[HOWTO] - Use your Powerbook lid closed

The PowerBook you have will work just fine in the scenario you describe, and heat should not be an issue as long as you don't cover the computer with anything or block ventilation ports while using it with the lid closed.

The reason that closed-lid operation generates more heat (or appears to generate more heat -- the amount of heat generatedis the same as if you used it with the lid open) is that some (not all) of the PowerBook's heat venting is done through the keyboard. With the lid closed, this obviously blocks some of the heat ventilation through the keyboard, but it's safe to operate in this mode with the PowerBooks. The iBooks should not be used like this.
 
greetings, everyone. my name is frankie, and i just got my first mac... i've had PC's since i was a little kid, but decided to get a powerbook 12" (g4 superdrive 1.33ghz) to build my first wearable computer. i'm using an eyetop display (see eyetop.net), and have a frogpad one-handed keyboard in the mail... for the time being i'm using an iSight as my camera (head-mounted). yeah, i guess that makes me a little strange. anyways...

i just tried the method that was mentioned here, but unfortunately it only works when the machine is plugged in!

of the "solutions" out there, there's NoSleep -- which doesn't work because it can't download a patch?... then there's insomnia -- a kernel patch which only works for four minutes under panther, till ApplePMU (power management) kicks in and shuts down the computer. i'm using this for capturing video, and the computer just shuts off after 4 minutes, without closing the file it's writing to, resulting in quicktime not even being able to open the file when i reboot... someone made an interface for insomnia called sleepless which doesn't work either. the insomnia project page says that the ApplePMU problem is specific to 10.3 -- so maybe i should just downgrade to 10.2? does anyone know if that works?

one more solution involving blocking the magnetic connection made by the lid and the magnet sensor that's located directly under the right arrow key (on 12" powerbooks)</a>.... the author of this says: <i>
On my 12" aluminum PowerBook, the sensor is on the right palmrest under the right arrow key, and there is a magnet on the lid in the corresponding position. Take a thin flat piece of steel, say 1" by 0.5" (a big paperclip works for me) and stick it to the magnet on the lid, then close the lid. The metal blocks the magnetism, and the PowerBook will not sleep!</i> sounds good to me, but i haven't been able to reproduce this yet. i'm thinking about getting some sort of magnetic shielding material that's thin, but haven't come across anything yet - and it hardly seems this could be the best solution.

as you can see by the volumes i just wrote on this, i'm going nuts trying to figure this out! so any help would be appreciated... very much so!

thanks.

...frankie g (2 days deep in mac os x and lovin' it)
 
10.2 most probably won't even boot your new Powerbook so I think you're stuck with 10.3. What you're doing sounds cool though, sorry I can't help much more.
 
damn! i guess i'll either have to find some way to keep the laptop open at about 10 degrees or so while it's in my backpack (sounds at least as dangerous as keeping it shut!), or figure out how to block the magnet... the solution suggested (block it with a piece of metal) doesn't make sense to me, since anything you stick to a magnet joins the magnetic field and acts as a magnet as well (at least that's what we learned in first grade?... haha)

once again, any help would be appreciated -- and thanks to whoever changed my post to include proper links - i didn't realize you coudln't use html till after it was too late.

...frankie g (still loving his mac, even though it won't behave how he wants it to)
 
To all those wondering about the bluetooth keyboard issue:

I know people previously mentioned the bluetooth keyboard can wake the powerbook, but when I was looking into it on other sites, there was some confusion. Different people I talked to at the Apple store even told me it worked or didn't work. So, now that I have my configuration set up, I wanted to set the record straight.

The bluetooth keyboard/mouse can wake the computer fine (plugging in/removing any USB device will also wake it). This assumes, of course, you follow the procedure correctly (plugged into AC and monitor). To get it to work you need to check "Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer" in the Bluetooth preferences. This option is only available with the builtin bluetooth module, or the Apple supported DLink USB module. If you have a supported device and the option is still grayed (as it was on my 1yr old 12" PowerBook), you probably need to update the firmware. I believe the internal bluetooth needs to be at least 1.1 (current version is 1.2).

Now that I have it set up, works perfect for me. The fan blows straight out the back, so I haven't ran into any heating issues. The only reason I could see for jury-rigging another kind of setup would be if you needed to run it without AC, for some reason.

btw: Bluetooth is awesome. Highly recommended
 
I've got a friend who managed to do something to his PowerBook (Al, 12 inch, 1.33GHz) screen, so that about a third of it is unreadable -- and it'll cost $1000 to repair. I'm thinking of taking the computer off his hands for a few hundred dollars, if I can use it screenless as a pseudo-mini.

It sounds like in normal operation, I can easily run it using an external monitor, but what about in unusual cases, such as if I want to boot off a DiskWarrior CD to repair the disk, or boot off the Tiger installation CD when it arrives? Or even if I restart or shut the computer down and start up again? Will the PowerBook automatically use the second monitor if it's connected and the lid is closed, or will it insist on using the internal monitor first, until I put it to sleep and go through the lid-closed process?
 
Giaguara said:
This seems to be asked quite often, so from kb ..

How to use your Powerbook lid closed.

1. Connect a USB keyboard and mouse to your computer.

2. Close the computer's display to put the computer to sleep.

3. Connect the Apple VGA adapter that came with your computer to the VGA port on the external monitor or projector.

4. Connect the other end of the Apple VGA adapter to the video output port on the PowerBook G4 (12-inch) and PowerBook G4 (12-inch DVI) computer. (Or relative to other sizes of Powerbooks.)

5. Wait a few seconds and then press any key on the external keyboard to wake the computer.

Should be working now. :)
Click to expand...


is this actually a feature of the pb's, or just something you can do anyway?? will it void any guarantee, say if it overheats and damages the screen for instance...?

alex.
 
When I run my 17" powerbook with display on and my external 20" cinema display on also, the temp of the cpu runs consistently at about 116 degrees farenheit, with the occasional 119 degree spike. When I close the powerbook and continue using my external display, cpu temp is consistently around 99 degrees fahrenheit. So this pretty much proves heat not being an issue in my opinion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top