Comments on: Computer dreams

By: Gray Lensman

Gray Lensman — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:20:41 +0000

Take two aspirin. Those are for you. Then do this for the Mac:

First, unplug everything from the Mac except the keyboard and mouse (printers, etc.)

Next, Restart (under the Apple Menu) and quickly grab these four keys all at once: command(apple key), option, P and R. Hold these down for three restarts (bongs).

Let up the keys. This is a Parameter Ram reset or PRAM Dump. It resets the chip which keeps up with all the outside connections such as printers, etc.Plug everything back in. This also works if the Mac stops talking to the printer, scanner, etc. USB is the usual culprit. Also be sure to do all the Apple updates even you don’t use the software it talks about. Apple is taking care of your baby.

By: John Holbo

John Holbo — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:11:30 +0000

thanks sseziwa, but your first link is dead. I’d actually be curious to see the live one.

By: Sseziwa Mukasa

Sseziwa Mukasa — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:07:55 +0000

This seems to be a relatively common problem with Macs, although I haven't personally seen it. You can find another example here and the last message in this discussion actually tries to diagnose the root cause of the problem. Long story short, you have to unplug everything from the machine except the keyboard and mouse, and start plugging them in one by one until the problem resurfaces. If that fails you probably have a bad connection to your front USB ports. In the latter case the reboot may not actually have solved anything but the physical jiggling of the machine may have. and the last

By: Henry (not the famous one)

Henry (not the famous one) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:50:22 +0000

Two anecdotes (one true, one uncertain):

1. Maytag repairmen used to get calls from washing machine owners who could not get the appliance to start. If nothing else seemed to work, then they would advise the caller that there was sometimes a problem with negative polarity and that the solution would be to pull the plug out of the socket and reinsert it in the opposite configuration. The caller would discover, of course, when he went to unplug the machine that it was not plugged in.

2. While hiking up in the Sierras some years ago (too smoky to take that hike this year) I saw a bumper sticker that said “Life is a test. If this were a real life you would be told where to go and what to do.”

By: novakant

novakant — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:51:24 +0000

USB is wonderful, and it’s not the fault of the USB standard that software/firmware developers mess up sometimes.

For file transfer, Firewire does exceed USB speeds, but then it’s a bit like Betamax vs. VHS.

By: David

David — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:04:19 +0000

Intel developed USB and it was supposed to be the next big thing. That state of supposed to be lanquished for several years, going exactly nowhere, until Apple dumped the floppy and introduced USB on the first iMac and made USB.

By: c.l. ball

c.l. ball — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:37:22 +0000

Sleep-mode makes Macs do weird things. So
etimes my MBP reboots on sleep/hibernate.

By: bdbd

bdbd — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:52:47 +0000

temporarily fried a couple of USB ports while dreaming? Wet dreams, obviously!

By: Danny Yee

Danny Yee — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:27:21 +0000

USB is a creature introduced by Intel/Microsoft. Apple’s own equivalent is firewire

My memory is that Apple was the first major computer manufacturer to deploy USB. And Firewire wasn’t intended as an alternative to USB - I’ve never seen a Firewire mouse or keyboard!

By: Rich Puchalsky

Rich Puchalsky — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:54:16 +0000

I have gotten the same behavior on my Mac. Shut down, then start up, appears to fix it.

I’ve never bothered to investigate further. I figure that if I chase down every mysterious computer problem that occurs over the course of my life, I’ll be wasting like a year of my expected lifespan.

By: Watson Aname

Watson Aname — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:30:13 +0000

But I seem to recall Macs are perfect, or so I’ve been told repeatedly. You must be making this up.

Don’t be ridiculous. They’re just better, on average.

By: Ignalina

Ignalina — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:12:08 +0000

Er, that should have been:
http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x/a/frm/f/8300945231

By: Ignalina

Ignalina — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:11:41 +0000

Or, even better:

By: abb1

abb1 — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:09:15 +0000

Macs are perfect

Now, that’s a bit unfair, as USB is a creature introduced by Intel/Microsoft. Apple’s own equivalent is firewire.

By: novakant

novakant — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:04:12 +0000

And from the top of my head:

Update OS, firmware and drivers via software update. If that doesn’t help, unplug all USB peripheral devices and cables except for the mouse and keyboard. If you are connecting those through a hub, connect them directly. If the problem persists, try switching to other USB ports.

You could do a search or ask at these forums:

http://forums.macrumors.com
http://forums.macosxhints.com

Cheers