Mac Virus - won't wake from sleep for more than a few seconds

[amigadave]

I know this is not the best place to ask for help with Macs, but this group is the most helpful and responsive that I have ever had the privilege of belonging to, so ....

My Powerbook started acting up this morning, I browsed my usual sites, A.org, Amiga on Ebay, Lemon Amiga.  I then had to go out for a few minutes, put the Mac to sleep, and when I got back and opened the Powerbook, it only showed the screen for a few seconds before going black.  I hit some keys to wake it up again and only heard the keyboard sound when you click on an option that is not available.  I closed and reopened the Mac several times, and each time the screen would display for even less time before going black again.  I shut down completely and cold started.  The screen displayed almost long enough to log-in the first cold start, but then went black again.  Each cold start shows less display time.  I am off now to check some Mac sites for help, but will be right back.

Any ideas?          :-?

[bloodline]

Dead battery?

[KThunder]

it might not be a virus. that sounds like hardware to me, but im no mac expert. is there any way to boot the machine not using the harddrive with a systemcd or something?

[minator]

is there any way to boot the machine not using the harddrive with a systemcd or something?

IIRC you hold down C when booting.

I have heard of wake up problems before but I don't know what they were.  Have a look around Apple's forums.  Failing that you could always call the support line.

[amigadave]

Well, changed the battery (which was fully charged) to the spare battery, tried with and without the charger connected, tried to boot from the Tiger 10.4 CD, tried again holding down the "C" key, NO JOY!

I doubt that it is a hardware problem because the display works perfectly for the few moments that it is on.  Sometimes it works long enough for me to log on with my password.  The desktop shows up and is still there when the display flashes for a few seconds or just a fraction of a second when I close and then reopen the laptop.  My suspicion is a virus eventhough everyone knows Macs don't get viruses (common myth).

If anyone knows how to get my Powerbook to boot from the CD please let me know.  The only thing I can think of to do is re-install the OS 10.4 and hope for the best.

[minator]

If anyone knows how to get my Powerbook to boot from the CD please let me know. The only thing I can think of to do is re-install the OS 10.4 and hope for the best.

C should do it (I checked) but keep it held down.

Have you tried running it without a battery?  (does work I'm doing it now).



It sound's like a fault of some kind to be honest.

Macs can get virii of course but I'm yet to hear of one for OS X....

[amigadave]

Took the battery out and cold started with the "C" key depressed for over 3 minutes, no change, no boot from CD.

I did replace a faulty SuperDrive DVD-RW over a month ago, but it was an exact replacement.

Can I get to the Mac bios (or equal) to instruct it to boot from the Superdrive somehow?

[TjLaZer]

Hold down C after the chime but let go before the light gray screen with apple logo.  Any longer and you disable the HD.

[amigadave]

Thanks TjLaZer,  Same problem when booted from the Tiger CD.  I am going to continue to try to install 10.4 again if I can see the screen long enough.

[Acill]

You need to reset your PMU. Macs dont have any current virus. Its a simple fix. Look at apple.com/support for info on doing it. It depends on the model how its done.

[amigadave]

I thought Acill had the answer, but after resetting the PMU the problem returned after a few minutes instead of seconds.  I am really suspecting a virus more now as the PMU reset no longer has any effect and I am afraid that a virus may have found a way to over-write the reset instructions.  When the PMU is reset now, it has no effect and the symptoms are exactly the same as before I tried it.  The first PMU reset I thought had fixed the problem, as the display was working for several minutes after that first reset.  Now it is back to working for just a few seconds or just a flash on the screen.  I found some other posts on the web about PMU problems with OS 10.4.  I wonder if I should go back to 10.3 if I could get the damn screen to display long enough to let me do an install.

Any other ideas?  Starting to worry that this may be something I can't fix myself. Does anyone know how to restore the PMU if it has been corrupted by a virus or by too many resets?

[minator]

Any other ideas? Starting to worry that this may be something I can't fix myself.

Have you seen what happens with an external screen attached?

[IOSPIRIT]

To boot off CD, keep the alt-key (left of the "apple"-key) pressed while switching on the PB. You can then graphically choose the boot medium.

You might also want to try the hardware diagnosis CD that came with your Mac.

[blobrana]

Hum,
Apart from a virus, it sounds like the power supply is starting to fail..

(Disconnect the CDRom to test, or attach another power unit)

[danamania]

That sounds very typical for a powerbook with a marginal inverter board - the screen will come on, then drop out - and it'll die quicker & quicker as time goes on - or as the inverter board warms.

Replacing that should fix it.

dana