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Saramin · Jan 19, 2005, 04:19 PM

I was in bed working on a report a couple hours ago when a slight shift of balance sent my Rev C 12" careening to the floor off the edge of my matress. The drop was about three feet, and it landed on the side. The LCD screen itself was undamaged. Upon picking it up I noticed it had given me a message to restart the OS by holding down the power key. I did so, but now the machine won't start up. I hear a muted, short whirr folowed by a click every time I try to do so, but beyond that it seems completely unresponsive.

Is there something I can attempt to do before sending it in for repairs, or at this point is it a lost cause?

Thanks.

Saramin · Jan 19, 2005, 04:42 PM

I should add that neither booting from the startup cd nor holding command-s during "startup" does any good.

jamil5454 · Jan 19, 2005, 11:38 PM

I think you're in the market for a new hard drive and/or disc drive. Look on the bright side - maybe you can use this as an excuse to get a 7200 RPM drive.

Dr.Michael · Jan 20, 2005, 09:04 AM

Could that clicking sound be the hd?
If your optical drive is also damaged, try to boot from an external firewire drive or an external cd drive. If this does not work, its something else. If it works you might need two new drives.

If the hd clicks, don't start it. If you want to have a slight chance to save the data, disconnect the internal hd as soon as possible and try to save the data after you have repaired the powerbook.
The clicking comes from the heads of the hd (if the origin really is the hd). This will become worse soon and make the hd unusable. Maybe it is already unusable.

f1000 · Jan 20, 2005, 09:21 AM

Check to see if something in your computer hasn't become disconnected. First of all, try reseating your RAM and your Airport card.

Next, open up your computer's chassis to see if the hard drive cable has come loose. This will void your warranty, so you may want to take it to an Apple Authorized Service Center at this point.

Dr.Michael · Jan 20, 2005, 09:54 AM

Originally posted by f1000:
This will void your warranty, so you may want to take it to an Apple Authorized Service Center at this point.

Correct me if I am wrong. But if it has fallen down the warranty is gone forever anyway.

f1000 · Jan 20, 2005, 10:03 AM

Originally posted by Dr.Michael:
Correct me if I am wrong. But if it has fallen down the warranty is gone forever anyway.

That depends on whether or not there is a visible dent in the aluminum case.

Saramin · Jan 20, 2005, 03:05 PM

Some clarifications:

-The whirr-click noise I referred to is exactly the same as what I'm used to hearing upon startup. There are no "irregular" clicks.
-I can still turn the PB on or off by using the power key, and when turned on the chassis grows warm after a while. It's just that nothing appears onscreen.
-Removing the third party RAM didn't do much of anything.
-The fall wasn't all the strong and the impact wasn't near the HDD anyway. Or so I'm hoping.
-Connecting to an external monitor didn't help.

Thanks for all your help so far guys. I'll tinker with it some more and probably have the tech guys on campus run a diagnostic later on if I don't have much luck. Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

iREZ · Jan 20, 2005, 04:14 PM

Try connecting an external monitor, if it works maybe a wire or something got disconnected or your internal LCD is gone for good, but if the external works atleast you'll be able to use it as a desktop.