DssW - MacBook

Cooling Stands - Opinions - Experiences - Comments

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:10:27 -0500

I'm wanting to purchase a cooling stand, one with fans, to place under my
MacBook Pro when I'm "on the road". i'm interested in the positive and
negative experiences people have had with any of the various stands
available.

--
James Leo Ryan ..... Austin, Texas ..... taliesinsoft@me.com

MacBook battery replacement

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:41:58 -0500

I'm looking for a non-Apple (to save $) MacBook battery replacement.
I've so far found only http://store.fastmac.com/product_info.php?cPath=10_4&products_id=151
from FastMac. I don't know anything about them, and they're $99
instead of the $129 that Apple is currently asking, so I'm not sure if
slightly smaller price makes up the uncertainty of buying this
product. Does anyone have any advice or other recommendations? Thanks

MacBook screen dimming

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:02:13 -0500

How does dimming work when you poke the keys with the little "suns" on
them?

Does the fluorescent tube actually get dimmer (thereby possibly
extending its life), or is the dimming done by the LCD while leaving the
lamp at full brightness?

Isaac

MacBook Pro battery hot-swapping

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 05:22:26 -0500

Hello all,

I recently was working on a project on my MBP using battery power, and
had just bought a new battery so I was going to try hot-swapping the
new battery in during sleep mode. I closed the lid and waited for the
Safe Sleep image to be created, then, when the light started
"breathing" to show sleep mode, I pulled out the old battery. The
sleep light went off, and after putting in the new battery, the MBP
woke up using safe sleep.

I was given the impression that the MBP had an internal "backup"
battery for this purpose, to allow hot-swapping without having to
restore with Safe Sleep. Have they removed this feature? I'm using
the June 5, 2007 revision 15" MBP.

Thanks,
Sam

Hot New MBP battery

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:50:34 -0500

A couple of months ago Apple replaced my 18-month old MacBook Pro
battery for free under their battery replacement scheme. At the time I
was only getting about an hour-and-a-half from the battery.

The relevant thread is there:

<http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk.comp.sys.mac/browse_thread/thread/4
8eddd1a02016c6b/50191f5efebe1747?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=battery+danny#50191f5ef
ebe1747>

I'm not happy with the replacement battery though.

Unlike the old one it runs *extremely* hot all the time. SMC FanControl
reports it as between 81-88 degrees C. That's under no real load at all
- with the machine idling, and nothing running to speak of.

I'm getting about an hour's battery life.

Activity Monitor shows nothing unusual.

Propping the back of the MBP up with a pencil or similar to increase
ventilation makes bugger all difference.

But when I take the battery out the temperature drops to 60-70 degrees C
within about 10 seconds.

I'd never experienced temperatures like these with the old battery. With
that one the fans barely used to activate. Now they are on *all* the
time.

Coconut Battery reports it as having 93% of original capacity, but 38
load cycles after only two months. This is probably a result of the fact
that I keep having to remove the damn thing - something I'd *never* had
to do before.

Before I call Apple can others tell me whether these temperatures are
"normal"?

Oh - MBP 15" 2.16 Intel Core 2 Duo. 2Gb. 10.5.3

Thanks

Danny

Sleep issues

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:13:05 -0500

My MacBook Pro (OS 10.4.11) seems to be developing sleep problems.
When I open the lid, sometimes the screen stays dark for up to five
minutes and perhaps longer (I give up). Other times if I don't enter
my password within a couple of seconds the screen goes black and stays
black too. Occasionally, if I shut the lid and wait for the light to
blink slowly (as it does when asleep) and open it then, then all's
well. Other times (like today) the light stayed fully bright (no
blinking) when the lid closed. The problem seems to be worsening.

Any ideas as to what I need to do?

Thanks

MacBook sleep

Tue, 20 May 2008 23:40:26 -0500

Anyone else have the same problem? I'm using my MacBook on battery & let
it sleep then I can not get it to wake without connecting the power
supply, after connecting it says there is plenty of power in the
battery, over 2 hours after the last sleep.

Pete H

MacBook Pro Charger Light

Tue, 13 May 2008 06:13:09 -0500

Frequently, when my MacBook Pro is fully charged, the green light on the
plug goes out. Re-plugging turns it back on, but why does it go off?
Help says it should either be amber or green. Could one of the
connectors be oxidized and should I worry about this?

--
Robert B. Peirce, Venetia, PA 724-941-6883
bob AT peirce-family.com [Mac]
rbp AT cooksonpeirce.com [Office]

USB mouse wake from sleep

Sat, 10 May 2008 04:39:15 -0500

Is there a way to stop a USB mouse from waking a sleeping Late 2007 MacBook
using Leopard?

TIA

sleep indicator light on MacBook

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:11:32 -0500

What does it means when the sleep indicator light is glowing steady (not
pulsing) on a Late 2007 MacBook?

TIA

MacBook Pro fan keeps running (Noisily)

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:08:24 -0500

In the past couple of months, it seemed to me that I was hearing the
fan on my 1 year old MacBook Pro running more and more. Now, it is
seldom quiet.

Just to make sure it was the fan I was hearing, I sat the computer on
one of those freezer beanbags and, sure enough, within about 30
seconds, the fan quieted down almost to (not quite) silence.

Anybody know the reason and remedy for this? I have a feeling that the
MacBook is running hot but don't know why this began to happen.

ANYONE have problems with MacBook Pro and sleep?

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:52:56 -0500

I have a fairly recent "Santa Rosa" Mac, the one about
a year old, an Intel Core 2 Duo with 4 GB of ram.

Suddenly did not want to come out of sleep, black screen
when I pressed the shift key, repeatedly.

Finally came out of sleep all by itself 5 minutes later.

I made certain that all my applications were closed
before I put the Mac to sleep, about 20 minutes before
I tried to wake it.

This a fairly common problem with MacBook pros?

Have not checked the macfixit forum yet.

Mark-

MacBook power adapter...

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 03:47:42 -0500

On 29 Feb, 10:40, flavio_mataniTAKETHISBIT...@mac.com (Flavio Matani)
wrote:

> I've looked for a third party -there seems to exist one, but it ends up
> costing within a couple of pounds of the Apple one and does not look any
> different, so it probably has the same weakness. Does anybody know any
> different/ know of a third party one?

Had to buy another power adaptor for a PB G4 17" a couple of months
ago. The third in four years.

I did research third-party ones, but like you found that the savings
weren't great, and that there were potential problems with them not
supplying enough power to charge and run the laptop at the same time.

If I'd had the time I'd consider the Sale of Goods Act route. But I
ended up just paying for a new Apple one.

Danny

MacBook Pro doesn't like waking up

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:56:52 -0500

I frequently put my MacBook Pro to sleep by closing the lid. Often -
but not always - when I open the lid, it makes a noise like the disk
waking up, but the screen stays dark. I can't find the right buttons
to push to make it light up, and usually I end up doing a hard reboot.

I did a web search and found this page:

http://www.windley.com/archives/2007/10/fixing_macbook_pro_sleep_problems.shtml

I followed its advice and changed the hibernatemode to 0; I thought
that would fix the problem, but it didn't. So, any ideas for what to
try next?

Jeanne

MacBook Pro Battery Life

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:25:53 -0500

My MBP battery seems to be running out of juice more than it did and
Coconut Battery monitor says it is now down to 54% capacity. At what
point is it recommended to change the replace the battery. The machine
itself is 16 months old.

The problem this evening was that I had very little time between the
low battery warning and the machine going to sleep to protect the
battery. This is what I recall happening with my 12" PBook and it
rapidly got a lot worse from that point.
--
Cheers,

Steve

The reply-to email address is a spam trap.
Email steve 'at' shodgson 'dot' org 'dot' uk

Car power for a MacBook Pro?

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 13:40:54 -0500

I had a device for my PowerBook that plugged into the car's accessory
outlet. The MacBook Pro has a different connector. Is there a car
power device for it?

--
Robert B. Peirce, Venetia, PA 724-941-6883
bob AT peirce-family.com [Mac]
rbp AT cooksonpeirce.com [Office]

12-volt car adapter

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:06:43 -0500

I'm seriously considering replacing my Windoze based Dell laptop with a
MacBook. One of the things I do with my laptop is use it as a navigation
device while driving my RV back and forth across the country. I have a 12-
volt adapter that I plug into the 12-volt accessory socket to keep the
laptop perking along for the 8 to 10 hours I'm on the road each day.

I see that Apple offers a product, Magsafe-Airline-Adapter, for powering
the Macbook while flying but Apple warns against using this product in a
car.

So, are there third-party 12-volt car power adapters for the Macbook?

MacBook Pro temperatures

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:55:51 -0500

My 17" MBP 2.6GHz seems to get very hot.
According to Hardware Monitor, it regularly gets readings above 80�C
from the "CPU A Temperature Diode", with the Graphics Processor and Core
1 and 2 trailing by only a degree or so.

Is this normal for one of these egg-frying Intels?

--
Pd

MacBook Pro Battery utility?

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 07:16:02 -0500

Woody <usenet@alienrat.co.uk> wrote:

> Flavio Matani <flavio_mataniTAKETHISBITOUT@mac.com> wrote:
>
> > Ian Robinson <junk@canicula.invalid> wrote:
> >
> > > On Tue, 1 Jan 2008 11:33:53 +0000, Ian Robinson wrote
> > > (in article <0001HW.C39FD5A10001E9D3B01AD9AF@news.gradwell.net>):

<snip info on battery charge from System Profiler>
> > >
> > > Time to dump it in the battery recycling bin.
> >
> > So it would seem. The one in my macbook, which is holding charge
> > 'nominally' for an hour (much less than half as new and it is not an
> > hour, please read on) and which has taken, in spite of PMMU resets, etc,
> > to shutting down without warning when it reads about 25 min remaining,
> > reads:
>
> Sabs lasts longer than that, but it does shut down randomly without
> warning.
>
> How old is yours then? We got hers (or mine as it was) a couple of weeks
> after they were released.

Same here.

--
flavio matani
guitar tuition
homepage.mac.com/flavio_matani/guitar/
www.livejournal.com/users/flavius_m/

MacBook Pro - fan: annoying whirring - distracting to others

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:08:05 -0500

One of the fans on my laptop is ALWAYS on. I am used to it. However,
in the office today it was distracting for many people.

I recently purchased a Griffin Elevator which helps and the base of
the laptop doesn't get as hot.

I am loathed to take my laptop in for repair. I am a photographer - I
need my Mac 24/7. Should I take it to my local service centre in
Milton Keynes or to central London?

Are there any utilities which can be used to over-ride the fan? Are
there any settings in System Prefs / Energy Saver?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

MacBook Pro battery drain while sleeping

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:20:49 -0500

Put my machine to sleep last night with 41% reading on the battery.
Didn't use it at all, up this morning and it's reading 0%. In fact it
initially refused to switch on, though I'm typing using my allegedly 0%
battery right now.

It definitely went to sleep - I had the pulsing LED on the front. Any
idea what could be causing that kind of drain?

(if it's accurate of course - 0% detected but it's still going fine at
the moment and has been for about ten minutes now)

Cheers,
Ian

MacBook Pro spontaneously wakes from sleep after upgrading to Leopard?

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 23:28:47 -0500

For some reason, after I upgraded to Leopard, then whenever I put my
MacBook Pro to sleep, it spontaneously wakes up after some time (can
be from a few minutes to an hour or two.) I don't know why this is
happening, but I know for sure that it's related to Leopard since I
put my laptop to sleep every night (it's in my bedroom) and after
upgrading to Leopard, it started to just wake up a short while after
putting it to sleep.

At first I thought it could be Time Machine, so I disconnected all my
external drives, but that didn't seem to work.

Does anyone know why this is happening?
Thanks in advance!

17" MacBook Pro Battery

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 07:07:16 -0500

My 17" MacBook Pro Battery has swelled to over double its original
thickness. The system is 18mths old.
I am running 10.4.10 and have always kept the updates current.
Has anyone else had these problems? Are they the same issues as for the
recall on the 15" machines?

battery problem

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 11:19:50 -0500

Hi.

Running Mac OS X 10.4.10 on a MacBook Pro 15" (Intel Core Duo)...

When running off the battery: At 40% remaining, the machine goes
black and shuts down completely. There's no warning or low battery
alert. The computer is *not* asleep; a hard reboot is necessary to
bring it back to life.

We have attempted to condition the battery by putting the Mac into
sleep mode until there's no more juice, and then completely recharging
the battery. Despite this, the problem persists.

Does this mean that we need a new battery? Or is something else going
on here?

Many thanks!

--
Art Werschulz (agw STRUDEL comcast.net)
207 Stoughton Ave Cranford NJ 07016
(908) 272-1146

Vibrations, cooler and mac

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:51:35 -0500

HI, I've just bought Belkin one-fan cooler to put under my MacBook
Pro (sometimes it heats up a loooot).
It seems to work, but I noticed that the cooler slightly vibrates with
high frequency and those vibrations transmmits onto the Mac. So I was
wondering whether this can bring any kind of micro or macro damage to
the machine? (Yeah I know this may sound stupid - if it does I
apologize) Any sensible opinions on that?

Also when i'm at it, do you think there is a sense in using the
cooler. I mean the bottom case heats up so much that it burns, but
it's been always like that, so maybe that is what is suppose to be?

Thanks,
Michal

fan won't stop

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 05:24:30 -0500

My Macbook Pro 2.2 core 2 duo has been great until I did the latest Pro
Application Support update. Now the computer runs generally hotter than
it did before and the fan runs non-stop. Running 10.4.10.

Rebooted, reset the SMU, repaired permissions - no change.

Any suggestions?

--
Bobby Owsinski
Surround Associates
http://www.surroundassociates.com

Author:
The Mixing Engineer's Handbook,
The Recording Engineer's Handbook,
The Mastering Engineer's Handbook
Thomson Course Technologies Publishing

MacBook won't go to sleep

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:24:48 -0500

A friend has a MacBook. If it's sent to sleep, it will wake up again
after a few seconds. This happens with the lid closed too.

Any idea what might be causing this?

It sounds to me like some sort of hardware issue.

Daniele

Heating Issues MacBook Pro 17" ?

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 09:31:29 -0500

My Laptop is getting realy hot when playing World of WarCraft.
I checked the firmware version and its seems up to date. (1.18f2)

Is there any chance of damage to the system due to overheating?
The hard drive is also a 7200 RPM which probably runs hot too.

I found a piece of software which claims to help with this issue.
http://81.169.182.62/~eidac/software/page5/page5.html
But the little voice in my head is saying... beware...

Its a brand new laptop. Should I call Apple for support?

Testing Safe Sleep

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:36:43 -0500

I'm about to install some extra RAM in my MBP. I wonder what will happen
if I let it safe sleep, pop the battery, install the RAM and turn it
back on...

Will it restore the state, but not notice the extra RAM?
Will it restore and recognise the RAM?
Will it attempt to restore then crash?
Will it just go through the normal boot sequence?

I'm going to do it in about an hour, so... place your bets... NOW!!!

-zoara-

--
defecation occurs

MBP - Weird electric shock from case?

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 08:41:21 -0500

Was in Greece last week and using the MBP with a three to two pin
adapter when I noticed I was getting a very mild buzz type shock when I
touched any part of the top case surrounding the keyboard. Removing
the mains power or insulating myself (i.e. sitting on wodden chair and
lifting feet) removed buzz effect.

Having now returned to the UK I can no longer replicate the problem so
not sure what could have acsued it?
--
Darren Griffin
PocketGPSWorld - www.PocketGPSWorld.com
The Premier GPS Resource for News, Reviews and Forums