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hatim · Sep 3, 2006, 06:38 AM

Heres the list of problems in the order they were discovered on my macbook.

1. Whining
2. Discoulouration

Yes I know these are known problems. But then more serious problems have started happening.

3. Parallels keeps crashing every 2 mins (I.E the VM just shuts off)
4. Boot Camp refuses to burn CDs properly. (It burns them and after checking it shows some 0005 error and fails. They CD's don't work nor can I copy the install.exe to my hard disk)
5. Video Problems in Windows. Internet explorer not displaying images properly.
6. Some icons in OS X artifacted.
7. DMG's don't mount sometimes (until restart)
8. Screenshots wont show up until I restart sometimes.
9. Idisk won't ever unmount

Its a pity that Mac OSX has given me more problems in 2 months that windows has ever given me. I first need to make sure if its a hardware or software issue. I have lost my installation DVD not thinking I would ever need it so soon. I'm really pissed

To add to that, Ive seen the beachball icon more than windows ever showed its busy icon!

Any suggestions?

seanc · Sep 3, 2006, 06:50 AM

This sounds like hardware and I'd point my finger STRAIGHT to the RAM. Bad RAM would cause application problems AND because of the shared memory for the graphics card would cause artifacts too. How much RAM do you have?
If you've upgraded your RAM, try going back to the stock Apple RAM.

hatim · Sep 3, 2006, 06:54 AM

i have 1 GB cheap upgraded RAM.

Now my wireless airpotrt icon has disappeared from the menu. how do i get it back? I will run memtest to see if thats th prob.

seanc · Sep 3, 2006, 06:57 AM

Do you not have your old RAM? Just pop it back in and see if things stop going crazy. The dissapearance of your Airport icon either means things are getting corrupted due to bad RAM or that you're having a massive hardware failure.

hatim · Sep 3, 2006, 08:24 AM

I switched the RAM. Problems 7 & 8 have not surfaced as yet but parallels still crashes, boot camp won't install ever since I reinstalled it. The Wireless icon is not back either. The time icon disappeared aswell but I managed to bring it back.

Ive also being having some other problems which I forgot to put in the list.

1. Sometimes, the macbook just stops responding and fan turns of at full speed. I have to hard reset to reboot it. This is by far the most serious problems.

2. Candybar software crashes whenever I select applications.

This is getting ridiculous! Should I send my macbook to apple?

harrisjamieh · Sep 3, 2006, 08:30 AM

I would say do a fresh install of the OS, but the new problem you posted about the machine stop responding and fans coming on at full speed suggest it must be a hardware problem.

Have you got all your software up to date, including the new SMC firmware update?

If so, contact Apple. If the MacBook is under a month old, demand a replacement. If its not, then you are going to have to accept a repair on the machine.

hatim · Sep 3, 2006, 08:38 AM

I would definately have I tried an OS reinstall but Ive lost my DVD. The problem of the computer failing to respond has happened 6-8 times in 3 months.

analogika · Sep 3, 2006, 08:43 AM

You definitely should try a reinstall with the intact RAM.

Installing stuff while you're running on defective RAM can and will result in defective installs.

seanc · Sep 3, 2006, 08:43 AM

Well Apple will make you try to re-install the OS so i'd suggest you have a real good look for it.

hatim · Sep 3, 2006, 08:46 AM

I definately do not have the DVD. My mom threw it away thinking it was junk.

...Im lucky the apple store is a mere 5 mins drive from my place. Ill go check them out in an hour and hope they are open on Sunday. I'll ask them to fix the problem and with that take of of my staining problem aswell.

hatim · Sep 3, 2006, 10:07 AM

As far as I can remember, most (if not all) problems have followed the firmware update. Is there anyway to reverse this update?

seanc · Sep 3, 2006, 10:08 AM

Nope. Take it to Apple.

hatim · 01:14 PM

Today, me whole screen was artifacting when I applied some pressure to the palm rest. This happened thrice and OS X 10 said that the computer has to be restarted. Then it failed to boot. I replaced the RAM to the original and so far so good.

Any idea where I can get Adata RAM RMAed?

I replaced the RAM and so far so good.

I have installed the 1GB ram into my dad's vaio and am going to run 10 passes of Memtest followed by 24 hrs of Prime 95 to make sure if the problem was indeed the ram.

seanc · Sep 5, 2006, 01:31 PM

Good Luck. OS X saying it needs to be restarted with a greyish backdrop is a kernel panic which are usually due to Ram. I can't see how applying pressure to the palmrest would fix anything, it used to flex the case on older iBook G3s and push the graphics chip back onto the logic board but I don't think that fix applies to any recent portables.

hatim · Sep 5, 2006, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by seanc

Good Luck. OS X saying it needs to be restarted with a greyish backdrop is a kernel panic which are usually due to Ram. I can't see how applying pressure to the palmrest would fix anything, it used to flex the case on older iBook G3s and push the graphics chip back onto the logic board but I don't think that fix applies to any recent portables.

Sorry for being unclear. Actually the artifacts came when I applied pressure on the palmrest or even moved it while it was on. The error message was exactly as you describle it with a grey backgroung. Its either the RAM or the graphics chip that Im sure of. What is the best way to check for video problems? That Kernel Panic is not happening now even when I tap the palm rest quite hard.

Another question. How much performance would I lose by using 533MHZ RAM?

1GB 533MHZ vs 512MB 667MHZ ?

seanc · Sep 5, 2006, 01:43 PM

I don't know how much performance you will lose but I wouldn't think it's much.
I think the palm rest incidence may have been a coincidence or a freak accident.
Best way to check for video problems? Apple hardware test, which I assume you don't have, you really should go down to the Apple store. Run your MacBook some more with the stock Ram though because if they don't find anything wrong then they won't do anything. I'd also ask them if you could have a copy of the System CDs.

hatim · Sep 5, 2006, 02:07 PM

It was probably not a freak accident becuase the first time it happened, I restarted. The boot screen artifacted. Then it booted, I went to type and again, and then again. Then I turned it off and it would not turn on. The initializing sound from the optical drive/hard disk came but nothing on the screen. Samething without the battery on AC power. I re insterted the RAM and it did not boot. Then I installed the orignal memory and it booted. I then installed vaio memory and its been working without problems ever since.

Yesterday, I had cleaned my applications folder and most of the old problems went away. Parrells still crashed but I havent tried it with the new RAM.

I have not yet gotten the time to visit the apple store. But its a small store not even run by Apple themselves here in Karachi Pakistan. Last time I visited they did not even have a DVI - Mini DVI convertor which they said they could get in 4 working days. I will ask them if they do have spare CDs but I doubt it highly.

This freaky stuff has convinced my to buy applecare.

Thanks for the helping a mac newbie.

seanc · Sep 5, 2006, 02:10 PM

Do you mean vertical coloured lines on boot? The fact that they kept appearing in OS X until you replaced the Ram would probably mean the memory is to blame. I'd trash the parallels plist file (it's in ~/library/preferences somewhere). It's probably been corrupted, maybe by the bad Ram.