Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mac and powerbook

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thecaddy — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:50:56 -0800

Why can't I see around half of the applications in the Applications/Utilities folder on my friend's laptop? I'm trying to get access to Disk Utility so I can repartition a new external hard drive. But while I can see that the app exists when I go into the folder in Terminal, I can't see it in Finder--or open it through spotlight, for that matter.

The computer (a powerbook G4) is running 10.4.11, and my friend's account is admin and the only account on the computer. I can't back out on the login screen to try and become root or anything--and using SU in terminal, even assuming I could know the password, probably won't get me anywhere.

How can I get access to the full folder? Any thoughts?

Help keep my old Powerbook G4 on WiFi. (Technical Mac Question.)

Mid — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:57:25 -0800

Help keep my old Powerbook G4 on WiFi. (Technical Mac Question.) I have an older Powerbook G4 that has seen better days. At some point, the internal Airport card stopped working (I think because the internal antenna broke after a fall). I then popped an external wireless card into the PC slot (the Morotola WN825G) and it worked like a charm for 2+ years. Suddenly, however, the external card is dead. None of the LEDs light up and the computer does not detect it in any program or profiler. I bought a new card (they're only $20) and got the same result. I have done about every kind of reset there is -- battery and power out overnight, reset-nvram in the firmware, control-apple-PR, etc and there is no change. When I look at "Console," nothing happens when I put the card in and pull it out -- i.e., the computer is not registering that a card is in the slot as far as I can tell.

Here are my questions:

1. I have not done any software re-installs. Is it worth it to start re-installing the OS? This seems more like a hardware problem, no? If I re-install, do I need to wipe the drive and start over? Or can I just re-install the system on existing drive?

2. I have not done anything with drivers. I'm pretty sure the Mac does not need a driver to operate this card because the card uses the same chipset as the orginal Airport card.

3. Assuming this is a hardware issue, should I just junk the machine? I feel like anything over $250 is wasted in a machine that is already pretty beat up.

Thanks for your thoughts and guesses.

Powerbook: No Logo

DiscourseMarker — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:41:28 -0800

Powerbook G4 won't boot up. I hear the chime, get a gray screen, but NO apple logo or spinning wheel. This is a circa- late 2003 1.25GHz PB running OS 10.5. something. Yesterday, my husband was trying to open some Word 2008 docs he had saved on this laptop. Word would not open, it just kept bouncing in the dock, and we could not get it to force quit, so he did a forced shut down of the computer. Ever since then I cannot get the computer to boot past the gray screen.

I have tried resetting the PRAM, but it still sticks at the gray screen, same with resetting the PMU and trying a safe boot. It never progresses to the Apple Logo, just stays on the gray screen. When I pressed my ear to the keyboard I heard a few clicks from the HD after trying to start up, but now there's no sound.

Any suggestions?

Laptop case compatibility

silkygreenbelly — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:11:34 -0800

Will the lower exterior case and optical drive from a mac powerbook G4 12inch 867 MHz be compatible with a mac powerbook G4 12inch 1.5Ghz? My powerbook G4 12inch aluminum 1.5Ghz has some issues. It is going to need a new optical drive and lower exterior case and power adapter (looooong story). Costs a lot to get the replacement parts individually. I found someone nearby offering a powerbook g4 12inch aluminum 867MHz for cheaper than ordering individual pieces would be. Before I go rearranging my schedule to see it, I'm wondering if the case and optical drive are compatible?

Is this powerbook worth the money?

shopefowler — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:57:28 -0800

Is this 2002 titanium PowerBook g4 worth the money? I'm strapped for cash, but I've got the opportunity to purchase it for about $300. I'm a freelance graphic designer, and I'd like to install CS3 on it (if it'll install on a PowerPC) but will really only use it on vacation and not for intense tasks.

Assume it runs fine on Tiger, needs a new battery and needs a memory upgrade (to 1G). Think it's a good buy or not worth the $$?

Can I give my Mac laptop a newer operating system?

kim in chicago — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:57:18 -0800

How can I "upgrade" my Mac PowerBook G4's OS 10.3.9 to at least a 10.4.9 in order to install MS Office Home & Student Edition? I had to replace my 5-6 year old hard drive and the laptop is now working well. The old hard drive had MS Office for Mac installed on it and the new one doesn't, of course. The MS Office system requirements say I need a minimum of 10.4.9 to install the program. Is there anything I can do to the laptop (get a different hard drive, install more memory, etc.) that will get the OS up to at least 10.4.9? I really only need MS Word and internet ability so I'm trying to avoid buying a new laptop, if possible.

Fixing LaunchServices on OSX

ubersturm — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:58:31 -0800

Is there any way to fix/replace/reinstall LaunchServices in OS X? (Also: is my Powerbook doomed?) My old PPC 12" Powerbook (10.4.11) is suddenly unable to open .dmg files or start programs. (Programs that are already open still work.) I get a "Broken Pipe" error when trying to open .dmg files; the error reports generated and sent to Apple say that LaunchServices is essentially missing:

Link (dyld) error:

image not found /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/LaunchServices

In the LaunchServices.framework folder, all three files (LaunchServices, Resources, and Support) are actually aliases, and these aliases are no longer pointing anywhere. There's also a folder, Versions. Within that folder, the single file (Current) is also an alias that's now pointing to nothing. There's a single folder as well, A. This folder contains what appear to be the real LaunchServices file and Resources/Support folders. Attempts to redirect the broken aliases to these files seem to be failing.

Standard OSX diagnostics are currently impossible to run, because diagnostics require programs, and launching programs requires LaunchServices. I do not currently have easy access to my original install disc. I haven't tried rebooting, because I'm concerned that I won't be able to start any programs at all if I do.

Is there any way I can fix or reinstall LaunchServices? Failing that, is there any workaround that I can use to run diagnostics and figure out if this is an isolated error that might be fixable with a new install, or whether it's ultimately hardware-related and my Powerbook's about to die?

Hey hey hey! Mac geeks in the hooooouuuuusssseeeee!!!!

miss lynnster — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:35:06 -0800

Help me pimp my Powerbook please. Okay, so the hard drive died in my desktop computer and I've had to rely on my Powerbook to design on. Thing is? I was having to work on large Photoshop files (was designing a billboard) and my Powerbook seemed slooooow to me so due to frustration I feel like I've not been doing my best work. I've been cursing at it a lot. I keep thinking that although I'm working on huge files it's not an old enough laptop to be that slow.

I'm in the process of fixing my desktop computer, but since hard drives and memory are pretty cheap right now I want to see if there's anything I can do to upgrade my laptop as well. I'd like to be happy working on it when need be.

Here are some questions:

1. Years ago I would've run Norton Utilities on my computers -- does that still help? I don't mind buying it if it's worth the money. Is there anything else in particular I should be doing or keeping track of as maintenance to keep my Macs running in top shape at all times? What's the latest?

2. Here's the Hardware Profile of my machine. How much more RAM/Storage/whatever can I or should I put in to optimize and upgrade it? If it's easy I'm happy to install the stuff myself and order it online. (Suggestions on the best brands and webstores to get deals would be great too!)

• Model Name: MacBook Pro 15" (I hook it up to a bigger monitor)
• Model Identifier: MacBookPro2,2
• Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
• Processor Speed: 2.33 GHz
• Number Of Processors: 1
• Total Number Of Cores: 2
• L2 Cache (per processor): 4 MB
• Memory: 2 GB
• Bus Speed: 667 MHz
• Boot ROM Version: MBP22.00A5.B07
• SMC Version: 1.12f5

Thanks in advance!

What is this Powerbook's problem?

Your Time Machine Sucks — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:23:01 -0800

What is this Powerbook's problem? Rare kernel panics followed by disk catalog errors on startup, but I've ruled out the HD and OS. 15" Aluminum Powerbook, 1.5GHz, OS X 10.5.5.

It all began when, in the course of trying to get it to stop undercharging the battery, I did a PMU reset. On the first post-reset restart, the disk gave all appearances of crashing -- got about 10 seconds into the startup and then froze, and then couldn't be booted afterwards. I booted from disc and installed a new OS, which also would have occasional panics after/during restarts, and once it just had a system-wide freeze in the middle of otherwise working, which didn't even show the kernel panic multilingual announcement (ugh, even typing that I'm thinking "you know it's the logic board", but read on please).

Apple Hardware Test checked everything out as being OK, and after repairing the post-panic HD, Disk Utility also gave the HD a clean bill of health as far as that goes.

I originally felt that the HD was the most likely culprit here (it's old and mechanical, while the other two likely possibilities -- the RAM and logic board -- are solid state and don't have such an obvious reason to up and die after four years of working) so I put in a new drive. Symptoms haven't changed: sometimes restarts go wrong, followed by catalog errors on the drive when I run fsck in single-user mode. The catalog errors can be repaired in single-user mode. Since the kernel panics are sort of rare, I don't feel like I can easily test the RAM sticks with the "take one out, see if things are better" method, although I am certainly wondering about them now.

The practical issue is that every time it does happen and the catalog is repaired, Time Machine no longer recognizes the things it's backed up already and attempts to back up the entire drive again, making it useless as an incremental backup tool, and the combination of weird computer + no incremental backups is no good.

What do you think, definitely the logic board? If so, that is going to be the end of the line for this Powerbook. Or would you proceed by replacing the RAM (it isn't very expensive, but on the other hand I don't want to waste the money on it if it isn't to blame).

Any suggestions? Keeping in mind that I've already run Apple Hardware Test and it reported no problems, and there is a brand-new HD and a brand-new OS install, and both the PMU and PRAM have been reset in the course of recent events.

Thanks!

It's better to burn out then to fade away

spicynuts — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:23:18 -0800

MacBook Pro screen weirdness - feature or bug? I just bought a MacBook Pro two weeks ago. Haven't used a Mac since college (I think I mentioned this in my last question about Macs). When I am on battery power, the screen will modulate in brightness - fading in and out occassionally. It never really goes dark, but about every 3 minutes it will fade briefly then flare back up to normal brightness. Is this a setting I don't know about - some kind of power saving thing? Or is there something wrong and I should be concerned?

Should I buy a used 12" G4 Powerbook as a stopgap machine?

stackhaus23 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:33:57 -0800

Macfilter: Thinking of buying a 12" G4 Powerbook, is this irrational thinking? I need a new laptop, quite badly. However, it really is for nothing more than sitting at our local haunt, in the living room with my girlfriend while she watches TV or friends houses that have Wi-Fi etc and browsing the internet, showing them photographs or things I'm working on.

I was kind of hoping that today Steve Jobs was also going to announce the much talked about but never appearing line of aluminium Macbooks which I had every intention of buying the cheapest model. But since I still feel they are around the corner, I don't want to buy the current plastic Macbook if in a month or two it's going to be out of date - especially since I can't bare to think I might spend £700 ($1400) on something that's just used for the internet. So is it irrational to buy something like a 2006 G4 just because it's cheap at £250 ($500) just as a stopgap. I'd only buy the top spec model, 1.5 G4 PowerPC - and I realise that it's totally redundant technology but it's only to use for the next year or so.

Could I even run Leopard on it? What kind of drawbacks would it bring other than things being optimised for Intel chips now? Are there any users that can testify it's merits or it's weaknesses?

I have no intention of going back to a Windows based machine so that debate doesn't even come into it. The other two machines I use for Graphic Design are also Macs.

Thinking Of Getting A G4 iBook Or PowerBook

Brian Puccio — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:06:42 -0800

I've currently got a HP Mini-Note 2133 running Ubuntu. I was going to take a stab at installing OS X on it this coming weekend when I realized I could get a 12" iBook or PowerBook G4 for roughly the same price and it would still be small enough I wouldn't mind carrying it around with me all the time and it would run OS X with no hassle. I'd keep my MacPro as my primary workstation that I use for image editing and such, this would just be for email and for surfing the web on the go. If I get a G4 era laptop and install Leopard on it (want to use Back to My Mac after I roll my own dot mac) will I have any issues? I've only recently become a Mac user after years on Linux, so I never used a PPC-based system. Will application like Camino, Mail, Adium, etc all run with no problems? This is what the universal binary thing is all about, right? Anything else I should be aware of? Any tips or tricks for slimming down 10.5 to make it run better on the older hardware? Thanks!

Startup disk almost full again?!

luazinha — Sat, 03 May 2008 20:12:58 -0800

Why would my Powerbook's virtual memory top 20Gb? I have 21Gb free on my 100Gb hard drive, and sometimes I still get the message "Startup disk almost full." This happens when I'm doing ordinary things like Safari, Mail, and/or Microsoft Word for an extended amount of time. When I reboot, it resets, but I still wonder if something is going haywire.

It also seems like my computer has been running hotter than usual lately. I'm using Mac OS X 10.4.11 on the last generation of Powerbook G4.

I've looked at this post, but it didn't exactly pinpoint the problem.

All together now

rtha — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:22:49 -0800

How can I stitch some video files together? I have some video files (both .flv and mpeg4 formats) that I'd like to stitch together - that is, stitch the .flv files to other .flv files, or mpeg4 to mpeg4. If they need to be converted to something else, please advise.

The files are 25-50 MB in size, and all have sound.

I'm running a 1GHz powerPC powerbook G4, 10.4.11. I have iMovie and VLC. I'd like to be able to do this with what I've got; if I have to acquire something else, I'd like it to be free (though that's not a dealbreaker), and it would be great if it's something you've personally used. I'll probably need some hand-holding.

one signal bar, two signal bar. three signal bar, four?

twistofrhyme — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:45:13 -0800

i live two floors above the wireless router, and my powerbook can't get a strong enough signal. what's the most cost-effective solution? i'm subletting in an old house- i'm on the third floor. the ethernet jack and router are on the ground floor, and they can't be moved-- ethernet must be plugged into an computer that apparently didn't take well to an expensive wireless card-- and i'm not comfortable asking the other tenants to change their established system and run cables all over the place for the new persson.

we have this bell sympatico router. it's in the back of the house. (specifically, it's one room away from the main stairwell, and it's sitting on a table near the doorway of that room, pointed towards the stairwell / centre of the house. given that it has to be in that room, i think it's in the optimum position). its signal has to either go through 2 floors, or follow a slightly bendy route up the stairs and through one wooden door in order to reach me.

i have a 2005 12-inch powerbook g4 (the aluminum one), which is apparently notorious for its crappy wifi antenna. in my apartment, i can get at best 2 bars of signal- not good enough. i've found a couple places in the apartment where the signal kind of works better, but even that's unreliable. previous tenant had a 2007 macbook and he didn't report any net problems, so i think my laptop is mostly at fault.

i guess my options are:
get a stronger antenna for my laptop (i don't know what kind though- suggestions?)
get a signal booster to attach directly to the wireless router, (again, don't know what kind and the guys in the bell store had no idea what i was talking about), or
get a signal repeater and place it halfway through the house, maybe in the stairwell or in my apartment? (again, what brand?)

does anyone have insight about which of these options will work best, and suggestions of where to get whatever bits i need, cheap? i'm in toronto.

thank you in advance.

Powerbook charging troubles

rtha — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:32:20 -0800

Help me diagnose my Powerbook’s power supply woes. I'm running 10.4.11 on a powerbook g4 (1GHz, 768 MB RAM). The trouble started yesterday when I got to work and plugged it in: the light at the site where the cord connects to the laptop doesn't light up, although the indicator in the menu bar says that it's charging. It shows a 95% charge, and that hasn't changed.

When I got home last night, I plugged it in again - I have two different powercords, both the standard Apple-supplied brick kind, one for home and one for work - and the home one does glow (green), but again, the charge doesn't increase. It isn't dropping either, at home or work.

The original battery for this powerbook keeled over in September or October, so it's got a new battery in it. I have googled, but found nothing helpful. So, help?

If Firefox killing the performance of my PowerBook?

Area Control — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:22:54 -0800

Is Firefox churning my Powerbook? When I have more than a few tabs open, I hear (and see- on my little menubar app) heavy hard drive activity. It feels like it gets stuck in some kind of endless swap and the performance of the machine seems to suffer. More importantly, the noise drives me nuts. I suspect Firefox memory management issues. I know Firefox has a bad rep in this dept. Suggestions? Tweeks? Opera?

Mac Diagnosis

vacapinta — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:57:58 -0800

MacFilter: Diagnosing a spinning-beach-ball of Death on a Mac. Every day or two, my older Powerbook (12", OSX 10.4.10) will just hang. I can't access the Finder. I can access some applications but can't start new ones (Icon just bounces forever in the Dock)

I'm comfortable with the Mac command line but most Unix commands hang. If I do a 'ps -aux' for example, just a hang until I Ctrl-C. I can do simple stuff like change directories and whatnot.

Eventually I just do a hard reboot and it all works again. But is there anything I can do to further diagnose this problem either now or when its happening? The machine is otherwise reliable and, yes, I have everything backed up.

Thanks!

Keyboard shortcuts to control monitor brightness in Mac OS X

kenneth — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:28:52 -0800

How might one go about creating a shortcut to controlling monitor brightness with a Mac Powerbook running Tiger (this problem also existed in 10.3) for a Keyspan remote? Simple, right, push the monitor brightness key on the keyboard. Yes, that works -- but I'd like to be able to control the LCD screen's brightness on my Keyspan remote control. One way to do that would be to create a keyboard shortcut in that software to do that. But while the brightness keys are shared with the function keys, there's no way in the Keyspan software to affect the function keys' alternate uses (volume, brightness, Dashboard, etc.) Volume has other work arounds, does anyone know of something similar for the screen brightness?

Laptops: Apple MacBook Pro versus Sony Vaio/Dell/Toshiba. Please help me choose.

davidinmanhattan — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 21:32:43 -0800

It's time for a new laptop. I have very strong thoughts on this subject, but I need your help, suggestions, and guidance. I am using a three-year-old Apple PowerBook G4. Previously, I had a Dell Inspiron (home) and an IBM ThinkPad (work.) Truth be told, I found the Windows machines' interface more precise (easier to highlight a portion of a web page or text,) and, well, I could run MS Outlook. (I love Outlook, and miss the drag & drop, email to appointment functions.)

I love the ease of use, everything just works Apple "lifestyle," but I also love formatting my harddrive, and even switching the Windows GUI to Litestep.

And, I have to admit, I am shallow enough to allow my self esteem to be improved when I am working on my shiny, elegant Mac in public. Also, I live in Manhattan, and have 2 Apple stores closeby (one is open 24 hours a day,) and "TekServe," a full-service repair shop that does a great job. Makes repairs and emergencies much easier and faster.

So, I can get the new MacBook Pro (with the Santa Rosa chip!) and run Windows and Outlook, or get a Sony Vaio, or Dell, etc., and run Windows and Outlook.

Do you have any suggestions? Is there a great Windows laptop you would recommend? For something this important (I am a writer, and could not function without a laptop) money is a non-issue.

Or, should I get the new Apple MacBook Pro? I love the idea of an imbedded webcam, and I plan on getting the new iPhone. There are some Mac-based OS X programs (BluePhone Elite, iSync, AcidSearch, iPhoto, LaunchBar, OmniOutliner, etc.) that I love and might miss.

Is the MacBook Pro faster than a similar Windows laptop? How fast, via Parallels, is Windows? I work extremely fast, am a whiz with shortcuts and key-combos. Even with a gig of RAM now, I find myself waiting for my laptop to catch up. Speed is of the utmost importance, and I would install as much RAM as possible.

Thanks for your help and advice!

I have "Alien" sweat!

Alterscape — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:54:08 -0800

Help me save my theoretical new MacBook Pro from my Sweat of Doom! I own a well-loved 12" G4 powerbook. Over two years of heavy use, the wrist-rest portion of the case has slowly but steadily developed severe "pitting" in the areas where I typically rest the heels of my palms. My glasses frames exhibit the same issue over time and my optometrist tells me it's because I have very acidic sweat and there's very little I can do to correct the problem.

Several weeks ago, the pitting finally annoyed me to the point where I decided to buy a Marware Protection Pack (~$15) for my machine to see if the rubber wrist-rest protector would be good quality, cover up the pitting, and prevent further damage. After less than a month of use, the plastic is developing pitting and cracking of its own in the same places -- I'm almost certain it isn't a material defect because the damage only occurs where I rest my wrists!

I plan to buy a shiny new 15" MBP for grad school later this summer, and I want to protect it from this pitting mess, but the idea of ponying up $35 once every few months to replace a Marware Protection Pack wristrest irks me. Does anyone have any ideas less invasive than "wipe down the metal every few minutes during use" to prevent this mess and increase the longevity of the metal or whatever wristrest protectors I use?

Three Mac questions

joeclark — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:06:05 -0800

Dead hard drive in PowerBook; multiple backups; colour lasers

I have a 12-inch PowerBook whose hard drive died (amusingly, while at a client’s office trying to load their Web site). The system does not recognize the existence of the hard drive even when booted from system CDs (which the machine often will not even do). Do I have to get an entirely new hard drive, or does DiskWarrior really fix problems like these, in your direct experience?
Multiple backups: I have two 300GB external hard drives for two computers (formerly three, obviously). I have less than 600GB of data, but it is segmented into inconvenient lumps from current and former hard drives. Ideally I would like a rotating set of backups (not CDs or DVDs created by Retrospect, a failed option I already tried) on different physical media and, if at all practicable, online. (I’m the kind of person who worries about infopocalypse.) Malarkey is happy with his RAID setup; is that what I need, or do I need two 500GB portable hard drives, or what?
Colour laser printers: Although the price drops are not as shocking as those of inkjets, colour lasers now cost a couple of hundred bucks. I remember when they were $6,000, weighed a hundred pounds, and required gelatinous inks you had to insert and melt.
1. But under OS X, I am not clear on how important PostScript is anymore. Does one really need PostScript in a colour laser? That feature (plus, maddeningly, Ethernet) seems to drive up the price substantially. Anyone have buying advice?
2. I’m also interested in the fumes or exhaust from these machines, as I already live in a neighbourhood with air quality so poor it may be taking years off my life. I remember sitting next to an oldskool colour laser and nearly expiring. Do they produce worse fumes than monochrome lasers?

External Laptop Battery Pack

jwiener — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 20:28:08 -0800

Is there a way to reuse an apple powerbook g4 battery to power a macbook pro? I know that it doesn't fit, but I'm hoping there is some kind of external pack that can accept and charge a powerbook battery but which can power a macbook pro. Any ideas? In november, I bought a core 2 duo macbook pro because my powerbook died. I have 2 powerbook batteries, though. Obvioulsy the powerbook batteries don't fit in the macbook pro. I'm wondering whether or not there is a device which will fit a powerbook battery and which you can plug into the wall to charge and which has a magsafe adaptor on the other end. I know this is a tall order, but I travel a lot and it seems a waste to get more batteries for the MBP if there's a solution that involves my 2 old batteries. Also, are there any other external battery solutions that might have more capacity than a standard mbp battery? One that might be a better buy?Thanks.

Macintosh Powerbook 540c project?

grieserm — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 09:59:02 -0800

What should I do with an old Macintosh Powerbook 540c? I was given an old Powerbook 540c that is in pretty good condition. I have an appletalk-ethernet adapter that fits into the back, too.
Does anyone have any ideas of what I could do (with minimal cost and complexity) with this thing?
It does NOT have a PowerPC upgrade, and I believe it is running OS 7.
Ideas?

Quick fix iMac as monitor for another Apple.

Bengston — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:16:32 -0800

Is there any way that I can easily use my iMac Desktop (Current Intel Model) monitor as a second or primary monitor for my Powerbook using either the wireless network or a monitor adapter? Would using some sort of remote desktop allow me to utilize all the extra monitor space? I just want to use some software that I have on my 12" Powerbook on my friends much larger monitor that is unfortunately also attached to his iMac. Thanks.