MacMedics saves data off dead Mac IIci and upgrades client to PowerMac 5200/120.

Now there’s something you don’t hear everyday or at least not since 1997. Funny thing is, we did that all today in just a few hours here in our Mac Lab in Millersville, Maryland.

Normally we spend our days in the field and in the lab supporting and servicing Macs with either Tiger or Leopard on them. Every so often an older version of the Apple OS like Panther or Jaguar shows up, but that’s becoming more and more infrequent as we get ready for Snow Leopard. We do still work on OS 9 from time to time, but that too is slowing down. We got a call from a testing laboratory a few days ago, and they apparently have a few OS 9 Macs that they use to run some scientific testing equipment. We told them that we could most likely replace anything that needed fixing. We have a pretty good supply of old Macs that we like to keep around for data recovery and testing. I did also help Johns Hopkins with some old Apple gear hooked up to some special equipment for data collection at The Wilmer Eye Institute like 10 years ago.

G3 iMacs are still in pretty good supply, so we provide those to clients that need to stick to some old and outdated application that won’t work on anything newer. It always seems to be genealogy software, I don’t know why.

Today a client drove two hours to see us with his Macintosh IIci. He thought his monitor was going bad, but that turned out not to be the case. His Mac’s logic board was dying, and putting strange patterns on the display. Turns out, he too had old software that he HAD to have running in System 7.0.1 and the software was never upgraded from the version he had. We first backed up his data by putting his hard drive into one of our museum’s Macintosh IIsi computers (We have one with all original boxes, manuals, and software w/ the Apple M0401 RGB monitor.) We moved the data over to an old stand by SCSI hard drive that we keep around for booting machines that need a kick start from System 7. I think the drive might be 150 megs in size (we’ve sure come a long way in that department!).

We ended up giving the client two choices:

1. We could put his hard drive into one of our IIsi’s and send him on his way.

Or

2. We could upgrade him to a PowerMac 5200 running System 7.5.5.

He picked the PowerMac, so after installing a new clock battery from macbattery.com, on the 5200’s logic board (that’s a Rayovac 4.5 volt for those keeping track), we moved his data over, and made sure all of his programs would work. We had to also copy some fonts over to ensure he could print labels out of Mac Write. He also asked us to look for his copy of After Dark (famous old time screen saver), but it was no longer there. The last firm that had worked on the Mac IIci had erased it. We had an original copy of After Dark (on floppy no less) somewhere, but we could not lay our hands on that quickly enough to install it, while he waited for the unit to be be complete. We were able to complete the unusual data back up and upgrade to the new PowerMac in less than 2 hours. I guess keeping that old stuff around pays off every so often!

We have his data on our back up drive (he has no back up of it), and we’re going to find a way to get it on the network somehow, so we can burn it to a CD-ROM and send it to him. Here’s a tip: Don’t wait 20 years to make a back up. He had 2.2 megs of data to back up, so he really needs a Zip drive or something. I think we might have an extra one hanging around somewhere. You are REALLY pushing your luck by running a hard drive for 20 years with no back up! MacMedics recommends hard drive early retirement after 3 years in a desktop and after 2 years in a laptop. See our website http://www.HardDrivesDie.com for more info on this topic!

Thanks to cultofmac.com for blogging about this post!

Update 7/1/09 Here’s what our client had to say after the service we performed for him:

“Dana,

Pete”

We get little thank you notes, coffee, Starbucks gift cards, and other tokens of our client’s appreciation for a job well done every so often. I’ve even received tips in cash. I always try to refuse them, but clients either stuff it in my shirt pocket or hide it in my computer/tool bag for me to find several weeks later when I dig deep for the USB hard drive power cable or that iPod plastic pry tool that went all the way to the bottom of the bag. I don’t think we’ve ever been given 48 cans of energy drinks. I guess that will perk things up here in the office, not that it’s ever dull in here!

Enjoy the video I shot on my new iPhone 3G S of the situation. Long live BEIGE or not.

See large size photo here.

See large size photo here.

See large size photo here.

The crew here at MacMedics HQ often gets to see all kinds of crazy and interesting Macintosh. iPod, and iPhone carnage and unusual repair situations. We were all caught off guard on Friday when a client called to ask if he could bring in a “fake” iPhone 3G for us to look at. We said sure bring it on it. We were not really sure what to expect.

Well, Friday was growing long, and we had visions of the evenings Orioles vs. National game in Baltimore. Late in the afternoon our fake iPhoner showed up with the device he had bought off of eBay. Turns out, he’s going to try and get his money back and in order to do so PayPal requires that a local expert look at the situation, write a letter, and document the situation. So guess who the local expert is?

Update 7/1/09 - Thanks to Gus Sentementes of the Baltimore Sun’s BaltTech Blog for his post about our fake iPhone adventure! Also, thanks to www.macsurfer.com, www.macrumors.com, www.wired.com, www.boingboing.net, and www.cultofmac.com for the link to this post.

After I shot the below video, I did test some of the other features on the unit. While the icons look very much like the real iPhone 3G, the features were not easy to navigate to. As you can in the video I tried to go back to the “Video” part of the iPod function, and I could not get that navigation link to work in the video. The unit also has a pretty decent FM radio in it. I was fooling around with the different functions and tried the FM radio, and it requested that I plug in headphones. It wanted the headphones in so they could act as the radio’s antenna. The unit was smart enough to know the headphones were not plugged in and it also noticed when I did plug them in to test the radio. I tuned in our local NPR station (so not super high power) WYPR 88.1 FM and it came in great.

The video we took (via a real iPhone 3G S) is available below. So far it’s been viewed over 53,000 times!

So when I ordered my iPhone 3G S, I thought that grabbing the “overnight shipping” might speed my results. After a few tantalizing e-mails from Apple and UPS it looked like my iPhone might arrive as much as two days early. Sadly, this turned out to be a big fat iPhone fairy tale, but that did not stop me from hoping that it would REALLY arrive early.

I think on Thursday, I started getting e-mails (I think a total of five of them arrived) from Apple saying they would refund that extra shipping. I’m not sure why, but I’ll take a refund.

Here’s what they had to say today via e-mail:

To Our Valued Apple Customer:

Sincerely,
Apple Online Store Team

When you love what you do and do what you love, in MacMedics’ case fixing Macintosh computers, you’re bound to win some raving fans. Hard drive replacements, upgrades, and retirements are a very common repair we do at least a few of them every day (See our special web page at http://www.HardDrivesDie.com for more info on retiring your hard drive). When a client’s computer is out of service for ANY reason, our Apple certified technicians are all over it until the unit is successfully repaired and tested and back on our client’s desk.

A client from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine checked their laptop into the MacMedics Mac Clinic we jumped right on it. Also, because of our long history and connection to Johns Hopkins, MacMedics offers all Johns Hopkins students, faculty, and staff a 10% discount on all Macintosh service (parts and labor). If you’re from JHU, just flash your ID badge or show your business card to claim your discount.

It’s always a nice reaffirmation to get some positive feedback for your repair work, so we had a pleasant note waiting for us in today’s e-mail. Here’s what our client had to say about his recent experience with our in-lab service team:

My 2008 MacBook Pro came with a 120Gb hard drive. Needless to say that, if you are into digital photography, you have to upgrade quite fast to a bigger capacity hard drive. MacMedics’ service is simply unbeatable. They are fast, friendly, reliable, and affordable. I turned in my Macbook in the afternoon, I got it back the day after, with a brand new hard drive and a fresh copy of Mac OS X installed. I particularly appreciated MacMedics’ frequent email updates, that kept me informed of every step in the process. Moreover, my impression was that I was treated with the same professionalism and competence as a big business account would have been. This fact only makes a big difference. Best of all? A substantial discount for Johns Hopkins employees. You can’t go wrong with MacMedics!

Sebastien Morisot, Ph.D.
Johns Hopkins University 
School of Medicine

While MacMedics is not lucky enough to sell the iPhone 3G S, we have been getting hammered with the crowds. Why’s that you ask? Well, new MacMedics clients have been having a hard time getting an appointment with an Apple Genius because of the crowds looking for or picking up a new iPhone.

We’d like to remind all of the Apple users in the Baltimore-Washington area that you never need an appointment to come see a MacMedic and you won’t have to drag your Mac though the mall either. When you see a crowd at the mall that means that there is often an equal amount of Macs waiting to be serviced in the back. MacMedics is also proud to perform ALL Macintosh MacBook AND MacBook Pro repairs in house. What does this mean for you? It means that your service is faster, because we don’t ship hard or difficult repairs off to Apple depot service. It also means that we’ll pinpoint the problem and fix only what’s wrong which means that you’ll only pay for the parts you need.

Apple also has issues with laptops that have HAD liquid damage or units with large dents on them. We can fix the problem you have and we WON’T force you fix the other issues if you don’t mind work around the dents and/or dings.

See our post on our NINE reasons why NOT to wait in line at the Apple Store for more info on this topic.

If you’re a longtime MacMedics newsletter reader, then you’ve heard this before. Summer store season is already here, and computers damaged by lightning have already started to come into our lab for repair. A common problem are Macintosh computers hooked directly to Ethernet to a Comcast cable modem. If lightnings hit the Comcast cable to your house or your street, it’s got a clear path right to your computer via the Ethernet port.

This week we’ve already seen two iMacs with the exact same problem of a blown logic board via the Ethernet port. If you’re going to be away for summer vacation, don’t forget to unplug your computer from both the wall and Ethernet. If you’re wireless then you’ve got less to worry about.

We’re often asked what we recommend to protect computers from surges. We like an Uninterruptible Power Supply with Line Conditioning, and Surge Protection. You should also have protection for your telephone and Ethernet connections. Also, make sure it has a connected equipment warranty. The unit we recommend has a $100,000 warranty guarantee and an Ethernet pass-thru port.

MacMedics recommends this UPS/Surge Protector for all clients, but we especially recommend it for clients who own PowerMac G5’s with dual processors.

We have unit that we’ve been supplying for a number of years that is available to MacMedics clients for $149. If you’re not protected, give MacMedics a call, and we can arrange for one to be installed on your next visit, or drop shipped right to your door.

My new iPhone 3G S just arrived. Here’s the unboxing video:

The iPhone 3G S is the exact same size as the iPhone 3G so cases you already have will work with the new iPhone. The iPhone 3G s is 1 ounce heavier that the iPhone 3G.

AT&T updates it’s policy on upgrading to new iPhone 3G S for customers who already have iPhone 3G.

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=1574

An Update for Our Customers:

Some customers have had questions about our plans and policies for iPhone 3G S, and we’d like to provide you with answers. We’d also like to announce a change to the date when some iPhone customers are eligible for our best upgrade pricing to iPhone 3G S.

Pricing:

Importantly, we want our customers to better understand our wireless device upgrade program. Like most U.S. carriers, we offer a variety of phones that we sell below our actual cost when customers agree to sign service agreements. In general, the more a customer spends with us, the quicker they become eligible for a price break on a new device. For example, iPhone customers who spend more than $99 a month per line with us generally are eligible for an upgrade between 12 and 18 months into their contract.

We also currently offer early upgrade pricing only for iPhone 3G S and iPhone 3G.

All of that said, we’ve been listening to our customers. And since many of our iPhone 3G customers are early adopters and literally weeks shy of being upgrade eligible due to iPhone 3G S launching 11 months after iPhone 3G, we’re extending the window of upgrade eligibility for a limited time.

We’re now pleased to offer our iPhone 3G customers who are upgrade eligible in July, August or September 2009 our best upgrade pricing, beginning Thursday, June 18.

If you’re one of the many customers who will benefit from this change, please note that our upgrade eligibility tools will reflect this change on Thursday, June 18.

We invite you to come to our stores beginning Friday during normal store hours, although please be aware that customer demand may exceed supply in some of our stores. You may also preorder online on June 18 at www.att.com/iphone, and your iPhone 3G S will arrive in 7 – 14 days. Or you can purchase iPhone 3G S at Apple’s retail and online stores, as well as at other popular retailers.

If you’re one of the customers who benefits from this change, and you’ve already preordered from an AT&T store, we’ll adjust the price of the device when you pick it up. If you benefit from the change and you pre-ordered from AT&T online, we’ll send you an e-mail and issue you a credit.

If you pre-ordered an iPhone 3G S through Apple’s online store, your upgrade eligibility will be reassessed based on AT&T’s new upgrade policy for iPhone 3G owners. If you are eligible for the lower price, Apple will issue you a credit for the difference as applicable.

So, what if you still aren’t eligible for our best upgrade pricing and you still want iPhone 3G S now? You do have options:

You may qualify for the iPhone 3G S early upgrade price of $399 (16GB) or $499 (32GB).
You can pay full retail—and not have to sign a 2-year contract—at $599 (16GB) or $699 (32GB).
You can wait until you’re eligible for our best upgrade pricing. We invite you to check your upgrade eligibility by visiting www.att.com/iphone, calling *NEW# (*639#) on your AT&T device (we’ll send you a text with upgrade information), or visiting any of our over 2,200 stores.
If you want more details on our pricing and upgrade policy, check out our FAQs. And as always, you may visit one of our stores to talk with a representative.

In Summary:

We’ve listened to our customers — and hope our response helps answer some of your questions and concerns.

We are incredibly proud to be the U.S. carrier for the new iPhone 3G S and will work around the clock to be ready on June 19 to serve customers who are interested in the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet.

Update 6/17/09 5:15 PM - A few hours later another e-mail from Apple arrived. It states that they will refund my “express shipping” fee. Okay, I’ll take that money back, but I would have rather had my iPhone two days early. Here’s what Apple had to say:

” To Our Valued Apple Customer:

Thank you for your recent order with Apple.

Our records indicate that when you placed your iPhone 3G S pre-order,
you chose to pay for upgraded shipping.

Apple automatically upgraded all iPhone 3G S pre-orders to the best
shipping method available to ensure delivery on June 19.

Apple will process a refund for the shipping charge on your order within
5 business days, based on your original form of payment. You will
receive an email when the refund has been processed. For information
about when to expect your refund, please visit the Returns & Refunds
section of online Help: <http://store.apple.com/us/help/returns_refund>.

We expect your iPhone to be delivered on June 19, 2009. You can view the
most up-to-date status of your order at <http://apple.com/orderstatus>.

Thank you for shopping at the Apple Online Store.

Sincerely,
Apple Online Store Team”

Update 6/17/09 3:06 PM - Another e-mail (make that four e-mails all saying the same thing) from Apple arrived today to say the following: ” To Our Valued Apple Customer: Thank you for your recent order with Apple. Our records indicate that your iPhone 3G S pre-order has shipped. Our carrier’s website may have displayed an incorrect delivery date for your order. However, we expect your iPhone order to be delivered on time on June 19, 2009.”

Update 6/17/09 - More info has been added to my UPS tracking. UPS now states that the package is now in a state of “exception” and that “THE RECEIVER REQUESTED A HOLD FOR A FUTURE DELIVERY DATE. UPS WILL ATTEMPT DELIVERY ON DATE REQUESTED”. I called UPS and they said it is on target for delivery tomorrow (Thursday 6/18/09) pending U.S. Customs clearance. Needless to say, I did not request it be delivered at a later date. I was really hoping for today, but it looks like it will be tomorrow.

Update 6/16/09 10:06 PM - So it appears UPS has updated my tracking info to take away the enticing part about “Your package is on time with a scheduled delivery date of 06/17/2009″. That’s either a sad fact of a huge shipment of iPhones making their way through U.S. Customs in Anchorage, Alaska, or someone is raining on my party. See updated UPS tracking info from UPS below:

I ordered my new iPhone 3G S via Apple’s website shortly after WWDC 2009 ended. I figured that going the online route would save me from camping out for one, and perhaps maybe protect my order in case the Apple Store sold out early (it’s happened before). The Blogosphere is reporting that AT&T is already sold out of the units available for advance orders.

I got an e-mail note from Apple late yesterday telling me that my iPhone had shipped. I figured that they would have it timed to arrive here on Friday. When I ordered it I paid an extra $16. for “Express Shipping” hoping that would speed my results. When I checked the UPS tracking number Apple provided (in yesterday’s e-mail), it states that my iPhone will be here Wednesday 6/17. It was shipped directly from China.

If my iPhone shows up on Wednesday as promised, I’ll be sure to post the unboxing here then.

You might recall all of the MacBook Pro battery buzz from a few years ago. Our pictures of “bloated” and “swollen” batteries were ALL over the Internet. We still get tons of web hits on the original post about the problem. Here’s some of the coverage our pictures from 2006 generated:

http://www.macobserver.com/
http://arstechnica.com/
http://www.macintouch.com/

On Friday one of our techs brought in his bloated MacBook Pro 17” battery in for us to look at. He noticed his MacBook Pro 17″ was not sitting correctly on the table, so he checked it and sure enough his battery was rapidly expanding due to failure.

See pictures of his battery below:

Keep an eye open for this kind of stuff, as it could turn into a serious issue. One symptom to watch for is a battery that is overly hot. If it’s too hot for you hold your hand on, then it might have an issue. If you are storing your laptop or you are going out of town (and not taking your laptop with you), it’s not a bad idea to just remove your battery from the unit and also unplug your PowerBook, iBook, or MacBook from the wall.

In the original case that you can read about here, our client Bill Sammon, now Vice President of News for Fox News Channel noticed his MacBook Pro trackpad clicker button had stopped working. It took our Macintosh Certified Technicians about one second to see that his battery had “swelled” up and was pressing up on the underside of of the trackpad assembly.