Screen freezes: Hardware or software?

S

snipper

Registered
Yesterday the screen of my Mac suddenly froze. I restarted, but it happend a dozen times since. I tried the usual [zapping PRAM, zapping it multiple times, using Apple's disk utility for X].

I'm using OS X 10.2.3 on a 1st generation Titanium Powerbook. The weird thing about it: my 2nd monitor keeps working fine all the time, just like the rest of the Mac.

While I'm typing this, the other monitor has 'jammed' again and I'm wondering: Is this a hardware or software problem?

If you have had simulair problems, please let me know how you solved them?

Regards,
Leon Buijs
 
Having a similar problem here with my ibook. Kernel panics wont stop and the machine's screen keeps on freezing.. I don't know what to do..
 
I had 'freezing' problems with the logic card of my iBook - I don't know how it behaved if I had an external monitor but it simply froze, froze and froze. In the end up to 50 times a day. For the ibook, could be worth looking http://discussions.apple.com and there iBook / (maybe also Powerbook?) display. You'll find the descriptions of how it looks or behaves if it's that. Oh, a scary frost screen - that's how t ended often looking like with that logic card. For the Powerbook, I guess there are other alternatives as well. It took about 10 days to change the logic card, luckily enough it was only a few months after getting the iBook (=I cannot estimate the price). But good luck solving the problem. :)
 
The link you gave to the 'scare frost screen' clearly displays a kernel panic ? that's something else: in this case just the screen freezes, not the cpu.

The discussions forum of Apple is quite big, which story to you mean?
 
No Chevy.. I am allergic to all M$ stuff, my hands get a nasty allergic reaction ... but if I remember right, I was already Chimerized when that freezing started to happen :p
 
Looks like :(. How often does that happen? Do you have Apple Care in your TiBook?

At least they will fix the Mac in your country - mine was sent to Netherlands only to be fixed. :)
 
I don't have Apple care. When was yours send to the Netherlands? In which country are you?

I hear Dutch Apple-owners who say their TiBooks were send to Germany for repair.
 
It was sent from Italy to Netherlands. They said they would fix that only there. It was in September. I wish I could give you some kind of estiamate of how much it'd cost to fix it... :( Tell once you'll know?
 
Yes, please. Do you mean you don't know it yet? Don't you received a bill yet? Or didn't you get it back yet?
 
No, I mean that mine happened after a few months' life of the iBook. So Apple paid.

By the way - I don't know about Netherlands laws - in Italy every computer or cell phone that you buy - has a 24 months warranty, or if it's less the seller is breaking the law. Here it has been so since the end of June of last year (or maybe from March?), so even if in Apple documents it'd be (it is probably still) written that it's 12 months, according to the EU laws you are now entitled to 24. That makes now less sense to have Apple Care. (But e.g. an iBook that was 1600 $ in US half a year ago, cost in Europe 2200 $ with the same configuration)

When did you buy your 'Book, and was / is that law applicable in Belgium on the time of purchase?
 
I heard about these european laws, but I can't find any documentation about it, do you? I live in the Netherlands by the way, not Belgium.
 
Ups. I don't know why I said Belgium, sorry, a lapsus.. I hope someone here knows since when has that law been applicable in Netherlands. Otherwise - the only thing I can say about repairing laptops was that half a year ago, fixing a peecee laptop - to only have a look on what was it problem, was about 50 €, so to have a look on a Mac is probably around 100 € .. Maybe someone in that Apple discussions thread knows how much it will cost to repair? I don't believe they were all in warranty. :(
 
Are you sure you haven't updated to 10.2.4? My TiBook (First generation 500 MHz) has Kernel Panics every 10 minutes or so since updating and it keeps forgetting one RAM DIMM if I don't zap the PRAM... This looks like a terrible system build.
 
Yes, I updated to 10.2.4, but I havn't had a kernel panic since 10.1, over half a year ago. Believe me, this has nothing to do with a kernel panic.

I had this 'melting screen' problem, even when I started up from the OS X cd, to use the disk utility, to repair rights.
 
Then it must be hardware and there would be no way around bringing the thing to a repair center... :/
 
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