Ok... so the little mystery stuff is starting...

Let me preface this with the fact that I don't shut down my machine often. I let it go to sleep and then I wake it up to use it. I don't know if that has anything to do with these things or not.

I am bringing these here because I would love to have some seasoned Mac users guide me through this and give me opinions.

Here goes:

1) Remember my on-battery-power wireless NIC dropping signal issue? Well, I noticed on Friday that it wasn't happening any more. I have *no idea* why. Weird. I just decided to enjoy it.

2) So, an hour or so ago, I was sitting on the couch with my laptop when my neighbor comes over. I closed it and set it down for a while. When I went to pick it up, it wouldn't wake up, and I noticed that it wasn't breathing (that's what I call the slowly pulsating LED by the button to pop the lid open - it's rhythmic and almost in time to my natural breathing rate). I thought since the thing had been in use for over a couple hours, maybe the battery was low or something. I got my A/C cord and plugged it in, but it still wouldn't wake up. I did a forced shutdown and rebooted. I did get a quick "OSX has restarted after an unusual shutdown" type of message (sorry, don't remember the exact wording now). Computer seemed to work normally so I thought maybe it was a fluke.

3) Fast forward another 30 minutes or so. I was using the machine on A/C and watching TV, so it went to sleep. Only it did the same thing. Wouldn't wake up and not "breathing". Same thing, did forced shut down/reboot. This time, I did NOT get the OSX warning about the weird startup/bad shutdown. So I decided on a fluke to go ahead and check for software updates.

I haven't done ANYTHING out of the ordinary in the last few days. Haven't installed software or anything. I checked my power saving features and nothing looks out of the ordinary. I have screen saver set for 5 mins, screen sleep for 15 mins, and computer sleep after 25 minutes.

I can't tell if my machine not waking up is just the screen or not. It certainly appears dead and I don't feel the drive vibrating.

The *ONLY* things I have noticed differently in the last few days are:
a) I can occasionally hear the backlight. You know, those of us superheroes and ninjas with supersonic hearing? (Meaning, I can hear the TV hum, lightbulbs, etc., and can usually hear LCD's.) I didn't notice it before, but it's not terribly annoying or disturbing (meaning it's not as loud as my hubby's Dell LCD).
b) I have noticed (since I have rebooted a few times now today) that my printer driver/control software seems to be taking a little longer to load than it used to. I only know this because I open my web browser and it takes a few seconds longer to respond than it used to because it's waiting for the startup stuff to load first (brother printer control center stuff, wireless NIC, etc.).


All that long story to say, does anyone have any idea of things I can check? And how to check them? I'm still fairly Mac illiterate. I'm learning but I certainly dont' know how to do everything on my Mac like I did on my PC yet. Of course, I used Windows for at least 13 years or so (basically ever since it came out) so I'm still learning where everything is on the Mac.

I love my Mac though. It's wonderful!

 

Awesome, hopefully it stays that way now. Have you did an update lately or something? I know there was a recent security release, who know it mightvt somehow helped.

Strange, if it keeps doing it, you might wanna get a hold of Apple or ask on Apples Discussion forum.

Ok, now lets hope you actually made those accounts that we tell everyone to make such as a dianosgtic account, if you did do that, go into it and use the computer for a bit and let it go to sleep, if it does the same thing than, it's probably something to do with hardware.

Well looking at what you said so far, do what I said above and test that out, if it continues than something is definitely wrong with something, and you'll have to contact AppleCare.

 

Not sure if it helps, but you might try running the Apple Hardware Test. Instructions here:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303081

 

Thanks, Zadillo. I will go ahead and do this. I did create several accounts on the machine - one for Admin, one for regular use and one for diagnostic stuff... so I'll get on it after I'm done playing with my computer for the evening. At the least, I should be able to figure out if it's hardware or software related.

Thanks! I'll be back sometime tomorrow!

 

I didn't do the SW update until this evening, after all these issues. I'm not sure how often we need to do them, but I just check whenever I remember.

 

Why didn't I think of that. Haha. Yeah, make sure if you do get an error write it down word to word, as when you call AppleCare they'll ask what the code was or whatever.

I believe software update is all set default to check once a week anyways.

 

Definitely. I've even got a pencil and paper handy.

 

Cool, good luck. Just to clarify, the Apple Hardware Test is actually something you boot into from the DVD (the same DVD used for software restore, etc.). So you don't need to worry about using a specific account or anything; it will just boot into the hardware test and you'll be able to run it and at least get some idea if there are any hardware problems.

-Zadillo

 

Well, I haven't run the hardware test, but I've narrowed it down a little more.

I went into my other, non-used diagnostic account, and still experienced the problem...

And it seems as though I cannot shut the lid. EVERY single time I close the lid, it won't wake up. In fact, it IMMEDIATELY won't wake up. Meaning, I shut the lid, wait one or two seconds, and the reopen. It will NOT wake up.

And I'm noticing the backlight louder and louder. I am going to run the hardware test. I hope SOOOOOO much that this is not a hardware problem. *sigh* I love so far from the apple store and don't want to have to send it in.

AND I need to back up. Ugh.

Thanks, you guys. I'll be back sometime today after I run the hardware test.

 

Well, even if it isn't a hardware problem, it definitely sounds like something is wrong with it.

 

Don't know if this still holds true on newer Macs, but on my iBook if I was having issues I would repair permissions before I did anything else. As simple as it sounds, it seemed to resolve about 90% of any oddities I would experience (which were rare). Good luck.

 

Yeah this seems to be recommended a lot, however it wouldn't make sense in this case as she used a limited account that had no affect on the other accounts she used to see if the same behavior happened. IF anything is going to happen to permissions, it'd only be to the ones she has the power to change such as her home.

The diagnostic account is acting the same way, and this account is unaltered, so its obvisually a hardware problem, most notiabily a LCD screen one. Run that test and write down what it says, it's time for you to call AppleCare.

 

I'm not so sure. If the symptoms occurred only with the lid open or only with the lid closed, I would be more inclined to believe it to be a hardware problem. Since it happens regardless of the lids position, something is telling it to power down rather than sleep. That makes me think it must be a software/kernel/power management issue.


Essentially you're saying that it has to be hardware related because there's no way that a system update or installed application can affect System libraries or permissions. I don't believe that is entirely correct. I've always run two accounts (admin and user), and not all application installs (or system updates for that matter) behave as they should and can affect things system-wide. Some of them do, after all, ask you for an Administrator password in order to continue. They ask for it because they DO impact more than just your own home directory. Good example is graphics driver updates which alter kext files and such. Heck, I've had simple iTunes updates throw permissions all out of whack. I know that Unix based systems are more secure due to their compartmentalization, but it's not out of the question that something may have been changed from the normal user account.

I guess all I'm really saying is that I wouldn't tell her to simply throw up her hands, not try and repair permissions and call Apple Support right away as you are suggesting. It may not help, but it can't hurt anything either, that's for certain. And who knows, it may save some headaches.

 

Maybe you should go back and read what she said a bit more closely, it only happens when she closes the lid, it won't turn wake on, so it is a hardware issue. Not to mention shes starting to hear her backlight making noises.

Plus, you should wait a bit longer than a few seconds, before opening it up again anyways. Mine doesnt wake up immediately either if I do it that way. It still wakes up though.

 

Well repairing permissions is a nice thing to try but I agree with xbandaidx, unfortunately this looks like a hardware problem - in fact, I suspected she had a defective logic board since the wifi issues.
Apple Support most probably will tell her to repair permissions and run the hardware test anyways. If she lives near an Apple Store I'd try a genius, it might save time.

 

I don't think it's really powering down as much as it's entering the twilight zone. When I power down, the LED by the lid release button is OFF. When this problem occurs after shutting the lid, the LED remains on, but dim. No "breathing", just dim.

I'm going to back up tonight and then run the diagnostic, then call Applecare. I'll come back and let you all know how it goes. Thanks for all your insight. I'm thinking that xbandaidx and Wooky are right - it's acting like a hardware problem.

 

Make sure you backup your plists as well, as those are what contains all your information such as Mail, iCal, iTunes setup information. I personally don't know if external harddrives or whatever back them up as well considering they are hidden files.

iBackup is a nice freeware program that does back those up for sure.

 

If I use iBackup on my external drive, will it make the drive inaccessible to my husband's PC? (Yeah, I know to un-mount the drive now... )

 

Oh, and do I need to backup my user accounts separately? Do I backup from my regular account or my admin acct?

 

Well, I would imagine if your using a limited account, it would be the only one that you have settings on that are important to you. So just that one?

No its not going to change the filesystem format of the drive, its just gonna backup the stuff to a folder on it. The drive should most likely be Fat32, which OS X has no problem with.

 

Thanks! I've got a little work to do this evening. I'll be back!

 

Now, I don't recall but did you get Apples APP?

If you did they give a nice CD that has TechTool Deluxe, which is a hardware testing suite for running within OS X, it's pretty nice and gets the job done with ease. It also checks all video circuitry to make sure its working correctly.

If not, Just use the one on the OS X Install Disk.

 

found this, perhaps it will help:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464