Kitsuria Network
Gaming Arena => Gaming and Technology => Topic started by: Manda on Nov 14 2004, 08:51 PM
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Common cures for an ailing Mac[/span]
Delightful a computer as the Mac may be, there are times when it won't cooperate. Here are the symptoms and cures for the Mac's most common problems:
[span style=\'font-size:14pt;line-height:100%\']Symptom: The Mac won't start up.[/span]
Cure 1: Check the power switch to be sure that it's not off. Even if it appears to be on, flick it back and forth a couple of times.
Cure 2: Plug it into a power outlet.
Cure 3: If the Mac is over 6 years old and you don't use it a lot, the RTC battery may be dead. If so, you can have it replaced for you by Apple for $49, or you may just drop in to a local Radio Shack to pick up an RTC battery.
Cure 4: If nothing else works, contact Apple -- either by phone, by taking it into an Apple retail store, or by contacting them via the Web.
[span style=\'font-size:14pt;line-height:100%\']Symptom: The Mac displays a floppy with a question mark when it starts up.[/span]
Cure 1: Reset the PRAM, it may be confused. To reset the PRAM, hold down Command+Option+P+R until you hear the Chimes of Death, and then restart (you'll get the normal startup chime).
Cure 2: This symbol can also appear if the Mac's hard drive was formatted with an incompatible utility -- for example, if you've partitioned it with a disk utility. If this was done, use a Mac OS install CD to reinstall.
Cure 4: This symbol can also indicate a dead hard drive. If nothing else works, contact Apple.
[span style=\'font-size:14pt;line-height:100%\']Symptom: The Mac displays a bomb icon.[/span]
Cure 1: Restart the Mac by pressing Command+Control+Power for 6 seconds until the Happy Mac appears.
Cure 2: Try booting with no extensions. Hold down the SHIFT key while booting.
Cure 3: Your Mac may be locked up. To unlock it, reset it by holding down Cmd+Ctrl+Pwr for about six seconds.
Cure 4: This logo can mean a bad Finder or System file.
[span style=\'font-size:14pt;line-height:100%\']Symptom: The Mac displays only a mouse cursor in the top-left corner.[/span]
Cure 1: Try resetting the PRAM (hold Cmd+Opt+P+R until death chimes are heard, then press Cmd+Ctrl+Pwr for 6 seconds.)
Cure 2: Try re-seating any RAM or VRAM. Sometimes mis-seated RAM may cause this rather than a Sad Mac.
Cure 3: Check the SCSI termination of your hard drive(s). A non-terminated SCSI drive may cause this.
[span style=\'font-size:14pt;line-height:100%\']Symptom: The Mac plays a 6-note chord (called the Chimes of Death).[/span]
Cure 1: Try re-seating any RAM, VRAM, PDS, or NuBus cards.
Cure 2: Reset the PRAM. Sometimes it only takes a PRAM zap to get a Mac working again.
Cure 3: Check SCSI termination of drives. Make sure two devices aren't sharing the same ID number in the chain. Remember, only 7 devices are allowed on a SCSI chain.
Cure 4: If none of the above works, then your Mac needs to be sent for repair.
[span style=\'font-size:14pt;line-height:100%\']Symptom: The Mac displays a sad Mac icon with an exclamation mark.[/span]
Cure 1: If the first line of the error code ends in F, that means that the system file may be corrupted. Re-install a fresh system.
Cure 2: If the first line ends in anything besides F, then try re-seating RAM and/or NuBus cards.
Cure 3: The RTC battery may be dead. Send the computer to Apple for repair.
Cure 4: This can also indicate a motherboard failure. In that case, you need to send for repair.
[span style=\'font-size:14pt;line-height:100%\']Symptom: The Mac's screen gets dark after about 15 minutes of operation and there is a weird text line on the screen.
Cure 1: This is the MacsBug debugger. This pops up if a program crashes. This is normal operation.
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Don't forget teh floppy icon can also mean that you don't have a hard drive, as with older macs liek the early Plus and SE modles.