Mac problems

[JorisVandenBerghe]

(Mods/Admins: please move this thread to the appropriate section of this forum...didn't know where else to post this - my apologies!)

So I just had lunch and got back to continue working on my 13" MacBook Pro. I had Safari running with a few tabs, Word and maybe something else, can't check anymore.

I left it standing open (the MBP, that is), knowing that all I would have to do upon returning to it is entering my password. Now I use an external Apple Keyboard and a Logitech trackball mouse thingy. Tried to enter my password with the Apple keyboard and no matter what I typed, nothing appeared, although it was clear to me that I was about to type in the correct field of that login window. Tab didn't work, space didn't work,...my mouse didn't work either. I thought "Ok, I'll try it with its own keyboard and the trackpad." Well, it didn't. It just didn't do anything at all. In the end I shut it down using the little button on the right top of it. Started again and everything worked but obviously lost what I was working.

I find it funny as it hasn't let me down in more than a year of use. Ok, it has reported (incorrectly) that the battery "needed maintenance" once a month ago or so. But that's about it. I'd just like to find out or know what was wrong...I plugged out the mouse and the keyboard before trying with its own keyboard and trackpad, so I don't have a clue what the problem was really...

Thanks in advance chaps :salute:! I'd really appreciate it if anyone could tell me what happened to my beloved MBP...

[jmig]

I can't help you with your Mac problem, Joris. However, NewsHawks is where people are posting general computer related problems. So this forum is fine.

[txnetcop]

(Mods/Admins: please move this thread to the appropriate section of this forum...didn't know where else to post this - my apologies!)

So I just had lunch and got back to continue working on my 13" MacBook Pro. I had Safari running with a few tabs, Word and maybe something else, can't check anymore.

I left it standing open (the MBP, that is), knowing that all I would have to do upon returning to it is entering my password. Now I use an external Apple Keyboard and a Logitech trackball mouse thingy. Tried to enter my password with the Apple keyboard and no matter what I typed, nothing appeared, although it was clear to me that I was about to type in the correct field of that login window. Tab didn't work, space didn't work,...my mouse didn't work either. I thought "Ok, I'll try it with its own keyboard and the trackpad." Well, it didn't. It just didn't do anything at all. In the end I shut it down using the little button on the right top of it. Started again and everything worked but obviously lost what I was working.

I find it funny as it hasn't let me down in more than a year of use. Ok, it has reported (incorrectly) that the battery "needed maintenance" once a month ago or so. But that's about it. I'd just like to find out or know what was wrong...I plugged out the mouse and the keyboard before trying with its own keyboard and trackpad, so I don't have a clue what the problem was really...

Thanks in advance chaps :salute:! I'd really appreciate it if anyone could tell me what happened to my beloved MBP...


This might help. Apple/MAC has had a ton of USB bandwidth issues with Leopard. I no longer repair Apple/MAC but their support site for users is pretty fair. Their company support for techs is terrible and too expensive!

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5730149

[JorisVandenBerghe]

What I forgot to mention is that I'm using Snow Leopard (Mac OSX 10.6.5).

[Chacha]

What I forgot to mention is that I'm using Snow Leopard (Mac OSX 10.6.5).


Hey Joris,

I cannot help you on this problem either, I use an iMac,
but I have not encountered such a problem...
My iMac has no password so I just don't type over that password thingy...

Anyway, I am a member of "insanelymac" forum....
I ask questions there most of the time...
Let me warn you:
They are not as friendly as SOH's

[Lionheart]

My own humble theory is that its just locked up and if you did a forced reboot, it should be back to normal.

Now, can you force-reboot it? Hopefully... (I have the iMac, and it can either be force-rebooted by holding down the power button in the back, or just unplug it and wait a moment, then plug it back in).

Hope you get it all running and back in order again.

[JorisVandenBerghe]

Err...it does work, but I think it might be related to the battery problem I seemed to have. I've read on Apple's own support forums that other people had problems with their battery, the trackpad and the keyboard. Can't call the technical support from the store where I bought it now as I'm in college right now, but I'll do it tomorrow afternoon when I get home.

So if it'd happen again, you'd recommend forcing to shut down with the power button and try to reboot it after a couple of seconds ?

[JorisVandenBerghe]

Well, it happened again half an hour ago. It only seems to happen when the laptop is standing open and goes to 'standby' mode or so. I thought like "why not close it, let it go to its 'real' sleep mode and open it ?". Well, I did just that and guess what...it worked!

So for now I have a workaround for my problem, but I'm going to call the technical support tomorrow anyway (if it's available on Saturday, that is...here in Europe it's already Friday night). Tried calling them the other day, but they were rather busy, it appeared...

Still a funny issue IMO. Online I've found some other people having nearly the same problem (trackpad and keyboard not working from time to time) and I think it has to do with the battery. Might be related to that 'needs maintenance' notification which wasn't true...

Cheers

J.