Interesting question but wouldn't the heat be bad for the LCD screen and prevent heat from escaping right? I didn't see anything about it being ok to do this in the documentation, I'll ask Apple when I ask them about the lines tomorrow.
If you plug in a USB keyboard and monitor - it will wake back up (if it is sleeping with the lid closed). I have the mouse plugged into the keyboard, and it works that way (they don't have to be plugged in independently).
Mine has this weirdness, where it wakes up, goes back to sleep, then I can wake it up again. But it works - and it is a touted feature of the 12" PB (all PowerBooks AFAIK).
Oh I got some great screenshots that show how terrible this looks, in fact they look worse in a snapshot!! They're in Paul's iDisk. Thanks for the space bro. How do I link to them?
I played part of Monsters Inc on my new Powerbook today... didn't notice anything wrong, and certainly nothing to the degree of the weirdness depicted on those screenshots...
Sorry, dude. I hope this issue gets resolved for you soon cause I can certainly see how annoying that would get.
So if this NVidia card is problematic, how hard is it to change it out when an ATI Radeon card comes along? Is it major surgery? Am I going to have to ship it off to Apple? I'm kinda leery about plunking down $2k for a new computer that has video card problems, wobbly cases, heat dissipation issues, etc.
I can't explain it but the screen shots look worse than the actual problem. This is probably because they only appear for a second, and the human eye can't percieve it all so fast. Also when watching a movie it's just one sync line that works its way up the display to the top and then another one starts at the bottom, like a crappy vhs tape or something. Paul thanks for saving my sanity I was finding it hard to explain. Also I uploaded more, there's this one pic that only has a few lines and that's more what it looks like in person. Anyone with a 12", just look real closely when the movie is panning or you're moving sideways fast in a game like Wolfenstein. Also this is even affects NES/SNES roms in emulators.
I'll call Apple tomorrow...I'll also ask about the DVD lagging and the sleeping with lid closed and QE issues. Anything else I should ask them while they're on the phone?
Well the Apple guy didn't know what I was talking about and was too lazy to check your iDisk Paul!
Resetting NVRAM didn't do anything, and I guess I'll take it to an Apple store. Also he didn't know anything about Bluetooth mice & OS X and claimed you can't run your PB while the lid is closed. Hmm. Maybe I got a dud and they'll upgrade me to a 17 inch? <img src="graemlins/cancer.gif" border="0" alt="[cancer]" />
afaik you can run the PB12" in closed mode only if you have an external monitor AND usb keyboard and mouse attached.
i have done so with my PB and find it useful at my workstation at work, where i am lucky enough to have a monitor with switchable dual vga inputs.
i haven't noticed many issues with playback in my first month of ownership (although i am on my second one: the first lost a hex screw from the screen bezel, didn't sit properly on a flat surface, and had a 'sticky' trackpad button.)
I think you all have it and you aren't noticing it. I think it is the refresh rate of the LCD itself that is causing it. However it can do 75 hz and when we mirrored it it showed up on an external CRT.... Kinda weird that it does it at 75 hz. I grabbed a 667 Ti and noticed these lines in Wolfenstein but to a little bit lesser degree.
So using the PB with the lid closed will NOT hurt the LCD or comp? Becuase if it won't that's my solution, when i want to game or watch a movie i'll plug it into my roommate's big ol' CRT..
edit: Question: would Bluetooth mice/keyboard make it work with the lid closed? That would be sooooo coooool!
Apple upgrade you to a 17"? Heh. I should hope they get them out to the people who actually bought them (and hope they're intact, without heat problems). Keep dreamin' Yeah, too bad these new-generations books have the NVIDIA chipsets - I'd go for NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti in a tower (which my bro has -- 128MB VRAM -- drool, drool...), but the Radeon in my little TiBook does very well. Good luck with these weird problems, though -- I hope the case thing is just an anomaly.
The best way is to connect the monitor you want to use. Nothing will be displayed unless you click Detect Displays. Then restart. Wait for the chime - but literally as soon as the PowerBook has chimed, close the lid. Your external monitor will now show the start-up sequence. Once it has finished, you can open the lid and use the keyboard and trackpad - and the built-in screen will not come on unless you click Detect Displays. You can open and close the lid as much as you want and it will not make the PowerBook sleep.
Thanks Ti Fighter this worked. Now I don't have to worry about the screen and heat. Well my "lines" are definitely a crappy NVIDIA driver issue, since I used your method and connected to a CRT and saw these "lines" at all refresh rates and resolutions. Since no one else has this this it leaves me wondering whether I have a dud though. I'm going to try calling Apple again today.
Ok i'm an idiot, if you are on battery you can't use an external monitor with the lid closed, even using the restart trick above. I plugged the power in and i can do everything now, even without restarting. With it running just close the lid, plug in you display, wake it up with an external mouse or keyboard, once its up on the external like 10-15 seconds you can even open the lid and the internal display wont turn on untill you go to detect displays. BUT if your computer goes to sleep and the lid is open, it will wake up on the powerbook screen. So just set the display to sleep, and put computer sleep to never.
I've had my 12" PowerBook for about a month now and have watched many DVDs on it and have never seen anything like this. I don't see this when I am rapidly moving finder windows either. I also haven't seen this behavior posted at MacNN or the Apple Discussion Forums. Are we all missing something while testing it? This PowerBook has been a real gem so far.
Comments
Mine has this weirdness, where it wakes up, goes back to sleep, then I can wake it up again. But it works - and it is a touted feature of the 12" PB (all PowerBooks AFAIK).
Originally posted by Aquatic:
Oh I got some great screenshots that show how terrible this looks, in fact they look worse in a snapshot!! They're in Paul's iDisk. Thanks for the space bro. How do I link to them?
http://homepage.mac.com/psantora/.Pu...ook/iTunes.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/psantora/.Pu...inibook/QT.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/psantora/.Pu...ibook/wolf.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/psantora/.Pu...book/wolf2.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/psantora/.Pu...book/wolf3.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/psantora/.Pu...book/wolf4.jpg
(renamed things so they would be easy to link to
[large images = bad! use links or thumbnails! - Brad]
Sorry, dude. I hope this issue gets resolved for you soon cause I can certainly see how annoying that would get.
I'll call Apple tomorrow...I'll also ask about the DVD lagging and the sleeping with lid closed and QE issues. Anything else I should ask them while they're on the phone?
http://homepage.mac.com/psantora/.Pu...ook2/wolf2.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/psantora/.Pu...book2/butt.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/psantora/.Pu...book2/face.jpg
Re-upload that last pic...(you had 5) it seems to be corrupted... and don't go so crazy with the names.... short names are better then long ones....
you are welcome
[large images = bad! use links or thumbnails! - Brad]
Resetting NVRAM didn't do anything, and I guess I'll take it to an Apple store. Also he didn't know anything about Bluetooth mice & OS X and claimed you can't run your PB while the lid is closed. Hmm. Maybe I got a dud and they'll upgrade me to a 17 inch? <img src="graemlins/cancer.gif" border="0" alt="[cancer]" />
i have done so with my PB and find it useful at my workstation at work, where i am lucky enough to have a monitor with switchable dual vga inputs.
i haven't noticed many issues with playback in my first month of ownership (although i am on my second one: the first lost a hex screw from the screen bezel, didn't sit properly on a flat surface, and had a 'sticky' trackpad button.)
hope you get to the bottom of your problem
So using the PB with the lid closed will NOT hurt the LCD or comp? Becuase if it won't that's my solution, when i want to game or watch a movie i'll plug it into my roommate's big ol' CRT..
edit: Question: would Bluetooth mice/keyboard make it work with the lid closed? That would be sooooo coooool!
[ 03-15-2003: Message edited by: Aquatic ]</p>
I don't think it's possible to get a full screen visuals screenshot that doesn't look crappy.
heh I freaked out my brother b putting folders on his desktop in OS9 a few times...
and yes the iDisk is mad slow and yes i have .Mac
[large images = bad! use links or thumbnails! - Brad]
found this on the apple site forums-
The best way is to connect the monitor you want to use. Nothing will be displayed unless you click Detect Displays. Then restart. Wait for the chime - but literally as soon as the PowerBook has chimed, close the lid. Your external monitor will now show the start-up sequence. Once it has finished, you can open the lid and use the keyboard and trackpad - and the built-in screen will not come on unless you click Detect Displays. You can open and close the lid as much as you want and it will not make the PowerBook sleep.
Thanks Ti Fighter this worked. Now I don't have to worry about the screen and heat. Well my "lines" are definitely a crappy NVIDIA driver issue, since I used your method and connected to a CRT and saw these "lines" at all refresh rates and resolutions. Since no one else has this this it leaves me wondering whether I have a dud though. I'm going to try calling Apple again today.
-alcimedes