Apple repair procedure???

[Noname Given]

I service Macs for a living... and I don't work for Apple.

If you are afraid of what Apple might do, why aren't you hiring someone to find out what the issues are first. I have tons of clients with systems that are under Apple Care warranty, but that covers repairing the hardware. Finding out what the problem actually is and making sure that client data isn't lost are important functions even for systems that Apple is responsible for fixing.

I find it interesting that people believe that Apple is the only service choice for Apple computers. What are you guys going to do if your system gets older than Apple is willing to service?

Because I used to service MACs too in the past (I've done MACs and Amigas in my time in addition to the IBM PC and Network support I do now); and back in the day, servicing MACs often required software and utilities you couldn't legally get you hands on unless you or your shop was certified. And given that everytime Steve Jobs and Co. allow third party vendors in, they usually revoke their licences within 6 months...THAT'S why I thought Apple still enforces these policies; although the last time I actually worked on a MAC was 1996.

 

[Shaw]

Because I used to service MACs too in the past (I've done MACs and Amigas in my time in addition to the IBM PC and Network support I do now); and back in the day, servicing MACs often required software and utilities you couldn't legally get you hands on unless you or your shop was certified. And given that everytime Steve Jobs and Co. allow third party vendors in, they usually revoke their licences within 6 months...THAT'S why I thought Apple still enforces these policies; although the last time I actually worked on a MAC was 1996.

It is Mac... not MAC.

I've been working on Macs for more than ten years and was part of Apple's developer program before that. I have service manuals for most Macs going back into the late 1980s and by 1997 Apple started including hardware test CDs with their systems.

What software utilities did you need? The best ones in the 1990s weren't even made by Apple! TechTool Pro was Apple's own default utility for years. Apple supplied me with tons of diagnostic CDs for their systems... never used them because they were designed for people who didn't know what a Mac was to begin with.

I have no clue what universe you worked in back in the day... but it can't be the real world! Because none of that has ever been true. If you knew the OS (which wasn't hard back then) and the hardware (which wasn't much harder), you could fix anything. And back in 1996 you weren't just dealing with Apple, you had clones to deal with too... and Jobs was still at NeXT back then!

If you don't know Macs... and you don't (and didn't), stop spreading FUD!

 

[DontFeedPhil]

Shaw, You make a very good point. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I guess I too was under the impression that only Apple can service the machine.
I did a little trouble shooting last night (Sunday) and I did hook up my Apple monitor to my PC, which ahppens to have a dvi input on the video card. And the Monitor itself is working fine.
So I am of the mind that it is either the video card itself or maybe the Mobo.
Thing is, Stupid Apple and their propreiatary shit. There is only 1 off the shelf video card that will work in my machine. An ATI HD-3870 Mac/PC Edition. So I cant just go to Best Buy or somewhere and get one. Well best buy does sell that card. But it is order online only. They dont have it in stock.
So they kinda want you to think that you need them...
I have it ion at my Local Apple service center and hopefully they call me by tonight to tell me what it is...

 

[Shaw]

So they kinda want you to think that you need them...

Yeah... and the Apple Stores re-enforced that perception.

The thing is you can connect your HD to another Mac (like a MacBook Pro) to either check the HD or make a back-up image if it turns out that it does need to go to Apple.

Those are things that an independent Mac service person can do without violating your Apple Care warranty.

And if you can isolate the problem to something having nothing to do with either the HD or software, then you could pull the drive before giving Apple the system.

 

[DontFeedPhil]

I did pull my audio drive that contains all my music files for recording. I still had 2 drives in there. The Mac drive and the PC drive.
I was hoping to at least hear from the tech guys by tonight as to what they found. Im not sure when they close...they have Messed up hours...

 

[DontFeedPhil]

I bring the thing in at about 12:30 pm Central time and I called them at 7:00 PM and the dicks said they should probably get to it tomorrow...
They said its their busiest time of year. I was thinking (but I didnt say it) that it would only take them 10 minutes to swap out video cards...
I wonder if I can tell them that I want the next better video card. See when I bought it I just took the stock ATI card casue they gave me that ol line of shit that they would have to order one and I wouldnt be able to take my computer home for another week or so...
So now that this one is broken do you think they would allow me to pay the extra 150 bucks it would have cost and upgrade to the Nvidea 8800 GT? It has 512 MB cache or ram versus the 256 that the ATI has...

 

[Lindley]

You should Google target disk mode. This is a way of starting up that will give you access to the HD through another machine without involving the OS.

Also, just in case you don't know, two other startup procedures which are very useful:
1) Booting with the mouse button down with eject any CDs you have in the machine.
2) Booting with the option button down will give you a screen allowing you to select any OS installed on any connected device.

There's also a way to boot into Open Firmware directly, which can occasionally be useful, but I don't know any clever tricks for that unfortunately....