As requested by the Mod, I'm helping out on the Mac servicing, repair, hardware issue and tips parts. I will break the sections into dekstop and laptop. iPods and iPhone will have their specific thread later on, handle by different member(s).

These tips will be as general as possible, and for more specific issue(s) you are welcome to post a reply and we'll look into it and advice accordingly. You are welcome to contribute to this thread by PM me or the mod in charge of this section.

Please be aware the following guide/tips are for reference only, we do not responsible to any damage done. Please do not attempt the following guide if it's endanger your safety in your situation and or you're unsure about the situation.

Important
Keep this number 1-800 803-638 in your phone and bookmark the following link. These are the AppleCare phone support numbers, call them in case you run into trouble with your mac and have no where to asked for help:

http://www.apple.com/support/contact/phone_contacts.html

Desktop Mac
This will cover the following:
- Mac Pro
- PowerMac G5
- iMac Intel & G5
- Mac Mini
(for older model pls consult respectively by reply or PM)

Warning
Never attempt to touch the unit internal parts when current is running (power on). Unplug the unit and leave it for an hour before touch any conductive parts. Never touch parts that labeled extreme hot & do not touch.

• Lighting strike, liquid spill
Immediately turn-off and disconnect power plug, do not attempt to use the unit. Call AppleCare and or your technician and seek professional help immediately. Do not touch the Mac unit or attached peripheral as the they might still carry current or charges. Never try to boot the unit.

Suggested first aid: Non, do not attempt.


• Fall
Immediately turn-off and disconnect power plug. Leave the unit to discharge (at lease 30mins) or wear protective non-conductive glove to move the unit on proper surface. Never try to boot the unit. Call AppleCare and or your technician and seek professional help immediately.

Suggested first aid: Disconnect all your attached peripheral. Remove your hard drive and put it in external casing for data recovery if you can still reach it safely.


• Self-shutdown
Turn-off and unplug the main power. Inspect for burning smell or burned mark. For quad core Powermac G5 unit, check for internal liquid stain. If found, please do not turn the unit on. Seek professional help immediately.

If non of above found, leave it for an hour or two before attempt to turn on. Run Apple Hardware Test (found on your unit's original package, DVD or CD format) first thing it boot up. Send to Apple Service Center or technician if failure detected or unit can't turn on. If non failure report, you may use the unit again. If same shut-down incident repeated please consult professional help.

Suggested first aid: Check for dust cloaking near exhaust area. Check for broken power cable. Check if RAM module seated properly. Remove your hard drive and put it in external casing for data recovery.


• Frequent Crash (kernel panic, spinning beach ball of death or freeze crash)
Run Apple Hardware Test (found on your unit's original package, DVD or CD format). Call Applecare if failure detected. If no failure found, create a new admin account (System Preferences > Accounts > "+") and run the new admin account to see any crash incident happen. If no crash happened, you might have corrupted user account or user level system issue. You should migrate your media file to the new account and remove the old account if possible. You should not move over your "library" and "system" folder. If crash still happen on new admin account, you should consider to re-install Mac OS X. If problem still exist after re-installing OS X, please consult with professional.

Suggested first aid: Boot into Fire-wire target disk mode and do your data recovery. Disk Utility scan and repair.


Laptop Mac
This will cover the following:
- MacBook Pro 15" & 17" Aluminum & Unibody
- MacBook Air
- MacBook 13.3" Aluminum & Unibody
- PowerBook G4 Aluminum
(for older model pls consult respectively by reply or PM)

• Lighting strike (refer to desktop mac section)


• Liquid spill
Depends on how severe the spill is. If it's a minor dash of liquid, unplug the main power if adapter are connected, quickly turn the laptop over if the splash is on the keyboard. If the spill happen on other parts, place the laptop counter the direction of the spill came from, for example, the water came in from air vents, placed the air vent facing down. Remove the battery if applicable. Do not wait for shut-down. Press and hold power button if battery are not removable. Do not do it on your lap. You should place the laptop on the edge of a table with clothe as protection also to absorb the spill. Leave it for few hour. Send it to service center by closing the unit with some tissue placed in the gap between keyboard and LCD. Always leave the unit upside down, with battery compartment facing up. Never try to turn it on. Severe spill, unplug the main power if adapter are connected. Leave the unit and call for professional help.

You should wear protective non-conductive glove when handling the wet unit to protect yourself. A non-leaking plastic bag might do the job too.

Suggested first aid: Non. You should seek professional help ASAP.


• Fall (refer to desktop mac plus following additional steps)
Remove the battery if possible. Do not attempt to close the lid if the condition do not permit.


• Self-shutdown
Turn-off and unplug the main power as well as battery if possible. Inspect for burning smell or burned mark.

If non of above found, leave it for an hour or two before attempt to turn on. Run Apple Hardware Test (found on your unit's original package, DVD or CD format) first thing it boot up. Send to Apple Service Center or technician if failure detected or unit can't turn on. If non failure report, you may use the unit again. If same shut-down incident repeated please consult professional help.

You should never use your laptop under poor air circulation condition to ensure proper heat discharge. For example, using it on top of soft linen surface will also have similar result, bed for instant.

Suggested first aid: Check if battery still hold charges. Check if power adapter broken. Check for dust cloaking near exhaust area. Check if RAM module seated properly. Remove your hard drive and put it in external casing for data recovery.

• Frequent crash (refer to deaktop mac section)

This post has been edited by wei: Nov 21 2011, 09:11 AM

Jargons
Kernel Panic (AKA Gray Screen of Dead- GSOD)
- OS crashing. WiKi explanation


Spinning Beach Ball of Dead (SBOD)
- OS crashing or related crash. WiKi explanation

Reset PRAM/ NVRAM
Apple knowledge base explanation and guide

Restart/Reboot
- Soft reset of your Mac, archive by selecting "Restart..." in Mac OS X menu or pressing the physical reset button found on older Mac models.

Shut down
- Completely quit the running OS and turn off the Mac, archive by selecting "Shut Down..." on Mac OS X menu.

Finder
- The file manager for Mac OS.

Activity Monitors
- Build in Utility application. Besides of monitoring free space and RAM usage, you can also use it to monitor running Application. Force Quit those that crashed and not responding including Finder itself.

Disk Utility
- Build in Utility application. Use it to scan and repair permission errors on volumes. Scan and repair file system. Perform drive formatting and partitioning. Also a tools to create DMG and burn supported disk/disc images.

Short-cuts
CMD + Option + ESC
Bring up the "Force Quit Application" menu.

Fast Quitting
If you accidentally launch the wrong application or in urge to shut down the Mac, you can quickly stop running application by right click on the icon, then press and hold "Option". Select "Force Quit".

This post has been edited by wei: Apr 14 2009, 03:52 PM

Hey..my i recently fixed my macbook..
Do u mind posting a IOUSBCompositeDriver.kext, AppleUSBHub.kext from ur macbook?
Its in System/Library/Extensions/
I'm using 2.4GHz Macbook Unibody..
Running on Macbook 10.5.6..

This post has been edited by Masamune: Apr 7 2009, 05:28 AM

I don't have MacBook Unibody. Try PM those that are using one in the hardware showoff thread.

As the topic said, i got a macbook white new spec. The webcam sometimes hang and the green light 'on'.

Only way to solve it is to shut down the mac and wait for a while before turning on the mac. It is very troublesome.

I send back to maccity to diagnose and they say no problem at all. i get back my macbook with 'two minor scratch'.

Any idea to solve this problem?

Is your MacBook 1.83GHz?

And when the green lights on, you can't use the iSight. Photobooth will report camera off or device not found.

This is a complicated issue, my experience the issue is related to the LVDS cable and or logicboard itself. Do you have issue with firewire/USB ports as well?

it is the macbook white not alu. but its the new version one. no problem with the usb ports. just camera problem like what u just describe.

Hey..i seem to have problem..

I replaced those kext files..and then i boot in safe mode then my trackpad and keyboard can use again..

Then i install 10.5.6 combo update and when it restart it normal mode everything is fine..
But after i restart again..or shut down and on the next day..
Same problem..
I have to boot to safe mode only my trackpad and keyboard can work..

Why?
Do u have any ideas?

macaulai, the problem are most likely hardware related. I have a MacBook that exhibit exact problem. But I sort of found out how to avoid the issue:
- Never operate without power adapter & battery, both must in use.
- Sleep - wake seems to trigger the problem more.
- Shutdown instead of restart.

Other than that you have to send it in for diagnose.



Masamune, Try this in order, only move on if doesn't work:

1) Create a new admin account n try.
2) Re-download combo update from Apple.com/download, then apply the update again.
3) Re-install OSX

This post has been edited by wei: Apr 9 2009, 08:50 AM

thank you for ur help, will try it

I create a new admin account and then what do i do with the old one?
Create the new account and then restart is it?

Anyway..i kept the combo update in my external HDD..
So i just apply right..

Anyway..everything is fine unless i reboot..
So i'm keeping it in sleep mode for the time being..

How do i lock or enable password for my macbook that running os x (downloading) etc ? to avoid from my member using my pc while im not around ? startup password already enable

Just enable "Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver" under "Security" inside sys pref. Set hot corner to activate screen saver. The next time you move away from your desk, just activate the screen saver by moving your mouse to hot corner(s).

This post has been edited by wei: Apr 9 2009, 08:01 PM

thanks mate, how newbie i am wah lau tq

i just read on Gizmodo yesterday that Apple has circulated an internal memo to all service centres to replace hairline cracks on white macbooks regardless of warranty. Would you know if this is worldwide? I have some cracks here and there, tho i really really take care of my MacBook.

Nope, but will check with my contacts as well as VR Tech in KL.

hey guys,
anyone knows how to fix this? i plug in my charger and it just says "Battery is not charging"
and the weird thing is that my battery cycle count is 23..shouldnt that be good enough condition?
super expensive to get a new batt la..if anyone has a good condition cheap mbp battery let me know ya.
or if there is a free solution i'd go with that too!=)

thanks!

All the Mac Laptop does that for a moment when it's preparing the charging. As long as it start charging after a minutes or two it should be fine. If it's not charging at all, bring it to service center or call Apple Care.

In reference to my topic above, is the Macbook Aluminium able to support a 24" external display? I need to know desperately as I have jsut bought a 24" external display and I keep getting no signals.

Why would Apple bundle the new 24" LED Apple Cinema Display if the MacBook doesn't support it? Try a different cable and adapter and see.

If you need support, please provide more info like:
which model of Mac exactly?
what is the model of accessories you having issue with? in your case name the LCD model.
Also tell us what type of connection you using, VGA? DVI? Dual Link DVI? HDMI?

Okay this was rather ridiculous but I was told by a staff from one of the local retailers (won't be disclosed) that it doesn't support up to 24".

Anyway on with the more specific details:

It's a 24" BenQ LCD monitor which I'm connecting through Mini Display Port to DVI adaptor.. I'm connecting through a single-link Dvi-D. I've tested the LCD on other machines and it works fine (tried connecting with both DVI and VGA). My macbook is the Macbook Aluminium. The issue I'm currently facing is that the LCD is indicating that it is not receiving any signals and my macbook is not able to detect the display. I'm guessing its an issue with my macbook or the display adaptor.

I suggest you try with another screen with the same cable and adaptor. Have you tried that before? Your LCD might not compatible due to some reason. Mini Display port is still new for me. Yet to have much experimental with it, but so far VGA out to projectors seems working fine. Will check with some of my contacts that using one and see any issues.

Yeah I guess I'll try that. Problem is trying to look for a display to hook it up to.

May I suggest you bring to the retail you bought it (if it's local). And test their ACD. Apple says MacBook unibody support up to 30" ACD.

If you're in Sg Buloh area, I can meet up with you to test as well.

Heh thanks, but I live in Subang and I bought the laptop from pavillion, hence the dilemma. Pretty tight on schedule lately, but I'll see what I can do. would maybe go on the weekend, or I'll pm you if I can make it to Sg Buloh.

Dear Dr Wei,
I Have a few external HDD, but there are certain 2 HDD that whenever i plug into my late 08 mbp, within minutes of trasnferring data, the mbp will prompt me to shut down, any idea?
but this never happens to the imac though

thanks
rx330

I'm no Dr.

Can you tell us what type of HDD are they? Brand? Connection you using?
Is your MBP powered by adapter or battery when that happened?

Prompt you to shutdown meaning the gray color screen and everything freeze?

where can i send it for repair besides machine?still under warranty.is it free??

do a search next time: http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=364508&hl=

connected thru USB, my mbp is on battery
IINM, shud be hitachi.
yes, the grey screen with multiple language asking me to shut down

btw, my files transfer on the imac to external used to be fast, now a 4gb file would take abt 15 minutes, is there any ways to improve the speed of this?
transferred using USB

This post has been edited by rx330: Apr 14 2009, 09:25 AM

That's Kernel Panic. Run Disk Utility and check if the disk is fine. See if the external drive manufacturer provide softwares to boost cache speed. Manufacturer like WD provide such apps.

About my external display, took my laptop to a friend's house to test on his samsung t240... same problem. My sis is getting 2 adaptors for me to test from her work place (dvi and vga)... i just hope its the adaptor and not my laptop.

Any worse scenario you still have warranty. Now you know why its important to buy AppleCare.

Yeap, just couldn't afford to lose days of downtime lately. Anyway its been confirmed my adaptor is faulty.

Glad to hear that. Another case closed.

MacBook Black cannot start up, only white light on and no respond (Help)

At 1st the flashing sleeping light, so i changed 2 brand new 1GB RAM and now no more flashing light but it just does not start. Might it be logic board failure?

This post has been edited by davidgary73: Apr 15 2009, 11:52 PM

So you got the original RAM with you

I want you to do a verbose startup. I assume that you still hear the chime. To do this , press Command + V

Tried. Nothing happened. Not even chime.

So its completely out ?

Tried resetting PMU and those stuff as per in apple site ?. Did you make sure that your rams are attached properly ?

If you have tried all the basic troubleshooting and still can't get it to boot up. Chances are you have messed up something !

Yup. I can only hear the superdrive's sound and white light.
Pretty sure the RAM is ok because the light flashing before I switch to another pair of RAM. And now the light is not flashing anymore.
Tried every possible way and stil can't boot it up.

hardware failure friend.

Prasys, standard diagnose only apply when the machine still show screen and can boot.
Steady white light signal bad logicboard unable to boot but able to power-on only.

hi, i got question here.

if i want to reformat my macbook(im using leopard atm) how much does it cost me? can i send it to switch or machines? since i dont have the installation cd.

thanks.

For costing, please refer to reseller directly. We're in discussion on issues here only.
We don't want to invite price war in this section.

How to solve the dead pixel problem? and how is dead px formed?

dead pixel cannot solve leh. although i heard of ways to making it disappear i can't remember (don't want to give you wrong facts). if ur mb has more than 6 dead pixels mac will exchange 1-1 with you. if 1 or 2 then bear with it coz they dont do exchanges.

so bad.. I tried the massaging mehtod before and it works. but now it's not working .

You need to have X amount of dead pixels only Apple will honor it for warrant claim.
If 1-2 pixels it doesn't count officially. Unless you "find a way" to make them help you with it.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1721
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/04/08..._anomalies.html

I have a Free Agent Pro external hard disk and would like to have it work with Mac OS as I am moving from Windows to Mac. If i plug the hdd in, i will only be able to read and not edit.

uhm format to FAT or FAT32 ?

need help again, my late 08 mbp, suddenly the f10, f11, f12 button to control sounds, not working

press Fn ?

nope, cant either
wanna open other apps or shutdown also impossible
have to hold power button to shut it

seems like it have to do with the pendrive
it hang before that, and i had to removed it even though it cant be ejected

back to normal now

There're many similar topics already:
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=944932&hl=
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=873750&hl=
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=868951&hl=

This post has been edited by wei: Apr 21 2009, 02:25 PM

Hey wei..

I'm still having the same problem..
keyboard and trackpad not working after restart..
After restart i have to either run the combo update again or repair my HD permissions then when i restart can use again..

I did what u said except reinstall OSX..
Cause i dont have the dvd with me..
My cousin already ripped out my OSX DVD and plan to upload to torrent for me to download..
The iso file he ripped can also be used right?

I think it's better to have an actual copy. If he rip it wrong way you will have more trouble than helping it. Did you call AppleCare like I suggested?

You paid so much partly it's for their service, if you don't make use of it, it's a waste. Why so painfully download/upload/burn??? Apple might able to help you out with a solution, talk to them.

call apple care of russia or malaysia lol?

recommend for all mac user
http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/

Call Malaysia -> international call
Call Rusiia -> local domestic??
Your choice. They will all forwarded to call centre and they might be anywhere in the world. I once spoken with an indian, a turkish and an american ofcourse.

http://www.apple.com/support/contact/phone_contacts.html

This post has been edited by wei: Apr 22 2009, 09:16 AM

i have a macbook pro late 2008 (15.4 and 512) and it experiences random freezes. when i'm on vista 32 (via bootcamp). however there is no problem at all, when i'm with xp.

i have tried two methods, and was wondering if there are other alternatives to these:

1. enter safemode and disable the nvidia (not good for me, as i'm using an external display)

2. use RIVATUNER; a so-called overclocking method (not a fan of this as it will damage the hardware)


any other suggestions? thanks a lot in advance

You have 2 options:
- Wait for apple to release update and hope will remedy the problem.
- Bring to service center and let them ponder on the problem. Most likely won't help unless you get AppleCare agree to let you have a replacement unit.

wei, it just happen again, my mbp promp the grey screen with the force shut down notice

i was transferring files to a new maxtor HDD, sigh....

and i found out a few ext HDD tat can be read n formatted by my imac, actually cant be recognise by my mbp

any idea?

Get a better quality casing/ ext drive?

this is the maxtor 2.5 hdd, not the 3.5

you mean this is a hardware problem, rather than a driver? so switching to another MBP will fix the problem? thanks

No, I'm giving you suggestion. Since no one know exactly what went wrong with the MBP and Nvidia chips. Let's hope if they ever decide to replace your unit it's doesn't come with the same problem.

---

Added on April 25, 2009, 11:31 amwhat format is it in? NTFS? HFS+?

This post has been edited by wei: Apr 25 2009, 11:31 AM

it the NTFS

@@ i bought a western digital internal hardisk 600gb and put it in a cooler master brand external cover(put internal hardisk inside will make it like external hardisk)
i want to make it to become my time machine,but that external hardisk only can open by using other computer while my macbok cant even detect it @@
i try to format it into NTFS file and EXFAT but also can detect @@ someone know what happen?

Try formatting in Mac format.

NFN, you need to format it into Mac format. Read my previous reply on HDD formatting.

the problem is the disk utilities also cant even detect @@
T_T

Check if your casing say Mac OS support?
Else try other ports or other cable.

if the casing never mention about mac? @@ T_T
i both port also try be4 @@
btw my external hard disk can be use by any other computer except mac only T_T
i am getting worried

Most casing should work on Mac.
Check if the casing need extra power. Some Mac doesn't deliver enough power on USB ports. So you need to find a way to pump in extra power.

@@i found it
1. Please make sure that the Mac OS be aleray updated to 10.5.2 before you installing the driver.

2. Delete IOUSBMassStorageclass.kext, which is located in \system\libary\extensions, and restart the computer.

3. Execute X360.pkg, and restart the computer.

wanna ask!!!!!!!
izzit Delete IOUSBMassStorageclass.kext doesnt affect my mac?coz i scare after i delete i regret @@

This post has been edited by NFN: May 1 2009, 04:44 PM

Good for you. Thx for sharing.

Be sure you keep a backup of the kext and the Mac OS DVD handy when things goes wrong. Also, backup your data. Refer to Masume reply where he got issues with USB kext.

where i cant find it @@ T_T
yea i still not dare to delete it and must wait for ur reply @@

So it's up to you to take the risk or not.
I can't be sure what will happen if you replace it. But I can tell you the kext files are meant to drive each crucial component on your mac.

I once had bad kext and the mac won't boot after grey apple logo.

................so i save it to my pendrive 1st?den when got problem put it back?

If you can la. Read what happened to Masume?

what masume? @@

Sorry I meant member Masamune.

or i phone to apple center ask? @@ i scare i explain until they blur XD
haiz my external hardisk T_T later need keep boot to safe mode sienz lo

If you're worried, why not just move on to another casing/ drive?

i spend rm700 .....edi...for dat....T_T

please tell me my mac not spoilt ....

i need to hold the fn key and the volume key only can adjust the volume ???

Well, consider as a lesson to check next time if the add-on you getting are really Mac compatible.

That's normal, nothing wrong with your keyboard.

Apple allows laptop users to use the Fn (function) key to make double-use of this useful keyset (the F keys). To configure this, open the keyboard and mouse preference pane and uncheck "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys". After that, you won't have to use the Fn key to do volume up or other functionality.

Good luck!

Hi, I have a problem. Today, I noticed that my Macbook Pro was running a bit strangely, with some video being slow and stuff, so I restarted it. I see a black screen while my laptop still on. I tried hard to resetting it, but whenever I keep turning it on, I hear the booting sound, but the screen doesn't turn on. What should I do? My mbp warranty has ended

TS you got PM.

Thanks wei, any news will update you.

Helo,

How to completely turn off the trackpad, since my trackpad - on the click button seems problem rite now, it suddenly click on its own. Physical hardware problem i need to go for repair soon. Im fully using external mouse right now.
Its not the option disable the trackpad when mouse appear that i want, because the problem is when i take off the mouse after class etc and need to connect it back at home, it will conflict with the trackpad as i story above since the click button stuck, i need to plug in and take out external mouse a few time and ketuk2 a bit trackpad before can using it. So i want to completely turn off/disable the trackpad

This post has been edited by xjukie: May 26 2009, 11:55 PM

Don't think can disable it, is not like normal laptop.

Don't remember there's a way to disable it over software. But you can plug out the ribbon cable. That will remove your keyboard & power button as well. Best is to replace your top case.

do you know where can i find the installation cd for imac G4

Would this help?
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/syst...agefingers.html

Can anyone help me with Mac OS X installation? I have this Mac OS X from a friend, the problem now is that it has some problems with the OS X and I think I need to reinstall or recover the OS X back to it's original state. And now the real problem is now, I don't know how to install or recover the OS X back and is there any CD/DVD provided? If there is, my friend already lost the CD/DVD. Anyway to recover or install the OS X again without the CD/DVD?? Thanks in advance.

What model of Mac is it?

My macbook look like the magnet no very strong, got any way make it strong when i close my macbook cover , i take it vectical will open one the cover WHY ar

My macbook look like the magnet no very strong, got any way make it strong when i close my macbook cover , i take it vectical will open one the cover WHY ar

errr.... take a photos and show us??