Macbook Fail!

Alright so I have had my black macbook since last November and have loved it every minute until about 3 days ago. I also have an alienware m15x and an alienware desktop and I would say the mac gets the most use. I use it for all my media as well as work and school stuff. It was working perfectly and all of a sudden it just started to slow down. I can no longer connect to the itunes store. I keep getting the same error. Also, it takes forever to open up multiple programs. I have gotten the spinning ball for hours at a time and have given up using it anymore until its fixed. I luckily got the change to back up all my music before the crash. I took it to the Genius Bar and they think its an operating system problem and said i need to reinstall my os. They also think that there are just way to many files and probably some that are corrupt. I'm gonna do a clean install once i get the replacement leopard cd in the mail from apple. Anyone ever had these problems? Any advice?

 

This thread has been completely cleared, I will note that some members came into this thread with no contribution but a very direct initiation of trolling. If it appears again, infractions and bans will be given.

Please help Packer445 solve his/her problem .

I understand some posts were on topic, thank you those members, but unfortunately I had to completely clear the thread. You guys are welcome to repost if you wish!

 

nevermind

 

Cool, thanks Sam!

I'll just repost the two advices that were actually given:

- Repair permissions on disk with Disk Utility
- Backup your files and reinstall Leopard

 

+1

What errors are you getting exactly?

 

+2

Also if problems persist it could be your ram or mobo.

 

i was thinking it could be the ram. When I got my alienware m15x it came with 2 gigs of ram and i updated it to 4. So my macbook only had two 512 sticks so i took em out and put the 2 1gig sticks in

 

I just quickly googled this and found:

http://www.memtestosx.org/

It apparently used to be free but now costs $1.39...

Do Macbooks have different RAM than your Alienware m15x? If not, you could try swapping out the RAM from the Alienware to see if it works.

 

It uses any old RAM. That sounds like a good idea. Also, do you have TechTool Delux? It comes with AppleCare.

 

Repost

1) Go to utilities, disk utility, and do a DISK REPAIR
2) Download C.O.C.K.T.A.I.L (without periods) and execute a PILOT (this includes rolling over logs, a disk permissions repair etc)
3) Take a look at Activity Monitor (all processes) and see if there is anything hogging your CPU

Best of luck

 

Do you still have the old ram module? If yes, how about sticking them back in and see. This can be a quick check to eliminate one cause to your issue

cheers ...

 

I have a Macbook and it has showed no signs of "slowing down". If it did, I would try running the clean-up utilities that come with Onyx. I did run tech tool deluxe on my daughter's machine when it was having kernel panics. Among other tests, it does a RAM test. It didn't find any issues. I manually copied her files to a usb drive (because Time Machine would have probably restored the corruption along with her files), did a wipe and reinstall and she hasn't had any problems since.

 

well looks like the problem is solved for now... Just did a complete erase and install of leopard

 

Great! Glad you got it solved!

 

Ok,

Im not trolling here or anything...i have been flip floping etc regarding swapping to mac. is'nt the reason behind going to mac not having to reinstall etc?

thats their big claim to fame. the "it just works" slogan. I have to keep xp on my mac if I get one as a couple of programs I use for work are xp only.

is this a common issue with mac?

 

Apple's Programmers are not Gods, they write buggy code as well as anyone else.

 

There are instances when things like this can happen. They aren't perfect, but this is a rare occurrence in comparison to Windows. Most people will not have a problem.

 

I don't think people understand the difference between a Winema and reloading or upgrading OS X. What M$ is selling is a license. What Apple is selling is an end-to-end user experience. Allow me to illustrate...

Windows:
1 - boot to cd
2 - answer dozens of questions, including serial number
3 - wait - answer more questions (you can't leave)
4 - and wait - click on something (you can't leave yet)
5 - and wait and wait - answer more questions (when is this going to end?)
6 - answer dozens of more questions, use some 3rd party software to restore your software, data files and settings
7 - activate - one mistyped character can lead to a frustrating phone session with Microsoft proving you didn't steal their software.

Are there cases where the windows experience is smoother than this? Yes but none are as seamless as upgrading or even reinstalling OS X...

Mac:
1 - insert the cd
2 - answer one question, and if the answer happens to be "upgrade"...
3 - ...come back 30-60 minutes later wondering if the reinstall "took" and check "about this mac" to find that indeed it "took" and left you on the same screen you were on with the same apps open before you inserted the cd
4 - ...if the answer happened to be archive and install, built in software automagically brings back all your settings and you still see things pretty much where you left them before starting the upgrade.

People who complain about having to install OS X to solve an issue probably have not actually done it and have not yet realized how easy it is.

 

I'll have to agree with you.. whenever I reinstall Windows (for fun) I sometimes forget to hover over it to answer some random questions, thinking that it'll finish by the time I get back. Sadly when I get back it's gotten nowhere. I don't know if this has changed with Vista... but it's obnoxious none-the-less.

But you have to understand why Microsoft is so conscious about people stealing its software.. so many people do it, so if they just put in some extra measures they're probably cutting it down by a little bit. On the other hand OS X comes with Macs, and there really isn't any point in stealing it and putting it on a Windows machine because it doesn't run that well. So Apple can get away with not putting in so many security things.

 

Are you kidding me? And you say people are ignorant about Macs. Where did all this clicking on stuff and answering questions come from?? More like:

1) Select boot from CD
2) Configure your partitions if necessary
3) Select which partition to install OS
4) Go outside for 30-45 min while waiting for complete install
5) Install drivers from included drivers disk

What is so hard about that?? I did a clean install immediately when I got my XPS. No entering serial number (OEM serial included on back of comp if needed - it's not), no answering pointless questions, none of the nonsense that you posted about. It was easy!

 

No, its not common at all..."it just works", yes, most of the time. Its very unlikely you'll need to reinstall Mac OS X often due to something wrong, and Apple's marketing can be a little too strong in some regards. Mac OS X does crash, just not very often and rarely because of the OS but usually because of third-party software (my experience with SMCFanControl, but after a reinstall of that everything's okay again).

 

Piracy costs every software vendor. PC's account for the vast majority of the software market so their total dollar cost of piracy is likely greater. But if I sell Mac software, I still loose on every piece of software another Mac user pirates. My volumes are likely lower so piracy may impact my bottom line even more.

If piracy rates on Macs are better than on PC's its because they offer a better value proposition. Software may cost less, or be more reliable, or offer better performance, or offer more attractive licensing agreements or all of the above (or lots of things I have not even mentioned that create value) Intrusive anti-piracy measures are much less prevalent on Mac software.

I have 5 Macs in the family. I can purchase a 5 user license for Leopard for about $180. This is a full version not an upgrade and requires no previous version of the OS. There is absolutely no copy protection/anti piracy features on it. I could buy one copy and use it on all my Macs (one copy about $125). But why would I given that value proposition?

If I had 5 PC's I'd have to buy 5 Copies of Vista at about $500 each for a total of $2500. What kind of value proposition is that?

There will always be those who pirate software. Long run you minimize it by offering good value, not alienating your user base with intrusive anti-piracy measures. There are lots of companies that don't realize this and few that do. Sad really.

Sorry if this is a bit off topic.

 

A 5 user license for $180? Jeese that seems like a much better deal than Vista... except Vista Home Premium (the one I'm assuming you'd get) can actually be had for $99 on Newegg.. but 5 of those is still much more expensive than Leopard as you say.

I do agree that lots of software vendors are alienating their users.. but it seems necessary almost for a company like Microsoft. For game developers it also is important. Look at Crysis.. the game requires a hell of a good PC to run it. Yet tons of people pirate it. That's saying to me that people are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a sweet PC yet steal a $60 game? The game has a demo, and you can download it to see if you like it. Yet people are still willing to just steal the game. So I can see why a developer would try everything possible to keep a user from stealing the game.

On the other hand you have Photoshop, a $600 program that's amazing yet a ton of people really can't afford it. I'm sure a ton of people pirate it, and it is relatively easy to pirate, and it seems as though Adobe doesn't care. Which is nice actually. How is someone that has never used it before supposed to get into it? Then once said someone becomes a professional, they will pay for it because they practically have to (don't want to be caught professionally illegally downloading it). I think that's a good way of doing it. Adobe could also lower the price a lot and probably see a jump in sales, but it would also lose profit from the professionals who actually pay for it.

So I don't know. I think it's necessary for some companies to do it. I don't like it though, because it doesn't make sense to me why you would make the users who pay for the software suffer through the security measures. But from a business perspective, I get it.

 

This is not common at all. Macs are definitely not perfect and I still experience occasional software glitches. They are significantly less severe and significantly less frequent that those I would encounter with XP though. Occasionally something serious like this may happen as well but its not common.

An Archive/Install rather than an Erase/Install would have been my choice here as all software, settings, etc would have been kept but all the OS files would have been refreshed. If it did not fix the problem then I would have tried an Erase/Install.

The Mac slogan is largely true - its just works. Mac advertising may go over the top implying perfection. Its not perfect. But its a lot closer than the alternatives. I estimate I waste about 1/10 of the time doing unproductive things (maintaining, repairing, updating recovering etc) on a Mac when compared to a PC. While the number of hours is not huge in the run of a year - say 2 hours vs 20 hours, there is a big difference in user experience. You enjoy using your machine more, you have more confidence in it, you worry about it less, and it fights you less.

Hope this helps

 

Kinda off topic but I think it's something like 60% of photoshop users pirated it, if it wasn't for piracy photoshop most likely wouldn't where it is today.

 

About piracy, well i will admit i have known some people who do it. Hell my friend had a whole binder with pirated software and a copy of XP. Now i am a student and as a student (who is normally broke) i think that yes it is okay to pirate SOME programs. Adobes is expensive and i was lucky enough to have a dad that would pay for the software for me . But some people out there cant afford $600. Thats a steep price especially considering that we are in a recession. I mean lets add it up here. A good computer that will run photoshop well and take advantage of all it features will cost over a $1000 plus, and Adobe photoshop which could run you $600. Its steep for alot of college students who also need to pay for books but normally a CAT majors books dont cost that much. Thats not including the suit that some people should buy that has like everything. When you get older and become more professional then yes i think buying those programs should be the only road to take. And no Adobe doesnt care.