Broback's Blog

So, I started feeling human again Friday afternoon. Sunday night, I boot up my Mac to get a look at email and Monday’s calendar. Surprise! My Mac is totally dead. Kaput.

After 24 years of daily Mac use, I’m no slouch when it comes to diagnosing these things, so I spend several hours trying everything I can to no avail. No way can I even get the screen to light up. Nothing works, zapping PRAM, resetting the PMMU, target disk mode, nada.

Luckily I know a Mac tech who is incredibly geeky with both hardware and software, and since he doesn’t work at an Apple Store, I can see him immediately. Also, he thankfully lacks the Dieter personae that I encounter periodically at the Mall. He tries all of his tricks and gets nowhere. He was able to copy the data off the hard drive (took 4 hours…) and as of 8pm I’m now working on my wife’s Macbook.

One irritating thing was that when I dropped by the Apple Store in Bellevue (the mall was empty, but the store was busy) to drop off my MacBoatAnchor for shipping, the “Genuis” bar couldn’t take me for another 2.5 hours! I saw one customer at the counter ahead of me. Oh well, I called the 800 number and talked to an excellent phone rep who after I explained my credentials didn’t make me wade through 45 minutes of trials “let’s try holding down the shift key when you start up…” Now a repair box is on it’s way.

BTW, my one year warranty was up on June 6. Thankfully I have Applecare.