I just dropped my macbook, its fine, i think, but it asked me for a restart, should i be worry?

Question

I just dropped my macbook, its fine, i think, but it asked me for a restart, should i be worry?

i recently got my brothers handed down 2008 macbook pro 15 inch, so i decided to put my computer on my bed to get some water, the laptop is open,on, plugged in, when i returned, the computer is on the floor closed upside down, i panic, i was indeed scared, i open the laptop, lagged for a couple minutes, the log in screen pop up, at this point i was shaking, i logged in, as my web browser was open, everything was fine till i saw some text on the screen, the text is slightly split in half and off angled, i highlighted it, then suddenly, from the top screen slowly to the bottem screen, it became dim and asked for a restart, so i did, when that happen the computer turned blacked, and started to beep(beep-beep-beep.....beep-beep-beep) worried i restarted it again, after that point everything is back to normal, is there anything that i should be worried about at this point, i dropped it about 20 inches onto the carpet, and i think it hit a lamp, and 2 books landed on it, to make matter worse its 2 stephen king books. WHAT SHOULD I DO, ITS MY ONLY COMPUTER.

sorry for the bad english, I'm just really worried

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2), no dents, just dirty marks

Posted on Jan 31, 2012 12:57 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 31, 2012 1:30 AM in response to coffeeunpressed

restarted it again, after that point everything is back to normal,

If the "beep" starts again or you see the text on the screen (referred to as a kernel panic), that can mean the RAM (memory) has become unseated. Take the Mac to an Apple Store or Apple certified repair shop.

Power On Self-Test Beep Definition - Part 2

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Answer 2

Jan 31, 2012 1:54 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

can't i just buy a new ram card? or that aint gonna work?

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Answer 3

Jan 31, 2012 2:03 AM in response to coffeeunpressed

why would you do that when you aren't 100% positive that it is the ram? You could always open your mac to check the ram and make sure it is seated properly. Directions on how to do that are in your macs owners manual.

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Answer 4

Jan 31, 2012 2:28 AM in response to shldr2thewheel

its fine, it detected the ram, i opened it, its fine. so is it still the ram?

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Answer 5

Jan 31, 2012 2:35 AM in response to coffeeunpressed

three beeps followed by a 5 second pause followed by another three beeps is a good indication that the ram is bad.

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Answer 6

thomas_r.

Level 7

32,031 points

Jan 31, 2012 3:51 AM in response to coffeeunpressed

There are many potential problems that can occur after a fall, and the beeping indicates you've got at least a sporadic one. And sometimes problems can happen much later. I dropped a machine and it worked fine for a month, then suddenly and with no warning died. Diagnosis: bad logic board. Price to fix that plus the dented case: over $1,000.

So, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. In particular, if you have any important data on that computer, make sure to keep it well backed-up.

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Answer 7

JoeyR

Level 6

8,305 points

Jan 31, 2012 4:40 AM in response to coffeeunpressed

It is of course possible that the shock of the impact might have caused a corrupt read/write from your drive... a microsecond power interruption... or any number of shock-related issues. It may work just fine from now on. Any damage that may have been caused by the drop would not be covered under the warranty (although, in this case, your warranty has expired anyway), so you would need to pay for the repair. The only thing you can do now is to use it. If you start having problems, you can have it looked at then. There's no sense in paying someone to look at it until you find you're having some sort of reproducible issue. Thomas A Reed put it best... "hope for the best, but prepare for the worst" (mind you, that doesn't mean to "expect" the worst... just be prepared for it). While it's always important to have a backup of your important data, it's even more so if there is a more likely chance that your hardware may fail.

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