03-24-2004, 09:56 AM

I think my brand new powerbook is a lemon. When I first got the powerbook, I noticed an issue that popped up whenever it went to sleep. Upon waking up, whenever I would begin to type, the letters would be Greek letters and I would have to restart to get it to type normally. Now that I'm uploading my music & photos I'm noticing other problems. After ripping about 5 CDs to iTunes, my computer would would refuse to resolve web pages. When I went into Finder>Netork I would see that it was still connected. Also, at one point, it couldn't find my iTunes library! I freaked! But after I restarted the computer my iTunes library was once again accessible. My iMovie also crashed after I tried to make a movie! I'm very upset cuz I've been drooling over this machine since last September & have been dying to switch from my dinosaur of a PC. I've been lurking on various Mac forums & have never seen anyone with these kinds of issues.

Since I got the machine, I've always repaired permissions after downloading a new update or program. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Can anyone provide any insight or should I just go back to Compusa & exchange it? Please help!

03-24-2004, 10:35 AM

back up everything and format in my opinion

if that doesnt fix it, you might be looking at a logic board problem.. but it seems to be the os... might wanna fresh install it

03-24-2004, 10:37 AM

What version of the OS are you running?

03-24-2004, 11:07 AM

Ok, I think I'll try to backup & reformat before I take it back. I just bought the computer this past Friday, March 19th so I was planning on exchanging it for another Powerbook. I'll give reinstalling the OS a try to see if that will fix it. Right now I'm running OS 10.3.3. Thanks guys so much for your input!

03-24-2004, 11:49 AM

Be sure to wipe the disk clean (clean install). This is ti ensure that you don't bring any problems into the fresh install.

03-24-2004, 02:48 PM

And just for kicks, run repair permissions, Finder, Applications. Utilities, Disk Utility. After the message -getting disk information- select volume (below the hard drive name -upper left corner. Just highlight it. Now look to the lower two things are there near the middle, varify permissions, repair permissions. Click repair permissions

03-24-2004, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by vgurl

Since I got the machine, I've always repaired permissions after downloading a new update or program.

Originally Posted by witeshark

And just for kicks, run repair permissions,

She already has been.

03-26-2004, 10:05 PM

Newbie question here, but what is "repair permissions" and where is it located?

03-27-2004, 12:47 AM

Repair Permissions fixes various things that go wrong over time; Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility, it's one of the buttons there.

03-29-2004, 07:36 PM

Just an update, I returned the other powerbook and finally received the new one from Compusa today. It's from a shipment that the 5th Ave Compusa just received. I had been unable to return it when I had initially wanted to last friday b/c every Compusa was out of stock until today. Luckily, I checked their stock this afternoon b4 I left work just in case & they had just gotten them in.

First thing I noticed was that it didn't come with the iLife CD, it instead came with 2 software install/recovery disks. When I booted the machine, I saw that Garageband was already pre-installed. The other thing I noticed was the latch on the notebook was better than the latch on the 1st one I had. It clicks readily into place unlike the other one which didn't seem to completely catch. So far, it seems as if this computer doesn't have any of the sleep issues the other one had either. I let it fall asleep and upon waking up it typed normally. I'm so glad that I returned the other one!

Thanks to everyone who provided their feedback when I first experienced problems. I really appreciate it! I hope to give back on these forums when I'm not such a newb!

03-29-2004, 09:58 PM

So glad to hear your back and uptime with a trouble free powerbook! To keep it running well:
repair permissions. After every software update, and about every 2 weeks: close all apps and log totally off. Log on, go in Finder, Applications. Utilities, Disk Utility. After the message -getting disk information- select volume (below the hard drive name -upper left corner). Just highlight it. Now look to the lower two things are there near the middle, varify permissions, repair permissions. Click repair permissions. Also make sure you run cron tasks Finder, Applications. Utilities Terminal type (switching to root - superuser) sudo sh /etc/daily > this needs to be done /weekly (instead of dailly) and monthly. again with all apps closed. Have fun!

04-04-2004, 07:17 PM

Thx for the good advice everyone! I just got the AE base station & my new powerbook is working perfectly. Yay!

04-06-2004, 06:05 PM

sorry, press the wrong key. delete this..