So I've just fended off the Grim Reaper from my Mac for at least another day. I've got an old PowerPC G4 with an Apple Studio Display that, on and off for about four years, has tended to go into permanent sleep mode whenever I was up for more than a few minutes. The only way to wake up Sleeping Beauty was to turn the entire computer off and then back on again, manually.
Today I noticed the always-alarming smell of burning plastic and, while I sniffed around frantically behind the computer, the monitor went black. I shut the whole thing down, unplugged everything, and hauled the fella to the middle of the room and opened him up. The scary plastic smell was much stronger in there, and it was very hot inside.
I went to out local Mac place, which isn't an Apple Store but rather an independent place called Mac Outfitters. I'm a nice girl, and smart, but those people there always end up making me feel like an idiot child. They pressed me to buy a $200 500G external hard drive, which I can't really afford. I went to Staples. The clerk there was sort of on the other end of the spectrum. He quickly led me over to an aisle of hard drives. "We don't sell Macs here. You might want to go over to Mac Outfitters," he said in a sort of panicky voice.
Finally I bought two cans of compressed air and left, with plans to visit Best Buy later tonight. I gently sprayed out the scary circuity guts of Sleeping Beauty, dislodging, amongst other things, this behemoth:
Those cans of air get really cold! I had to find a glove to wear while I finished up.
For now, things are up and running. But I'm starting to think it's time to invest in another computer (sorry, fella) along with an external hard drive. Nothing here is backed up. And I know that spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R.
UPDATE: *As* I was uploading my photos for this post, the monitor died again. That was around 4 PM. It's now 11 PM. I'm sitting here in front of my brand new 22" LG wide screen. Tasty.
UPDATE #2: Nope, still problems. I think it's my video card. The mac keeps pooping out after a few minutes of working. Not shutting off, just going to sleep. Any ideas? Any free computers?
UPDATE#3: So it keeps happening with more and more frequency. My narcoleptic computer. What do you think is making this happen? I've set the energy saving to 'never' to no avail. Pressing the power button lightly wakes it back up again, and the longer I let it 'rest', the longer it stays on before falling asleep again. Blast and dash it all.
Today I noticed the always-alarming smell of burning plastic and, while I sniffed around frantically behind the computer, the monitor went black. I shut the whole thing down, unplugged everything, and hauled the fella to the middle of the room and opened him up. The scary plastic smell was much stronger in there, and it was very hot inside.
I went to out local Mac place, which isn't an Apple Store but rather an independent place called Mac Outfitters. I'm a nice girl, and smart, but those people there always end up making me feel like an idiot child. They pressed me to buy a $200 500G external hard drive, which I can't really afford. I went to Staples. The clerk there was sort of on the other end of the spectrum. He quickly led me over to an aisle of hard drives. "We don't sell Macs here. You might want to go over to Mac Outfitters," he said in a sort of panicky voice.
Finally I bought two cans of compressed air and left, with plans to visit Best Buy later tonight. I gently sprayed out the scary circuity guts of Sleeping Beauty, dislodging, amongst other things, this behemoth:
Those cans of air get really cold! I had to find a glove to wear while I finished up.
For now, things are up and running. But I'm starting to think it's time to invest in another computer (sorry, fella) along with an external hard drive. Nothing here is backed up. And I know that spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R.
UPDATE: *As* I was uploading my photos for this post, the monitor died again. That was around 4 PM. It's now 11 PM. I'm sitting here in front of my brand new 22" LG wide screen. Tasty.
UPDATE #2: Nope, still problems. I think it's my video card. The mac keeps pooping out after a few minutes of working. Not shutting off, just going to sleep. Any ideas? Any free computers?
UPDATE#3: So it keeps happening with more and more frequency. My narcoleptic computer. What do you think is making this happen? I've set the energy saving to 'never' to no avail. Pressing the power button lightly wakes it back up again, and the longer I let it 'rest', the longer it stays on before falling asleep again. Blast and dash it all.
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Re-installing the OS using the archive and install option brought mine back to life when it started to exhibit the sleep disorder.
What kind of G4 do you have?