Andrewk4

Q: Optical drive wont sleep while charging

Ive recently purchased a 15" aluminuim powerbook g4 1.6, and the previous owner reinstalled 10.5 Leopard from scratch. Ive only added Firefox, and 10.6 and 10.7 updates. Reset pram, plist, and repaired disk permission, and no other software is loaded.

 

When the screen is closed, and the charger is on, the dvd drive makes the eject noise every 10 secs or so. It seems to be rebooting the drive, and having trouble sleeping. I can put a dvd in and it runs properly and ejects properly, so there is nothing in the drive. The noise only happens while the charger is on in sleep mode. Remove the charger, and the drive is fine while in sleep. Do a shutdown and the charger is fine. There seems to be a conflict between charging and sleep mode.

 

Do I have faulty hardware? I am unaware of the history of this machine. Any tips appreciated.

Posted on Feb 17, 2013 6:04 PM

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Q: Optical drive wont sleep while charging

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  • by Klaus1,

    Klaus1 Klaus1 Feb 18, 2013 1:35 AM in response to Andrewk4
    Level 8 (48,858 points)
    Feb 18, 2013 1:35 AM in response to Andrewk4

    Ive only added Firefox, and 10.6 and 10.7 updates.

    How did you manage that? Neither version of OS X can run on a PPC G4 Mac.

  • by Andrewk4,

    Andrewk4 Andrewk4 Feb 18, 2013 6:37 PM in response to Klaus1
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Feb 18, 2013 6:37 PM in response to Klaus1

    Sorry, I am running 10.5.7 on a ppc g4 1.67 Powerbook. You were correct.

     

    Any ideas on why the drive makes the eject noise? It seems to be an unanswered question for several users over the last few years.

  • by Allan Jones,

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Feb 19, 2013 7:02 AM in response to Andrewk4
    Level 8 (35,181 points)
    iPad
    Feb 19, 2013 7:02 AM in response to Andrewk4

    Do I have faulty hardware?

     

    Some 15-inch PowerBooks with 1.5 and 1.67ghz processors do have a logic board problem but it usually doesn't cause the optical drive to go walkabout while asleep. The known issue is that one RAM slot goes bad, reducing your RAM available to one-half. It's a matter of opening the RAM door and seeing what is physically installed and then comparing that to what "About ths Mac" says for installed RAM.

     

    Videos of how to access the RAM are here:

     

    http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/powerbookg4_al/

     

    Had you not reinstalled the OS, I would say the previous owner had some FAX software installed or  some form of third party backup software that was looking for a no-longer-attached device.

     

    If any USB devices (printers, keyboads, mice, external drives) are connected, pull them as see if the condition changes.

     

    Issues with both charging and sleep mode can often be settled by a PMU reset:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1431

  • by Knucklesmac,Solvedanswer

    Knucklesmac Knucklesmac Feb 19, 2013 7:18 AM in response to Andrewk4
    Level 4 (2,225 points)
    Feb 19, 2013 7:18 AM in response to Andrewk4

    Andrewk4 wrote:

     

     

     

    When the screen is closed, and the charger is on, the dvd drive makes the eject noise every 10 secs or so.

    Does this happen only when the lid is closed?

    If so, I would suspect the problem to possibly be with the palm rest being raised a little.

    If you close the lid, does the lit completely sit flush with the base? The reason for asking is, I've know these PowerBooks to have bent or damaged keyboard/palm rest, which when the lids closed, it presses against the top left key which is the CD/DVD eject button. If this is being pressed in constantly, it will keep the PowerBook awake and keep trying to eject the optical drive.

     

    It could also be a problem with the keyboard having a bit of dust or dirt under the keys. Sometimes creates the keys to be raised a little and again when the lid is shut it's being pressed.

  • by Allan Jones,Helpful

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Feb 19, 2013 8:12 AM in response to Andrewk4
    Level 8 (35,181 points)
    iPad
    Feb 19, 2013 8:12 AM in response to Andrewk4

    Knuckles brings up an excellent point. I've seen MBPs and PBs with warped displays--has the same affect as Knuckles mentions: the little "sleep magnet" that triggers sleep when you close the lid is too far away from the switch. I believe it's on the right side of the display. Put a modest weight--a stapler or paperweight--on the right side of the display when you close the lid and see if the sound stops.

     

    If it does, give Knuckles the credit because I totally spaced out the sleep magnet issue.

  • by Andrewk4,

    Andrewk4 Andrewk4 Feb 19, 2013 4:25 PM in response to Knucklesmac
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Feb 19, 2013 4:25 PM in response to Knucklesmac

    Thanks Knuckle, the keys are the issue. I had removed the S and W key to clean under them and replaced them succesfully. Then I cleaned under the F3, F4 and F5 keys, but they are much trickier to replace properly. They are NOT sitting flush and must be touching the keyboard. I will have another go at cleaning them and getting the scissors to sit properly.

     

    The screen does latch closed, but does not sit flush. Theres a gap of about 2mm on the right side. The F4 and 5 keys seem to be popping on and off at random while I am using the mac. Volume icon flashes on the screen at random. I had not considered that this keys issue was related, but your explanation makes sense now.

     

    Thanks heaps.

    Andrew

  • by Knucklesmac,

    Knucklesmac Knucklesmac Feb 20, 2013 12:44 AM in response to Andrewk4
    Level 4 (2,225 points)
    Feb 20, 2013 12:44 AM in response to Andrewk4

    You're very welcome

    I hope it's something simple that wont cost you any or much money to resolve.

     

    Thanks to Allan Jones also!