fjdouse
UNIX - Live Free or Die
Hi fellow Mac lovers
Bear with me while I rattle this story off:
Since this is a Mac and not some PC, I've only had cause to shutdown a few times this year, mainly when going away overnight on a trip (I mean that as in going somewhere, not dropping acid and watching the floor ripple).
I've noticed sometimes that the Mac had problems finding it's startup drive, (the folder with a question mark came up). Battery I thought, battery!!
But there is another side to this, I had bought a powered USB hub - the disco hub as my friend called it, owing to it's rather fetching multi-coloured LEDs which lit up when something was plugged in, into here I'd plugged my 60GB data disk (IDE drive in a USB 2.0 enclosure). This hub did something quite scary when the Mac was turned OFF - it kept the white power light illuminated - the Mac WAS off though.
This didn't look good to me, a current going back into the Mac and keeping it's LED lit - what else was going on? So I ditched it and now have the drive plugged direct into my Mac instead and the problem went away. I've done two overnight tests with the power off (including to the PSU) and the next day it would start up no problem. Disco inferno was over. I was convinced that the 5VDC flowing back into the Mac was causing a glitch.
Ok, last night in some kind of blurred stupour I turned everything off before bed (I know, I'd normally Sleep the Mac but I was a bit knackered) and today it would not boot.
_______________________________________________
Power on + OPT + C = NO drives listed, no CD to boot from (even though the Tiger disk was in), so it can't even SEE the disks.
Power on + CMD + OPT + P + R (PRAM reset), THEN Power on + OPT + C = Drives come back - SOMETIMES.
It can take upto 30-40 mins to get the Mac to acknowledge it's got disks attached or even the combo drive.
_______________________________________________
OK, here's the beef:
So, does this sound like a battery problem? It did to me, but why would it have problems actually FINDING that it has drives? or is that a normal symptom?
Did the Disco hub, actually damage something? Is it possible, well, yes I guess so.
My mini has just gone out of warranty (FEK!) and I've seen the videos of how to open her up, but that cracking sound is not a sound one should ever have to hear. I guess there is a battery in there, but it's a big step for me to open her up - PC's yes, it goes with the territory, but this a Mac.
I'd just like some opinions, if I need to clarify further then I will, I'd like to see what the consensus of opinion is, either I've damaged something like it's disk controller or it's just a simple case of replacing the battery but I'm not sure myself. Cracking the case open is the last resort. Also I can't help thinking that the Mac has never been off for more than a few days and has virtually been in constant use for over a year, would the battery run down by now? I've had batteries in a PC last a good few years.
Bear with me while I rattle this story off:
Since this is a Mac and not some PC, I've only had cause to shutdown a few times this year, mainly when going away overnight on a trip (I mean that as in going somewhere, not dropping acid and watching the floor ripple).
I've noticed sometimes that the Mac had problems finding it's startup drive, (the folder with a question mark came up). Battery I thought, battery!!
But there is another side to this, I had bought a powered USB hub - the disco hub as my friend called it, owing to it's rather fetching multi-coloured LEDs which lit up when something was plugged in, into here I'd plugged my 60GB data disk (IDE drive in a USB 2.0 enclosure). This hub did something quite scary when the Mac was turned OFF - it kept the white power light illuminated - the Mac WAS off though.
This didn't look good to me, a current going back into the Mac and keeping it's LED lit - what else was going on? So I ditched it and now have the drive plugged direct into my Mac instead and the problem went away. I've done two overnight tests with the power off (including to the PSU) and the next day it would start up no problem. Disco inferno was over. I was convinced that the 5VDC flowing back into the Mac was causing a glitch.
Ok, last night in some kind of blurred stupour I turned everything off before bed (I know, I'd normally Sleep the Mac but I was a bit knackered) and today it would not boot.
_______________________________________________
Power on + OPT + C = NO drives listed, no CD to boot from (even though the Tiger disk was in), so it can't even SEE the disks.
Power on + CMD + OPT + P + R (PRAM reset), THEN Power on + OPT + C = Drives come back - SOMETIMES.
It can take upto 30-40 mins to get the Mac to acknowledge it's got disks attached or even the combo drive.
_______________________________________________
OK, here's the beef:
So, does this sound like a battery problem? It did to me, but why would it have problems actually FINDING that it has drives? or is that a normal symptom?
Did the Disco hub, actually damage something? Is it possible, well, yes I guess so.
My mini has just gone out of warranty (FEK!) and I've seen the videos of how to open her up, but that cracking sound is not a sound one should ever have to hear. I guess there is a battery in there, but it's a big step for me to open her up - PC's yes, it goes with the territory, but this a Mac.
I'd just like some opinions, if I need to clarify further then I will, I'd like to see what the consensus of opinion is, either I've damaged something like it's disk controller or it's just a simple case of replacing the battery but I'm not sure myself. Cracking the case open is the last resort. Also I can't help thinking that the Mac has never been off for more than a few days and has virtually been in constant use for over a year, would the battery run down by now? I've had batteries in a PC last a good few years.
