Mac Problems!

[nate13]

I have been in mac struggle over the past few days, and now my perfect mac world is become a little bit more hectic. To start, i installed Office 2004 Student edition edition on my iBook. It failed. I tried to use the drag install. no luck with starting up the applications. Next, because it worked on my iMac, i copied the installed version over ethernet to the iBook. Success, or so i thought. I opened up Word, and to my frustrated disappointment (lets just say "earmuffs"), it opened, but slower than a 1 mhz pc running mac osx. not pretty. At first, i blamed Microsoft for my problems, but then why did it work on my iMac? then, i turned to my troubleshooting arsenal. TTP4 and Disk utility were run, with sour results on only one. In ttp4, i was getting a longer than normal surface scan. I let it run for a full 7 hours, and it turns out i had 180 bad blocks. Ok, i thought to myself, i will just delete Office. But, i did have to get a major report done. I delayed the execution of Office for a few days. but, by then, i was already too far in to walk out. After finishing, i decided to chill out. switching to iTunes was a 1 min wait, which was ultra strange, because of my recent ram upgrade. i restarted, which took a good 10 minutes. for a few days i lived in slow notebook horror, unable to cure my iBook. Finally, the 10.3.5 update came. A wolf in sheeps clothing. After successfully installing all other updates, the final process, which i wish i could remember what it was called, began. It was still running after 2 hours, so i let it go into the night. when i woke and went to my office, there was the iBook, still on that process. assuming that it was a insignificant part of installation (optimization), i force shut down, as the system was also unresponsive. I rebooted, and never got past the apple. no spinning thing. no nothing. just a gray apple on a grayish screen. I resqed my data with my iPod and reinstalled, but, what would have been the problem? should i reinstall Office? and i also authorized my iTMS account on my ibook before it crashed. will the store automatically realize that this has happened, or can i reset it? And, when i try to stream music, is it normal for Itunes to ask to authorize another computer? i thought it was unlimited streaming?! And how can i prevent this from happening again?


edit: Sorry about the length, just letting off steam. i can write fast, so heres my exit. I was also a little worried, but im positive its a one time thing.
Thanks for listening
nate

 

[Horrortaxi]

Wow, a hundred problems in a single post. A new record. I don't even know where to begin.

If your iBook were a child you'd be getting investigated for child abuse. Well maintained, or even neglected, Macs don't act this way. I'm not sure what you're doing to it, but I sense a certain hectic tone in your post that might lead to Mac abuse.

Office shouldn't have a problem installing. Nothing should actually. I'd suspect something funny with your hard drive. Either it's damaged and not reading/writing properly or you've abused it to the point where it takes forever to read/write anything because of a screwey file system or fragmentation.

10.3.5 is not a wolf in sheep's clothing. You installed it on an unhealthy drive and then shut it off during optimization. That's not a minor problem. Optimization might have actually helped you. I doubt it crashed--it probably was going to take a million years to fix your problem.

You reinstalled the OS? That's what I would have suggested. Clean install, right?

When you stream protected aac files to another computer it will ask you to authorize. That's normal.

Go ahead and install Office. It wasn't causing your problems.

How do I keep this from happening again? is the million dollar question. Just do basic system maintainence. If you don't let your computer run 24/7 then make sure your cron jobs are running (use Macaroni, MacJanitor, Cocktail, etc for that) and repair your permissions every 1-4 weeks. That's it. Also, don't turn off the computer while it's optimizing or during startup because you think it's crashed. That ought to keep you happy.

 

[nate13]

sry

Wow, a hundred problems in a single post. A new record. I don't even know where to begin.

If your iBook were a child you'd be getting investigated for child abuse. Well maintained, or even neglected, Macs don't act this way. I'm not sure what you're doing to it, but I sense a certain hectic tone in your post that might lead to Mac abuse.

Office shouldn't have a problem installing. Nothing should actually. I'd suspect something funny with your hard drive. Either it's damaged and not reading/writing properly or you've abused it to the point where it takes forever to read/write anything because of a screwey file system or fragmentation.

10.3.5 is not a wolf in sheep's clothing. You installed it on an unhealthy drive and then shut it off during optimization. That's not a minor problem. Optimization might have actually helped you. I doubt it crashed--it probably was going to take a million years to fix your problem.

You reinstalled the OS? That's what I would have suggested. Clean install, right?

When you stream protected aac files to another computer it will ask you to authorize. That's normal.

Go ahead and install Office. It wasn't causing your problems.

How do I keep this from happening again? is the million dollar question. Just do basic system maintainence. If you don't let your computer run 24/7 then make sure your cron jobs are running (use Macaroni, MacJanitor, Cocktail, etc for that) and repair your permissions every 1-4 weeks. That's it. Also, don't turn off the computer while it's optimizing or during startup because you think it's crashed. That ought to keep you happy.

Thanks for the advice. First of all, this hasnt always been my comp. it previously Was my mothers, but she got a new one. i needed one for school (the expense report was for personal finance) and she didnt need hers. Second, i would never abuse a mac. Pc, maby, but i keep really good care of my iMac. When this computer was in my posession, it was treated quite good. I ran ttp4 every week, and repaired premissions every 2 weeks (ive had itfor 2 months now). But, my point is, when i ran surface scans before, i never got any bad blocks. thats all. maybe a glitch in ttp4, or maybe the bad block mapping area was disturbed. i dont know. i was just letting off steam. sorry. And i know 10.3.4 wasnt bad, it was jsut a bad thing for my drive, and in my situation. i know it wasnt at all the softwares fault, but i wanted to check with the experts here to prevent future probs and put in suggestions. thats all
nate

 

[Horrortaxi]

Just start clean, take it easy, and post back if you continue to have problems.

 

[Lorin]

ipod troubles!!

I am also having big problems. I hope someone out there can help me!! Since I recently reinstalled itunes, I can't seem to transfer any songs that I purchase onto my ipod. They just won't transfer! The only difference between these files and other files that I have been able to transfer are that they are PROTECTED AAC's instead of just regular AAC's. I know there's a limit to how many times you can burn a song that you buy, but I haven't even burned these songs once! What could be wrong?

 

[mcarnes]

I'm too lazy to read your whole post but as to MS Office, try deleting the program and all it's related files (prefs, etc.). I'd use Find and type in microsoft to find all the related files. Then re-install from the original install CD.

Should work.

 

[NusuniAdmin]

It sounds more like a ibook problem than anything....thats why ibooks and emacs are cheaper

 

[Hemingray]

My old tangerine clamshell iBook is a mess. Some of the keys on the keyboard no longer work, the ethernet port is busted, and the hard drive also has tons of bad blocks. And guess what? My dad treated that thing as carefully as you would a luxury car. The sad fact is, we got a lemon, not a tangerine (bad, I know...)

Just because his iBook is having problems, doesn't automatically mean he's "abused" it.

You may just have a bad hard drive. When I used to attempt to defrag my iBook's hard drive, it would always hang on the same blocks, spin endlessly and I'd have to take out the battery to get it to restart. Needless to say, the sorry little sod is still running OS 9 and I haven't upgraded anything on it in years, mainly because it's not worth the hassle. You may just have a bad hard drive, and the only way to fix it is to get it replaced.

 

[iMeowbot]

In ttp4, i was getting a longer than normal surface scan. I let it run for a full 7 hours, and it turns out i had 180 bad blocks.

That's a lot. Your hard drive is failing. Once that many show up it's almost inevitable that more will start falling like dominoes. If you check your system log I'll bet you'll see a lot of I/O retries. Make sure now more than ever that you keep backup copies of *every* important file you've got (on CD or something, an iPod will do in a pinch) and get that sucker into the shop.

 

[mikeyredk]

if you just got it call apple. Tell them that your a windows switcher and having some trouble and they will help you in no time.

 

[Brother Michael]

Hey real quick, what are these programs that are being suggested for system maintence?

Like what is this permission repairing that you speak of?

What is the problem if I do not leave my Mac on 24/7?

Also I once heard something about Macs and 3 AM...like the cache gets cleaned or something??

Sorry to hijack this thread, but these are confusing to me.

Mike

 

[Colonel Panik]

I have been in mac struggle ....
Thanks for listening
nate

You say TTP4 and Norton Utilities? I wouldn't let them near my machine.

Disk Warrior is the only thing I trust. That said, I haven't had any problems since installing OS X.

Not dissing your mother, but if I got a computer from my mother, I'd wipe it clean and reinstall.

 

[AliensAreFuzzy]

if you just got it call apple. Tell them that your a windows switcher and having some trouble and they will help you in no time.

LOL! Also I agree. Just go to the nearest Apple Store, if you don't have one nearby, go to an authorized service center

 

[nate13]

Hey real quick, what are these programs that are being suggested for system maintence?

Like what is this permission repairing that you speak of?

What is the problem if I do not leave my Mac on 24/7?

Also I once heard something about Macs and 3 AM...like the cache gets cleaned or something??

Sorry to hijack this thread, but these are confusing to me.

Mike

Mike,
I use TechTool Pro 4 for most of my system maintenance, along with disk utility (part of osx) and Disk Warrior.
In response to the TTP4 comment,
what is your basis? is there something wrong with it?
Finally for the hard drive comment.
what would you suggest? new external? it is an older iBook, so is it worth it getting the hard drive replaced? I was thinking of a Lacie. maybe a extreme drive (500 MB) to swap between comps. Anybody have one? Or one of the tiny ones designed by FA Porshe*? it is fixed for now, and everything seems to be running smoothly.
nate

 

[nate13]

Out of warrenty?

LOL! Also I agree. Just go to the nearest Apple Store, if you don't have one nearby, go to an authorized service center

How much $??? Ive got a warrenty on my iMac, and it has already saved me 1000 $ (screen counter balance). I want to fix it, but without paying for a new comp.