Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with osx and powerbook

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?

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?

Would an Asus Eee running OS X Leopard be faster than my PowerBook G4?

Brian Puccio — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:23:28 -0800

I've got an older PowerBook G4 with a 1.5 GHz CPU and 1.25 GB of RAM. It works, but it's sluggish. I don't expect it to be as fast as my shiny new 24" iMac, but it's slower than I'd like. Would selling it on eBay and buying an Asus Eee (I assume the 1000 model) and installing OS X on it give me a fast machine or about the same? From what I can tell, the PowerBook seems CPU and I/O bound. Programs are slow to load, but are fine when running. I don't heavily multitask since I know RAM is limited. Anytime there is a slowdown/beachball when I'm using a program, I notice that the CPU meter has spiked to 100%.

Primary uses will include: email, web, twitter, coding (nothing compiled, just FTP'd to a server) and serving as temporary storage for photos taken on vacation in the hotel room.

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.

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?

Stubborn powerbook battery won't charge

Rumple — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:49:25 -0800

The battery in my G4 Powerbook won't charge, and I am a long way from any technical help! I have a Powerbook G4 15 inch 1.67. The battery is about a year old and is not one of the recalled ones. I left my computer in hibernate mode while away for a week and when I came back the battery was drained, which is not uncommon. However, now the battery will not take a charge at all. Some relevant symptoms:
- menubar indicator shows 0%,"calculating until full", which never changes
- the lights on the battery do not blink
- depressing the battery button produces the flickering green "battery empty" signal
- the computer will only boot if the PMU is reset, but will soft reboot without that step
- it runs fine with the battery in or out, but of course dies immediately the power cord is pulled out

I have googled around and done the PMU reset and also tried:
command-option-p-r (reset PRAM) (whatever that is) and
command-option-o-f; reset-nvram; set-default; reset-all

One potential confound is I am using an aftermarket power adapter which apparently only puts out 50 watts not the 65 of the stock model. This is preventing me from updating the firmware - it demands 65 watt adapter. However, I have never had a problem with this adapter and it shows as charging.

Sytem profiler:

Battery Information:

Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 3421
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 0
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 9831
Cycle Count: 293

AC Charger Information:

AC Charger (Watts): 50
Connected: Yes
Charging: No

So, any ideas, hive mind? Software, hardware, battery itself? I am in a town (pop. 800) with internet for one day, then back into the bush for three weeks, where I would like to have use of this battery!

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!

Reinstall OS X while retaining Office

6550 — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 15:17:02 -0800

Is there a way to somehow keep MS Office while reinstalling OS X? I just purchased a Powerbook (1.5GHZ G4 12") and I'd like reformat and reinstall OS X (10.4), mostly to get rid of a lot of what the previous owner has on the computer. Things like his user accounts, his music,programs I don't want, etc., but the computer has Office 2004 for Mac installed and it would be nice to keep that. It's been many years since I've used a Mac with any regularity so I'm unsure if what I want to do is even possible. I know it wouldn't really be possible with Windows to do this, since installation of programs involves registry changes and the like and one couldn't simply copy the program folders to a CD/DVD temporarily. But it's been many years since I've used a Mac so I thought it would be worth asking. I failed to turn up anything useful searching here and google.

I know I could install iWorks (included with original software) or Open Office but the one thing I like is Word's Track Changes feature. Open Office does not handle that nearly as well, in my experience with the Linux version, and it doesn't appear that iWorks/Pages 2 handles Track Changes either.

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.

Extending the useful lifetime of a 12" 867 MHz PowerBook G4?

nthdegx — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 15:20:59 -0800

Do you have ant ideas for extending the useful lifetime of a 12" 867 MHz PowerBook G4? The machine, now running 10.3.8 runs noticably slower than it did in its 10.2 days. I'm thinking of reverting. I'm highly tempted to give Mac Ubuntu a try as it claims to run on G3s, so I'm hopeful this will improve the system's performance. Any thoughts on this? Also, any ideas for tarting up the scracthed aluminium shell? Any other thoughts or tips? RAM is already maxed.

Adopted Powerbook G4. Should I sell her?

paxton — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:11:39 -0800

I just adopted a barely used 12” 1.33 G4 Powerbook free of charge. I’ve been a jealous WinXP user for some time and couldn't be happier with my new acquisition, but I’m a little torn over it’s usefulness. Not so much as power is concerned, the cute little bugger will suit my needs just fine as it was pimped out from the factory with maxed out RAM and an 80GB HD, but from a longevity perspective. What does Steve have in store for the G4’s that are getting a little long in the tooth? Is there a timeline in place to phase out the G4’s in OSX? How about third party software, can I expect to see less being developed for the G4’s and 5’s now that the Core Duo’s are here? I know I can push this thing for awhile, but I hate feeling left behind and I’m wondering if ebay might be the way to go and just pick up a new Macbook instead.

This is going to be my primary machine, mostly for writing but with a little light photo and video editing thrown in for good measure. That said, if you really feel the need to tell me how underpowered my machine is I won’t be insulted.

Multiple Mac Migration

j-dawg — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 05:41:32 -0800

Is it possible/advisable/etc. to use Migration Assistant to migrate data to one Mac from more than one Mac? Here's my situation: I recently got a snazzy new laptop for work, and it seems silly to keep my personal laptop. So, I'm upgrading my home system to a new iMac Intel, and selling my existing Powerbook G4 and iMac G4.

As part of this process, I'll be consolidating files and applications from my existing personal machines onto the new iMac. What I want to know is if there's any downside to using Migration Assistant to move files from both computers? (What I'd REALLY like to do is have Migration Assistant automatically consolodate users, but I assume that's not supported... on the other hand there may be third-party tools that do this that I haven't found.)

Looking at Migration Assistant, I can't find any reason why this isn't possible... but I thought there might be folks out there who has tried this before and could advise me of any potential boondoggles or better ideas.

Thanks!

My file downloads in OS X are ending unexpectedly

teem — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 09:13:12 -0800

Lately my computer (Powerbook, OS X 10.4.6, wireless ADSL internet) has been giving up halfway through downloading files. What's going on? I'll start downloading a file and before the file is anywhere near completing, Safari (which I use mostly, although firefox gives the same issues) decides that the file is complete and the download appears as 'completed' in the download manager. I've noticed this downloading both large and small files, and also in pre-loading youtube videos (it goes from, say 10% preloaded to believing it's completely preloaded). The youtube thing I'm willing to put down to website problems, but both problems began at the same time.

Although I can't predict what file downloads will be affected, it's not completely random. That is, if it happens to a file once and I try to download that file again it will give up on downloading at almost the same point (this goes for youtube videos as well). Restarting doesn't make a difference. So, once I have a problem with a certain file, it basically means that file is permanently inaccessible to me.

These problems began about a month ago and didn't coincide with any software or hardware changes that I can recall. My computer is a G4 Al Powerbook, running OS X 10.4.6. My internet is ADSL over a wireless network (Apple Airport).

Any idea what's going on, or how to fix it? If not, what can I do to identify where the problem is?

What is best upgrade for a powerbook G4?

fox_terrier_guy — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 15:08:10 -0800

I would like to upgrade my old 15" G4 powerbook laptop 400 Mhz. I would like to get more speed out of it. I have maxxed the ram out and installed a faster access HDD. What else can I do? Motherboard? Recommendations?

Pesky Powerbook power/pointer problems

lalochezia — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 16:24:42 -0800

Mac NotWorkingLikeItShouldFilter: PB 12”: i) Pointer disappears upon closing mac after connected to video projector/monitor. ii) Battery not registering charge loss – machine shuts down unexpectedly. Haylp! Unrelated Problems:

1) I use an external monitor and video projection a lot – both connect through a little white VGA adapter that fits into the mini-DVI slot. When I remove this connector and shut my mac, it sleeps as designed. When I open it up again, the pointer (desktop arrow) disappears. The only way I can get the pointer back is by resetting (logging of doesn’t do any good) Suggestions to regain the pointer without reset? This happens sometimes without sleep too!

2) I bought a new battery from newer technology. Despite me running it down ad charging it up fresh, the mac never knows what charge the battery has: always displays 100%. Consequently I’ll be using the mac on battery power when BAM! The power to the screen, or worse, the computer will just switch off. I’ve tried resetting the power management unit, and tried running the battery down and charging it fresh (following discharge procedure), but the power indicator always reads 100% when running on battery. Note: when the battery’s empty, the mac seems to know that it’s at 0% and shows it charging up from 0->100%.

I have a 12” Powerbook, G4, 1Mhz/768MB, OS X 10.3.9. All updates installed.

Upgrading a DVD-less Powerbook

vacapinta — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 13:21:15 -0800

How to install Tiger (OSX 10.4) on a Powerbook with a broken DVD drive? So far I've been able to use that Powerbook just fine, getting everything through either the Internet or through an external drive (USB) but now I'd like to actually upgrade it. How can I do this? What are my options?

External audio for Powerbook?

suitcase — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 13:37:25 -0800

I currently use the standard 3.5mm jacks on my Powerbook and would like to upgrade to a nicer set of inputs and outputs. I figure the only way to do this would be a USB or Firewire breakout box that provides a set of higher quality RCA or Coaxial inputs and outputs. Creative brand external soundcards might fit the bill, but these are not compatible with OSX. Is what I am looking for necessarily an external soundcard or are there breakout boxes that appear to the system as just another set of input/outputs? Thanks!

Battery first, then upgrade? Upgrade first, then battery?

logovisual — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 10:55:46 -0800

PotentiallyStupidQuestionFilter: I'm looking to juice up my long-in-the-tooth titanium Powerbook (from March of 2002 -- 667 mHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, 30GB harddrive, etc.) with both a new battery (since the original one now gets approx. five minutes of life when unplugged) and OS X 10.4. Here's the weird question: Should I put the battery in first, and then update the OS, or do the OS update and then swap in the new battery? It might not matter at all, but I know that operating systems do have an impact on battery performance -- is that something I should be taking into consideration, or can I do either upgrade at any time without worrying about sequence?

When will Apple stop supporting OS9?

mark7570 — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 10:04:09 -0800

As a longtime Mac user, I still depend on several OS9 applications for my work. I've heard, though, that Apple's new Macs will stop supporting OS9, which is bad news for me. My goal is to buy the last PowerBook that rolls off the assembly line that still supports OS9 - this way, my OS9-friendly Mac will last as long as possible. My question: can anyone tell me when Apple is making the changeover to OS9-less Macs?

Hardware/software recommendations for MP3 DJing on a powerbook?

rfordh — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 12:21:27 -0800

I want to use my powerbook's impressive mp3 library to DJ portions/all of my radio show. What hardware/software do I need to make it happen? Specifically, should I use Traktor or something else? What kind of external soundcard do I need? What should I avoid? I need to be able to have one track playing out to the mixing board, and upcoming tracks on cue in my headphones. My understanding is that Traktor can handle sending audio on two different channels like this, and that all I need is the external hardware with enough outputs, right? Do I need something like the M-Audio Firewire Audiophile or is there a cheaper solution? Per this question I've been tagging my mp3s with bpm, but it also mentions an external mixer. Would that work as well/better than an external soundcard? Something like the Hercules DJ, or what?

Final hurdle: If I wanted to run the whole thing from the board back into my laptop to record an mp3 for podcasting, could I do that on the same hardware without problems? OS X 10.3.7 on a G4 1.5ghz powerbook with 512MB RAM, btw. Thanks.

UPS and OSX?

xmutex — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 09:20:29 -0800

I have an external firewire drive with like totally important stuff. I've heard that sudden power loss to such a drive could mean catastrophic data loss and global warming and dead children. I therefore have my drive hooked into an older model APC UPS box (maybe this kind). I run OSX on a PowerBook. What are my options w/r/t/ the UPS notifying the PowerBook of power loss and the PowerBook shutting down the drive automatically?

Disappearing Cursor on OS X

You Should See the Other Guy — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 18:11:56 -0800

Disappearing cursor on OS X. Recently my Powerbook's cursor keeps disappearing when I unplug my mouse. It won't reappear (even when I plug the mouse back in) unless I reboot. It's freaking nervewracking. Any ideas?

Thinking of a new laptop. Should I switch to Mac/Apple?

coriolisdave — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 20:37:14 -0800

I'm thinking of getting myself a new laptop to play with. Do I want to switch? [~~Intel~~ More Inside] I don't _need_ a new laptop, but it would be useful to have for home use. I have a Toshiba for work, but if the argument is strong enough it could be replaced with a Mac. I'm a sysadmin for an almost pure Win2k/2k3 network, but most of that work is done remotely (i.e. RDP). I play with some webdesign (teaching myself PHP, etc) but am not a web- or code-monkey. I do travel somewhat, so this beastly heavy Toshy is a pain. I have a PC for (very light) gaming at home, but would like to be able to watch avi's etc on my television from the laptop. I detest IE with a passion unholy, and Opera is having my baby.
Price-wise, the AppleBooks are fairly equivalent to the IBM offerings which I've played with extensively. I like their X-series (particularly the X40) mainly for size/weight reasons (tiny, 1.6kg) and the excellent battery life (6hrs on main batt alone).
In realistic terms, how does a G4 1.33 stack up against the Intel boxen? What's the battery life like on an iBook? Is the PowerBook's battery better? How heavy is the iBook? What sort of gaming performance will they give me? Most importantly, Will the Apple do what I need it to do, and how long will it take me to be up-and-running?

Camino runs much more slowly on my G4 667 TiBook than on the Lombard 333 Mhz Powerbook. I need a good browser.

weston — Sun, 22 Aug 2004 21:55:46 -0800

MacBrowserHell: I just updgraded from a Lombard 333 Mhz Powerbook to a G4 667 TiBook with 1GB RAM. Camino now seems to run dog-slow. And the others have their troubles... Firefox .9 has the same problems it had with .8 -- namely that periodically, it just decides to stop responding to typed urls and/or dialog boxes become permanent fixtures -- and also seems a little less responsive. IE is, well, IE, and Safari, while nice, still has its CSS and Javascript bugs. Also, I can't run it when I have to boot into 10.2.8 instead of Jaguar to do some compatibility checking.

I'm particularly grumpy because the waits have all the signs of being a rendering-related: the progress bar fills up, but then the page doesn't appear for another 30 seconds or so, and in the meanwhile keystrokes slow down, and occasionally the spinning beachball of death appears. Yet I can't imagine this is due to the change in hardware -- I've upgraded processor, processor speed, and memory.

So I'm wondering: does anyone else see this? Does anyone else recall Chimera and Firefox being truly zippy amazements, and now find them burdensome and clunky? Did I just forget to check some box appeasing the cocoa/quartz demidieties? In short, what is going on here?