
Anyone having these problems?
Any suggestions?

Problem with My Powerbook G4

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for