Crash after close laptop lid - G4 Powerbook 10.5.8

[ghostly606]

I got my 15" Powerbook second hand a couple of months ago and been working away happily on 10.5.8 since then. From this morning however if I close the lid of my laptop without shutting down my computer goes into a deep slumber from which it cannot be awoken. To get it to restart I need to unplug from the mains and remove the battery. The only sign of life is the glowing light next to the button to open the lid.

Anyone have any ideas as this is really starting to annoy me!?

 

[Zotaccian]

Do you have any USB or FireWire devices attached? Some PowerBook G4's had problems with the second memory slot, usually it failed completedly if there was problems but I think it is worth to know all common defects, you could try removing one of the sticks if you have two or swapping slot if you have only one. I can't remember which slot usually failed but Google knows for sure.

 

[ghostly606]

Usually happens with nothing plugged in at all, not even the power supply. Plenty of juice left in the battery though. Interesting about the memory slot but why would it only start failing on me?

 

[Zotaccian]

OK, some external device with unstable driver support are the reason many times.

I read your message again. You mean that when it goes to that state you cannot even turn it off by pressing power button several seconds and then trying to restart? If so then there might be severe problems with the motherboard board and power components in general. Have you tried SMU reset?

 

[ghostly606]

OK, some external device with unstable driver support are the reason many times.

I read your message again. You mean that when it goes to that state you cannot even turn it off by pressing power button several seconds and then trying to restart? If so then there might be severe problems with the motherboard board and power components in general. Have you tried SMU reset?

Correct, the computer is totally unresponsive, pressing the power button has no effect, holding the power button has no effect. Just thought of another thing, after the crash and re-boot, the clock has reset.

What is an SMU reset and how do I do this?

 

[ghostly606]

To clarify, here is what happens after the computer goes to sleep (works either when I close the lid or select the sleep option after hitting the power button):

1. The light continues to glow
2. When I open the lid (or hit space bar) the computer starts up again normally for about 3 seconds and then shuts down
3. Nothing I do can restart the machine - power button unresponsive; keys unresponsive, trackpad unresponsive
4. Light next to the open button continues to glow; although the fans are off
5. Only way to restart is to remove the battery and mains power and reboot normal way
6. After this all functionality is restored, except I get a message that the clock is set for a time earlier than 2001 and I may experience problems; this then automatically corrects itself as the date and time set automatically

Found this useful site which has reassured me that this is a common OSX problem rather than a motherboard failure:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10334378-263.html

Nothing seems to fix it mind you!

 

[ghostly606]

Hmmmm. Just tried a CCC backup booted through firewire. I am pretty sure this backup predated the wake-from-sleep issue but it now happens with that too. Convinced myself now that it is a hardware issue, anyone have any advice?

 

[eyoungren]

It could be the video chip.

I'm just guessing here, but about two years ago my daughter sent my old TiBook/400 flying off the couch. It dropped two feet to carpet, but the lid was open at the time and it was running.

Right at that point it immediately froze solid intermittently, but especially whenever the lid was closed.

I had to restore the OS. But it froze every time on boot. So I put it away for six months and then tried again. By this point some info out there on the internets led me to thinking the video chip might be damaged. So, I booted in to safe mode and removed the ATI video extensions in System/Library/Extensions. The machine booted up normally without safe mode.

Doing that eliminated the freezing issue when I closed the lid. Of course there was other damage from the fall so it did manage to intermittently freeze on it's own, but a giant binder clip that applied pressure to a certain point solved that for a while.

Anyway, something you might try. I would leaved the extensions on the desktop so that if this does not work you can put them back.

 

[ghostly606]

removed the ATI video extensions in System/Library/Extensions...

Thanks for the tip, is there anything in particular I should delete? Here are the contents of my System/Libray/Extensions directory:

 

[MisterKeeks]

Thanks for the tip, is there anything in particular I should delete? Here are the contents of my System/Libray/Extensions directory:

Image

I'm guessing here, but probably the one that corresponds to your video card. >About this Mac> More Info... > Graphics Displays.

 

[ghostly606]

After checking my video card I deleted the ATIRadeon9700 files and nothing happened (checked again after reboot) so I put them back. Now I am getting the following error message:

Anything to worry about?!

Also, if I removed the drivers for my video card should my display not stop working? Or should I download and install new drivers? Apologies for my lack of understanding on what I am doing here!

 

[eyoungren]

After checking my video card I deleted the ATIRadeon9700 files and nothing happened (checked again after reboot) so I put them back. Now I am getting the following error message:

Image

Anything to worry about?!

Also, if I removed the drivers for my video card should my display not stop working? Or should I download and install new drivers? Apologies for my lack of understanding on what I am doing here!

You want to remove all the extensions that start with ATI. Place them all in one folder to put back if you need.

If removing the ATI one doesn't fix it, then try the one's that start with Nvidia.

In all cases, the new warning you are getting is because these have been put back and the permissions have changed. If you put drivers back, repair permissions. That will restore the previous permissions and the warning you are getting will go away.

Your display should not stop working just because these drivers were removed. I was cautious to that myself, but as I had nothing to lose at the time and another Mac I could use for Target Disk Mode if I got in trouble I did this and it worked.

If you do all of this and it changes nothing then it's probably something else. This was just a hail mary guess. It worked for me (for awhile) but I can't guarantee it's going to work for you, especially if video card damage is not the problem.

 

[ghostly606]

What is the difference between an extension and all the other ATI files, delete them all?

 

[eyoungren]

What is the difference between an extension and all the other ATI files, delete them all?

Try it this way.

1. Make a folder on your desktop (in safe mode).
2. Move all extensions that start with ATIRadeon to this folder.
3. Reboot normally.
4. Wait until Mac is full rebooted in your account.
5. Close lid. If no problems, then you're good.
6. If same problem, do what you have to do to boot back in to safe mode.
7. Put all extensions from folder on your desktop back into the System>Library>Extensions folder.
8. Repair permissions.
9. Move all extensions that start with NVIDIA to the folder on your desktop. If there are no extensions that start with NVDIA then don't worry about it and end at step 8.
10. Repeat steps 3-5.
11. If no problems then you're good.
12. If problem persits then repeat steps 6-8.

Don't delete the extensions, just move them per the instructions. You don't want to delete system files you may need later.

If you get through all this and the problem is not solved then it's something else.

 

[ghostly606]

Thanks Erik, I'll try that.

What I meant though, is that there are files ending in bundle, kext and plugin. Do I delete all these? i.e. are they all "extensions"?

Also, when you say, repair permissions, how do I do that?

Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[eyoungren]

Thanks Erik, I'll try that.

What I meant though, is that there are files ending in bundle, kext and plugin. Do I delete all these? i.e. are they all "extensions"?

Also, when you say, repair permissions, how do I do that?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Yes, all the files starting with what I specified. And don't delete them, just move them into a folder on your desktop.

Repair Permissions.
1. Open Applications folder.
2. Open Utilities folder.
3. Open Disk Utility.
4. Select your hard drive.
5. Click the button that says "Repair Permissions"

 

[ghostly606]

Yes, all the files starting with what I specified. And don't delete them, just move them into a folder on your desktop.

Repair Permissions.
1. Open Applications folder.
2. Open Utilities folder.
3. Open Disk Utility.
4. Select your hard drive.
5. Click the button that says "Repair Permissions"

Thanks, will try that now.

As a sidenote, according to About This Mac/More Info, Quartz Extreme is no longer supported. I am sure it was supported before. Is this related to my sleep issue or messing with the extensions?

Thanks,
g

 

[eyoungren]

Thanks, will try that now.

As a sidenote, according to About This Mac/More Info, Quartz Extreme is no longer supported. I am sure it was supported before. Is this related to my sleep issue or messing with the extensions?

Thanks,
g

It's probably related to messing with the extensions. Unless, the video chip is truly damaged. IDK.

 

[ghostly606]

Ok, I am giving up on this one and just living with the fact that I have to turn my mac off if I want to close the lid. I moved the extensions and nothing happened, except disabling Quartz Extreme and meaning that VLC doesn't work anymore. So I have reverted to a cloned hard drive image from a month ago. I am pretty sure that this issue wasn't happening then, but it does now, so I reckon it is something to do with the hardware.

One final question, why would it have anything to do with the video card? It is the whole machine that goes to a permanent sleep.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

EDIT: Crude workaround but now running Sleepless which keeps the mac running when lid closed. Will use it only fleetingly (i.e will always shut down if required to be closed for any reasonable length of time)

 

[eyoungren]

One final question, why would it have anything to do with the video card? It is the whole machine that goes to a permanent sleep.

Well, in my case it was because the drop from the couch to the floor ended up damaging the video chip. I don't know what's called when a Mac goes to sleep but whatever is in memory is saved to a sleep file. Removing those extensions eliminated my sleep problem.

You might also try disabling safe sleep. I found the instructions for this for someone having a freeze problem with his MBP. It helped. Disabling Safe Sleep means the Mac just goes to sleep on lid close, doesn't bother to save out to the sleep file. This involves disabling your sleep file to if I recall.