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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Laptop went to sleep, and hasn't woken up...
Debra L Rothenberg, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 10:08 PM on 05.08.09 |
->> My trusty G4 Powerbook went to sleep today, in the middle of opening up a RAW file from my D3. No matter what I did, I could not wake it up.
It's looking as if it will be time to replace it. I shoot a lot of corporate portraits and my laptop always goes along so the people can chose which image they like best. The netbook I recently purchased is too small for this.
So.....I come to you, my fellow SS members. I am aware that the MacBook Pro doesn't come smaller than 15 inches which makes me unhappy but-do I go for the MacBook or the "Pro." If I can ever figure out Final Cut express, it will be loaded on whichever laptop I get.
Specs please-should I max out on the RAM?
This will not be a daily computer (we have a new MAC desktop) but I will have a need to sometimes open RAW files.
And last question-the computer worked great on a shoot yesterday. Last night I downloaded the RAW plug in-could this have damaged the computer? It opened 2 images fine, then went to sleep this morning after a New Kids on the Block concert (did they kill it???) |
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Rich Cruse, Photographer
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Laguna Niguel | CA | USA | Posted: 11:19 PM on 05.08.09 |
->> Hi Deb:
Definitely take it to the Apple Store. It could be as simple as a battery issue or a PRAM reset. It could also be a logic board or hard drive failure. If the screen doesn't come on and the computer is dead, not sleeping, you should have it looked at. If the light is on or flashing and the computer is in a deep sleep. Try hooking up a mouse or external keyboard and see if that wakes it. If not, push and hold in the power button until the light goes out. Try and restart the computer. Any Powerbook in use now is getting to the point of needing replacement. The next version of the Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) will not even run on PPC Macs and new apps may not support PPC Macs soon.
Here is the best deal I have found for the MacBook Pro 2.4 ghz 15" $1799 after $240 rebate. This includes an upgrade to 4 gigs of ram. http://tinyurl.com/r696jt
My brother just loves this machine.
One thing of note is that it appears that in the near future Apple will be offering some devices with the Wireless 3g technology. http://tinyurl.com/d9wje8
This could be a Apple Netbook or maybe as an add on to their MacBook computers. Odds are we will find out within a month. |
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Debra L Rothenberg, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 11:26 PM on 05.08.09 |
->> it's at the Apple Store getting diagnosed. But I have a feeling it will also be time to upgrade-it's not too fast if I ever want to open up RAW files
they think it may be the logic board-it all happened so fast. One minute it was fine, then the screen went dark.
boo hoo sniff sniff
2 MAC's in 3 months, and one PC
a MAC net book would be SWEET!
what do you all do with old computers? We have a room full of old computers |
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Rich Cruse, Photographer
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Laguna Niguel | CA | USA | Posted: 12:06 AM on 05.09.09 |
->> Apple will recycle your old computer for free when you buy a new one.
http://www.apple.com/environment/recycling/program/
You might be able to sell the PowerBook as-is on eBay for parts. Keyboards and screens are expensive replacement parts.
Remember that if you have a video camera that uses Firewire, you need to get a MacBook Pro. The screen is much nicer too! Even a new MacBook will be more than twice as fast as your PowerBook!
Consider AppleCare too. You can buy from other resellers at a discount for as much as $100 less than retail. |
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Dave Prelosky, Photographer
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Lower Burrell | Pa | US | Posted: 12:14 AM on 05.09.09 |
->> Deb -
If Goodwill or the like operates in NY, take 'em there and take the tax credit. They refurbish and recycle "trade in's" for sale in their stores and recycle what's left.
Remember that the best way to completely erase sensitive data from a hard drive of a potential donation is with a drill press. |
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Rodrigo Pena, Photographer
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Beaumont | CA | USA | Posted: 12:26 AM on 05.09.09 |
->> Hey Debra, the same thing happened to my Mac G4 PowerBook laptop. I thought it was dead for sure, no warning, it just went to sleep and then nothing. I had a low battery, so I thought maybe if I plugged the charger into the lappy, it would work. Nothing. It was Friday night football, I was on deadline and I was starting to panic. I called the office. Our trusty lab tech told me to see if the screen brightness had been turned down. Keep in mind that I did not touch the screen brightness. I thought, this kid has lost it. But at this point, I had nothing to lose. I pressed the screen brightness button a bunch of times and the laptop came back to life! The screen had indeed been turned WAY down. (probably an automatic safety feature to protect the info on my hard drive.) Now, every time this happens, I check the screen brightness and it works. I have no idea if this will help you. It couldn't hurt to try it.
There is one other thing however that I must tell you about. Sometimes when I travel and I need to use my laptop at a new location, a small bump in the car is enough to put my laptop into "deep hibernation." I just made that term up because I don't know what it's called. When I open my laptop and it doesn't come on, I first check the screen brightness. Next, I close the lid for about 20 seconds and open it again. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. I'll look to see if the hibernation light blinks toward the clam shell clasp. If the light isn't on or if it doesn't blink slowly, I know the laptop is off. But if it blinks slowly, I know it's in "super deep hibernation." (I just made that up too) I will then open the laptop and put my ear up to the keyboard and press the power button and hold it until I hear a barely audible sound that tells me the computer is turning off. The sound is so light that I cannot hear it without putting my ear to the keyboard. Sometimes I have to hold the power button for about 30 seconds or more. After the laptop has been turned off completely, I wait for about 15 seconds and then press the power button in the normal power-on routine. That usually fixes the problem.
I hope these two things help. If your logic board has gone out, then you won't be able to use these two fixes, but if your logic board is fine, then you might be able to use these fixes.
I hope this helps. Best wishes, Rodrigo Pena |
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Alan Herzberg, Photographer
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Elm Grove | WI | USA | Posted: 12:42 AM on 05.09.09 |
| ->> Same thing happened to my grandmother. |
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Dave Prelosky, Photographer
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Lower Burrell | Pa | US | Posted: 1:27 AM on 05.09.09 |
->> Alaln,
Please, please pick me for your team... |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 9:34 AM on 05.09.09 |
| ->> Rodrigo...one of your problems could be traveling with the laptop not shut down. I know there are a lot of people who do that but I have been told by several techs and some apple experts it is an incredibly bad idea to put your laptop asleep (just shutting the lid) and carrying it around. it apparently opens you up for all kinds of hard drive problems...better to shut down and spend the minute or so to restart than carry it around in a backpack asleep. |
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David Harpe, Photographer
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Louisville | KY | USA | Posted: 12:55 PM on 05.09.09 |
->> Chuck,
Yep, that's a definite problem if you carry your laptop around for awhile. In the mac world you have display sleep and full sleep, and if you happen to be lugging your computer around when it's transitioning between those modes (i.e. after the batteries run low), you can cause a problem...particularly since it's probably tucked away in a backpack.
If you have a PC it's the same thing - closing the lid usually puts you in "standby" mode...which still eats battery juice. When the batteries get low, the computer will power itself up briefly so it can go into "hibernate" mode. This turns on the hard drive. Again it happens with the lid closed while in your backpack, so if you're moving it can cause an issue.
Just closing the lid is great when you're doing brief moves...anything more than a couple of minutes and you should shut the computer down (or hibernate it).
SSDs fix all of these problems, but SSDs have their own set of issues. |
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Debra L Rothenberg, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 5:22 PM on 05.17.09 |
->> it woke up!
after 1 week, it woke up!!! |
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Steve Ueckert, Photographer
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Houston | TX | | Posted: 9:11 PM on 05.17.09 |
| ->> Is that a 9 day week? |
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Debra L Rothenberg, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 2:03 AM on 05.18.09 |
->> well..it woke up Friday afternoon after sleeping for 7 days
I just forgot about it! |
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