Seems to be broken :-(

Won't turn on (mostly) but would turn on for the guys in the store... Then wouldn't turn on for me... Then would turn on for my friend. Then would turn on for me... Then wouldn't.

And when I turn it off it says it is... But it isn't off - it is sleeping and won't be woken. I can tell because I can hear the fan still running and see the battery still draining.

Aargh. It is driving me nuts.

Any thoughts on what might be wrong with it?

(YES I am sure I'm plugging it into a working plug. I'm sure because the plug works on other things, I can see the indicator light on the charger turning amber which indicates it is charging, I can see the battery indicator showing that the battery is fulling).

I'm also TRYING to condition / calibrate the battery properly. But I'm worried that I've %#@&#! it up, rather, because when I'm charging it... Then I turn it off to move it... I notice that it isn't off at all it is sleeping - so the battery is still draining. So it has been charging part way and then draining... I'm so pissed off)

:-(

okay, i think i figured it out (blush).

if i close the lid before shut down is complete that seems to freeze it in a sleep it won't wake up from. my other computer used to complete shut down with the lid closed - but not this one. i managed to turn it off properly with a force shutdown (didn't know how to do that) and it turned on fine once it was shut off properly.

fingers crossed that is all...

[Perna]

Ah, new laptop? Yes, you can't close the lid before it's "off" on mine (Dell) either.

I just bought a couple plugs and don't use it "alone" much, just move it between the two cables (one by my easy chair, here, and one over on the table w/the printer, etc.). I only pack and take it for classes or vacations (took it RVing :-) and even then I take the cables, etc.

[Raynaadi]

What kind of computer is it? Boy do I feel ya. I just got a new laptop too and it had a ton of problems. They got fixed though. What OS do you have? Vista? I might just have experienced some of the things you're experiencing. Maybe I can help you. On mine to shut it down you have to go to start and then there's a little arrow that gives you the options to shut down. Anything else just makes it sleep. I think somewhere I saw "closing lid options" or something too. I have Vista. Some of the problems I'm having I've discovered others posting online with the same problems, like it won't hold the screen resolution settings so everytime I start it up I have to reset it. Not a huge deal but annoying. Anyway, let me know more of the specs on your new machine and we'll all put our heads together.

[Cthomas]

Hey just saw this post and had to answer. Im a geek '-)
Did you get it worked out? id love to help if you need it...

any of you that is!
Colleen

[Raynaadi]

Colleen what do you know about Vista resetting resolution settings? It drops back down to 800x600 even thought I keep setting it to 1024x768.

Maybe I should move this thread to technical support.

Hey. I got a black macbook and running Leopard.

> On mine to shut it down you have to go to start and then there's a little arrow that gives you the options to shut down. Anything else just makes it sleep.

Even that makes it sleep. I think it is just that I'm closing the lid before shutdown is complete. Last night... It actually did shut down properly. This morning I started it up and it whirred and the 'on' light went on even though nothing else happened. I force shut down and then tried to start it up again - and it started up alright. I guess I'll see just how touchy it is planning on being over the next couple of days.

Part of the problem is that I have never owned a mac before so I wasn't sure how firmly / long one was supposed to hit the power button, didn't know that front light was an 'on' light, didn't know how to force shut down etc.

I found that this kind of problem is fairly frequent on Mac message boards (maybe on PC message boards too?) Have downloaded the new Leopard update (108mb - about two hours on a wireless connection eep!) which might help. Otherwise, I could try resetting the PRAM and if that doesn't work take it back to the store and get them to check the logic board...

[Raynaadi]

Ah ok. I don't know anything about Mac's.

[(JD)]

Just for one item of information, the newer laptop and notebook batteries do not have to be fully discharged before recharing them; they don't have a memory like the old nicads. Remove the battery and it will shut off

You have a place for setting what you want the computer to do when you 1) close the lid 2) turn it off 3) hit esc and stuff like that. My problem is a nice one, as I have both computers set differently have to fix this too! I don't have Vista on this one yet, but the other, or I would find where I set those for me. TC!

Hey. Yeah, I wasn't sure about whether the battery needed to be conditioned (by doing a couple full charge / discharge cycles) or not. Turns out that not. But you should do one full cycle every month or so to calibrate the computer to the battery so that the computers estimate of remaining battery time / percentage and the computers estimate of how long it will take to fully charge are accurate. I haven't calibrated it properly yet so I get some flickering in the estimate. But... That is okay, I guess.

I will look into the options... I do like it to sleep when I simply close the lid. But when I tell it to turn off then I don't think it should matter whether I close the lid or not - it should turn off!

It is still a bit touchy... Got a series of beeps when I tried to start it this morning. Force quit. Same thing again. Force quit. Then started alright. Will see how touchy it is going to be and if it is going to stay this way I'll take it back to the shop... (have an extended warantee so it is fine to do that).

[Raynaadi]

I know in Windows those beeps on start up mean stuff. They're like a little code, an error message. But I thought Mac was supposed to be more stable than Windows. I would definitely take it to the shop since you've got that warrenty.

Hey.

Took it into the shop today. They seemed impressed that my computer was 'talking' (two beeps - then three). Typically they only try and convey one message (e.g., either two beeps or three beeps but not both).

The problem was a faulty memory stick.

Mac doesn't make the memory sticks, to be fair. But Mac does use Kingston brand as standard, which is something of an endorsement of the quality of their product.

Apparently it is a very rare problem. It is one that I'm happy to meet, however, as it meant that it just took 20 minutes to figure it out and replace the memory stick and now it seems to be perfect.

So... Not a problem with my computer or a problem with my Mac OS :-)