iBook G4 freezes (?!) when closing lid (setting it to sleep)

[tkermit]

hi everyone,

once again I'm having problems with my iBook.
Every now and then (well, I can't remember a ">1 day" uptime, so it kinda happens every day), my iBook, when I try setting it to sleep by closing the lid, decides to act in a very strange way.
It turns off the screen, but apparently doesn't turn off anything else. I can still hear the fans and it seems to access the harddrive every ~10-20 seconds. When I finally realize that it's not going to fall asleep, I open the lid again, which doesn't change anything. The screen is still black (turned off), and the computer doesn't react to any input (only solution: control/command/power or pressing the power button for >5 seconds).

Is it at all possible that the reason for this behaviour is a hardware fault ? (I just had my iBook repaired ~1month ago ) Or should I assume it's some kind of software conflict?

What I have done so far:

- restart (obviously)
- repaired permissions
- ran maintenance scripts (daily,weekly,monthly)
- ran optimization script
- deleted/cleaned user/system cache and swapfile
- reset NPRAM

What else can I do ? (well I know I could try to reinstall Mac Os X, but I'd really prefer only doing that if I know that it'll help / if it is the only solution.

So, once again I'd appreciate ANY help. Thank you so much,

christian

 

[abhishekit]

try resetting the PMU..if its a g4 ibook, shut down.... press Shift-Control-Option-power..hold down for 10 sec..release....wait for 10 sec..power it on..
hope it helps

 

[zimv20]

kermit - i assume that the sleep light never comes on? (and pulses, obviously)

 

[tkermit]

try resetting the PMU..if its a g4 ibook, shut down.... press Shift-Control-Option-power..hold down for 10 sec..release....wait for 10 sec..power it on..
hope it helps

thanks, but I already did that. (that's what I meant when I said that I reset the NPRAM )

kermit - i assume that the sleep light never comes on? (and pulses, obviously)

right, it actually feels like the laptop is stuck somewhere in the "going to sleep" process...

 

[zimv20]

right, it actually feels like the laptop is stuck somewhere in the "going to sleep" process...

my g3/ibook does something similar, though it eventually does sleep (light pulsing).

it had misbehaved for a while (the screen would stay on when i closed the lid); i tried all manner of fixes (including all those you mentioned), but then it kind of "fixed itself," or i accidentally fixed it when investigating.

what i did was take a magnet to the reed switch -- that's the thing that senses a closed lid. on my ibook (and i assume yours) it's inside the lid, a couple inches below the mic. put a magnet up against it and the machine should sleep. pull the magnet away, it should wake up.

give it a try.

 

[tkermit]

my g3/ibook does something similar, though it eventually does sleep (light pulsing).
what i did was take a magnet to the reed switch -- that's the thing that senses a closed lid. on my ibook (and i assume yours) it's inside the lid, a couple inches below the mic. put a magnet up against it and the machine should sleep. pull the magnet away, it should wake up.

give it a try.

ok, I just did it a couple of times (Actually, right next to me I had one of those magnets you use on bicycles to measure your speed). Worked beautifully, like it should. I don't think this solved anything, though. As I said, most of the time, closing the lid also works. Even when it doesn't, the reed switch must still recognize the magnet under the right palmrest, right ? (because it starts going to sleep (the display turns black and all that)) .
Since you said that your book eventually went to sleep, I just want to add, that I actually waited a few times for it to fall asleep (5min. once) (to see if it just takes some time, but it doesn't do anything (keeps running)).
Thanks for your answer , I'll see if it changed anything...

 

[zimv20]

Since you said that your book eventually went to sleep, I just want to add, that I actually waited a few times for it to fall asleep (5min. once) (to see if it just takes some time, but it doesn't do anything (keeps running)).
Thanks for your answer , I'll see if it changed anything...

fwiw, mine doesn't take anywhere near 5 minutes, maybe 5 seconds.

i'm not sure if my magnet experiment really did anything to fix it, but the timing was coincidental. about the same time, i stopped folding on the ibook -- maybe the problem was heat related?

 

[tkermit]

...it happened again...
I'm not sure though if it's maybe related to the battery status display on the top of the screen. I kinda got the impression that it only behaved like this when it was set to display the remaining time (but even then there is no real pattern...) . Any other ideas ?
Thx, chr.

 

[tkermit]

update: I just went ahead and reinstalled OS X (ran diagnostic software beforehand / reset PRAM again / reset open firmware ram / initialized HD etc. ) and the problem is STILL there -
I'm beginning to think it must have something to do with the hardware, basically I'm ready to call Apple...

 

[titaniumducky]

update: I just went ahead and reinstalled OS X (ran diagnostic software beforehand / reset PRAM again / reset open firmware ram / initialized HD etc. ) and the problem is STILL there -
I'm beginning to think it must have something to do with the hardware, basically I'm ready to call Apple...

Definitely call Apple! I'm assuming it's still under warranty. This a serious hardware issue with the PMU (esp. since resetting it didn't help). You probably have a lemon.

 

[tkermit]

Definitely call Apple! I'm assuming it's still under warranty. This a serious hardware issue with the PMU (esp. since resetting it didn't help). You probably have a lemon.

ok then, I guess that's the way to go. Isn't it weird though, that it doesn't happen all the time, but only on occasion ?

 

[ellermeier]

tkermit-

mine did the SAME thing as yours... i had to end up sending it in after hours on the phone with tech support.... they ended up replacing the logic board, however, i had it for ONE day and had to send it in AGAIN!! this time it's the hard drive. figures.