Hello! My name is Lars Schwarz (aka Bitrocker)
I'm a Freelance Web Developer from Oldenburg, Germany
Black MacBook of Death
… it doesn’t seem to get any better. After my first MacBook Harddisk Crash one year ago, three dying Batteries, now my second replacement Harddrive crashed yesterday.
The first (original) Drive was the Seagate Momentus 5400.2 one, the second (replacement) Drive a Hitachi OEM one – both died with the same good-bye Headcrash Sound.
So after all i now got 2 dead Drives and 3 dead Batteries.
Obviously something fishy is going on with the black MacBook…
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Tags: apple, battery, black, crash, drive, dying, hitachi, macbook, momentus, osx, seagate, warranty
Posted in apple, life, osx |
MacBook Battery and Snow Leopard
There are a lot of Discussions recently on “dying” Batteries after installing Snow Leopard.
My Battery Problem started when i bought my first Intel MacBook – the Black one. The first Battery died just after some weeks (X Symbol above the Battery Icon). I called Apple Support and got a new Battery some days later. The new Battery also died some weeks later. Another call at Apple Support, another Battery. Number 3 survived nearly as long as my Apple Warranty lasted.
When Snow Leopard was released i updated my Black MacBook, but did not check for any News on the Battery Problem. Today i did. I was happy when i found a new Battery Update (1.4) on the Apple Support Site. My current Battery has Pack Lot Code 002, so it seemed this update might help. Unfortunately the 1.4 Battery Update is not working on Snow Leopard.
Though Apple did not ask to send back the 2 other Batteries i tried replacing those to see if there is any change with Snow Leopard. Both have Firmware Version 102, Hardware Version 0300 and Pack Lot Code 001. No Change, still the old Symptom.
Putting back in my current Battery (Firmware Version 102A, Hardware Version 0500, 75 Cycles) i suddenly noticed a “Battery wait”. After 5 Minutes the Percentage dropped to 0% and it’s still on “Battery wait” for something like 30 Minutes now.
According to the System Profiler everything looks ok, but it’ still waiting to load…
It seems another Battery bites the Dust.
Looks like these Guys have some more broken Batteries: 15 x broken A1185 on Ebay.
I’m thinking of installing Leopard on a external Drive to apply the 1.4 Battery Update to the 2 old Batteries to see if those 2 might get alive. I’m also thinking of calling Apple Support again, regardless my Warranty expired. Meanwhile the Battery is at 3% Charge (but still on “battery wait”…). If all of these fail i guess i have to spend some more money on a FastMac Replacement Battery.
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Tags: A1185, apple, battery, black, charging, cycles, hardware, macbook, snowleopard
Posted in life, osx |
iPhone Developer Program Enrollment
I registered as iPhone Developer on that Day the SDK was released. On the Day the iPhone 3G was released i bought one. 1+1=2 so on the same Day i started doing some Stuff with XCode and the Emulator but soon i wanted to try some real World testing on my Phone and not on the Emulator so i applied for the Standard Developer Program… Instead of dropping the Program into the Shopping Card i ended up on a Page that told me that i’ll shortly receive Information about my Enrollment Status. What?
I tried again. Same Result.
I contacted the ADC Support via Email. No Repsonse (except an automatic Confirmation Email letting my know they received my Request).
1 Week later i tried again. Again i ended up on that Enrollment Status Page…
Antoher Email to ADC Support, another automatic Reply, another no Answer.
I tried again, but this time not with my existing Developer Account, but creating a completely new Apple Account and “TaDa!” the iPhone Developer Program went into the Shopping Card.
Ain’t it strange? Existing Users get an Enrollment Notice but no chance to buy the Program and new Users can shop it directly? Tsk Tsk Tsk.
2 Comments
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Dann warte ich jetzt mal sehnsüchtig auf die ersten Programme von dir. Beta-Tester? Hier!
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admin on September 17th, 2008
Cert ist heute gekommen, kann also los gehen … i’ll keep you up to date
(Still) no WiFi on a Powerbook G4 running Leopard
It’s been a Problem since i upgraded my good old 12inch Powerbook G4 from Tiger to Leopard:
WiFi Connection drops when moving more than 1 metre away from the Router.
There are various Websites and Forum Threads describing the same Problem, mostly when updating the OSX Install (not doing a Clean Install). I tried nearly all from removing the Airport Startup Preferences Plist File, changing Channels, turning of IPv6 Support, disabling DNS and so on. Latest try was changing the Encryption from WEP to WPA: Still no WiFi Connection when the Powerbook is more than something like 2 metres away from the Router.
Guess my last try will be doing a clean Install, after i backuped all my Data… Thanks Apple for nearly no Support on this Thread.
1 Comment
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PowerBook User on November 14th, 2008
I am having the same problem with my 17″ G4 Powerbook 1.5ghz, 2gig RAM, with a clean install of Leopard. I would love to sell the machine, but I am worried because of the wifi dropping constantly. Please post something if you figure this one out. THANKS!
Did you have any luck getting your battery working via the Snow Leopard route? I’ve had the same problem with my MacBook. Battery was the same lot as yours, except from reading the 1.4 Battery Update release notes it only seemed applicable to battery firmware older than what mine had, so I didn’t try it. Currently I’m battery-less and pondering what to do.