[Nergol]

Two odd issues with my first-gen MacBook:

1) Bluetooth seems intermittently and randomly to just not work. It's grayed out in the menu bar with a way line through it, and says Bluetooth Not Available in the pulldown menu

2) When put to sleep, the MacBook seems to wake itself up for a second or two every few seconds. It sounds like the DVD drive tries spinning up even when there isn't a disc in it, the apple on the lid lights up, and then it goes back to sleep. This repeats itself maybe every 20 seconds or so. Might be heat-related - it seems to happen less when I've had my MacBook on a ChillPad.

Has anyone else experienced this? Solved it? Gotten the opinion of a Genius Bar on it?

[charlespsu]

I had something very similiar during the whole heat related issues with Random Shutdown - but if this is just now happening - it could be the logic board. Sorry - I wish I knew more.

[Cold Warrior]

2) My first-gen MacBook also had this problem. It was out of warranty and it would have cost 2/3 the value of the machine to fix it (whether logic board or DVD drive + labor). I sold it and bought a new one.

If you search around for that issue, you should find some threads about it, including one on Apple's boards (if they haven't taken it down).

[berkeleybernie]

Yup, I got these symptoms too, they're apparently related. Part of the ongoing hardware failure that is my first-gen "Lemon" Macbook. I haven't had it working a few months in a row hardware-problem free the entire time I've owned it. Nice concept, AWFUL quality control. Seems typical of Apple's "disposable" approach to hardware these days.

Motherboard replaced 2 times already: first time for cam failing one month after purchase (and other USB issues), second time for ethernet port failing a few months later.

Then the DVD drive, a known piece of crap, failed. I never even used the thing except for loading software a couple of times. Just died, refusing to recognize discs. Out of warranty, they refused to replace for free, so there's an extra $300 wasted.

To get back to your issue, these appear to be related. I first noticed the "not sleep" issue, or another manifestation, the "black screen, never wake from sleep" issue. When I researched it, I found threads showing it was tied to the Bluetooth issue you mentioned. Sure enough, I got the "Bluetooth Not Available" in the menu.

However, if Bluetooth randomly comes back in the menu, immediately turn it off. This seems to solve the sleep issue most of the time. As I'm not currently needing Bluetooth, I just accept this workaround as part of owning this Lemon.

One poster in another forum thinks it's from poor construction, that the bluetooth wires are wrapped around others, and not properly shielded. He manually took apart his Macbook, put the wires in the way they should have been, and he reports that solved his problem. Bluetooth back, and no sleep problem.

There should be a class action against Apple to recall these POS machines and fix this problem for free. Won't save me the $300 for the DVD drive replacement, but at least everything would function as designed...maybe, for a few months.

[AKcrab]

Originally Posted by berkeleybernie 

Then the DVD drive, a known piece of crap, failed. I never even used the thing except for loading software a couple of times. Just died, refusing to recognize discs. Out of warranty, they refused to replace for free, so there's an extra $300 wasted.

With all your problems, I would have dropped $349 on AppleCare to guarantee myself two more years of coverage. Did you actually talk to someone at Apple about the optical drive?

[Brien]

I'm glad I bough AppleCare on my first-gen Blackbook. I've had the battery replaced, the power cord replaced, the top case replaced (3x), bluetooth and DVD drive issues, and the keyboard also intermittently goes in/out of working.

Although I'm sure we are not the majority, there still seems to be huge QC issues with the 1st gen Macbooks and I'm sick of having to drive to the Apple store once a month for [insert problem here].