07-13-2008, 04:57 PM

For the past couple months now, my Macbook has had a tendency of not coming on immediately after I opened it. For example, I would close it to sleep for the night, wake up and open it and the screen won't immediately come on. Well, if I'd tap the space bar or restart it it would work fine. This time, however, it won't respond at all.

I have restarted it a number of times, but nothing happens. The light on the front comes on (so I'm assuming the machine will turn on), but the screen itself won't respond and it doesn't even sound like it's TRYING to run. I have tried to reset the PRAM like the support says, but still nothing happened. It just won't wake up.

I have an appointment at my nearest MAC store on Tuesday, but my biggest concern is whether or not this will have any effect on my files. I have a lot of work on this machine I really can't afford to lose. So what does it sound like it could be, and what are the chances of me losing all my files to this?

07-13-2008, 05:07 PM

b-lizabeth,

Go to Disk Utility and do a repair on your disk permissions and verify the disk for starters. Then if the disk reports any problems, do a disk repair.

While you're at it, go to http://www.santasw.com/ and download Mainmenu. Run it's maintenance an repair scripts and clean the caches to clean up your machine and see if that helps you out any before you go to the Mac store. But it probably won't have any effect on your screen problem.

BTW, I run Mainmenu's Batch tasks every day or 2 just to keep the machine in tune. After you install it, there will be an icon in your menu bar. Go to Mainmenu/Preferences and select all the scripts to run in batch.

I hope you haven't lost any files,

Noel

07-13-2008, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by Noels

b-lizabeth,

Go to Disk Utility and do a repair on your disk permissions and verify the disk for starters. Then if the disk reports any problems, do a disk repair.

While you're at it, go to http://www.santasw.com/ and download Mainmenu. Run it's maintenance an repair scripts and clean the caches to clean up your machine and see if that helps you out any before you go to the Mac store. BTW, I run Mainmenu's Batch tasks every day or 2 just to keep the machine in tune. After you install it, there will be an icon in your menu bar. Go to Mainmenu/Preferences and select all the scripts to run in batch.

I ope you haven't lost any files,

Noel

I would, but I can't get the Mac to turn on in order to download anything or run any repairs.

07-13-2008, 05:11 PM

Hi:

Apparently you haven't been making backups. To be safe, whenever you take the machine in to Apple or an authorized repair depot, always make a backup of your data first.

The best way is to use Time Machine (Leopard) to backup to an external hard drive. External USB hard drives are inexpensive and are excellent for backing up to. Certain software such as SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner can actually clone your data to the external and make it bootable.

But don't worry, Apple will do everything possible to preserve your data if they should have to replace something that would put it in jeopardy.

Regards.

07-13-2008, 06:55 PM

The System Management Controller is an integrated circuit (computer chip) that is on the logic board of the computer. As the name implies, it is responsible for power management of the computer. It controls backlighting, hard disk spin down, sleep and wake, some charging aspects, trackpad control, and some input/output as it relates to the computer sleeping.

Over time, the settings in the System Management Controller may become unusable, which can result in operational anomalies with the computer. Examples include not turning on, not waking from sleep, not charging the battery, or not recognizing the AC Adapter, among others.

SMC reset:

1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Disconnect the AC Adapter and remove the computer's battery.
3. Press and hold down the power button for 5 seconds and then release the button.
4. Reconnect the battery and AC Adapter.
5. Press the Power button to restart the computer.

07-13-2008, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by techound1

The System Management Controller is an integrated circuit (computer chip) that is on the logic board of the computer. As the name implies, it is responsible for power management of the computer. It controls backlighting, hard disk spin down, sleep and wake, some charging aspects, trackpad control, and some input/output as it relates to the computer sleeping.

Over time, the settings in the System Management Controller may become unusable, which can result in operational anomalies with the computer. Examples include not turning on, not waking from sleep, not charging the battery, or not recognizing the AC Adapter, among others.

SMC reset:

1. If the computer is on, turn it off.
2. Disconnect the AC Adapter and remove the computer's battery.
3. Press and hold down the power button for 5 seconds and then release the button.
4. Reconnect the battery and AC Adapter.
5. Press the Power button to restart the computer.

I tried that a few times and nothing happened.

Strange thing is, I can control volume, it will read CD's (i can hear it spinning) and eject them, and the keyboard lighting works. I'm not completely sure, but I'm beginning to think it's more of a screen issue.

07-13-2008, 07:38 PM

Do you have an external monitor you can hook up the MB?

07-13-2008, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by techound1

Do you have an external monitor you can hook up the MB?

No, I don't have the cables needed to do so.

07-13-2008, 07:54 PM

Is it a MacBook or a MacBook Pro? If it is a MBP you don't need any special cables just a DVI monitor.

07-13-2008, 09:17 PM

Originally Posted by babarnette

Is it a MacBook or a MacBook Pro? If it is a MBP you don't need any special cables just a DVI monitor.

it is a pro, but I do not have a DVI