Is my HDD about to fail?

[mac98aop]

Hi all

Hope you all had a nice summer.

I've never had a failed HDD before, so now wonder if there are tell tale signs to diagnose in my 6 year old Macbook Unibody.

Every now and then, whether on AC or battery:

1. The screen goes blank

2. The HDD stops spinning

3. The sleep comes on

Sometimes it then:

A. Immediately wakes itself and carries on right where it left off (even mid video playback)

B. Requires a press of the power button to wake it again

Is the HDD feeling unwell? Should I prepare to replace?

Or could it be a power supply fault, loose wire...? Any tips to diagnose?

I've run Disk Utility but presume that's unlikely to find/fix anything like this?

Any help gratefully received,

Thanks all - and anybody 'in line' in Cupertino whilst reading this?! ;)

Adam

[Sam - MacAmbulance]

Sounds more like a power management issue. Try the following : 

1. SMC reset : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
2. Trash power management preferences & restart : Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > SystemConfiguration > com.apple.PowerManagement.plist
3. PRAM Reset : alt + cmd + P + R when rebooting, hold until you hear the startup chime a second time

Regards

Sam

MacAmbulance Ltd. Providing Affordable Mac/PC Support and Web Development Sam Mullen ACMT +44 (0)7747778022 in...@macambulance.co.uk www.macambulance.co.uk MacAmbulance Ltd. is a registered company in England & Wales, registration number 8466597 This email is intended solely for the addressed recipients and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.

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[Keith Scott]

I have a similar problem with my MacBookPro17" Intel Core Duo 2.16GHz
It has added memory to 2 GB (2 x 1 GB) 667 MHz

It seems to be overheating and quitting with a black screen.
What worries me is that the fan does not appear to be working - I should be able to hear it' I believe.
Do you think a visit to Brihghton Apple Store's Genius might be the answer?

I think it might be due to dust or similar reason for blocking fan operation?

Keith
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[Sam - MacAmbulance]

If you can't hear the fan at all then yes it'll be overheating. Provided you can find the parts on eBay it's a 15min procedure to replace.

Regards

Sam

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MacAmbulance

Sam Mullen

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in...@macambulance.co.uk

[Adam Pymble]

Enormous thanks. 

All done, so let's see. 

Sent on the move. 

Apologies for any typos and brevity. 

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[mac98aop]

Alas Sam, the 3 steps below didn't work.

Can't be overheating, as this morning, it blanked out within 10 seconds of lifting the lid, (and immediately sprang to life again).

What would you try next?!

I don't suppose taking the back off will obviously reveal a loose wire?!?!

Thanks

Adam

[Sam - MacAmbulance]

Could be a faulty magnetic switch that makes the laptop think the lid has been closed. What's the serial number of the laptop?

Sam

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MacAmbulance

Sam Mullen

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in...@macambulance.co.uk

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[mac98aop]

WQ9020BS1AQ

Thanks Sam

AP