Personal computing discussed

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paco
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Powerbook problems

Sun Dec 09, 2007 8:02 pm

Ok, I've got my girlfriends 1.5ghz 15" powerbook g4

It's hard drive failed once and was replaced. (possibly more I'm not sure i wasn't around then ;))

Right before it's warranty was up I had it sent in through GSX and got the lcd, keyboard, logic board, and hard drive replaced. Not sure why they replaced the hard drive. Anyways, It came back and it would randomly, but constantly freeze up and do the spinning wheel. I thought it just needed a reinstall but after the first one got messed up (it was going slow and I accidentally unplugged the firewire) it couldn't find the hard drive again. I tried to repartition but disk utility couldn't recognize it.
Although the warranty was now over I sent it back into Apple and all they did was replace the hard drive again(It took about 3 weeks). It came back and about a week or two later did the same thing. It would freeze up and do the spinning wheel on just about anything. The hard drive then slowly stopped being detected. I'm currently trying to get Apple to replace the whole thing but I'm not personally doing it so I don't think it's going to well. I'm just wondering what might be causing it so if apple isn't any help I can try to fix it myself.
I'm guessing maybe the logic board is bad? or hopefully it's just the cable that connects the hard drive?
 
derFunkenstein
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Sun Dec 09, 2007 9:03 pm

Wow, man, that's a rough spot.

Some Powerbook G4's had a problem with the "upper" memory slot losing its memory (losing its mind?) and when memory was plugged into it, doign other weird nonsense as well. Do you have the machine in hand where you could try it with RAM in just one slot or the other?
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paco
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Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:07 am

Ya I should have said I already tested both sticks of ram by them selves and both in different slots.
 
paco
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Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:11 pm

Good news after a month Apple has decided they will try to repair it again.
 
derFunkenstein
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Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:01 pm

oh, good. Hopefully they actually do it this time.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
Nitrodist
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Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:40 pm

Did you get the AppleCare thing (or whatever) when you bought it? Maybe you can still replace the entire thing in one go under that.
Image
 
derFunkenstein
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Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:27 pm

Nitrodist wrote:
Did you get the AppleCare thing (or whatever) when you bought it? Maybe you can still replace the entire thing in one go under that.

Depending on when it was purchased, it could be out of its 3 year warranty by now. 1.5GHz PowerBooks were top-of-the-line in April of 2004. It could still, conceivably, still be covered until October of '08 as they hung around the product line for quite a while, though. It certainly SOUNDS like it's not covered just by the way he's talking. It's just not necessarily that he didn't buy AppleCare.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
paco
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Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:29 pm

Well she got it through our school and some how it had only an extended warranty of 1 year so the warranty expired in August since the laptop was originally purchased in August of 05.
 
paco
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Fri Jan 04, 2008 8:45 pm

update:

Machine came back from repair, the hard drive and cable were replace.

Computer would not turn on at all......

I tried to get the people at school to have it replaced, no luck, they said to send it back in for repair.

I called Apple, and after 50mins on the phone, I got them to replace it. I'll ship the old one out asap and when they get it they'll send me the macbook pro to replace it.

In the end it just shows why Apple will never get into the Business arena, they treat their consumers way better than their business customers.
 
sid1089
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Fri Jan 04, 2008 8:59 pm

Hey, at least after all that trouble, they are sending you a macbook pro, and not some refurbished G4 or whatever.
 
derFunkenstein
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Fri Jan 04, 2008 9:26 pm

sid1089 wrote:
Hey, at least after all that trouble, they are sending you a macbook pro, and not some refurbished G4 or whatever.

I agree, that's actually pretty nice.
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
paco
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Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:29 am

ya i'm not complaining ;)

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