Power Button on iBook G4 Inoperable -- what now?
December 16, 2009 5:56 AM Subscribe
To transport or not to transport, that is the question!
I have an iBook G4 that has been my primary computer for a few years now. It contains the bulk of my 30 GB + music collection among other things. My main computer is now a MacBook. Though the Macbook has a great deal of memory, it doesn't have enough for all my music, so I have yet to get that off my iBook.
A while ago, I spilled soup on the iBook G4 and many of its keys no long work (though I've been able to operate it just fine with an external keyboard). This includes the power on/off button, so I have not closed the screen, put it to sleep, or turned it off for several weeks now.
Now, however, I am heading home for Christmas break and am not sure what is the best course of action to take. I don't mind leaving it at school, but I do plan to acquire an external hard drive for my music (sometimes I've been planning on for a while, just haven't had the funds), so I could possibly bring home the iBook G4 in the car to transfer the music over break. However, I have always been told to close or shut down a laptop before moving it, and it makes me nervous to imagine a 4 hr + car ride in which the laptop could be jolted. Also, its battery life is not that great and it will certainly go to sleep from low battery within two hours.
Is there any way to wake up an iBook G4 without using the power button? I know that shutting the laptop and re-opening it *usually* brings forth the login box, but sometimes it doesn't on the G4. I don't want to bring back my G4 if it means it will enter an eternal sleep.
I have an iBook G4 that has been my primary computer for a few years now. It contains the bulk of my 30 GB + music collection among other things. My main computer is now a MacBook. Though the Macbook has a great deal of memory, it doesn't have enough for all my music, so I have yet to get that off my iBook.
A while ago, I spilled soup on the iBook G4 and many of its keys no long work (though I've been able to operate it just fine with an external keyboard). This includes the power on/off button, so I have not closed the screen, put it to sleep, or turned it off for several weeks now.
Now, however, I am heading home for Christmas break and am not sure what is the best course of action to take. I don't mind leaving it at school, but I do plan to acquire an external hard drive for my music (sometimes I've been planning on for a while, just haven't had the funds), so I could possibly bring home the iBook G4 in the car to transfer the music over break. However, I have always been told to close or shut down a laptop before moving it, and it makes me nervous to imagine a 4 hr + car ride in which the laptop could be jolted. Also, its battery life is not that great and it will certainly go to sleep from low battery within two hours.
Is there any way to wake up an iBook G4 without using the power button? I know that shutting the laptop and re-opening it *usually* brings forth the login box, but sometimes it doesn't on the G4. I don't want to bring back my G4 if it means it will enter an eternal sleep.
Sounds like fantine already has a new computer. I'd ask Santa for a hard drive enclosure and a little drive-ectomy.
posted by advicepig at 7:02 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by advicepig at 7:02 AM on December 16, 2009
All else fails, you can take the hard disk out of the iBook and transfer the music off that way.
posted by wyzewoman at 7:02 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by wyzewoman at 7:02 AM on December 16, 2009
Response by poster: oinopaponton, I'm leaving it in an off-campus house, where the power will remain on for the holidays.
Has anyone tried to re-awake a sleeping iBook where the power button doesn't function?
posted by fantine at 7:08 AM on December 16, 2009
Has anyone tried to re-awake a sleeping iBook where the power button doesn't function?
posted by fantine at 7:08 AM on December 16, 2009
In my experience, my G3 ibook would wake from sleep with a click of the mouse, etc. As well as automatically come back after opening? Is that not the case with the g4?
posted by CharlesV42 at 7:23 AM on December 16, 2009
posted by CharlesV42 at 7:23 AM on December 16, 2009
OS X has features to automatically turn a system on at scheduled times - I have no idea how fickle this feature is. It may be possible to tell the system to attempt to power on at a particular time every day just in case.
It looks like there's also a feature that will start the system up after a power failure. This is under System Preferences > Energy Saver > Options, and enable "Restart automatically after a power failure"
The catch to both of the above is, IIRC, iBooks don't have an internal battery to keep the EEPROM settings, so if the laptop battery dies, these settings are lost. If you're feeling adventurous, you could give these a try - while you do risk not being able to turn it back on, it's better to do so under controlled conditions I guess, rather than find out the hard way.
Sleep/Hibernate can normally be exited by input other than the power button, and a battery that lasts an hour in use should last days and days in either state.
And if worse comes to worse, laptops should survive a car ride while open just fine. The hard drive should enter it's own powersave mode after a set duration (in the above Energy Saver settings, you can change this timer I believe). Once the drive is powered down (or parked, at least), it's mostly safe to move. You can pick up a car charger for the laptop or a universal converter that provides an electrical outlet to keep it powered for the drive. So long as it's sitting on something shock-absorbant such as the seat of the car, or even a carpeted floor, it should be just fine. I've used laptops for years on city buses with terrible suspensions.
posted by Rendus at 9:02 AM on December 16, 2009
It looks like there's also a feature that will start the system up after a power failure. This is under System Preferences > Energy Saver > Options, and enable "Restart automatically after a power failure"
The catch to both of the above is, IIRC, iBooks don't have an internal battery to keep the EEPROM settings, so if the laptop battery dies, these settings are lost. If you're feeling adventurous, you could give these a try - while you do risk not being able to turn it back on, it's better to do so under controlled conditions I guess, rather than find out the hard way.
Sleep/Hibernate can normally be exited by input other than the power button, and a battery that lasts an hour in use should last days and days in either state.
And if worse comes to worse, laptops should survive a car ride while open just fine. The hard drive should enter it's own powersave mode after a set duration (in the above Energy Saver settings, you can change this timer I believe). Once the drive is powered down (or parked, at least), it's mostly safe to move. You can pick up a car charger for the laptop or a universal converter that provides an electrical outlet to keep it powered for the drive. So long as it's sitting on something shock-absorbant such as the seat of the car, or even a carpeted floor, it should be just fine. I've used laptops for years on city buses with terrible suspensions.
posted by Rendus at 9:02 AM on December 16, 2009
A USB Apple-branded (and some third-party) keyboard with a power button will power the system on. There used to be stand-alone power buttons (e.g.: http://www.welovemacs.com/usb-key-bt.html) but I don't think anyone makes them anymore.
A friend of mine used this method with an old G4 tower whose power button no longer worked.
posted by j.edwards at 9:07 AM on December 16, 2009
A friend of mine used this method with an old G4 tower whose power button no longer worked.
posted by j.edwards at 9:07 AM on December 16, 2009
Oh. Forgot one last option available if all else fails:
If it's just the data you're worried about, you can actually turn the iBook's hard drive into an external hard drive by way of a 2.5" external hard drive enclosure. You'd simply disassemble Johnny 5 there, and throw it into an enclosure that can then connect to your MacBook by way of USB (or Firewire if you get a fancy one, and have FW on that particular MacBook). Looks like buying this from your usual Best Buy et al is hilariously expensive ($40 for the first one on BestBuy.com), but if you're able to wait for shipping you can pick one up from NewEgg for $8+shipping. If you have a Fry's or similar nearby, you may find these at somewhat rational prices - I wouldn't pay more than $20.
If you go looking for one of these, make sure you're getting an IDE or PATA enclosure (they're different names for the same thing). More modern systems use Serial ATA, and most enclosures sold in stores will be for these drives.
posted by Rendus at 9:16 AM on December 16, 2009
If it's just the data you're worried about, you can actually turn the iBook's hard drive into an external hard drive by way of a 2.5" external hard drive enclosure. You'd simply disassemble Johnny 5 there, and throw it into an enclosure that can then connect to your MacBook by way of USB (or Firewire if you get a fancy one, and have FW on that particular MacBook). Looks like buying this from your usual Best Buy et al is hilariously expensive ($40 for the first one on BestBuy.com), but if you're able to wait for shipping you can pick one up from NewEgg for $8+shipping. If you have a Fry's or similar nearby, you may find these at somewhat rational prices - I wouldn't pay more than $20.
If you go looking for one of these, make sure you're getting an IDE or PATA enclosure (they're different names for the same thing). More modern systems use Serial ATA, and most enclosures sold in stores will be for these drives.
posted by Rendus at 9:16 AM on December 16, 2009
Other World Computing has a "universal" cradle for $29. See http://tr.im/L9mc (for what I imagine are historical reasons, they are at domain www.macsales.com). I've ordered several times and all their stuff has worked well for me. Rescue your data first, then think about what to do with the remains of the box.
If you are still planning on Latin, I have a dissenting view. Read Ceasar. Get the Loeb pony (at Amazon you'll find it at http://tr.im/L9n8) to read in parallel for orientation, then get an online Latin only version to work translation from.
Why? Julius was writing a campaign biography for political purposes, aimed at the plebes (which is where the votes were), which was not the class with the most leisure for refined and nuanced reading. Thus, the prose is straightforward and lucid. And, because it is a narrative, you get the context you need as you are working.
posted by technocrat at 1:34 PM on January 21, 2010
If you are still planning on Latin, I have a dissenting view. Read Ceasar. Get the Loeb pony (at Amazon you'll find it at http://tr.im/L9n8) to read in parallel for orientation, then get an online Latin only version to work translation from.
Why? Julius was writing a campaign biography for political purposes, aimed at the plebes (which is where the votes were), which was not the class with the most leisure for refined and nuanced reading. Thus, the prose is straightforward and lucid. And, because it is a narrative, you get the context you need as you are working.
posted by technocrat at 1:34 PM on January 21, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
Then I would ask Santa very nicely for a new computer.
posted by oinopaponton at 6:13 AM on December 16, 2009