More to the point, you're very likely to trash your hard drive irreparably.
Technically, that's known as a Bad Thing(tm).
See, that little piece of metal in the drive is spinning at several thousand times a minute. Several hundred times a second. It makes a *REALLY* good gyroscope... and you know what happens when you tilt a gyroscope, right? Well, if you don't, it tilts *back*... which means that now that disc that's supposed to be kept in one very nice flat position with respect to the spindle, the heads, and the casing, is now trying its darnedest to twist itself out of alignment. And it will, eventually, after beating the insides to death. Voila, say bye bye to your data.
Using the PB with the lid closed does run the risk of heat damage. Running it closed and while *moving*?!? Nuh-uh, no way would I do that.
Not sure about transporting hte PB while its doing stuff, but it certainly can run with the lid closed. Powerbooks are designed to run with the lid closed, this is known as clamshell mode. If you connect an external monitor, keyboard and mouse the computer will act just like any tower with an external disply.
To answer the original poster's question spectifically, i don't think you can close the PB's lid without making it sleep. IF you have the external monitor, mouse and KB attached, you have to shut the screen and wake up the machine using th external keyboard/mouse in order to activate clamshell mode.
Last I checked, the G4 PB manual indicated that while clamshell mode was possible, it was not recommended for long-term use.
The keyboard is a main cooling path. Closing the lid means that the LCD is taking the heat. Hot LCDs degrade much much quicker, even when off... the heat simply cooks the little wee parts that make it work.
I think frying the motherboard or components is an extremely rare risk, but cooking the LCD repeatedly is something that you won't notice except by your screen being much less crisp and bright several months sooner than if you hadn't done it.
Since the screen is a pricey thing to replace, I tend not to run it in clamshell mode much at all.
Thanks all. One other point that one of you made was the HHD acting like a gyroscope, How does the iPod get around this? I have been know to run about three meters at a time { power burst from a fat man } is this damaging my pod?
iPods have at least 128MB ram for buffering, meaning: The hard disk spins up briefly, fills the buffer with the next 10 songs, then spins down. So it's likely to draw less power and is less likely to be spinning (and spins slower).
But yeah, iPods aren't really renowned for their durability, are they...
Comments
Originally posted by Dr Deep
How do i stop my G4 powerbook from sleeping when i close it.
"Why" you my ask. So when i transport it i can still be processing big stuffs an' thing like that. uuuur.
Thanks.
Not sure this is:
a. possible
b. advisable
The keyboard acts as a heat exchange.
Closing the lid traps heat.
Running with trapped heat fries the machine...
I have seen them run with a separate monitor and keyboard and I'm pretty sure it was closed.
Good points. Make's sense.
Technically, that's known as a Bad Thing(tm).
See, that little piece of metal in the drive is spinning at several thousand times a minute. Several hundred times a second. It makes a *REALLY* good gyroscope... and you know what happens when you tilt a gyroscope, right? Well, if you don't, it tilts *back*... which means that now that disc that's supposed to be kept in one very nice flat position with respect to the spindle, the heads, and the casing, is now trying its darnedest to twist itself out of alignment. And it will, eventually, after beating the insides to death. Voila, say bye bye to your data.
Using the PB with the lid closed does run the risk of heat damage. Running it closed and while *moving*?!? Nuh-uh, no way would I do that.
To answer the original poster's question spectifically, i don't think you can close the PB's lid without making it sleep. IF you have the external monitor, mouse and KB attached, you have to shut the screen and wake up the machine using th external keyboard/mouse in order to activate clamshell mode.
The keyboard is a main cooling path. Closing the lid means that the LCD is taking the heat. Hot LCDs degrade much much quicker, even when off... the heat simply cooks the little wee parts that make it work.
I think frying the motherboard or components is an extremely rare risk, but cooking the LCD repeatedly is something that you won't notice except by your screen being much less crisp and bright several months sooner than if you hadn't done it.
Since the screen is a pricey thing to replace, I tend not to run it in clamshell mode much at all.
But yeah, iPods aren't really renowned for their durability, are they...
http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/10564