over the last 2 or 3 days, i've had a number of problems with my powerbook g4. yesterday, for example, i came home from work to check my ims. when i did, the screen looked normal, that is, until i clicked on instant messenger. when i did this, the screen turned to this funny blue-ish hue. then, i couldn't click on things. the mouse moved around and worked like a charm but for the life of me i couldn't click on anything. later on that nite, my computer started making a loud, constant whirring noise. it sounded like the fan was going insane. worked normally for most of today. about an hour ago, my computer froze up again. i had to restart 10 or 12 times before i was able to successfully reboot. the diagnostic cd that came with my mac says everything is in tip top shape, as does norton antivirus. any suggestions?
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loud noises and constant freezing?
- Thread starter nerdrockpa
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Apple Hardware test is pretty much worthless.
Boot from your OS X Installer CD/DVD and run Disk Utility and repair the hard drive (not permissions). Did it report any problem?
Boot from your OS X Installer CD/DVD and run Disk Utility and repair the hard drive (not permissions). Did it report any problem?
nope, it said everything was a-okay. i'm back on the internet just fine now. airport was messed up. my computer keeps making that loud whirring noise and locking up, though. any other suggestions?
Well, firstly and most obviously, back up your data. If you have the means to, get an external firewire drive and clone your drive to it with Carbon Copy Cloner if you can. Don't delay. If this is your hard drive going south it will get progressively worse, never better.
Once you have protected your data, then you can decide if you want to try reinstalling the OS to eliminate the possibility of a software cause of the problem.
Not possible to diagnose from here, it could be hardware or software. But whirring and locking up are not normal.
Do you have any external peripherals attached?
Once you have protected your data, then you can decide if you want to try reinstalling the OS to eliminate the possibility of a software cause of the problem.
Not possible to diagnose from here, it could be hardware or software. But whirring and locking up are not normal.
Do you have any external peripherals attached?
i have an ipod and a printer attached. nothing major. over the last 24 hours, the computer's been freezing an awful lot. maybe 4 or 5 times? that's 4 or 5 times more than its frozen in the previous 9 or 10 months that i've owned it.
nerdrockpa said:
Doesn't matter. Unplug them and use the computer. Test and see if it still "freezes". If it does, you can rule out the peripherals and move onto plan D. If it doesn't freeze, you know what the next step in troubleshooting is..
yellow said:
i tried unplugging my peripheral devices last nite. when i woke up this morning, my computer was frozen anyway. additionally, i also tried using the document housed at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=152369 to solve my problem. turning off extensions didn't do the trick.