Mac OS X 10.3.3 #14: PowerBook suddenly falling asleep without "low power" warning; more

PowerBook suddenly falling asleep without "low power" warning A phenomenon we've experienced in-house since Mac OS X 10.3.0 is being reported by an increasing number of readers after the Mac OS X 10.3.3 update.

Instead of providing the normal "You are now running on reserve battery power..." warning (generally followed by 5-10 minutes of actual battery time), out in-house PowerBook will sometimes fall asleep without warning - in some cases even when the battery indicates more than 30 minutes of usage remaining.

The issue does not occur consistently in our case, but some readers are reporting that after updating to Mac OS X 10.3.3, the warning is never provided.

David Hamono writes "Since updating to 10.3.3, I do not see the 'Low/Reserve battery' warning. My PowerBook Ti G4 just suddenly goes to sleep."

If you are experiencing a similar issue (either after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.3.3 or prior) please drop us a line at late-breakers@macfixit.com.

More on double device appearances in System Profiler For the past week we've been covering a specific problem where some device controllers appear twice in Apple System Profiler.

MacFixIt reader Joshua Ochs points out that since the frameworks used by System Profiler are updated in Mac OS X 10.3.3, the problem may be as innocuous as a simple misreport.

"It's worth noting that the 10.3.3 update (at least the combo updater) also updated the frameworks that System Profiler uses to examine your hardware (/System/Library/SystemProfiler/). It may not be that OS X is loading the device drivers incorrectly, but rather than Apple System Profiler is just listing them incorrectly."

Printer problems Don Kindopp provides one of the first printer issue reports we've received since the release of Mac OS X 10.3.3: "Since upgrading an iMac to 10.3.3, I could install an Epson 740 printer, but could not get it to print. The Epson Printer Utility did not see the installed printer. This also happened to an new eMac that went through the update process. The Epson 740 printer would not install. Tried the 10.3.3 combo update and still cannot print to the Epson 740."

If you're having similar printer issues, please let us know.

iDisk synchronization Simone Manganelli has some iDisk issues under Mac OS X 10.3.3 for which we are seeking confirmation "Just wanted to drop a line to let you know that I'm having massive problems with the local iDisk synching in 10.3.3 after doing the update. What once was a seamless process is now utter horror: every time I initiate a sync, Mac OS X thinks a lot of the files have changed (when they haven't), and attempts to sync them all over again. Sometimes folders are reported as being in use and can't be deleted, and files are also reported to be in use when they aren't. A lot of the time, after a sync, if I sync again, it tries to sync some of the files over again, even though I haven't changed them at all! Sometimes syncs don't actually result in a mirror image on the server of what's on my local version of the iDisk. I even attempted to rectify the problem by changing the setting in System Preferences to not have a local iDisk (which subsequently puts the local iDisk into a disk image on the desktop), and then change it back and allow the system to recreate the local iDisk from what's on the server. No dice -- all the problems are still happening."

Still no fix for always-running PowerBook fans We previously reported that the "Silent Night" package - which worked to reduce fan activity introduced in the Mac OS X 10.3.2 - is now (perhaps intentionally) non-functional under Mac OS X 10.3.3

Ethan Witham writes that users with excessive fan noise are still having problems finding a solution:

"I've written the author twice, and posted to every Mac board I can find, but no update, or comparable fix, has been made. So, I've done a clean install and am back to 10.3.1 as 10.3.3 made my Rev.A 12" PB's fans so loud that I was unable to watch DVD's, etc., without headphones, or my Sound Sticks plugged in.

"Zapping the PRAM did not fix the problem, only delayed it for a short period after restart, then the fan kicks in full blast and stays that way."

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

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