RSI Issue: Need help on IBM/Lenovo external keyboards w Trackpoint? Pic

Need help on IBM/Lenovo external keyboards w Trackpoint? Pic
I started my journey with Thinkpads on a T42, then T43.. then T61, X61T, R61 & T410 (bought for 2 cousins & they love it), W510 (dads new laptop). I may be a much recent convert but I swear by them now.
MAJOR ISSUE: Recently started feeling RSI (Repetitive Stress) & Carpal Tunnel symptoms (already doing stretches.. adjusted the desk.. & finding new adjustable LCD stand) since I am not using the Thinkpad directly... but using it docked with an External keyboard. Lot of Mousing as well. I'd like to go back to Thinkpad FEEL... or atleast have keyboard with a pointing device so my hands dont have to keep moving back n forth.
So, it would be great it some of my fellow T4x/T6x/X6x 'ers would guide me a bit on this... share their first hand experience, or what they've seen on these keyboards and feel free to point me to reliable sources of information.
Currently this would greatly be use with T61 - Adv Mini Dock - 30" XHD3000 LCD as shown in my signature below.
Anyone who has used or know something about one of these Thinkpad related keyboard (ideally both of these to give a comparative response).
Which of the following have you used?
How was the experience?
(Maybe point me to thread with peoples experiences)
If you've used several, which one do you prefer / recommend? Why?
At the moment I have a "slim" BTC 6200C desktop keyboard. It has laptop like scissor keyswitches, so I like it the slim notebook like profile.
The way I have positioned my 30" LCD I'd like to be able to keep the keyboard on my lap at times while on my chair and maybe on the desk at times.
ThinkPad Full-Size UltraNav USB Keyboard
The keyboard and trackpad of the IBM Lenovo Thinkplus USB Keyboard with Ultranav:
ThinkPad Travel UltraNav USB Keyboard
The travel version of the above:
Newer:
ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint
A 2009 replacement for the previous one but not the full keyboard nor wireless:
Thinkpads:
T61 8892-02U: 14.1"SXGA+/2.2C2D/4G/XP|Adv Mini Dock|30" Gateway XHD3000 WQXGA via Dual-link DVI
X61T 7767-96U: 12.1"SXGA+/1.6C2D/3G/Vista|Ultrabase
W510 4319-2PU: 15.6"FHD/i7-720QM/4G/Win7Pro64 (for dad)
T43 1875-DLU: 14.1"XGA/1.7PM-740/1G/XP
Dell:
Inspiron 9300: 17"WUXGA/NVidiaGeForce6800/2.2PM/2G/XP (old)

I had the same issue - had to go to voice command for a few weeks (sucked) wore wrist gards to keep things netural.
Everything went away when I changed to a USB keyboard with the Ultra nav (I use the track point and disable the pad).
I've been working like that for 6+ years now... no issues.
(as a side note, sleeping with wrist guards on helped heal me the fastest. I had neoprine, with a metal plate in them - from a local drug store)

Similar Messages

I have a PC and a need help to configure my external hard disk on my network. Thanks

I have a PC and a need help to configure my external hard disk on my network. Thanks

If you mean you wish to plug a USB drive into the Airport Extreme router (or TC not express) that is easy..
The disk must be formatted FAT32.. as if.. stay away from FAT .. or HFS+ ie Mac OS extended Journaled.
Format the disk on a Mac is best.. and even use GUID partition scheme not MBR.
The PC has no issue writing and reading files because this is a network drive.. The PC does not write to the drive.. it writes files to the Airport OS which writes and reads the disk and passes the info using standard windows SMB.. To the windows computer it will be a Windows NT server.. FAT32 setup.
If your setup is different.. to my hugely guessed assumptions.. give details.. always helps to have.. make and model.
Make and model of disk.. make and model of router.. how the setup will be done.. what windows OS you run.. etc etc.
As it stands your question could have nothing to do with apple at all.. other than you posted in a forum so I guess there is something apple in there somewhere.

Spry Menu Bar issue, NEED HELP...???

Here is the coding for a menu bar that i created with CS3, for some reason i am having an issue when i open the web page in IE, on firefox and safari it looks fine, the menu drops down to sub menu's fine, but for some reason when i open it in IE, the submenu's show on the very top of the page rather than right below the menu itself, please check my coding and see if there is an issue???
i ran compatability and there are no issues shown.
@charset "UTF-8";
/* SpryMenuBarHorizontal.css - Revision: Spry Preview Release 1.4 */
/* Copyright (c) 2006. Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. */
LAYOUT INFORMATION: describes box model, positioning, z-order
/* The outermost container of the Menu Bar, an auto width box with no margin or padding */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    list-style-type: none;
    font-size: 100%;
    cursor: default;
    width: auto;
/* Set the active Menu Bar with this class, currently setting z-index to accomodate IE rendering bug: http://therealcrisp.xs4all.nl/meuk/IE-zindexbug.html */
ul.MenuBarActive
    z-index: 1000;
/* Menu item containers, position children relative to this container and are a fixed width */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal li
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    list-style-type: none;
    font-size: 100%;
    position: relative;
    text-align: left;
    cursor: pointer;
    width: 10.4em;
    float: left;
    background-image: url(tab2.png);
/* Submenus should appear below their parent (top: 0) with a higher z-index, but they are initially off the left side of the screen (-1000em) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    list-style-type: none;
    font-size: 100%;
    z-index: 1020;
    cursor: default;
    width: 8.2em;
    position: absolute;
    left: -1000em;
    text-decoration: underline;
/* Submenu that is showing with class designation MenuBarSubmenuVisible, we set left to auto so it comes onto the screen below its parent menu item */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
    left: auto;
    background-image: url(../tab1.png);
/* Menu item containers are same fixed width as parent */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul li
    width: 8.2em;
/* Submenus should appear slightly overlapping to the right (95%) and up (-5%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul ul
    position: absolute;
    margin: -5% 0 0 95%;
/* Submenu that is showing with class designation MenuBarSubmenuVisible, we set left to 0 so it comes onto the screen */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
    left: auto;
    top: 0;
DESIGN INFORMATION: describes color scheme, borders, fonts
/* Submenu containers have borders on all sides */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul
/* Menu items are a light gray block with padding and no text decoration */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a
    display: block;
    cursor: default;
    padding: 0.5em 0.75em;
    color: #FFFFFF;
    text-decoration: none;
    border-left-color: #0063bd;
    border-right-color: #0063bd;
    border-right-width: 3px;
    border-left-width: thin;
    font-family: Calibri;
    font-weight: bold;
    font-size: 19px;
/* Menu items that have mouse over or focus have a blue background and white text */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:hover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:focus
    color: #000000;
/* Menu items that are open with submenus are set to MenuBarItemHover with a blue background and white text */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemHover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
    color: #000000;
SUBMENU INDICATION: styles if there is a submenu under a given menu item
/* Menu items that have a submenu have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenu and are set to use a background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemSubmenu
    background-image: url(SpryMenuBarDown.gif);
    background-repeat: no-repeat;
    background-position: 95% 50%;
/* Menu items that have a submenu have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenu and are set to use a background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul a.MenuBarItemSubmenu
    background-image: url(SpryMenuBarRight.gif);
    background-repeat: no-repeat;
    background-position: 95% 50%;
/* Menu items that are open with submenus have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenuHover and are set to use a "hover" background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover
    background-image: url(SpryMenuBarDownHover.gif);
    background-repeat: no-repeat;
    background-position: 95% 50%;
/* Menu items that are open with submenus have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenuHover and are set to use a "hover" background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover
    background-image: url(SpryMenuBarRightHover.gif);
    background-repeat: no-repeat;
    background-position: 95% 50%;
BROWSER HACKS: the hacks below should not be changed unless you are an expert
/* HACK FOR IE: to make sure the sub menus show above form controls, we underlay each submenu with an iframe */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal iframe
    position: absolute;
    z-index: 1010;
/* HACK FOR IE: to stabilize appearance of menu items; the slash in float is to keep IE 5.0 from parsing */
@media screen, projection
    ul.MenuBarHorizontal li.MenuBarItemIE
    display: inline-block;
    f\loat: left;
    position: relative;

Hey gramps, thanks for the info, i have updated my spry framework to 1.6.1 but the problem is still the same, i recreated my menu with the new 1.6 and it still doing the same thing, the submenu's are like vertically reversed... ugh need help.
here the new code
@charset "UTF-8";
/* SpryMenuBarHorizontal.css - version 0.6 - Spry Pre-Release 1.6.1 */
/* Copyright (c) 2006. Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. */
LAYOUT INFORMATION: describes box model, positioning, z-order
/* The outermost container of the Menu Bar, an auto width box with no margin or padding */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    list-style-type: none;
    font-size: 100%;
    cursor: default;
    width: auto;
/* Set the active Menu Bar with this class, currently setting z-index to accomodate IE rendering bug: http://therealcrisp.xs4all.nl/meuk/IE-zindexbug.html */
ul.MenuBarActive
    z-index: 1000;
/* Menu item containers, position children relative to this container and are a fixed width */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal li
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    list-style-type: none;
    font-size: 100%;
    position: relative;
    text-align: left;
    cursor: pointer;
    width: 10.4em;
    float: left;
/* Submenus should appear below their parent (top: 0) with a higher z-index, but they are initially off the left side of the screen (-1000em) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    list-style-type: none;
    font-size: 100%;
    z-index: 1020;
    cursor: default;
    width: 8.2em;
    position: absolute;
    left: -1000em;
/* Submenu that is showing with class designation MenuBarSubmenuVisible, we set left to auto so it comes onto the screen below its parent menu item */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
    left: auto;
    background-image: url(../tab1.png);
    line-height: 18px;
/* Menu item containers are same fixed width as parent */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul li
    width: 8.2em;
/* Submenus should appear slightly overlapping to the right (95%) and up (-5%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul ul
    position: absolute;
    margin: -5% 0 0 95%;
/* Submenu that is showing with class designation MenuBarSubmenuVisible, we set left to 0 so it comes onto the screen */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible ul.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
    left: auto;
    top: 0;
DESIGN INFORMATION: describes color scheme, borders, fonts
/* Submenu containers have borders on all sides */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul
    border: 1px solid #CCC;
/* Menu items are a light gray block with padding and no text decoration */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a
    display: block;
    cursor: pointer;
    padding: 0.5em 0.75em;
    color: #FFFFFF;
    text-decoration: none;
    font-size: 19px;
    font-family: Calibri;
    font-weight: bolder;
/* Menu items that have mouse over or focus have a blue background and white text */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:hover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a:focus
    color: #000000;
/* Menu items that are open with submenus are set to MenuBarItemHover with a blue background and white text */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemHover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover, ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarSubmenuVisible
    color: #000000;
SUBMENU INDICATION: styles if there is a submenu under a given menu item
/* Menu items that have a submenu have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenu and are set to use a background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemSubmenu
    background-repeat: no-repeat;
    background-position: 95% 50%;
/* Menu items that have a submenu have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenu and are set to use a background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul a.MenuBarItemSubmenu
    background-repeat: no-repeat;
    background-position: 95% 50%;
/* Menu items that are open with submenus have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenuHover and are set to use a "hover" background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover
    background-repeat: no-repeat;
    background-position: 95% 50%;
/* Menu items that are open with submenus have the class designation MenuBarItemSubmenuHover and are set to use a "hover" background image positioned on the far left (95%) and centered vertically (50%) */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal ul a.MenuBarItemSubmenuHover
    background-repeat: no-repeat;
    background-position: 95% 50%;
BROWSER HACKS: the hacks below should not be changed unless you are an expert
/* HACK FOR IE: to make sure the sub menus show above form controls, we underlay each submenu with an iframe */
ul.MenuBarHorizontal iframe
    position: absolute;
    z-index: 1010;
/* HACK FOR IE: to stabilize appearance of menu items; the slash in float is to keep IE 5.0 from parsing */
@media screen, projection
    ul.MenuBarHorizontal li.MenuBarItemIE
    display: inline;
    f\loat: left;

Concurrent crystal license timeout Issue, need help.

Hi,
My company is using crystal enterprise 10 with 18 concurrent user license.
However, we often hit out of crystal license issues.
Does time to wait for exporting crystal reports to excel/pdf takes up licenses?
Does time to wait for crystal report to be printed or viewed on the web browser takes up licenses?
We all know that user sessions take up user licenses. 1 user login take up 1 license.
Does crystal pruning job takes up user licenses too?
Need help urgently, much appreciated.

Hi Daren,
Support on Cystal Enterprise 10 has expired. Make sure that your users are actually logging off and not just closing their browser.
One user can take up multiple licenses by not logging off or opening multiple browsers to view multiple reports. Scheduled jobs that are running do not take up license, but a user veiwing a historical instance does take up a license.
In your metrics tab in the Cyrsatl Management Console -> Servers-> cms you should be able to see the active number of sessions- system connections are backend connections between the servers and these do not take up any licenses.
Best Regards,
Jadie

T400 LCD dim issue - Need help!!

I'm having a LCD dim issue with a T400. Have changed the LCD panel, LCD cable and systemboard but still having same issue. If i removed the lcd card, then the display is working fine. I've tested the lcd card in another working unit and it's working as well (means the lcd card is working). I use a working lcd card and plug into this T400 but LCD still dim.
I've try to switch the problematic lcd cable and lcd panel to a working systemboard and it kills the systemboard. Have try to switch a few things but still unable to find the root cause. Urgently need help on this. Any advice will be appreciated.
Model : 6475-RM5

hey bhoh
i suggest uninstalling your current graphic card driver, let windows install its own generic drivers and see if that makes any difference
WW Social Media
Important Note: If you need help, post your question in the forum, and include your system type, model number and OS. Do not post your serial number.
Did someone help you today? Press the star on the left to thank them with a Kudo!
If you find a post helpful and it answers your question, please mark it as an "Accepted Solution"!
Follow @LenovoForums on Twitter!
Have you checked out the Community Knowledgebase yet?!
How to send a private message? --> Check out this article.

Stuttering flv playback issue- need help asap

We need help asap. Have a project is due to deliver today (5/14).
We have a video to go on a dvd-rom, live action with Motion Graphics behind.
When output is done thru Projector the Motion Graphics stutter as they scroll.
Here is more technical info:
Stuttering flv playback issue:
Prores 422 timeline 29.97fps 1280x720 output from fcp using current settings.
Mov file is approx 7gb, plays relatively smooth on a mac pro with no raid.
Frame by frame analysis shows all frames are present with no jumps tears or skips.
Tried several output paths, programs and settings to create a smooth flv file to no avail.
We adjusted data rates from 2k, 3.5k, 4k and 8k, no luck
We adjusted keyframe rates from low to all frames, no luck.
We tried cs3 flash encoder, cs5 media encoder, squeeze ect, same results.
Playback in the flash projector seems to choke slightly no matter what we do.
Have also posted in the Director Forum.
Any help much appreciated!

Here are a few ideas off the top of my head:
Try playing the file using a different xtra, sometimes different ones will work better. If you have Director 11.5, there is a native flv playback xtra.
You can build a player easily in Flash using the flvPlayback component, then bring that into Director as a swf.
Once you have the video in Director, try making the member Direct To Stage (DTS). If it is already DTS, try making it not DTS.
Make sure the video is not transparent, and nothing in Director overlaps the video... in fact, when the video is playing, nothing should be moving at all, and try to keep the amount of code that is running to a minimum.
Try lowering your video's data rate further or try using a different codec.
Using VBR (Variable Bit Rate) compression often makes the video appear to play smoother.
Try compressing the flv with different software. FFMpeg, for example, is free and does a very good job, often better than the Flash Video Encoder that comes with Flash/Creative Suite.

LCD monitor display issue, need help

I have a strange problem with my LCD display, it goes like this:
When I first boot up the mac and the wallpaper appears on the display the image looks perfect, all the tones are right etc, but as the startup progresses, programs loading etc, the display changes suddenly, becomes too bright in the highs, too dark in the lows, and over-saturated in between. Its looks horrible.
I have just discovered that I can correct the issue by going into system prefs, display, selecting the options tab (next to Display and Color) and turning overscan on, then back off, voila, all fixed.
Looks great.
Thing is I have to do this every time now that I start the computer, and Im wondering if anyone knows what causes this issue and if theres anything I can do as a more robust solution.
The kicker is I have the same problem with a viewsonic LCD on my secondary machine (Powermac G5, Osx 10.4), right at the beginning of startup it looks great then suddenly all goes wrong, too dark/light over-saturated. Its as if the image has been blended with itself in multiply mode a la photoshop.
And on my second machine there is no option for overscan so I cant use my quick fix.
Is overscan a feature of the OS or the monitor?
The worst part is I need these displays to work correctly because Im a graphic designer, I need my colors to look right so I can do my job, and while I could go buy a $1000 monitor its not possible atm, and Id kinda like to know why this problem occurs. So if I do buy a different I can be assured the problem wont rear its ugly head again. But I dont think the problme is the monitor. I think its something to do with the communication between the display and the computer.
The monitor can display correctly, and does for a brief moment, then it all goes very wrong. Ive spoken to NEC and they werent much help but Ill be trying them again today too.
But again, I thinks its the computer, not the monitors as I can reproduce the issue swapping out monitors.
I hope Ive described it adequately,
Thanks in advance for any help forthcoming, this is very frustrating and is causing me endless headaches.

Mattdp,
I am currently having the same problem with my 20" cinema display. Did you ever find a long term solution? Apple states that the PowerMac G5 is legacy with no support available, and suggested a reset the PRAM. I did so to no avail. I too have 10.4.11 and thus no "overscan" to turn off. This is my wife's primary computer for her photography business, and the color issue needs to be resolved as quickly as I can find the answer.
Is there a possible solution through the terminal?
Rick

Needs help setting up an External hard-drive.

I received this external hard-drive and I need help with steps to be able store files on it, unfortunately it's not plug and play.
Stats and Errors I received:
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m153/LordKirkenMorder/Snapshot2009-11-1202-04-32.jpg

BDAqua wrote:
If you have the SW copied off it...
In Disk Utility
3. Click the Erase tab.
4. Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the hard drive icon to display the names of your hard disk volumes and partitions.
5. Select your external volume.
6. Highlight the drive, select Partition Tab, then Format type... MacOS Extended Journalled, select the Security Options button, choose Zero Out Data, Erase... after completion hopefully it'll partition.
Since thats shot was taken a Partiton was made which im not sure if it was fully made called Untitled 1, it wont mount and I'm in hour 4 of it verifying and repairing. how long should Checking HFS Plus volume take?

Odd mail issues, need help

A couple of things I need help with.
1) Mail constantly goes offline and pops up a dialog box asking for my password. I enter my password in the box and hit okay and it doesn't take. I can hit cancel and put mail back online but that's a pain. What is causing that and how do I fix it?
2) People send me mail and then about 30 min later I get the same email again. This problem doesn't happen with every email, just some.
I have no mail rules on. and I run virus software and it's fine.
Can someone please help me on this. Thanks!
1.25 GHz PPC G4 / 20" Mac OS X (10.3.9) 768 MB DDR SDRAM, iSight camera, Wacom Tablet

Open /Applications/Utilities/Keychain Access, choose Keychain First Aid from the application menu, and proceed to repair the keychain. If that doesn’t work, you may try removing the password entry from the keychain and letting Mail create it again.
Also, in Mail open Help > Mail Help and read the article titled “Mail keeps asking for my keychain password”, in case it applies to you. There is a related article titled “My password is not saved” that you may also want to read, but beware that the last suggestion provided there (deleting the mail account) is wrong and could cause irretrievable data loss if this was a POP account.
Note that Mail doesn’t always correctly report what the problem really is. If Mail can connect to the server but cannot log into your mail account for some reason, it’ll ask for your password, regardless of whether that’s really the problem or not. Don’t keep entering the password every time, because that’s not the problem (click Cancel instead, and take the account back online afterwards).
What’s the time interval chosen in Mail > Preferences > General > Check for New Mail? If it’s set to Every minute, try changing it to Every 5 minutes.
Go to Apple Menu > System Preferences > Network, choose Network Port Configurations from the Show popup menu, and make sure that the configuration used to connect to Internet appears at the top of the list.
Also, try using a different method to connect to Internet, if possible, or connecting the computer to Internet as directly as possible, i.e. bypassing any routers that might be present, using an ethernet cable instead of wireless, etc., and see whether that makes a difference.
BTW, if you’re using Mac OS X 10.3, as your profile indicates, it would have been more appropriate to discuss this in the Mail & Address Book - Mac OS X 10.3 & earlier forum. If the discussion applies to both Mail 1.x and Mail 2.x, it doesn’t really matter, but it’s difficult to know that in advance.

HP NC2400 Drive cable issue : need help

Can someone please send a picture of what an installed zif harddrive drive for an NC2400 looks like ? Does it go topside up or down ? How does the cable look when installed ? Need help. Does anyone have a spare harddrive cable ?
Any help would be much appreciated!!
Bill C.

This manual shows the drive with the metal side Up
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00741440.pdf
Service manual here, it does not show the cable as a separate part of part number
Click Me
You will need to contact HP parts
http://partsurfer.hp.com/ContactUs.aspx

Azerty external keyboard with trackpoint

Hi
does somebody know if there is a french (azerty layout) version of this external keyboard 55Y9003 ?
I am looking for an external thinkpad keyboard with trackpoint...any ideas?
Thank you
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi louisr, and welcome to the Lenovo User Community!
Yes there is one. Click on the Service parts link at the bottom of the 55Y9003 page for a list of part numbers for various language versions. 55Y9014 is the French version.
Hope this helps!
I don't work for Lenovo. I'm a crazy volunteer!

I need help to repair my external hard drive

(1) My External Hard Drive finally stopped working. Whenever I tried to use it, I would only get variants of, "Time Machine couldn't complete the Backup to "My Passport for Mac", or "The backup disc is not available".
(2) "No problem," I thought. "There is no problem with my computer, so I'll just buy another external hard drive," and I did.
(3) About this time, I partitioned my computer hard drive to enable me to run both Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion. I did this with step-by-step instructions by Apple technicians.
(4) I now find that I have lost a considerable number of files, including those that I value most highly.
(5) I now find that I need the files in my old, abandoned external hard drive, and it seems to me that the easiest way to access those files is simply to repair it.
(Here's what I've tried so far: (1) Disc Utility Repair. Didn't help. (2) COMMAND-R start. This produced a window with the following entries: Restore from Time Machine Backup, Reinstall OSX, Get Help online, Disk Utility. It seemed to offer hope, but I couldn't highlight any of them, and the "continue" command was dimned out. Where do I go from here? Data recovery is the solution usually offered, and I've alwys wondered why. It seems to me that fixing the external hard drive should always be the first thing to be considered. Data recovery is expensive, and fixing the external hard drive might be cheap.

baltwo wrote:
I don't think the HD's broken. More likely, since you used it for TM, that's what causing your issues. However, since I don't use TM or ever use WD's crappy HDs, all I can suggest is to peruse Pondini's TM FAQs for starters. Then, check out his troubleshooting steps.
What is "WD"?

I am having problems rebooting my mid 2009 macbook pro (grey screen other issues), need help!

I am having problems rebooting, I have experienced the same problem as others with the grey screen but my case is a little different, It started with my mid 2009 macbook pro acting a little slower than normal, the screen would freeze, mouse wouldnt move and i'd be forced to "force reboot" this went on for a couple of days until i was tinkering with the wifi connection and it froze again. I had to reboot and this time i noticed that it took a long time to get to the login screen. i put in my password and it went into infinite load (i also tried the guest account and other accounts with same result). i tried rebooting again and the same thing would happen. after several reboots, the screen just stayed grey, sometimes with the apple logo and gear sometimes without it. Since its a 2009, (and for the most part, still works like a champ) i decided test the ram, i took one stick of ram out at a time to see if i could notice anything wrong with them. when i stuck just one in, the mac was still having the same problem rebooting. i pulled that ram and and stuck in the other and i noticed that this time the apple logo never appeard and a big crossed out circle appeared. figuring that the ram must be the problem, i ordered new ram and installed it. i noticed that when i rebooted for the first time with the new ram it was rather quick and took me straight to the login screen and i was able to log in with no problem. at this point i thought the problem was solved, but i noticed the macbook still acting funny. at first, none of my files appeared on my desktop or in the finder window. after about 20 minutes, everything magically popped up. i also noticed long pauses/freezes with the colored pin wheel spinnig. i closed the laptop and opened it again and the screen just stayed black. i tried rebooting again, and again i got the grey screen with no signs of being able to log in... i waited about 20 minutes and tried to reboot again and again i was able to log in, however the macbook is still acting slow and will freeze with no signs of unfreezing without a reboot.
my macbook is 5 years old and has plenty of miles on it, so i understand if the thing needs to be replaced alltogether but does anyone know what could be the issue? could the bad ram have corrupted the hard drive in anyway? would re-installing the OS fix it?? and if so, how would i do that if i downloaded mavericks from the app store? are there any other solutions to this problem?
all my files and what not are backed up on an external HD so theres nothing on it that i'd miss desperately if i had to whipe the hard drive but id really like to get her working again without any whiping of the HD. if anyone can help me out, it'd be greatly appreciated

It is very difficult to offer troubleshooting suggestions when the "os version" you are using is unknown as each os has their own troubleshooting solutions.
How large is your hard drive and how much hard drive space do you have left?

Ipod Classic 160GB having issues, need help please?

I am on vacation away from my home computer where my iTunes is. I turned on my iPod and scrolled down to Music and it showed "No Music." Went to "About" and saw that there were only 9GB of free space, so I felt for sure it was there because that's right at what I had when I last synced it, which was a couple days ago and it finished syncing with no problems. Went to the next "About" screen where you can see how much Audio, Video etc. etc. you have and it showed 0 Audio and The "Other" category had all the data in it. What happened to my music, and can I get it back on vacation without my iTunes on my computer at home? I tried the holding down of the Select middle button and the Menu button until the Apple logo appeared but that did not restore any Audio. Hope someone can help me out here.....Thanks

Solved my issue and thought I might do someone a favor by posting the answer. If you wind up with NO MUSIC and find all your audio files have been synced into the OTHER folder on your iPod such as what happened to me, AND if you happen to be unlucky enough not to have access to your computer where your iTunes program would allow you to re-sync your iPod, here's what worked for me in a Windows7 OS.
1.You will have to find a computer that has enough storage to hold the amount of information stored on your iPod. In my case, 139GB!!! Download iTunes if it is not already on the system, or if it is, update to the latest software.
2. Plug your iPod into one of the USB ports.
3. Open iTunes if it does not open itself.
4. Select your iPod from the menu on the left and you should get a message that iTunes cannot read the iPod. Simply close that box. If you get a message that syncing your iPod will erase all content then decline the sync.
5. Open Computer and you should see your iPod as an external hard drive.
6. Open it and you will see some folders and a few files. The folders will likely look like they are a washed-out yellow instead of a deep yellow like you're accustomed to seeing. That threw me initially because as I was looking for the folder with @ 139GB, it was not there. Right click each folder, go to Properties and check the "Show hidden files" in the View menu. After that, the folders will appear dark yellow and as you hover over each one, you will see one that will have the full amount of data that was on your iPod before the mess started. Open that folder and you will see a bunch of other folders with strange names, like F00, F01 etc. etc. Do the Edit, Select All, right click and in Properties, View menu, check the Show Hidden Files again. All the folders that were that light yellow color will now turn deep yellow. Be sure to select show hidden files not only for the folder but all sub folders and files box that will come up....forgot to mention that earlier. Now all your folders and the files in them will be readable by iTunes.
7. The folders will all still be selected. If not, select them and then do either a copy/paste into iTunes Music Library or drag them over into that pane. The process will begin and likely take quite a while. In my case, several hours. When it is done, you will see all your music in iTunes along with the album art if you had any.
8. Now you will need to sync your iPod to that library, but before you do, you will need to Restore it. Simply select it from the left menu and click on the Restore iPod option. That will only take a few minutes and it will wipe your iPod clean. Before you do that, it is a good idea to MAKE SURE YOUR MUSIC IS ALL THERE!!! I also went to about a half dozen of the albums and tried playing a few songs just to be double sure. Proceed with the Restore, and when it is complete change the iPod name that will be in the small box on the same page as the Restore option and likely be something like"karens iPod" (whoever the computer belongs to will be the name there) to exactly what your iPod is called on your iTunes on your computer that it was originally synced to. I found that before I did this, it would not sync.
9. When you hit Sync, be patient because it took a minute or so before it actually began to sync. Then, it will be another few hours if you have as much music as I did for the sync to complete and depending on the speed of the computer you're using.
That's how I got all my music back and I am now a happy camper/listener again.,
I called Apple support and they were absolutely no help. Just told me I would have to re-sync to my iTunes even though I kept telling them that was 1,650 miles away at my house and not going to be possible. I even asked if the above process would work and they said they didn't know but "You could try it....." :-( At that time, I didn't have access to a computer with enough hard disc space on it yet so I called the Apple store in Louisville, KY which was 65 miles from where I was hoping that they might be able to help. After 2 calls and getting hung up in the same loop of menus that left me on hold for over 20 minutes long distance, I gave up and concluded that Apple and Support are two mutually exclusive terms and have no relationship to one another. This has been quite a nightmare, and if anything good has come of it aside from having my music back, it might be the learning process but I really feel that is a rather small reward for the time spent!
Not likely to be an Apple fan when considering my next purchase of home computer, laptop, nor the phone I am preparing to buy.
Hope this has helped someone.
Fishead

Need HELP with my Lenovo Thinkcentre 8808-94u... Please!

Hi all,
New to the forum. I have a lenovo thinkcentre 8808-94u. I use it soley for my hobby cnc. I have lots of time comsuming files on this computer that I didnt back up. (stupid I know).. Anyway, I moved and didnt set it back up for about 4 months. Its been indoors for about a little over a month but the other 3 months it was in the back of my tahoe. Before then I had no trouble at all with the computer. I bought it refurbished and used it everyday but never connected it to the internet as it was soley for my hobby cnc. Anyway, I plugged it up and connected the monitor back and it would not detect the same monitor that I've used with this compter since i've owned it. I hooked up the monitor to my laptop with the same cord and it worked. I also noticed that all the fans came on right away and never went off until I powered it off. I have no idea what is wrong with it. I did change the battery on the motherboard (CMOS Battery??). It didnt change anything. Also, The cd drive still opens as normal it seems. Just can't see anything on the screen except "No connection, Check signal cable". Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

What you seem to be describing is a machine that doesnt even boot to bios, otherwise you would at least see the lenovo/IBM logo on a working monitor. This could be a bad graphics, but could be memory too. Id re-seat just 1 stick of memory (make sure you use the correct dimm slot-- should be labeled "DIMM 1 or DIMM 0") and check if it turns on, then use another one and repeat-- If 1 stick is bad, the system may not boot.
The other thing that comes to mind is the capacitors on the motherboard (Ive seen this issue with 2 SFF M55s just like yours), though usually the machine still boots and just crashed later. What to look for when you open up the machine is capacitors that are leaking or have the tops bulging like this. If this is the case, your motherboard is essentially gone, might as well toss the machine for the price to re-cap is higher than the price to buy a newer M57 SFF.

RSI Issue: Need help on IBM/Lenovo external keyboards w Trackpoint? Pic

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for