15" Powerbook G4 Superdrive

[DoubleDay]

What are some common reason why I would get the SPOD (Spinning Pinwheel of Death)? I notice that when if I'm looking at some files in FINDER, sometimes it will show up and just spin.

After I do a FORCE QUIT, the laptop still is not normal, which will require me to just shut the whole thing off.

Is there something I can check to see why my laptop is doing this, and is there a better way of getting rid of/away from the SPINNING PINWHEEL OF DEATH?

Thanks!

 

[ElDiabloConCaca]

If you have the habit of just shutting the whole thing off by holding down the power button, pulling the power plug or removing the battery, then you're probably causing a lot of software damage on the hard drive.

UNIX is finnicky about how it starts up and shuts down. Important processes and procedures are done during startup and shutdown, and if those procedures are interrupted or bypassed, you can hose your entire system (losing EVERYthing) in a matter of seconds. I would recommend getting out of that habit very quickly.

The first thing is to make sure your disk is in good health. Have you repaired permissions and repaired your disk recently? It sounds like you've got some small problems or corruption that may be easily fixed with a simple disk integrity check (using Disk Utility). If it reports errors, run it again.