[BenP]

I have read this thread and I think my problem is different.

Last night I put my PB to sleep before I went to bed. I usually do this through the Apple menu, not by shutting the case. In the middle of the night it woke itself up and Adium displayed a "You've got mail" type message. I shut the case and went back to bed.

This morning I opened the lid and the screen stayed dark, so I pressed the power button. Nothing happened. Then I noticed that the screen actually was on, just very very dim. Also the CPU was extremely hot - so much so that the palm rests were uncomfortably warm, but no fans were on. My fans have not come on in the five weeks I've had my PB. I shut down the PB by holding the Power button, unplugged everything, and took out the battery. I had had the power cord, a mouse, and headphones plugged in. It took fifteen minutes for the CPU to cool down.

The only thing I can think of is that the graphics update I installed Thursday night messed something up. When I put the computer to sleep Friday night I had Adium, iTunes, Safari, Mail, and iCal running with one window each, and I wouldn't think that would overly stress the CPU (not to mention the fact that the PB should have been asleep).

So...

Is it OK to turn my PB back on? How should I prevent this in the future? Should I call Apple? This hasn't happened before.

Edit: Running 10.4.2, but have never had heat problems with Tiger before now.

[Mac+]

Your PB will work at night time performing maintenance tasks if it is left on ... not sure about the sleep option, though.

I'd say it is safe to turn the beast back on, but try propping it up to provide some ventilation for it. Let the air circulate around the CPU. Also, bear in mind the temperature of the room where you are working.

My old Ti550 is almost the exact opposite. These fans are practically on all the time. In fact, I'm surprised that a) they have not died and b) the damn thing has not flown off the desk on its own yet!

[Franz Josef]

As Mac+ said, Cron (ie maintainance) scripts should run every night during the night as long as the Mac is on and not in sleep mode. What you describe sounds like it could be a hardware issue with the fans. It is odd you have not heard them once in 5 weeks. I would suggest a call to Apple.

In the meantime, this may help - http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...3661&lsrc=osxh - even if it's not the primary cause of your problem.

[gjas15]

Boot into the hardware test portion of your install dvd by holding option when restarting. Run the extended test and see if the fans come on.

[BenP]

OK, I have the PB propped up on a book. I don't like it - very un-Apple. It should be able to sit on a desk without overheating.

Is the trackpad thing a problem for all PowerBooks? So far this has been a one-time thing and I got the impression from the article that the kernel thing was on all the time.

The fans came on as soon as I started the extended test.

[Franz Josef]

Originally Posted by BenP OK, I have the PB propped up on a book.

An iCurve may be a more elegant solution - http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/icurve/

[BenP]

Sure, but the book was free.