[Le Flaneur]

For the past 18 months or so, I've experienced periodic freezes with my PowerBook. They almost always occurred under the following circumstances: I put my PB to sleep at home, disconnect it from my 20" Apple Cinema Display and home wired ethernet network, arrive in my work office, and try to wake it, connected to the wired network there: I get a dark screen. Hitting the power button and the return key don't do anything, so it doesn't appear to be a problem where the internal display isn't recognized after switching from the CD. I've been able to ssh in and shut down the computer. That's all I know. Fortunately or unfortunately, the problem only happens about every 5 days or so.

I got the PowerBook and the Cinema Display at the same time. This is my second Cinema Display -- the first was replaced after a few days because it cause kernel panics when I disconnected its USB cable.

Because the freezes were relatively rare, after running Apple Hardware Test, I treated them as a software issue. I performed an archive and install last March. I ran DiskWarrior 4.1 after each freeze, and nothing significant was found. Most recently, freezes started to occur during regular operation, not related to the wake issue, so I called AppleCare and sent the PowerBook to Apple's repair depot. They replaced the motherboard, and I thought I my problems were over.

However, yesterday morning, about 5 days after my PowerBook came back from Apple repair, the Cinema Display-related wake from sleep freeze occurred again. I ran the extended Apple Hardware Test twice, and it found nothing. I ran DiskWarrior 4.1, and everything seemed fine, but during the directory scan, I happened to look at the screen and I suddenly saw the message "Speed reduced by disk malfunction 1," but the tests completed OK without any major errors. That weird "disk malfunction" wasn't noted in the DW report. I've looked at the SMART data from the drive, but there doesn't appear to be anything wrong (of course, SMART data isn't necessarily very reliable).

So does anyone have any idea as to what the problem could be, and what my next step should be in trying to resolve these freezes? Could an intermittent hard drive / hard drive cable be the cause? I would rather suspect RAM ...

[seanc]

A faulty hard drive is entirely possible. How old is the PowerBook?

If Disk Warrior has mentioned that it encountered a disk malfunction then that would be the final straw for me, I'd get it changed, my data is more important to me. Unfortunately you may have a hard time convincing Apple to replace it for you without evidence.

In what order are you disconnecting the Cinema display and Ethernet cable? With the PowerBook still awake or asleep?

[ibook_steve]

Disconnect the display and the ethernet *before* putting the machine to sleep. The GPU may be getting confused on wake from sleep about where the monitor was. You don't mention which PB you have, but it's something to try and the way you should be attaching and removing an external display.

Steve

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by ibook_steve 

Disconnect the display and the ethernet *before* putting the machine to sleep. The GPU may be getting confused on wake from sleep about where the monitor was. You don't mention which PB you have, but it's something to try and the way you should be attaching and removing an external display.

Where is it written that the disconnecting has to be done this way? In any case, if the GPU were confused, then hitting the power button and then return should shut down the computer -- because the dialog would presumably be displayed off-screen -- but it doesn't work. And why does my way of doing it work 5 times out of 6? Finally, no one from Apple has ever suggested that I was doing this the wrong way.

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by seanc 

A faulty hard drive is entirely possible. How old is the PowerBook?

Almost 3 years old

If Disk Warrior has mentioned that it encountered a disk malfunction then that would be the final straw for me, I'd get it changed, my data is more important to me. Unfortunately you may have a hard time convincing Apple to replace it for you without evidence.

I'm going to get the hard disk replaced and see if that fixes the problem.

In what order are you disconnecting the Cinema display and Ethernet cable? With the PowerBook still awake or asleep?

With the PB asleep. However, I don't think the order matters -- see my other post.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Le Flaneur 

Where is it written that the disconnecting has to be done this way? In any case, if the GPU were confused, then hitting the power button and then return should shut down the computer -- because the dialog would presumably be displayed off-screen -- but it doesn't work. And why does my way of doing it work 5 times out of 6? Finally, no one from Apple has ever suggested that I was doing this the wrong way.

But if it works.... why not do it that way? Where is it written that the disconnecting has to be done "your way"?

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

But if it works.... why not do it that way? Where is it written that the disconnecting has to be done "your way"?

How is your post contributing to this discussion? I've found that the freezes occur either way.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Le Flaneur 

How is your post contributing to this discussion? I've found that the freezes occur either way.

No where in your post did you say it happens either way. From your response to ibook_steve I got the impression you were hesitant to try out his suggestion.

FWIW my 17" PowerBook G4 had frequent trouble with sleeping and disconnecting/connecting to external monitor (same as you, the screen would just go black and I would end up doing a hard shutdown). I just got in the habit of shutting the machine down if I was going to unplug it from the monitor.

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

FWIW my 17" PowerBook G4 had frequent trouble with sleeping and disconnecting/connecting to external monitor (same as you, the screen would just go black and I would end up doing a hard shutdown). I just got in the habit of shutting the machine down if I was going to unplug it from the monitor.

Well, that is certainly interesting, because it's the same problem. Too bad that you didn't try to resolve the problem! -- could it be a design flaw? It would be really inconvenient for me if I had to shut down my machine every time I wanted to disconnect it from the monitor.

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by ibook_steve 

Disconnect the display and the ethernet *before* putting the machine to sleep. The GPU may be getting confused on wake from sleep about where the monitor was. You don't mention which PB you have, but it's something to try and the way you should be attaching and removing an external display.

Perhaps the main reason why I haven't disconnected my PB in this way is because I use the Cinema Display as the sole display, with the PB closed. So if I disconnect the PB in this configuration, will the PB display turn on even though the lid is closed, and then go to sleep?

[seanc]

It may well be turning on when you disconnect the display with it in closed lid mode, but I think it will get confused this way. Removing USB devices with the computer asleep will power the machine on, which really confuses things.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Le Flaneur 

Well, that is certainly interesting, because it's the same problem. Too bad that you didn't try to resolve the problem! -- could it be a design flaw? It would be really inconvenient for me if I had to shut down my machine every time I wanted to disconnect it from the monitor.

I was living in Trinidad at the time and it was impractical for me to take it anywhere to get fixed. I wouldn't trust my computer with any of the locals.

Yeah... shutting it down all the time is a pain. Now that I think back on it, I used to have issues resuming from sleep sometimes even when not using an external monitor. Well, doesn't matter now, whoever stole my PB has to deal with it..

[ibook_steve]

Originally Posted by Le Flaneur 

Perhaps the main reason why I haven't disconnected my PB in this way is because I use the Cinema Display as the sole display, with the PB closed. So if I disconnect the PB in this configuration, will the PB display turn on even though the lid is closed, and then go to sleep?

OK, you didn't say you were using closed lid mode. I believe when you disconnect the display in this config, the internal display wakes and then the machine immediately goes to sleep. As mentioned, the same thing happens when USB devices are inserted or removed during sleep (or closed lid).

I believe the built-in help gives instructions for using closed lid mode and when and how to connect or disconnect the monitor.

Steve

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by seanc 

It may well be turning on when you disconnect the display with it in closed lid mode, but I think it will get confused this way. Removing USB devices with the computer asleep will power the machine on, which really confuses things.

Not if you first disconnect the power ;-)

If I follow the method you recommend, here's what I have to do:

1. Open the PowerBook (whose screen is black because it's in closed lid mode)
2. Unplug video cable --> PowerBook display comes on
3. Unplug usb and firewire cables to display
4. Close lid
5. Unplug power adapter

[Le Flaneur]

Originally Posted by ibook_steve 

I believe the built-in help gives instructions for using closed lid mode and when and how to connect or disconnect the monitor

These instructions are merely about how to connect. It's interesting to note that they advise connecting the display to one's laptop when it is asleep, which suggests that it would be appropriate to disconnect the display when the laptop is asleep as well