PowerBook sleeps by itself

[matticus008]

Hey all. I'm not sure if this is a software or a hardware problem, so I put it in this thread. This evening, my PowerBook began having a very frustrating problem. It goes to sleep every few seconds, often within one or two seconds of re-awakening it. I can't get anything done on it, and it's hard to lock down the problem when I can't complete even a simple web search or a quick post.

Here's a partial list of what I've tried:
- Checking Energy Saver settings for anything weird.
- Resetting PRAM
- Resetting PMU
- Trying a safe boot
- Rebooting without the battery installed
- Reinstalling 10.3.7 (in case it was the recent update that buggered it)
- Charging the battery completely and attempting to drain it (it going to sleep literally every 1-45 seconds will make it hard to drain completely and recalibrate)
- Shutting down the 'book and leaving the battery and AC adapter disconnected for 10 minutes.

I'm at a loss at what would be causing this all of the sudden. I haven't installed any new software, except the latest 10.3.9 and security updates. I haven't changed any system settings to my knowledge, and today has held the first reboots since the software update.

I hope someone here has the solution (and I apologize if there's a thread on this somewhere; I can't get through anything long enough to find an answer, and I'm away from my other computers at the moment).

This post took 20 minutes to type, with all the sleeping and resuming I've been stuck with.

 

[JzzTrump22]

Did you try checking the settings in system prefs. Mabey you left the sleeping bar all the way down.

 

[matticus008]

Did you try checking the settings in system prefs. Mabey you left the sleeping bar all the way down.

It's not that (it's in the list of things I've already tried). Now it also won't wake from sleep. I have to remove the battery and wait for the sleep light to deactivate, put the battery back in and start up.

The hardware test finds no problems.

EDIT:
- Clean install (at a loss of half my data) also failed to fix the problem. Even before installing any additional software, it fell right back asleep.
- Resetting NVRAM also did not help

I'm just going to have to take it in--I've pretty much ruled out anything but faulty hardware at this point, I think.

 

[john1123]

not sure about this but doesn't a magnet below the keyboard activate sleep when you close the lid? if so is there anything magnetic lying around that could activate sleep?

 

[JzzTrump22]

Call Apple.

 

[matticus008]

not sure about this but doesn't a magnet below the keyboard activate sleep when you close the lid? if so is there anything magnetic lying around that could activate sleep?

Thanks for your comment! I hadn't really thought of that, but I had moved the PB from location to location in my 15-hour campaign to fix it, never with any magnets nearby.

It seems to be behaving again. I called Apple, just to make sure there was nothing I missed in my troubleshooting, and I'd tried more than the Apple tech thought to. I got a case number and told him I'd do one more erase and install just to be sure before bringing it in. So I reset the PRAM, NVRAM, and PMU, and then I left the battery and AC adapter disconnected overnight. I reset the PRAM, NVRAM, and PMU this morning (or yesterday morning, I guess) and reinserted the battery. It had discharged partially, so I allowed it to charge completely before turning on the PowerBook and performing an Erase and Install. I'd already lost almost 10 gigs of data (but saved 23, so it wasn't all bad) in an earlier reinstall, so I started from scratch completely.

When I rebooted, it did the mysterious sleep thing just once but has been fine all day since that. I reinstalled software slowly and rebooted after each major install, and it seems fine. I've restored as much of my data from backups as I had, and still it's fine. I'll keep my eye on it for several days, and if it does it again, I'm taking it straight to the store instead of wasting 2 days of my own time going in circles again.

 

[Savage Henry]

I saw the title of this thread and immediately thought it was some lonely heart plea from a lap-top that’s suffering from a recent separation from another model. I was beginning to choke up with emotion.

But, anyway, with that not being the case I’d totally agree with your assessment and wang it back to store if the blighter does it again….


…grr... lap-tops … they just break your heart sometimes ……

 

[matticus008]

I saw the title of this thread and immediately thought it was some lonely heart plea from a lap-top that’s suffering from a recent separation from another model. I was beginning to choke up with emotion.

But, anyway, with that not being the case I’d totally agree with your assessment and wang it back to store if the blighter does it again….


…grr... lap-tops … they just break your heart sometimes ……

Hahahaha! Oh, if only fixing a PowerBook were as easy as finding it a companion....

 

[mkrishnan]

But, anyway, with that not being the case I’d totally agree with your assessment and wang it back to store if the blighter does it again….

It's thinking like that what'll have us all sleeping single! Wait, I already am. Dammit!

Yes, I agree with everything said so far. Sounds like a hardware issue to me....Well, erm, wait. Now, Matticus, you said that you had already played with all the power settings. If you have a powerbook (which is able to operate in clamshell mode), there should be a setting under which, at least when plugged in, the powerbook is not *supposed* to sleep, even if the case is closed (tripping the magnet). So if you turn on clamshell mode, and you still get this issue, it isn't the magnet/latch-detector's fault....

 

[daveL]

Thread Title

Then find it a mate Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Edit: Sorry, I didn't read the other posts. Obviously I'm late to the party.

 

[iGary]

Then find it a mate Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Damn it all to hell, you guys beat me to it.

 

[mkrishnan]

Damn it all to hell, you guys beat me to it.

Don't worry, we like to drive these points home around here! But no mate finding for you tonight, Mr. Gary! Must focus all energy on BSIM! Hope my Sun Dance works, btw. It looks like its raining out there today, but supposedly just cloudy tomorrow?