[Buzzneon]

Hi,

I have an 867MHz Powerbook (12") with 640 MEG of RAM that I picked up about 2 years ago. It's been running flawlessly the whole time, no issues at all. Until now...

Occasionally when I wake it from sleep (by raising the lid) the mouse (touch-pad) and keyboard do not function. I can plug in an external USB mouse, and that works fine, but the built-in one is dead. I don't have a USB keyboard to try, so I don't know if that would work too. Putting the machine to sleep and then waking it up again does not fix the problem. My only solution is a reboot.

Oddly enough, this seems like it happens more often when I open the lid while the power is disconnected .. power is usually connected when it goes to sleep. Unfortunately I'm not 100% sure if it's ever happened while waking with the power connected, as I only recently noticed the correlation.

I'm running 10.3.8, with the latest security update.

This problem never occurred before the 10.3.8 update, but it didn't start happening until several days after I updated. I can't be sure that 10.3.8 is the cause, although it does seem likely. I rarely install/remove software, and don't have any OS 'hacks' installed .. System-wise, it's pretty much stock.

I've repaired permissions, and reset PRAM and NVRAM .. problem still occurs.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Cameron.

[Brad]

That sounds like a hardware problem and I doubt there's much you can do yourself to fix it.

Do you have AppleCare? Please say you have AppleCare. You could call up Apple or a local service center and repairs should be covered for free.

Buying AppleCare for any portable is essential.

[psmith2.0]

I don't have any specific advice (beyond what Brad says), but I just wanted to commend you, buzzneon, on a great example of a "how to ask for help" thread.

You named the problem, very specifically. You provided OS version, specifics on your PowerBook, when the problem started, any noticed patterns, your update situation, the fact that you've got no weird hacks installed, you've repaired permissions, etc.

In other words, you didn't do what most here do and say "my PowerBook won't wake up", and then make everyone have to play "25 Questions" to nail the issue down.

And you even gave it a helpful title.

All this on a first post, no less! Definitely NOT the norm. Congrats and kudos!



So many here could learn from your post!

[Buzzneon]

pscates: Thanks for the nice comments .. It may have been my first post here, but I've been posting to online forums (and usenet) since the early 90s - so I know the drill!

As for the problem, I refuse to believe that it's a hardware problem .. I can pretty much reproduce it at will when I wake it up without the power connected. Sometimes I even get a split second of mouse-movement before it freezes. It just smells too much like a driver that's taking a dump.

Are there any usefull logs to check? I have heard that the logs are all cleared at bootup .. is this true?

Is there a way to back out the update to 10.3.8 (I was at 10.3.7 previously)? Just to see if that makes a difference.. (I have the Panther CDs from when I upgraded from Jaguar, could I re-install the CD and revert back to 10.3 base?)

Thanks again,
Cameron.

Buzzneon, after reading your post, it appears I am having the exact same problem with my 867 12" PB. And like you, it has been happening since the 10.3.8 update.

I was playing with sidetrack for a while when al this happened, so I naturally figured it was related to that app messing with my system, so I reinstalled Panther and I still have problems. Unfortunately I did the combo update to 10.3.8 immediately! Doh.

It's starting to look like this is a 10.3.8 issue...

Have you found a solution since your last posting?

I have exactly the same problem with my 867MHz Powerbook 12 inch/640mb ram. I'm running 10.3.8 with the latest security update. For me as well running a clean system, repairing permissions and resetting PRAM and NVRAM did not help. I don't have AppleCare:-(

Please help!

[Brad]

Hmm! That's three all linked to 10.3.8. Have you tried updating to 10.3.9? It's supposed to fix some trackpad issues with newer systems; maybe it'll fix your older one too.

I've updated to 10.3.9 and haven't had this problem for a couple of days now. I hope that fixed it!