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ibook problems

A

atomicchicken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2006
29
0
hello,

my ibook is having a serious problem and need some advice/help. the problem is that when i start it up, i hear the chime but no gray screen with apple logo comes up. i can hear the hard drive and am pretty sure its booting but after a little while the blue screen comes up and i can get to the desktop. i can then use the computer for about 1 min. but then all of a sudden the computer will go to sleep. i can wake it but the screen wont come back but i can faintly see the desktop so i thought the backlight went out. the thing is when i boot off the cd the screen will hold all the way thru a reinstall but once its finsihed and reboots, once again no gray screen but i hear the chime and then goes to sleep again. also the keyboard doesnt work when im asked my name,email,etc. during the registration proces. it wont go to sleep throughout the whole install routine so im having a hard time trying to pin point whats wrong with the computer.

i have tried the pram (4 chimes) and reseting the nvram but no go. also tried reseting the pmu but im not sure im doing the pmu right. ive read that im suppose to simultaneously press and then releasing Shift-Control-Option-Power on the keyboard and have done that but when i do, since the screen is out, it sits there for awhile with me holding down the keys and then it boot into safe mode so not really sure if im succesfull at resdeting the pmu.

took it to the apple store and they say its a logicboard swap but im having a hard tie beliving it because it works fine when i boot off the cd. its the same with either the battery in or out.

can anybody help me out or give me some advice?

thanks!!!
 
S

Sam0r

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2005
199
0
Birmingham, UK
Have you tried doing an archive install?

You say it runs fine from the install cd, it may just be a corrupt installation.

Either that, or the magnetic switch which tells the logic board that the lid is closed is malfunctioning.
 
A

atomicchicken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2006
29
0
Im atually doing a reinstall right now, zero-ing the drive right now and so far so good...comp acting normal.

are you taking about the magnet above the screw? i made sure it didnt fall out and looked under the keyboard, still there, but it still doesnt really explain why it wouldnt do that booting off the cd but thanks for your insight!!!!

reallt appreciate it!!! any others?

Thanks!
 
S

Sam0r

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2005
199
0
Birmingham, UK
atomicchicken said:
Im atually doing a reinstall right now, zero-ing the drive right now and so far so good...comp acting normal.

are you taking about the magnet above the screw? i made sure it didnt fall out and looked under the keyboard, still there, but it still doesnt really explain why it wouldnt do that booting off the cd but thanks for your insight!!!!

reallt appreciate it!!! any others?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the machine doesn't respond to the magnetic switch when booted from the install dvd/cd.

Report back on what happens after you've reinstalled :)
 
A

atomicchicken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2006
29
0
Thanks!!! will do! should be done in about 10min.....hope this works!!! btw, have you ever heard of my symptoms before? boots with chime but no gray screen? when i was googling the problem everyone that was having startup problems were at least getting the gray screen but no chime, no wheel, no etc... but no one has had no gray screen. am i unique? hehe
 
S

Sam0r

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2005
199
0
Birmingham, UK
atomicchicken said:
Thanks!!! will do! should be done in about 10min.....hope this works!!! btw, have you ever heard of my symptoms before? boots with chime but no gray screen? when i was googling the problem everyone that was having startup problems were at least getting the gray screen but no chime, no wheel, no etc... but no one has had no gray screen. am i unique? hehe
Click to expand...

Seems you may be unique.

OS X is a bit weird when something goes wrong. At least you know somethings wrong with windows when the screen goes blue ;)
 
A

atomicchicken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2006
29
0
ARGH!!!! installed OSX, no gray screen and boot into blue screen with "Mac OS X" with scroll bar, then goes to sleep!!! is the magnetic switch avaliable seperately? so...what do you think needs replacement? apple said it a flat rate of about 300 for fixing the problem. one question, will they also fix other things while they are at it? my screen bevel is peeling away from the screen and its cracked, wil they also replace it for the flat rate?

thanks
 
S

Sam0r

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2005
199
0
Birmingham, UK
atomicchicken said:
ARGH!!!! installed OSX, no gray screen and boot into blue screen with "Mac OS X" with scroll bar, then goes to sleep!!! is the magnetic switch avaliable seperately? so...what do you think needs replacement? apple said it a flat rate of about 300 for fixing the problem. one question, will they also fix other things while they are at it? my screen bevel is peeling away from the screen and its cracked, wil they also replace it for the flat rate?

thanks
Click to expand...

Hmm, strange, its deffo a hardware error then.

Have you tried running the apple hardware test? You should've had it on a CD with the mac. Or it will be on the same disc as the OS install.

Also, try plugging in an external monitor, it could just be that its confused?

Another thing to try,

Get into open firmware (CMD + OPTION + O + F on startup) and type:

reset-nvram
reset-all

each command followed by the enter key.

Let me know how that goes :)
 
A

atomicchicken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2006
29
0
Tried the external monitor and i can see the gray screen with spinning wheel but once it on the desktop the ibook will go to sleep. also, where is the hardware test on the cd? i have 2 dvd that came with the laptop, disk 1 and disk 2. i tried booting off disk 1 and it just goes to the install screen. how do i find the hardware test?
 
S

Sam0r

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2005
199
0
Birmingham, UK
atomicchicken said:
Tried the external monitor and i can see the gray screen with spinning wheel but once it on the desktop the ibook will go to sleep. also, where is the hardware test on the cd? i have 2 dvd that came with the laptop, disk 1 and disk 2. i tried booting off disk 1 and it just goes to the install screen. how do i find the hardware test?
Click to expand...

Pop the first DVD in, and hold down OPTION instead of C to bring up the boot screen, from there you can (After a long wait) select the Apple Hardware Test.
 
A

atomicchicken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2006
29
0
ok, done. did the extended test and everything passed.

so whats the next step? how thorough is this hardware test anyways?

logicboard came up as passed.
 
A

atomicchicken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2006
29
0
ok, did both. just to make sure i type reset-nvram and then reset-all. after typing reset-all the computer automatically rebooted...i hope thats whats suppose to happen.

anyways, went thru the welcome page and am at the registration screen but i cant type anyting. the caps light turns on and of but no response from the keyboard.

argh,argh,ARGH!!!!!!
 
S

Sam0r

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2005
199
0
Birmingham, UK
atomicchicken said:
ok, did both. just to make sure i type reset-nvram and then reset-all. after typing reset-all the computer automatically rebooted...i hope thats whats suppose to happen.

anyways, went thru the welcome page and am at the registration screen but i cant type anyting. the caps light turns on and of but no response from the keyboard.

argh,argh,ARGH!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Yes, that is whats meant to happen.

Interesting.. Has it fixed the original problem?
 
A

atomicchicken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2006
29
0
gray screen still no showing, can really tell if it still happening because i can go beyond the registration cause i cant type anything...
 
A

atomicchicken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2006
29
0
ok, did it, i let it go thru 4 chimes, no gray screen, once in screen looks nice and bright but still no keyboard and as before both caps and num light up.
 
A

atomicchicken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2006
29
0
yes id di, went thru each and every one to see if i get a response (no response) and also its tactile feel and they all seem ok.
 
A

atomicchicken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2006
29
0
will try but at what point do i use the keyboard? everytime i reinstall, its just a bunch of clicking and not sure that i actually need to type, guess one place is in disk utilities and try to label my HD.
 
A

atomicchicken

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 13, 2006
29
0
ok, tried both utilites and terminal and no go....is it the keyboard?

one thing though is that so far all the key combos that you asked me to do has worked....
 
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