I'm going to tell a tale of my adventure over the past couple of days. I hope that you can glean several Tips out of this story...Here goes..

Sunday night my PowerBook G4 developed Narcolepsy. I noticed that it happened after I hooked up my PowerBook to a Cinema Display that I was testing. I hooked it up, the Display worked fine and then I disconnected it and returned the PowerBook back to my desk and plugged in the power cable. I then went on about my evening and watched some TV (Good Sopranos episode). When I was done for the evening, I decided to bring my PowerBook upstairs with me as I always do. I couldn't help but notice that the PowerBook was asleep. I know that doesn't sound odd, but my PowerBook, although it's set to sleep after an hour or so, never does on its own. That's just a problem I've been living with on my last 3 PowerBooks. I figure it's some app/start up item I run that keeps it from falling asleep and gave up long ago trying to figure out what it was. When I close the lid it does sleep and that's all I care about.

So I woke up my PowerBook to check email and do a couple things on the web before going to bed. While I was typing, the PowerBook went to sleep! Bam all by itself. I thought, "did I forget to plug it in?" When I woke it up, it was fully charged. A few seconds later, bam sleep again.

I went through all things that we always tell you to do on this board: I restarted, I shutdown and booted up, I logged in as a different user, I zapped the PRAM, I reset the PMMU. No matter what I did, I could only get about 10 seconds of use out of it before it would sleep again.

I figured that it was going to need repair! I searched Apple's forums to find out of anyone else was having this issue and found this thread. To make a long story short, it seems to be common problem with the heat sensor in the Trackpad reading over 150° and putting the PowerBook to sleep as a safety measure. Of course the trackpad is not actually getting that hot, it's just a bad sensor.

Now I'm in need of a repair and since I use my PowerBook as my main Mac the first thought went through my head was, when was the last time I did a SuperDuper backup? I use SuperDuper to backup my Hard Drive to a portable Firewire hard drive every Saturday. However, I didn't do it this past Saturday and couldn't remember if I did it last Saturday either. I didn't want to be two weeks behind. I knew that there was no way this PowerBook would stay awake long enough to run the backup. So I went into McGyver mode and started thinking of ways around it. I thought I could temporarily remove the hard drive, put it in a case and back it up that way - nah too much work! Then I wondered if the heat sensor would kick in while it was booted in Target Disk Mode! So I restarted the PowerBook holding down the letter T. This puts it in a mode so that it can be connected to another Mac as a hard drive. It worked! I waited a minute or two and it didn't shut off or sleep (I don't think it can sleep in this mode).

I then dug out my older PowerBook 17" and connected the newer PowerBook to it as a hard drive. It showed up on the desktop just fine. Now I needed to connect my portable hard drive up. Keep in mind that the PowerBook G4 only has a Firewire 400 and a Firewire 800 port. The 400 port was taken by the other PowerBook. Luckily my Portable drive was Firewire 800. However, if it wasn't I had a Belkin Firewire 800 to 400 cable for just such an emergency. So now both drives were connected to the PowerBook. I wanted to run SuperDuper and clone from the PowerBook that was going in for repair to the portable drive. However, SuperDuper was not installed on my older PowerBook. No problem, I downloaded a copy again. Oops, no registration code! You already know where it was! It was in an email on the sleepy PowerBook. Spotlight to the rescue. Since Mail keeps it's messages in individual files, I was able to run spotlight and search for "SuperDuper" kind:email message and it found the registration code. I opened up the file in the copy of Mail that was on the old PowerBook and was off and running doing my clone.

30 minutes later
The clone completed fine and now I had a complete up to date backup of my computer that needed repair. Best of all it was a bootable copy so that I could use it boot my old PowerBook to continue working while my newer PowerBook was in the shop. I wanted to do one more thing. I wanted to create an account so that the Apple techs could login without having to give them access to my main account/password. I figured I could just keep waking the Mac long enough to get this task done. I rebooted the PowerBook under my main user and created a new account in the System Prefs. Guess what? No more sleeping problem! It stayed awake the whole time. However, I couldn't trust it. I use this Powerbook for presentations and I can't have it decide to start sleeping in the middle of a presentation.

Off to the Somerset Apple Store
Yeah for ProCare and AppleCare. I set up an appointment and went over to the Genius Bar, before leaving the house I brought up the Console App which recorded every emergency sleep so that they would see it for themselves. After an hour of testing (even with my log), the genius determined that there was nothing wrong! The problem was gone just as quickly as it came. I was still skeptical, but there was nothing I could do. So I decided to take it back home and run it hard for a couple of days to see if it would start happening again. In the meantime I had already started using my backup system. When I left the store the genius left it on the log on screen. When I got home, I plugged it in and opened the lid. Before I could pick my account and log in - IT WENT TO SLEEP! ARGGGGGGGGGGH!
I just closed the lid and figured I would take it back in the next day and let them keep it!

This morning I was working on my backup system and noticed that there was an update to The Missing Sync (they went Universal - Yeah). I downloaded it and went to install it when I realized that I never deactivated it on my other PowerBook! Yikes! I hadn't deactivated Creative Suite, After Effects 7, The Missing Sync or the iTunes Music Store! Luckily I hadn't made it back to the Apple Store yet. Man what a fight it was trying to deactivate all those apps with the PowerBook going to sleep every few seconds. I got it done and I'm headed back to the "genius" bar today.

So lessons here:
Back up Back up Backup
Remember to deactivate software that requires activation before taking your computer in for repair (I always forget this one). If they have to replace the logic board, chances are your activated software will no longer work without a call to each manufacturer's customer service.
Create a "Apple Repair" user account NOW! It's easier to do it now while you're not having problems. This way they have an account that's clean to log into and do testing without you having to give them your main password and account.

Followup: I took the PowerBook back to the Apple Store today and it exhibited the random sleep behavior for the Genius. He ordered a new top case (which has the trackpad heat sensor in it) and a new logic board.

I will let you know when it's done.

quote:

Create a "Apple Repair" user account NOW! It's easier to do it now while you're not having problems. This way they have an account that's clean to log into and do testing without you having to give them your main password and account.

Question. Would not the repair account need to have administrator access level. How would that keep the repair guys out of your user area?

Look like it time for a meeting topic

BACKUP ____ BACKUP____PUKCAB.....BACKUP.

With that meeting we should have / show all the hadware and ways to backup and why. I know it's mentioned on the iBBS a lot but it seems to drive home in a meeting. It may take a full meeting but a good half hour would be ..enligthing.

External hard drive with CCC or SD as a door prize?

Your thoughts sirs and madams

I too was at the Apple Store today and picked up my iBook. It was there for 2 weeks due to some SNAFUs, even with ProCare. My backup on an external drive was huge. I just plugged it into my iMac G5 and was in business. That backup data was vital.

Of course, I didn't mind at all that I had AppleCare. The $1000.00 cost was totally taken care of. There was also some concern about my charger which had been getting very hot. Before I could leave the store, the Genius came over and handed me a new charger and apologized for the delays.

Frequent phone calls kept me informed of the problems. Two weeks without my laptop and I walked out of there with a grin on my face. It could have been a disaster, but the backup, AppleCare and nice folks at Somerset made it much less painful.

I debated whether or not to give my Apple Repair account admin rights and I ended up calling them first to see if they would need them. They said yes, so I did. I figure that with admin rights they would actually have to start screwing with permissions to get to the other user's data on the drive. Sure they could do and change it back. However, it's more likely that a tech would peek at something that's right in their face (logged on as you) as opposed to going through hoops to do it.

To be totally safe you would need to remove your documents from the drive after backing it up so that there is nothing to look at.

As far as a backup meeting goes, I'm up for it. It's an IMPORTANT topic, but also a boring one. Perhaps it can be part of a another smaller topic. I like the idea of a backup drive and SuperDuper as door prizes though.

Hard Drives always make good door prizes! You can never have too much storage or RAM.

quote:

Originally posted by Calvin:

quote:

Create a "Apple Repair" user account NOW! It's easier to do it now while you're not having problems. This way they have an account that's clean to log into and do testing without you having to give them your main password and account.

Question. Would not the repair account need to have administrator access level. How would that keep the repair guys out of your user area?

Look like it time for a meeting topic

BACKUP ____ BACKUP____PUKCAB.....BACKUP.

With that meeting we should have / show all the hadware and ways to backup and why. I know it's mentioned on the iBBS a lot but it seems to drive home in a meeting. It may take a full meeting but a good half hour would be ..enligthing.

External hard drive with CCC or SD as a door prize?

Your thoughts sirs and madams

If it was a heat issue, could you have just shut down until it cooled off - during your emergency backup session. There have been a few rare (thankfully VERY rare) times when my Pismo (G4 upgrade) has gotten a little cuckoo from heat. Turning it off until it cooled did the trick. I don't think it develops as much heat as I hear discussed with more recent laptops, but I always leave it open after shutting down to be sure the heat dissipates before closing the lid.

Obviously, the manufacturing flaw in Terry's laptop had to be corrected, but would this have helped at the beginning of the problem?

Yes, if the heat issue was a real heat issue.

The issue was the sensor giving off bad data. The PowerBook wasn't that hot at all. Also it did sleep (cool off) all night and immediately upon waking it up the next morning (before the 1st trip to the Apple store) it starting sleeping right away and logging the error messages in the console app.

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Jo Disler:
If it was a heat issue, could you have just shut down until it cooled off - during your emergency backup session. There have been a few rare (thankfully VERY rare) times when my Pismo (G4 upgrade) has gotten a little cuckoo from heat. Turning it off until it cooled did the trick. I don't think it develops as much heat as I hear discussed with more recent laptops, but I always leave it open after shutting down to be sure the heat dissipates before closing the lid.

Obviously, the manufacturing flaw in Terry's laptop had to be corrected, but would this have helped at the beginning of the problem?

quote:

As far as a backup meeting goes, I'm up for it. It's an IMPORTANT topic, but also a boring one.

I always wondered why something so vital is regarded as boring. Also it's just taken so lightly. At work, backup is one of my primary functions, but nobody really cares or thinks about it or me...till ... they need something restored .... oh yeah ... now it means something ... and they want to be your friend... and you become their friend till they get their files back...then you return to obscurity again. The phantom in the night. - Rant ends -

There must be a way to make this more exciting? Hmmm .... ???? Too bad we don't have someone experiancing a real life failure. I will have to ponder this. It's really important that people understand the value before the heart ache.

I got an idea!

"People helping people get the most out of their Macs"

Have I heard this line somewhere before?

Calvin, I agree. It's a vital operation that far too many computer users take for granted.

I back up my PowerBook weekly via SuperDuper to have a COMPLETE bootable clone.

I back up my PowerBook every night via Apple's Backup (a part of .Mac) to my iDisk to backup vital files that need more frequent backups.

I back up my Server using SuperDuper EVERY night at 3AM. (Scheduled Backup) I have two removable drives that I swap between via a Safe Deposit Box at the bank.

Carla, Ayoola and my iTunes iMacs (the User folders) get backed up every night via Chronosync over the network to the Server.

So as you see I think it's important!

As the saying goes: "There are two kinds of computer users, those who have lost something and those who are about to."

My backups have saved my butt on more occasions than I can count.

However, other than the few minutes it takes to talk about the apps involved and the hardware involved, then it's just a matter of watching progress bars.

Important - absolutely! Exciting - no!

It's ranked right up there with Insurance Seminars

quote:

I got an idea!

"People helping people get the most out of their Macs"

Have I heard this line somewhere before?

I just looked at what I wrote at the end and I blended 2 items together that just comes across wrong.

The slogan popped into my head and I wrote it down. I has nothing to do with the backup subject.

I make it a point to always do a complete, bootable mirror backup before doing any system updates or upgrades. It's rare that I've had a problem, but knowing that I can roll back to a working system is worth everything. I had a major problem going from Panther to Tiger on my iBook. That bootable backup saved a lot of hours of work and blue air. And I keep duplicate backups of my main computer. I've had backups go bad.

Back at worrying about a tech going through personal data. I have two encrypted disk images on my computers. One for personal data and one for business. I mount these images when I need them and eject them whem I'm done. This way friends, family and even a tech can use my computer without getting into info that is 'off limits'.

Just so you know. As a business owner tech, it doesn't pay to go through personal data. The time it takes is more valuable as "billable time"

As a formerly employed tech, you have a quota to meet or you don't have a job. so, you still don't have time to go through all the files.

If you're worried about personal data, burn them to a CD if possible and delete them from the computer. If it's not possible, then you're too late anyway.

Got my PowerBook back from the Apple Store this evening and all seems well. It's great to have my main Mac back in operation. AppleCare paid for itself once again. To replace the top cover it would have been a $350 repair. My total $0.