Need Some Macbook Help

[Guest WyattEarp]

I just got a used Macbook today.

Intel 2.0 ghz Duo Core

2GB Ram

160 GB HD

wi-fi

13" monitor

not sure what model year this is.

Somehow I managed to lock myself out.

I can't get it to boot from my MAC OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard DVD (holding c when it restarts)

I can't get into Mac OS X 10.6.8 either.

any ideas? I should have just scrubbed the whole thing and started from scratch to begin with.

[Guest bkelm18]

What do you mean you got locked out? You can't login or it just wont boot period?

Edited to add: I don't know if Apple has changed this, but used to be unless the system CD you are using is meant to be used with that specific model, it won't boot, unless it's a universal system disk.

Edited October 21, 2011 by bkelm18

[Guest WyattEarp]

well, it had 2 accounts on there, i changed the username on one and the password (the Admin account), deleted the other account, ran an update, and then rebooted and it completely locked me out. the password I entered for my account didn't work. I was also having issues trying to get connected to my Linksys E3200 router.

anyhow, apparently this thing is either a teensy weensy bit on the slow side, or I'm just a tad impatient, because I finally got it to boot from the MAC OS 10.6.8 Disc. all's well....for now. see if i can get my wi-fi to connect to the router after I do a fresh install.

this young grasshoppa still need learn patience.

[Guest bkelm18]

Yeah if it keeps acting up, I'd just wipe it and do a re-install. I had to do that on an older iBook after it just got ridiculously slow and quirky after several years of use.

[Guest WyattEarp]

traded my pc laptop over at Micom Systems over in Franklin. they traded me straight up too, great bunch of guys to do business with. There were some misc files on it, so it's probably just better to wipe it and start over, not a big deal.

I've finally gotten away from PC for good!! Never going back either! This should get me through school for the next 18 months, then when I secure some employment after graduation, I'm buying a brand new macbook pro 17" top of the line, the works, fully loaded laptop.

[Guest TargetShooter84]

Macs FTW!!!

[Textennian]

Welcome to "The Force "!

[Guest WyattEarp]

Macs FTW!!!

yes indeed!

Welcome to "The Force "!

not new to the force, I has 27" iMAC desktop at home. just needed a macbook for when I'm away or sitting at school between classes so I can make the best of my time.

[Guest pfries]

MAC is way better for photo and publishing. Let me know if you need anything for it I think I have a few spare parts around.

[Glenn]

Core duo is several years old, so it may be a little slow on some tasks but should be perfectly usuable. Pretty siure core duo does not support Lion.

Glenn

[Guest WyattEarp]

ok, I can not get either my 27" iMac with 10.7.2 Lion or my Macbook with 10.6.8 Snow Leopard to connect to my Linksys E3200 router. I've tried B Mode, G Mode, Mixed, N Mode, without WPA 2 Personal, w/out WPA2, w/ WEP security, w/out WEP security. Tried changing channels on the router, but I can't find any option that allows me to change channels in AirPort settings. Tried changing the router networks name, turned airport off, then back on again. nothing.

Each time I try to connect, it keeps saying Network Connection Timed Out. Doesn't even try to connect, it thinks for about 2 seconds and then stops.

since both MAC computers are doing it, I'm assuming it's the router. I have upgraded the firmware on the router, held the reset button (not the factory default reset) for 30 seconds, then unplugged it for 30 seconds and plugged it back in, and still nothing.

I'm out of ideas. The wireless was working at the Computer Shop on their network, I was browsing the net with it, so I'm sure it's not the computer.

anyone have any ideas?

MAC is way better for photo and publishing. Let me know if you need anything for it I think I have a few spare parts around.

most definitely so, I love the multimedia capabilities of the mac. plus the new to me Epson R2400 Photo printer I just got works great too.

you have any 2 GB sticks of Memory?

I could use 1 stick of 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM to boost the RAM from 2 to 4 GB.

Core duo is several years old, so it may be a little slow on some tasks but should be perfectly usuable. Pretty siure core duo does not support Lion.

Glenn

yeah, i tried to install Lion it said no bueno.

[Guest pfries]

you have any 2 GB sticks of Memory?

I could use 1 stick of 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM to boost the RAM from 2 to 4 GB.

I will look in the am not going downstairs tonight (basment) to dig through boxes.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Hi Wyatt

That sounds about the same vintage as my last MacBook, which still works fine. I don't use it constantly but has held up well and probably won't get another until it dies.

Maybe there is a better place, but I have bought various Mac upgrades from these guys for years. Quality has been good, delivery reliable, and price is about as good as it gets in the Mac world unless there are some new places I'm unaware of--

Performance Upgrades; FireWire USB SATA Storage; Memory, more at OWC

If you know you already have 1 stick of 2 GB Ram then one other stick is what is needed. They usually ship with both slots full, so a factory 2 gb machine would have two 1 gb sticks. I believe most recent models are fastest when both slots have the same size ram, so if you really only have one slot occupied it may work faster with a matched pair. Usually it is the heartbreak of replacing both sticks to upgrade RAM from factory stock config. But MacSales has various helpers to find out what model you have and what memory they have that will fit, and the price is not bad.

For about a year have had a 500 GB Seagate momentus XT hybrid drive like this--

Seagate ST95005620AS 500GB Momentus XT 2.5" 7200RPM... in stock at OWC

There have been good and bad reviews of that drive but I've had good luck with it so far. It has some SSD drive features and "intelligent caching" so that if you habitually do the same things with your computer, the drive learns the usage patterns and the most-used data ends up in the SSD part of the drive for faster routine access.

With 4 gb of ram and the hybrid drive it doesn't "feel" real slow for what I use it for.

There are some bigger laptop drives than 500 GB nowadays, but the older MacBooks will only handle a max height of 9.5mm, and many of the 1 TB laptop drives are a little taller than that and won't fit in the older MacBooks.

Some of the earlier MacBooks were a hassle to disassemble to upgrade, but the model you probably have is pretty easy for swapping out memory and drive.

[Guest bkelm18]

Probably the router. Mine did the same thing. Wouldn't connect to either of my laptops. Replaced it and everything worked fine.

[Guest WyattEarp]

Probably the router. Mine did the same thing. Wouldn't connect to either of my laptops. Replaced it and everything worked fine.

crud, I just bought this thing from Wal-Mart a month ago, lol. what brand and model did you end up getting?

I had a Dlink DI-524, it wouldn't work with my PS3. I bought a Netgear that was allegedley supposed to be so easy to configure, and it would never recognize or allow my PS3 to connect to the Playstation Network. Now the Linksys I have won't allow either MAC to connect to the internet. grrrrr. Does anyone make a product anymore that just works for all purposes?

[Guest bkelm18]

I have one of the Linksys from Walmart. That is strange though that you've only had it a month. Does your PS3 connect to it?

[willis68]

If I were you I would get a airport extreme router. You will have no issues with it and they work fantastic

[Guest WyattEarp]

I have one of the Linksys from Walmart. That is strange though that you've only had it a month. Does your PS3 connect to it?

yes it connects but neither my iMac nor my Macbook will connect to it. I'm using the MTSU LAN right now and it connects just fine with no issue. So I'm gonna call Linksys Tech support and give them a chance to troubleshoot it before I take it back.

If I were you I would get a airport extreme router. You will have no issues with it and they work fantastic

you have a link to one so I can view the specs?

[Guest WyattEarp]

I will look in the am not going downstairs tonight (basment) to dig through boxes.

actually, it says I need 2 2GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM Simms to get 4 GB. Thank you very much!

Hi Wyatt

That sounds about the same vintage as my last MacBook, which still works fine. I don't use it constantly but has held up well and probably won't get another until it dies.

Maybe there is a better place, but I have bought various Mac upgrades from these guys for years. Quality has been good, delivery reliable, and price is about as good as it gets in the Mac world unless there are some new places I'm unaware of--

Performance Upgrades; FireWire USB SATA Storage; Memory, more at OWC

If you know you already have 1 stick of 2 GB Ram then one other stick is what is needed. They usually ship with both slots full, so a factory 2 gb machine would have two 1 gb sticks. I believe most recent models are fastest when both slots have the same size ram, so if you really only have one slot occupied it may work faster with a matched pair. Usually it is the heartbreak of replacing both sticks to upgrade RAM from factory stock config. But MacSales has various helpers to find out what model you have and what memory they have that will fit, and the price is not bad.

For about a year have had a 500 GB Seagate momentus XT hybrid drive like this--

Seagate ST95005620AS 500GB Momentus XT 2.5" 7200RPM... in stock at OWC

There have been good and bad reviews of that drive but I've had good luck with it so far. It has some SSD drive features and "intelligent caching" so that if you habitually do the same things with your computer, the drive learns the usage patterns and the most-used data ends up in the SSD part of the drive for faster routine access.

With 4 gb of ram and the hybrid drive it doesn't "feel" real slow for what I use it for.

There are some bigger laptop drives than 500 GB nowadays, but the older MacBooks will only handle a max height of 9.5mm, and many of the 1 TB laptop drives are a little taller than that and won't fit in the older MacBooks.

Some of the earlier MacBooks were a hassle to disassemble to upgrade, but the model you probably have is pretty easy for swapping out memory and drive.

you would be correct has 2, 1 GB Sticks in it right now.

I wonder if Apple can upgrade the video chip? I only have 64MB and I need 128 at least for Final Cut Pro Studio 3 for my video editing class.

[willis68]

Apple - AirPort Extreme - Simultaneous dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi base station

[Guest Lester Weevils]

actually, it says I need 2 2GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM Simms to get 4 GB. Thank you very much!

you would be correct has 2, 1 GB Sticks in it right now.

I wonder if Apple can upgrade the video chip? I only have 64MB and I need 128 at least for Final Cut Pro Studio 3 for my video editing class.

Unfortunately, I doubt that it is possible and/or cost-effective to upgrade the video. But hopefully Final Cut Pro will continue to operate in a degraded-performance mode with less than 128 MB video. Fingers crossed.

Apple makes a little more durable laptop than many companies, but it is risky throwing good money after bad upgrading any brand of laptop after it gets more than a couple of years old, IMO. Unless you are a good junk-box ebay scrounger and good working with tiny temperamental circuit boards, once the screen or main board dies, it makes most sense to toss the entire laptop and start over, so ambitious upgrades later in the service life of a laptop are risky.

I have upgraded my MacBook's hard drive twice. The last time was "crossed fingers" that the laptop would last long enough to justify the investment, but I just had to have 500 GB to continue using the thang, and the price of drives has fallen so far that the drive could be recycled to another use even if the laptop died. Ram is similarly pretty inexpensive and not a big loss if the lappy dies on you. It is more of a sunk cost on the ram because they keep improving ram and you probably can't use the same ram sticks in a newer laptop, but OTOH if you can keep finding inexpensive used MacBooks of the same vintage you can move the new parts to a replacement.

The only thing that has worn out on mine was the battery. After about 4 years the battery failed this year, and got a little bit "swelled and bent" overnight when it failed. Scary because lithium fires are nothing to laugh about. Bought a new third-party replacement batt from MacSales which works great. Sometimes a problem with many devices is that if the factory makes a custom batt for a certain model year-- They run off as many replacement batts as the factory thinks it can sell when they make the device. Then five years later when your battery fails and you pay thru the nose for a brand-new factory replacement batt, you are basically buying a brand-new batt that has been sitting on a warehouse shelf for five years which may not be in any better shape than your old battery you just wore out.

But the batt my MacBook uses, was used in several year-models of MacBook, which spreads the user-base for the battery, and the NewerTech branded replacements appear to be of fairly recent manufacture, rather than old stock manufactured years ago.

Edited October 21, 2011 by Lester Weevils

[Guest Bill'dYourOwnGun]

Firmware of the router could be an issue, but I've seen reports of IPv6 being disabled in OS X and fixing wifi connectivity issues as well.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Hi Wyatt-- Apologies if saying stuff you already know--

There was a core duo and then a later generation core 2 duo which is a more capable chip even at the same clock rate. Apple sold 2.0 GHz models of both.

There were several models that used the 667 MHz memory.

My model is the core 2 duo I think a 2007 model. Just sayin it isn't a tragedy if yours is a core duo, but if you get info with "about my mac" menu item and it says core 2 duo, then that is a little better.

This page describes how to find out what model and memory you need--

Apple MacBook Memory DDR2 667MHz up to 6.0GB and up to 750GB Internal Hard Drive upgrades too

The "more info" button on "about my mac" shows my model number as 2,1 (which a lot of machines had). There is a note on that page saying that the 2,1 models work best with 4 GB memory but actually only use 3 GB of the ram. Dunno if that is really true for all the 2,1 models. Mine displays as 4 GB installed and some debug diagnostics appear to show the mac using all of it, but dunno for sure.

Your model may show a higher number than 2,1 for all I know. Anyway, looks like a 4 GB kit from macsales would be about $60.

[Guest WyattEarp]

Unfortunately, I doubt that it is possible and/or cost-effective to upgrade the video. But hopefully Final Cut Pro will continue to operate in a degraded-performance mode with less than 128 MB video. Fingers crossed.

Apple makes a little more durable laptop than many companies, but it is risky throwing good money after bad upgrading any brand of laptop after it gets more than a couple of years old, IMO. Unless you are a good junk-box ebay scrounger and good working with tiny temperamental circuit boards, once the screen or main board dies, it makes most sense to toss the entire laptop and start over, so ambitious upgrades later in the service life of a laptop are risky.

I have upgraded my MacBook's hard drive twice. The last time was "crossed fingers" that the laptop would last long enough to justify the investment, but I just had to have 500 GB to continue using the thang, and the price of drives has fallen so far that the drive could be recycled to another use even if the laptop died. Ram is similarly pretty inexpensive and not a big loss if the lappy dies on you. It is more of a sunk cost on the ram because they keep improving ram and you probably can't use the same ram sticks in a newer laptop, but OTOH if you can keep finding inexpensive used MacBooks of the same vintage you can move the new parts to a replacement.

The only thing that has worn out on mine was the battery. After about 4 years the battery failed this year, and got a little bit "swelled and bent" overnight when it failed. Scary because lithium fires are nothing to laugh about. Bought a new third-party replacement batt from MacSales which works great. Sometimes a problem with many devices is that if the factory makes a custom batt for a certain model year-- They run off as many replacement batts as the factory thinks it can sell when they make the device. Then five years later when your battery fails and you pay thru the nose for a brand-new factory replacement batt, you are basically buying a brand-new batt that has been sitting on a warehouse shelf for five years which may not be in any better shape than your old battery you just wore out.

But the batt my MacBook uses, was used in several year-models of MacBook, which spreads the user-base for the battery, and the NewerTech branded replacements appear to be of fairly recent manufacture, rather than old stock manufactured years ago.

I figured as much with the video, but FCP won't even install unless it has 128. I've found a work around that's "supposed" to make it work, downloading some files to edit a few of the settings it's asking me to change to force it to install and run.

Firmware of the router could be an issue, but I've seen reports of IPv6 being disabled in OS X and fixing wifi connectivity issues as well.

I tried it before I upgraded the firmware and it didn't work, then I tried it with the new firmware upgrade didn't do anything either. I'll check the IPv6 and see if that helps. thanks for the tip.

getting ready to call Linksys here shortly.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Over the years I've tried dlink and linksys routers and had very bad luck with the dlink and pretty good luck with the linksys.

About a year ago I got paranoid about security because so many wireless routers were becoming visible from my living room and removed the old linksys wireless access point, though it never had any trouble working with any wifi device. Just been using a linksys switch and using the ADSL box as the router, ethernet to everything.

A few months ago got a linksys wireless gigabit router but haven't got around to connecting it. Maybe it will give me troubles when I hook it up. Dunno.

In the past my only issues getting a router to play nice with the ADSL modem, was that ADSL or cable modems have router features built-in, which is why it is so easy to connect multiple ethernet-connected computers to a modem with a simple ethernet switch or hub.

But sometimes when I would connect a router to the modem, both the router and the modem would want to take over the router duties and they would fight each other. The fix was usually to find out the IP address to go into the modem control panel and turn off "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol" DHCP. The DHCP is the feature that auto-assigns IP addresses to computers that sign in to the network. Most modems default to doing this function and acting like a router. But at least with some modems you have to turn that feature off so that the connected router can take over the DHCP function from the modem.