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Err... why won't my computer come on?

jknight8907

jknight8907

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 14, 2004
804
49
Hudson Valley NY
Ok, I need an answer fast (as my sister is hovering over with a knife). I got back after being gone for about 2 hours tonight, and my sister went to get on her PowerBook. Opens the screen, wiggles the mouse, and my desktop pops up. Then, Bam, it's gone. Black screen. The computer's still on because the KB backlight is on and it makes noises when you press delete, but the screen remains black. She calls me (of course, she thinks, I'm a Windows genius, shouldn't I know everything about an OS I've used for 10 minutes) to fix it. I close the lid, wait a second, and open it again. HD whirrs, nothing else happens. I press the power button momentairly. No joy. So finally I turn it off and reboot. And here I am now, it's working fine, no apparent effects.

What happened?

Thanks,
 
S

superfunkomatic

macrumors regular
Jan 6, 2003
230
0
calgary, ab canada
jknight8907 said:
Ok, I need an answer fast (as my sister is hovering over with a knife). I got back after being gone for about 2 hours tonight, and my sister went to get on her PowerBook. Opens the screen, wiggles the mouse, and my desktop pops up. Then, Bam, it's gone. Black screen. The computer's still on because the KB backlight is on and it makes noises when you press delete, but the screen remains black. She calls me (of course, she thinks, I'm a Windows genius, shouldn't I know everything about an OS I've used for 10 minutes) to fix it. I close the lid, wait a second, and open it again. HD whirrs, nothing else happens. I press the power button momentairly. No joy. So finally I turn it off and reboot. And here I am now, it's working fine, no apparent effects.

What happened?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

could have just been a gremlin. i've had my G3 powerbook do that once in a while, wakes up but neither the screen or the external monitor power up. held down the power key rebooted and no ill effects.
 
A

Apmonia

macrumors regular
Jul 29, 2003
108
0
My iBook has done this before and I am typing on it right now (keep in mind I do have one of the infamous logic board ones) so it should keep going. Do you have AppleCare still?

Apmonia
 
P

PlaceofDis

macrumors Core
Jan 6, 2004
19,241
6
since you still have the 90days of toll-free phone support i would go ahead and call....
 
jsw

jsw

Moderator emeritus
Mar 16, 2004
22,910
44
Andover, MA
If you haven't called yet, tell them it did this the first time you turned it on and that you only power cycled it a couple of times to see if the problem persisted. That way, they can DOA it and send you a sparkly new one. That is, of course, if you want them to send you a brand sparkly new one.

Otherwise, keep after them until the figure out the problem. This is not normal behavior for a two-day-old PowerBook.
 
jsw

jsw

Moderator emeritus
Mar 16, 2004
22,910
44
Andover, MA
And, BTW, my 1999 G3 PowerBook does this occasionally as well. Note, though, that not only is it 5 years old, but it was once dropped by my butt-monkey of a co-worker and has the upper left corner of the base crushed in badly enough that the left speaker is broken. Yet, it still works fine, aside from the very occassional gremlins like this one.
 
A

Apmonia

macrumors regular
Jul 29, 2003
108
0
Take jsw's advice: call Applecare and tell them it happened out of the box. Brand new Powerbook's should not do that. Just remember not to take his advice on the butt-monkey office mate. Dropping a Powerbook (or any 'Book for that matter) is a punishable offense. :)

Apmonia

P.S. You will get to enjoy your new Powerbook just as much as this one, trust me.
 
G

goodknight411

macrumors member
Jun 14, 2004
52
0
MiddlaNowhere, Arkansas
Just called Apple

the help guy told me that it was just a weird thing that happended, nothing wrong with the computer. He also said to plug the power adapter into the wall befor plugging it into the computer. Suggested that some settings got screwed up and were fixed when we restarted.

Does this sound right to you guys?

thanks
 
dvdh

dvdh

macrumors 6502
Apr 6, 2004
429
0
thats all he said??

Plugging the adaptor into the wall first then the computer should make no difference . . . ? He didn't say anything about Power Management Reset (PMU reset) I am assuming, although that would have been my first course of action. But then again, these things shouldn't happen out of the box.

Was this machine, by any chance a built to order? That could affect things in one of two ways. If it was BTO, then they may not replace it with a new machine, and you are probably best to take it to a reseller for repair. Also if you had BTO with more ram, there could be ram problems. Otherwise, I find this baffling, and can only pose hypothetical reasons of why.
 
Mord

Mord

macrumors G4
Aug 24, 2003
10,091
23
UK
i wouldn't pursue it unless it happens again it sounds like a random power surge or something

(and the power adapter thing is true because when you plug it in you sometimes get sparks that cause power surges that cause weird effects)
 
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