Hi Elen and Chris, Did you check whether you can hear VoiceOver through your headphones? One possibility is that you damaged the speaker connection and can still get VoiceOver if you plug in headphones. If it's simply a case of not hearing sound, you can try resetting the PRAM, since this module contains information about initial volume settings and also the startup disk selection. You'll have to reboot your computer and hold down the Control, Option, P, and R keys simultaneously as outlined in this Apple Support document about resetting your Mac's PRAM: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
Chris, I'm not sure that she has a fully working system to back up, since she's talking about connecting the MacBook to another Mac to get the files off. Eleni, here's what I think may work: get a firewire cable and plug it in between your MacBook and the other Mac. (I'm assuming that the Desktop Mac has a Firewire port.) Then, power up your MacBook while holding down the "T" key. This lets you boot up into target disk mode. What happens is that the laptop's hard drive shows up as a second drive of the desktop Mac (but probably also named "Macintosh HD") under the devices in the sidebar of Finder. The first "Macintosh HD" will be the hard drive for the desktop Mac. The second one (VO-Down arrow) in the sidebar will be the drive of your MacBook. You should be able to access the files you want in Finder and copy them over to the Desktop Mac or to other hard drives or peripherals attached to the Desktop Mac. I've never had to do this kind of file recovery -- usually I have a cloned drive of my laptop to recover files from -- but I just tried booting my 5+some years old Powerbook up in target disk mode connected to my MacBook. Basically, you should be able to boot your machine in target disk mode to another machine under circumstances where you can't get your system to fully boot up by itself. However, I would first try resetting the PRAM since it's possible that might fix the boot up and/or VoiceOver speaking problem. Here's the Apple support document on how to use Target Disk mode: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661 You should have your MacBook connected to AC power if you're going to be using it in this mode for any extended period (e.g. for copying files). Finally, I'm puzzled by something you mentioned in one of your earlier posts (on converting movies -- something I'm not familiar with) Tiffany D wrote: > It's bad enough that this is a large machine and that > the charger cord is so short it's laughable, but when I can't do my > work and ordinary things, it really gets on my nerves. It sounds as though you're not using the extension cord that came with your computer. Each Mac comes with a power adapter whose corner has a plug attachment whose prongs (for U.S. power plugs) can simply flip down and be plugged into an AC outlet. That corner piece can also be unplugged and the power plug for a different country inserted. However, for all the U.S. Macs, there's also an extension plug that comes with the power adapter. That's a heavier cable that ends in a three-prong plug and whose other end can be plugged into the corner of the power adapter when you pull off the plug attachment. Aren't you using this? I normally keep this cord plus my Mac power adapter unless I want to carry less, or if I don't have any outlets available that can accept the third prong. The extension cord is usually packed in with the cables that come with the MacBook. Assuming that you had the same box that I did, this was in the rectangular bay in the foam at the front of the box. You shouldn't have any problems with the cord length if you're using the extension cord. HTH Cheers, Esther Chris Blouch wrote: > Sounds like you got a dud, which happens on all computers of all > brands > from time to time. Still doesn't make it a pleasant experience. My > wife's MacBook has been shipped to AppleCare twice now with a dead > motherboad (the first time) and a dead hard drive (the second time). > Since I convinced her to switch from her Dell I got to hear about > it. Of > course the Dell had already had its share of failures hardware and > otherwise so it wasn't a huge armtwist. She does like it when it > works. > > That said, as far as a backup goes, you could just plug in an external > hard drive and copy to it anything you care about. Time machine also > works well and will do an incremental backup every 60 minutes. The UI > isn't very accessible but if you had to reinstall things there is a > step > in the setup where you can restore from a timeMachine backup, so if > things really went pear shaped you could at least get your files back. > The time machine backup is organized so you could go to > DriveName/ComputerName/Latest/YourDriveName and find everything that > it > backed up from your drive, so you don't have to use their GUI at all > once it's turned on. I'd get an external drive roughly 2x the size of > the drive you want to back up. That way you'll have room for a full > backup and lots of incrementals. > > Hope this helps. > > CB > > Eleni Vamvakari wrote: >> So the Mac quit on me again, no more than two weeks after I got it >> back from Apple. I was trying to use that converter program and it >> just sat there and did nothing, as I've said in another post. Then, >> it just disappeared. One minute it was open and the next it was >> gone. >> When I reloaded it, I couldn't get into it's menus. I could only get >> into the Apple and other menus by hitting VO-m twice. Now I was >> really annoyed, so I did two bad things. First, I pounded my hand on >> the computer and second, I shut it off with the power button instead >> of going through the normal shut-down process. As a result, the >> hyphin key came up a little (don't ask how, since I wasn't anywhere >> near it) and when I turned it back on, I got no speech. No matter >> what I did, I couldn't get VoiceOver to start. >> >> Two days ago, Mom came up to try to help me but with no success. >> When she turned it on, she only saw an apple going around and around >> and then a blank screen. We tried the tech tool cd but when we put >> it >> in, nothing happened. So we tried the Leopard installation disk. >> This time, the cd drive made a bit of a strange sound (sort of like a >> buzzing) but did nothing else either good or bad. I heard the drive >> sound getting louder, as it usually does and then it went quiet. >> Yesterday, I hooked up the external keyboard but that didn't work >> either. The machine turns on, makes the start-up sound and I know >> the >> hard disk is doing something, But I can't get it to talk. If anyone >> can offer me a suggestion as to what I can do, I'd sincerely >> appreciate it. >> >> In the meantime, we called Apple. They said they'd give us a >> refirbished model, but now I have to wait for someone to bring me >> and/or it to the store. I know that I misused the Mac but it still >> shouldn't be acting like this. It's not like I spilled a whole cup >> of >> coffee in the keyboard and threw it out the window. I seriously >> can't >> take this anymore. Yes, Leopard does have some advantages over >> Windows. But what is the advantage of having a $2,000 machine when >> it >> always breaks down and when a cheaper one works just as well? My >> AppleCare is about to expire, and when it does, I can't keep shelling >> out money every time this thing decides to break down. >> >> Anyway, I asked a friend about how I can save my files and get them >> off of there and he suggested I hook up my Mac and the household Mac >> via a fire wire connection and use Migration Assistant. How does >> that >> work? I can't ask Joanie, cause she barely uses it and only for very >> basic things, and Mom's just learning how to use a computer. Please, >> can anyone help me so that I don't mess up the other machine? Can I >> transfer files to a cd or usb stick with this program and is it >> possible for me to delete the ones off of my machine with it? Btw, >> I've never used Time Machine, if that's required to use Migration >> Assistant. >> >> Thanks, >> Eleni >> >> -- >> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com >> . >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en >> . >> >> >> > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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