A thread for boring computer questions.

Ally, if it keeps doing that you should go ahead and try resetting the PMU which is called a 'last resort' but then again so is everything I've ever done to fix a problem on any computer.

Is there anyway to find the serial number of a piece of hardware (my DVD combo drive) without taking it out and looking at it or having the brochure?

anyway new question: i've been on the mac all-bundled-together wagon so long [like my whole life] that i don't know anything about getting PCs. Like will i rilly save money/get more bang/buck if I build my own system like say from a Shuttle? Or will the monitor/periphials costs and hassle bring the price out about the same? If I buy a Shuttle basebox, many don't seem to come with chips? Is it hard to put a chip in a motherboard? (Or do they come with chips?). Should I stick with pentiums or is an atholon a better deal? etc?

What are you plugging in? Just electrical power, or some USB stuff?

DiskTools will only work on a boot drive. If you don't have a current Norton/TechTool/DiskWarrior handy, then just reformat it.

Just the electrical thing--I don't take any USB stuff with me when I take the laptop. So basically what happens is I unplug the speakers (jacked into the headphone port), the USB cable for my digicam, and the ethernet, then I unplug the power, close up the computer, and tote the computer and the power cord. If I plug in the power cord BEFORE I open up the laptop, it won't wake up. This has not happened if I open the computer first, and THEN plug it in, but I don't always remember that.

What I've been doing is just taking out the battery and then putting the battery back in to force restart but I feel this is possibly a bad idea.

Serious help appreciated!

start>run> type cmd, type ipconfig.
This should tell you the ip address of the computer and default gateway(router)
If these settings are not there set dhcp from your routers config page. see manual.

right click folders to share them and find them by typing in \\computer name\sharename.
find computer name from sysytem tab in control panel.

So now, X-11 sometimes won't start, and when it does, Nicotine only opens up for about 10-15 seconds before crashing on me. What is going on? Should I reinstall?

adam i'm sorry i don't know the answer to that! try the slsk for mac message boards!

Where can these updates be found? Are they easy to install?

Yes it is. I was thinking of 10.3 which combined DiskUtility and DiskCopy into the single "DiskTools" app.

I've never touched OSX so I can't say, unfortunately.

Try this:

1. In the Energy Savings panel, under the "Sleep" set the "Put computer to sleep when it is inactive for" slider to any time you choose. Just something different than what's there.

2. Deselect the checkbox "Put the display to sleep when the computer is inactive for:"

This will force the computer to use the top slider to put the display to sleep at the same time the computer goes to sleep. The upshot of all this is that is forces the power manager to update itself.

What I've been doing is just taking out the battery and then putting the battery back in to force restart but I feel this is possibly a bad idea.

Holding down the power key for 15 seconds should do this and is MUCH better than taking the battery out.

Have you run a fink selfupdate/update-now yet? The python code for OS X has gone through several updates over the past couple of months.

All I want is Unix/OS X style mounting, oh and to reprogramme things so the slashes go the right way, I'm bored of always typing the wrong slashes for paths