What the Heck Is With My Powerbook?
It’s happened perhaps a half dozen times by now, only infrequently, maybe once every three or four months at best. But every once in a while, there is a bizarre type of crash–one which scared the hell out of me when I first saw it because it looked like my TFT screen had become completely fried.
At first, it seems like there might be a kind of freeze or kernel panic, because the monitor picture suddenly lightens in the way it used to for a kernel panic–every other pixel becoming lighter. But then it diverges, giving no error or panic message. Instead, it keeps getting lighter, and lighter, with major elements of the last monitor image becoming distorted… and then streaks, like water trails down a window in the rain, start to appear.
Fortunately, when I restart the computer, the screen immediately returns to normal and there are no problems at all until the next freeze. But it quite seriously weirds me out. This time I had the presence of mind to get my camera out and document the problem. Maybe I’ll take it to the Genius Bar at Apple Ginza and ask them if they know what it is. In the meantime, does anyone out there in blogland have any idea of what this is? Any help would be appreciated.
Could be a loose display cable that generates an actual panic; a friend of mine had a TiBook with this problem. When it starts to happen, can you affect (slow, or change) the pattern on the screen by pressing gently above either of the hinges? Anyway, I’m sure the Apple Store will be able to help you out.
Thanks. Next time it happenes, I’ll try that out–but when it happens, I’m not usually even touching the computer or in any way affecting the cables, so I’m not sure that’s exactly it. But it could be one explanation…
Probably some wierd LCD-specific issue…actually that picture looks like a rorschach test. I think I can see an Atari logo!
it happens to my thinkpad/dell/PC a few times too. Most probably is the display hardware got confused somehow.
I noticed the machine was actually working… (i can ssh from another puter) Only the LCD/display got screwed.
Not to be a dark cloud, but that happened to my Ti once, I hve not seen an image since. Every time I start up I just get that. Apple said faulty display $1400 to replace it, so my TI is a nice bar tray and I have a new Al powerbook.
If you ever figure it out, let me know. Good Luck.
p
Must be either a different quirk, or you got unlucky, or I’ve been real lucky. The screen’s gone out on me that way about 5 or 6 times so far, and every time it’s come back. It’s useful to know what’s happened with other people though, thanks. I still don’t know what it is, though…
Just stumbled on your Blog… nice…
I have the same problem with my 400Mhz TiBook screen. I think it’s a bad contact or wire in the display. Mine is so bad that you have to flex the screen to get it to go away sometimes, or you get a normal screen that’s frozen (except for one or more lines) suggesting the screen isn’t refreshing.
I didn’t fix mine as I replace the screen once (50,000yen) and I got a 12″AlBook that rocks…
BTW, you ever find a bluetooth phone that works with your Mac?
-Curt