Powerbook Screen Goes Black

[ezsober]

I've got an older 15" powerbook running Mac OS X 10.3.9 (i think). Lately my computer screen randomly turns itself off, the whole think going black, like it was asleep or off, but the computer keeps running just fine. Like i might have itunes playing or be burning a disc and that goes on just fine. The computer itself stays running. What I've been doing is putting the computer to sleep by closing the notebook, letting it rest for a few seconds and turning it back on by opening it back out. This fixes the problem for anywhere from 5 seconds to indefinitely, until it happens again. Lately its been happening more. The computer is 4 years old, but the model itself, probably 5. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[mad jew]

What external devices do you have plugged in? What software do you have running when this happens? Maybe try a quick PMU reset.

 

[Counterfit]

Have you tried typing or using the trackpad when this happens? Check the Energy Saver preference pane for the Display Sleep timer.

 

[ezsober]

Black screen details

Thanks for the replies. The computer doesn't actually put the screen to sleep, in the sense that I can't un-black the screen without closing the machine, which seems to trick it into turnign the screen back on when I reopen it. I tend to have a video ipod plugged in.

 

[darrinaw]

Same thing here...

Maybe a battery issue?

-darrinaw

 

[nazmac21]

Could be a dying LCD. I think this was common on the PowerBook G4s after some time.