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PB 12" Hints and tips

A

alkil47

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 9, 2003
37
0
Hey guys ,

Yesterday i just got my new power book 12", its looks &*^%en sick ass , i got the base one and i am loading it up to full rams tonight , I am planning on using this machine to do mostly web based graphics (_flash_phs_bbedit_dr_ill_) , and basic admin , as a lappy and some times hooked up to my 19" 9FFDF at home. After playing around with it last night watching a DVD and stuff runs really nice , Just wanted to ask owners out there for any tips on looking after it and set up things that can help me run this machine to its full potential .


ps.
Oh , and after watching two DVD's and loading up software and setting up for 5-6 hours , it didn't feel hot at all nothing like the ibm's we have at work.
 
get an icurve. I use it all the time now. I usually do most things on the powermac but with the icurve i really can use my powerbook like a second desktop when i want to.
 
It sounds as if you are not experiencing the heat issue, if it is an issue, but if you are delete power management prefs, reset power manager, re calibrate the battery and upgrade to 10.2.6.

AppleMatt
 
Heat issue?

I had not seen any easy fixes for the heat issue except the one posted above. How do you reset the power manager? I have had minor heat issues but yesterday the little bugger got so hot I could barely rest my hand on it. I just stopped using the computer for a bit so it would cool down. The fan never came on either. Thanks

Mac+/MacSE/MacIIcx/Performa 6400/12"PB
 
-alkil47

Tip: When carrying your 12PB, do so by the hinge side, not the latch side. Grab-and-carry from the latch side will eventually bend the screen due to the little 'feet' at the corners combined with the depressability of the button/support in the center.

Tip: Clean with 100% pure cotton terrycloth with a little Ammonia Based windex if necessary.

As for the heat issue, I suspect it will decrease a little if you max out the RAM as OS X won't need to do as many disk reads for virtual RAM functions.
 
How do I...

...delete power management prefs, reset power manager, and re calibrate the battery on my new 12" Powerbook???

Is this recommended to keep the temperature down? Is this a good thing to do? Are there any side affects? Does it slow the machine down?
 
There are no performance issues in performing any of the following, and many people have reported that performing these actions has reduced heat output from their machines. However bear in mind your battery should be calibrated once and once only. Calibrating the battery many times will infact reduce its ability to hold charge significantly.

- First delete the power management prefs:
1. Open Terminal
2. Select "New Command" (in file menu)
3. Type "sudo rm /private/var/db/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.xml"
4. Check "Run Command From Inside Shell"
5. Press Run

- Secondly reset power manager

1. Shut down your computer
2. Simultaneously press Shift-Control-Option-Power Button on the keyboard.
3. Wait 5 seconds.
4. Power up the computer.

- Thirdly update to 10.2.6

1. Download Combo updater and apply it, restart.

- Calibrate battery

I have deceided not to include instructions on how to do this, simply because I fear some people might do it repeatedly and then blame me for a shot battery. If you are aware only to perform this once, goto Apple's 12" product support page and look at the tech note (it's in the list) for instructions on how to calibrate your battery.

AppleMatt
 
as with any Mac, make sure you read the whole manual. and as with any notebook, make sure you calibrate the battery properly.

and about re-calibrating the battery, can you do that? i thought that the very first time you use it is when it is calibrated, and if you try to "re-calibrate" it this will result in significant loss of battery capicity. but i remember reading stuff about people's batteries only charging to 98% and such after calibrating properly, but i would just stick with the first proper calibration.
 
Hmm, if that's how you calibrate the battery, then I must be getting very little out of my battery. I run it down until it sleeps all the time and then plug it in and let it charge fully all the time.
[/sarcasm]

Calibrating the battery does NOT reduce the amount of charge it can hold. This is just an old wives tale held over from days when Nickel-Cadmium batteries were used in laptops and they had various limitations such as a memory.
 
As a new user to OSX and have been using mac since i was a kid on old apple 2e i find that OSX is so demanding on ram and processor power even on my mates 1.25 dp is there any way of stream lining OSX , maybe turning off some of the extensions ... does anyone knwo any doc's or set things that can be done?
 
Originally posted by cb911
but i remember reading stuff about people's batteries only charging to 98% and such after calibrating properly, but i would just stick with the first proper calibration.
Click to expand...

They do stop at around 98%, Apple makes them stop at 98% to prevent damage to the battery. Unplug the adapter, let it drop to below 95%, and plug in the adapter again, it will charge to 100%

Originally posted by Sherman
Calibrating the battery does NOT reduce the amount of charge it can hold. This is just an old wives tale held over from days when Nickel-Cadmium batteries were used in laptops and they had various limitations such as a memory.
Click to expand...

Repeated calibration DOES limit the capacity of the battery. This is exactly why I did not want to post the instructions on how to do so.

The memory effect from Ni-Cad/Ni-Mh days is exactly that, you SHOULD have run the battery completely down and then recharged it fully, else you would suffer from diminished capacity. Noadays the Li-ion batteries do not suffer from the memory effect, so short recharging cycles (as long as you are not above 95%) should not damage the battery.

I really hope no one screws up their battery now.

AppleMatt
 
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