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Internal
memo
from Steve jobs
The Longest
thread in Apples history
G5 as Artwork?
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The
G5: An Apple Is A Lemon
Apple refuses to publicly admit: The G5 is prone to overheating,
garbled screen graphics, freezes, and crashes. Worse, they probably have
no idea how to fix this.
In my experience, after my G5 has been running for a while, or when I
am using graphic design programs like Quark, Illustrator, PSD, Fireworks
or Dreamweaver, the fans spin loudly, the screen tries to redraw, but
then the computer freezes. This suggests the fans have automatically cranked
up because the computer is on the verge of overheating.
When pressed, Apple's technical support claims that the driver for the
ATI video card is the cause. Indeed, this problem appears to mostly affect
dual-processor 2GHz G5s which have the ATI 9600 card. And, perhaps tellingly,
ATI makes no mention of their 9600, with regard to the Macintosh, on their
Web site.
However, some owners of slower speed dual G5s, or those who have the ATI
9800 card or an Nvidia graphics card, have reported suffering the same
thing. G5 owners who experience these crashes frequently are usually running
3D graphic games, which always require stability from a video card.
Other Theories
Besides Apple technical support's claim/blame on the ATI driver, I have
gathered other theories:
Bad power supply -- The dual G5 models may not have been designed with
adequate power to run the machine effectively. Insufficient or inconsistent
power can cause instability in any computer. Well, ATI graphic cards (at
least in the Windows PC world) have a reputation for being power hungry.
A video card that doesn't get the power it needs can cause garbled screen
graphics and the computer to freeze. This is the most likely culprit.
Inadequate cooling -- It may be that the fans are failing to cool the
G5 enough. But it is doubtful this is the cause: Because this doesn't
completely answer the question of why the system is even overheating in
the first place. (Some people have reported that keeping the case open
and blowing a fan into it does help at first, but the system still eventually
crashes.)
Faulty logic board -- There could be a flaw in the very design of the
G5's logic board, as it relates to dual processing and the video card.
(A flaw in the power supply could also fall under this category.)
Software Fix
I have explained these theories to Apple technical support. The techs
have either vaguely admitted that I am partly correct, or outrightly denied
them. Personally, I suspect they already know about these theories and
they, too, believe the issues with the dual G5 are related to the hardware,
not the software.
However, they are trying to fix this problem through software means. Why?
Because it's simply cheaper than for them having to replace the logic
board, or fix the power supply. They may be attempting to scale back the
power consumption of the ATI video card by writing a new driver for it
which would slow down its clock speed. In fact, they might have already
tried this with 10.3.4 Update (which has, obviously, not worked).
So, Apple may be asking themselves: "How do we fix this without the
public, especially the media, discovering that the dual G5 is screwed
up -- and without losing money in the process?" Yet the question
I and other G5 owners suffering through this ordeal have: "Will Apple
ever fix my computer, or are they hoping current owners will simply give
up after countless trips to the Apple Store?"
My Experience
Apple has been giving me the same runaround as many of you probably have
gone, and may still be going, through.
Apple technical support has twice admitted to me they do not know what
the ultimate fix is. I have taken my G5 in twice to the Apple Store, but
they tell me nothing is wrong according to the bogus "CD test"
they run on it. They refuse to refund my money.
I even sent an email to Steve Jobs. I promptly received a phone call from
Apple corporate from a woman who said she spoke on Jobs' behalf. She gave
me the same runaround when I demanded a refund: "We have not heard
about these G5 freezes." Right. I have five personal case numbers
with Apple technical support. And this problem has spawned one of the
longest threads in the history of the official Apple message board. Currently,
she is looking into my case and says she will contact me again, but has
already refused to give me a refund.
I will pursue this until the end. I suspect this will not end anytime
soon.
It is my hope that with this Web site, and its corresponding email list,
all of us with these faulty G5s can keep the heat on Apple until they
acknowledge this problem. They must either fix our computers without further
cost to owners or refund our money in full. I plan to contact the local
newspapers here in Chicago about this. Please contribute any ideas you
have as to what we can do collectively and constructively to resolve this.
DCM
* With thanks to my friend Howard for helping to edit/re-write my
words here for me.
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