# Mac Hardware problem (perhaps power supply?)



## Perishingflames (Sep 21, 2008)

Hi,

I have just experienced a problem with my mac- I was booted in windows, clicked standby, and it restarted into mac.... that was very odd, and I clicked sleep on the login screen once in mac, and oddly enough the screen went black for a split second then turned back on... any ideas?

I have another on-going problem (see here: computer making buzzing sounds) that I think may be related. Both may be caused by a failing power connector (or whatever the terminology is?).

Insight appreciated.

Aaron

Edit: I forgot the computer details.

iMac (not the new kind, the thicker kind, intel core duo) that I bought a couple years ago. Running 10.5.4 in Mac, and the newest Boot Camp update and Service Pack update in windows. 1 GB RAM. Ask if you need any more details.

Also, I have never taken the computer apart, so please do not expect I will know how to do so. If necessary, I can, but preferably not.


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## Perishingflames (Sep 23, 2008)

Update:

I just rebooted into windows (held option key once it started restarting), and oddly enough it restarted quickly, and I didn't hear the usual trademark sound when it came to the choose your startup disk screen. Anyways, I preceded and started up in Windows, and it came to a screen that checked the hard drive for consistency.. which it seemed to run fine and ended up with no apparent errors. So, I logged in, and the final straw: it restarted the computer once I logged in.

Does this help narrow down what the problem may be caused by?

Thanks.


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## DeltaMac (Sep 23, 2008)

What is that 'trademark sound when it came to the choose your startup disk'? There is no sound at that screen. There's the normal boot chime that all Macs make - is that what you are referring to? I don't think it is actually trademarked, but is distinctive to Macs, I suppose.

I think your experience now shows you what you need to do next... Take it to someone who can help you, eh?


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## Perishingflames (Sep 23, 2008)

Yes the boot chime. It was nonexistent.

Edit: I just tried rebooting into Windows again to see if perhaps it was coincidence, and it happened again- went through consistency check again, this time it found a couple errors (said they were truncated?) and then tried to login, and it rebooted again. Maybe its just pure coincidence, but it restarted as soon as my anti-virus client loaded (avira antivir).

I guess I can't use Windows until I get my computer fixed  Hope it doesn't happen to Mac, soon.


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## DeltaMac (Sep 24, 2008)

DeltaMac said:


> I think your experience now shows you what you need to do next... Take it to someone who can help you, eh?



If you have a hardware problem (such as a marginal/failing power supply), your Mac won't be working better, and will likely get worse. 
Are your anti-virus defs up-to-date, and have you done a full virus scan recently? Just having AV software does not help you at all, if you don't keep it up-to-date. There's lots of sophisticated viruses floating around for your Windows, eh?Darn Windows, anyway


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## Perishingflames (Sep 25, 2008)

Yes, my antivirus updates itself each time I login.


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## Satcomer (Sep 26, 2008)

Perishingflames with all your "problems" I URGE you to go and buy Disk Warrior. It WILL help you immensely.


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## fryke (Sep 26, 2008)

on Windows volumes as well?


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## DeltaMac (Sep 26, 2008)

Nope, DiskWarrior won't do anything with a Boot Camp partition, but there's plenty of Windows-challenged disk repair utilities (Win seems to need that help a lot, eh?)


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## Perishingflames (Sep 26, 2008)

Is there a demo of DiskWarrior?

Also, my problem of it rebooting upon login seems to have gone away (we couldn't replicate it at the apple store, and it's not happening now either), but a new problem has arisen (not very bugging me, but maybe its another hint at what's wrong?). When I first boot into Windows, it used to always detect the mouse right away. Now when I boot into it, it takes like 10-15 seconds or more for it to unfreeze the mouse.


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## DeltaMac (Sep 27, 2008)

You want a demo - to see if it works? (it will work, within its design limits)
DiskWarrior is a one-trick pony, it scans and repairs OS X disk directory damage. It does its trick very well, and a lot of folks here will attest to that.
I can't tell you if it will help your situation, and as I said - DiskWarrior won't fix Windows, or Windows hard drive problems. You should run some utility that is written for Windows - DiskWarrior will not help you with Windows disk issues.

Are you having any problems with USB devices when you are booted to OSX?
Do you have any unusual USB devices, such as an external USB hub? Do you have the USB delay with Windows when the mouse is the only USB device attached? Is there improvement when you plug the mouse directly into the USB port on your Mac?


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## Perishingflames (Sep 27, 2008)

Actually, at the Apple store and then back at my house I plugged the mouse into the keyboard, I guess that's the cause of the mouse delay.


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## DeltaMac (Sep 28, 2008)

Could be, but try a different keyboard, too.


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