欧州自転車レース追っかけ日記

Excuses first

I hurt my back on Monday, April 15 (a case of not too serious Spinal Disc Herniation) and has been slightly limping since then.

I have been plagued by this since I was a teenager. It is not serious but it plagues me once in one or two years. The remedy is just wait for one week as the symptoms go away.

So as of Today (Monday 22nd) I am not in pain and walking normally and I can run (not gallop but ...).

So I was not in a mood for doing some early morning painting on the climb of Cauberg. I am ashamed not to have done it as I have done it constantly (almost) for the last several years.

Jens Voigt at AGR

I saw him and had a chat! I ran into him while I was there. He was walking just as one of us, spectators among us. We shook hands and had a small chat. It was nice. He remembered me from old days when I was chasing him and his team mates.

He said he was going to be a commentator for the TV program (EuroSport, did he say?) that day. I think he could have been hunting for some geocache items in the neighbor? Why was he wandering widely in that area alone.

I also had another witness (a friend of mine) who testified seeing him and also had a nice talk (as she is German and knows a lot of German people in this circle) in the forest where she and her friend were watching the race.


FW
I am going! In fact I booked a place to stay for the nights of Tuesday and Wednesday. I am leaving for Liège where I booked a place to stay in the afternoon of Tuesday, 23rd. On the way, I am going to take a detour and drive to "Côte de Cherave", a climb near the finish (Huy).

I have been there before. This place reminds me of some bad memories, though.

It was used in the third stage of Tour de France years ago. I was there one day ahead of time and ran into some friends (no previous knowledge that they were also there). My purpose of staying there instead of the famous climb of Huy (also the finish of FW) was to paint as much as I liked some names of the riders.

My reasoning was the famous climb (Mur de Huy) would be too crowded and normally the officials did not want painting by the spectators. I would not be too happy there, I thought.

I painted "Fabian" or "Cancellara" maybe close to hundred times on the climb that day (one day before the stage actually passed).

I was happy for what I had done. I was really sad to learn later that Fabian Cancellara (along with many riders) had crashed during the stage and got hurt. What happed was amazing when the race came to the foot of the climb.

The race was neutralized temporarily at the foot and everybody came up together as a funeral progression to show their feelings for those who unfortunately crashed and had been forced to quit the Tour.

I will be there on Tuesday afternoon and paint some names there if possible. The traffic will be right there. Or at least I pray so.

My focus would be on three riders: Manuele Mori, Eri Yonamine and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig.

LBL

I am going there! I have some tight schedule but I am ready to do as much as I can.

I heard that the parcours (course in French) had changed significantly. I heard it last Sunday (in Maastricht where Amstel Gold Race was about to start). I did not notice it before. Now I am looking at the route inside the PDF roadbook that I just got.

Wow! The route has changed and the significant part is not the profile (ups and downs) but the time frame. You know why? This is my typical watch points for the last many years.

1. Start
2. Côte de Saint-Roch
3. Côte de La Redoute
4. Finish

The time frame is like this.

1. to 2. is very easy. 2. to 3. is not tight. 3. to 4. is very very tight.

In 2018's edition the expected passing time (ETA/ETD) difference is about an hour.

In 2019's edition the expected passing time (ETA/ETD) difference is only 50 minutes. It is true that Seraing (2019 the finish area) is closer to Ans (2018) but I have no idea where to park in Seraing finish area. I have to a simulation of 3. to 4. before the race day. Maybe I do it on Wednesday after la FW on my way to the place to sleep that day. I have to get acquainted with the finish area especially regarding where to park.

UCI 2019 Road Race Championship

In Yorkshire! I have been there when it hosted the Grand Départ. I would like to be there again if possible.

La Course in Pau on Fridya, July 19

I learned that the female road race would take place in a format of circuit course race there. Men's race is an ITT event of only 27 km long. In the morning this female race would take place.

I am guessing it will be held in the morning till sometime in the afternoon as men's ITT will be held in the afternoon (after 14:00 or so).


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [FW and LBL]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2019/04/22(月) 14:51:20|
2. Bike Races
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AGR, la FW and LBL 2019

Amstel Gold Race, la Flèche-Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège are the ones that I am talking about.

So-called Ardenne Classics (but for my Dutch frineds, I must say it is Limburg - Ardenne Classics) fought in the area nearby to each other are coming.

Key names of the cities are Maastricht, Valkenburg, Huy, Liège and among others.

I am coming!

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [AGR, la FW and LBL 2019]の続きを読む

テーマ:自転車ロードレース - ジャンル:スポーツ

1. 2019/04/20(土) 15:28:01|
2. Bike Races
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Repacking

"DC 10.8 V 4400 mAh" is written on the genuine Apple battery for PowerBook G4 (A1106).

Inside I found 6 (seemingly) 16859 cells in an arrangement of 2 cells x 3 sets.

A 16850 cell is rated at DC 3.7 V and the capacity ranging from around 2000 mAh to 4250 mAh or so.

If the 4400 mAh is given at 10.8 V, it means that (3 sets = 3.7 x 3 = 11.1 V) x (2 cells together = 2200 x 2 = 4400 mAh).

So the individual cell inside that battery pack is roughly rated at 3.7 V and 2200 mAh. If I repack it with a typical 16850 cell of 2200 mAh rated spec, the result will be the roughly the same as the original one.

If I repack it with cells higher rated spec, the resulting battery pack will be long-lasting one.

A set of six 16850 cells with 3000 mAh (around and not exactly because the capacity is chemically determined) will make a 6000 mAh 11.1 (= 10.8) battery pack.

A set of six 16850 cells with 4250 mAh (the description says minimum 4000 mAh) will make a 8500 mAh (or 8000 mAh realistically) battery pack.

A 8000 mAh battery will be almost twice as long-lasting as the original genuine Apple battery.

This replacement battery (on Amazon USA) is rated at 11.1 V / 5200 mAh.

(an image from Amazon USA obviously)

On Amazon Germany I can find several kinds of 16850 cells. Which should I buy?

Leopard 10.5.8 on PowerBook G4 (A1106) 1.67 / 1.5 GHz

Now my PowerBook G4 (A1106) One (1.67 GHz) and Two (1.5 GHz) are running Leopard 10.5.8. I primarily installed Tiger 10.4.11 but eventually moved on to Leopard because Two came with Leopard 10.5.8 (previous user was using it) with its RAM only 512 MB installed. It worked OK with it. I did not use almost any of the apps the previous user had and soon totally erased the entire HDD but I did click around. This experience made me believe installing Leopard on PowerBook G4 models would not hurt too much if the CPU clock was above 1.5 GHz.

And since A1106 models did come with an upgraded Trackpad (capable of interpreting two-finger gestures), I thought it would be pity if I did not unleash its full power by using Leopard (two-finger click can be interpreted as a mouse secondary button click). Under Tiger only two-finger scrolling is possible but not a two-finger clicking.

I did notice that overall usability went sluggish (an apparent example would be the much much longer startup time) but I am happier with Leopard as it made a huge difference with this two-finger click gesture. After all, PowerBook G4 models are supposed to be content and the this upgraded Trackpad is supposed to do more.

I don't think a slower Mac mini models of mine (I have two G4 Mac minis) would benefit too much from Leopard since I use them with a mouse (Apple Might Mouse) that has the second button.

TenFourFox is a real bliss. With its QTE (QuickTime Enabler), I can watch YouTube videos and the playback is really smooth on QuickTime Player. The playback on TenFourFox is something that you can forget about (a nightmare).


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Repacking a battery for PowerBook G4]の続きを読む

テーマ:Apple - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2019/04/16(火) 15:09:58|
2. MacBooks and Macs
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PowerBook G4 Battery pry-opened



Voila! It was not difficult to pry-open the battery. I found this inside. These 16850 cells are (if not all of them) dead and not charging anymore.

Currently on Amazon Germany, I can find seemingly quality 16850 cells (I prefer Panasonic brand) sold and they typically a set of 4 (four) cost me € 30 or so including the shipping. I need 6 of them and may need more (if I decide to repack other batteries from PowerBook G4 or iBook G4).

Some cells claim (or the seller of them) that a single cell holds 4200 mAh or so. Does it?

A Panasonic cell that I am going to get holds (according to the seller's description) 3500 mAh or so.

The difficult part of repacking is properly and neatly soldering the cells at their butts (anode and cathode). At factories where they were originally made, they use spot-welding machines to neatly weld the thin metal pieces onto the butts.

I don't have that kind of machine at hand so I have to solder them by hand. I need a very thin metal (copper or so) sheet. I cut it into small pieces to make 6 pieces of connecting bridges.

I have seen a video on YouTube by The 8-Bit Guy doing the bridging by a wire cord. I am going to a home improvement kind shop Tomorrow and look for a sheet of thin copper. If I can find one I like, I will buy it.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [PowerBook G4 Battery crack-opened]の続きを読む

テーマ:Apple - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2019/04/14(日) 14:45:58|
2. MacBooks and Macs
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So far I found out

So far I have found

1. The screen lock mechanism is broken at the bottom bottun
2. The CPU frequency is 1.5 GHz instead of 1.67 GHz (A1106 had two CPU frequency models)
3. There are no major dents and only minor scratches (Excellent!)
4. The main battery is completely dead and won't charge at all
5. The PRAM battery is also dead and needs to be replaced

I have found that PowerBookMedic actually sells this PRAM batteries but found them a bit pricy for just a button battery. I will repack them (two of them) myself in the future.

And what I have done

1. Memory: Removal of 512 MB module and adding two 1 GB modules = 2 GB = maxed!
2. USB ports test: USB Flash Drive works but could not mount an mSATA SSD via a USB adapter
3. Optical drive test: Works well and could read a CD ROM
4. Wi-Fi (AirPort) test: So far working OK but does not remember the password
5. Bluetooth test: Apple Mighty Mouse pairs well
6. Wiped out the HDD and installed Tiger 10.4 from a USB Flash Drive using the Open Firmware shell
7. Then I installed Leopard from a USB Flash Drive using the Open Firmware shell


Some unknown issues

1. Keyboard backlight won't come on.
(Maybe the keyboard is not backlit-capable /swapped from previous models?)

2. Actually after installing Leopard back again from scratch and updating it REMEDIED the situation. Now the keyboard is nicely illuminated.

Things to come

1. Using the same USB Flash Drive and writing a Leopard installation image on it, I will try to install Leopard on it
2. I ordered a US layout keyboard and the replacement part of that broken latch catch from PowerBookMedic. When they arrive, I will replace them.
3. PRAM battery repack.
4. The dead battery repack (maybe)


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ

[PowerBook G4 Two so far]の続きを読む

テーマ:Apple - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2019/04/14(日) 07:11:45|
2. MacBooks and Macs
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A second PowerBook G4 (A1106)

So last night I came home and peeked into the mailbox and found what I had anticipated to find. A notice slip from the Post (Luxembourg's Postal service's official name).

So I went to the local post office to pick it up and now I checked it up quickly at work. I have to check it out more throughly later at home.

I knew it had one small mechanical defect at least described by the seller. The latch that locks the screen (or the lid) does not work. A small part is broken off and I have to fix it somehow, either by procuring the part from somewhere on the Internet or making it up by my own if possible.

The seller also said that without the power adapter he/she could not see if it works at all. I got only the PowerBook G4 without anything else.

I plugged the power adapter (that I have) and switched it on (a little prayer).

It gave the startup chord and went to the desktop. It gave me an error window telling me that the date and time is set to whatever meaning that the internal small button battery is completely depleted.

I saw the obligatory System Info and found out that;

1. The system is Leopard 10.5.8
2. The memory amount is only 512 MB
3. HDD capacity is 80 GB
4. The CPU is clocked at 1.5 GHz not (1.67 GHz)

It works. The body has small scratches but no major dents. Excellent! I have to check other things like its USB ports, internal DVD drive and the memory slots by inserting the 1 GB memory modules from my PowerBook G4 (A1106) One a.k.a. PBG4 One.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ
[A second PowerBook G4 (A1106) and how is it?]の続きを読む

テーマ:Apple - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2019/04/11(木) 16:13:27|
2. MacBooks and Macs
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No notice slip in the mailbox

I was expecting to find a notice slip in the mailbox but I did not find any.

Whoever came to my humble residence did not leave a notice and went back.

As of April 10, the tracking information on www.post.lt tells me that there has been a second futile attempt to deliver it.

"Please leave a notice slip so that I can contact the delivery agent!"

Without this slip, I can not contact the delivery agent as it seems that I can not contact the agent through www.post.lt. It is difficult to decipher what is written on the site as it is only partly in English.

I hope somebody left a notice this time.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [No notice slip in the mailbox]の続きを読む

テーマ:Apple - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2019/04/10(水) 21:24:29|
2. MacBooks and Macs
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A long drive of 530 km straight up North

I will be driving to a city called Augustfehn in Northern Germany. They (this company) put their address on the profile as "Apen / Augustfehn" and this might mean (as far as I know) that Augustfehn does not have a dedicated city hall and the city hall of Apen is taking care of the matters. On the (Garmin BaseCamp) map, it seems that the company is located in Augustfehn and there is a town called Apen nearby.

Anyway, it is not my concern at all and all I care is I have to be there by 08:00 (O Eight Hundred) the Monday morning of May 13, 2019.

I just called up the company and talked to a personnel. I confirmed the installation appointment on that day.

The drive route will be like this.


(screenshot clip from Garmin BaseCamp)


(screenshot clip from Garmin BaseCamp: zoomed in)

As you can see, the route is very simple. I use the highway all the way. It is almost straight up. I will be skirting some of the big and very well-known cities of Germany like, Köln and Düsseldorf.

530 km of driving is expected.

PowerBook G4 from Lithuania has been there!

The tracking information is available but it is in Lithuanian so I don't know exactly what is says. I used Google Translate to translate (decode) part of of the message but since they (Lithuanians) use extra enhanced alphabet letters, it was not easy to type exactly what the tracking says.

I think it has been an attempt of delivery already this morning (April 9) and since I was not there, the package has been taken back to where it should go. Maybe the local post office has it now. I think I will find a notice slip in the mailbox when I get home this evening.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Monday, May 13 (2019) is the day!]の続きを読む

テーマ:カスタム - ジャンル:車・バイク

1. 2019/04/09(火) 16:30:18|
2. Mazda MX-5
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Another ebay purchase

I am waiting for the arrival of yet another item that I purchased on ebay. I am sorry but I am shopaholic and I keep buying stuff.

The help is on the way, though. I am expecting a cat in a month. I am getting a cat (for the moment its sex unknown and nothing is known). When I get a cat, I will be occupied with it and won't have much time for shopping other than cat stuff (food, toys and others).

The item that I bought comes from Lithuania, one of the (obscure?) countries where I have never been to but intend to visit one day. It is yet another Apple laptop computer that comes with no guaranty to function at all. The seller cites that he/she does not have the charger as he/she got it through some (lease?) clearance of some kind.

It may work but it may not work at all. I don't care as I needed it for spare parts. It is an Apple PowerBook G4 (A1106). I have the same identical model already and I am currently writing this entry on it. Although this PowerBook G4 is in very good cosmetic state and works well, it does have some flaws.

My PowerBook G4's optical drive won't work for some reasons. It ate the Leopard Installation DVD the other day and it ejected it two days later. Its USB ports (2 of them) seem to lack juice (I am checking them with a USB port tester) so they fail to spin USB external drives (without an external power source).

Anyway, the second PowerBook G4 (A1106) is also a cosmetically fine piece seemingly with a German keyboard. Do Lithuanians use German keyboards? Or was it cheaper to buy one in Germany, instead of buying one in Lithuania?

I am keeping this PowerBook G4 (if it does not boot) for parts for my first PowerBook G4. It does not, apparently, come with the power adapter. Its configuration is unknown (how much memory, how big the HDD and etc.).

It is the same model (A1106) so every single part will be compatible. It was as inexpensive as the first PowerBook G4.

How is it doing?

I am using it daily, my PowerBook G4.

I am loving this PowerBook G4 2005 (A1106). It is not fast but it is shiny and the screen is big (15-inch).

I am thinking about installing Leopard on it soon to see how Leopard performs on it.

TenFourFox Release 13 has been updated to 13.1

When I started using TenFourFox a while ago (a few months ago) the latest release was R12. It was updated to R13 about a month ago and it has been updated to R13.1.

I like that they (those behind this project) are working hard to keep it updated. I don't understand the reason why the playback of, say, YouTube videos are so heavy on TenFourFox. I use the recommendations by the TenFourFox project to use QTE (QuickTime Enabler) to play the video on the QuickTime Player. It works very well and the playback is smooth. The CPU gets so occupied (100%) by TenFourFox when it attempts to play the YouTube video.

USB port tester


(image taken from the seller's pics on Amazon Germany)

This small device plugs into the USB ports on the computer. There are two USB ports on it and one is for Data/Charge and other other is only for Charge. It shows on its display 1. DC voltage, 2. Amparage and 3. mAh (electrical consumption in milli-Ampare hour).

When I checked the USB ports on my PowerBook G4 (A1106) with a USB external drive (no external power source), the drive fails to spin (it tries to spin up but fails to spin stably). The display shows about 4.9 DC V but the DC current is not stable and goes up and down between 0.08 to 0.19 (since it is not stable at all, this is not exact anyway).

I used this test on my MacBook Pro (Mid 2010 13-inch) and PowerBook G4 with a USB external adapter hooked up to an mSATA SSD via IDE-mSATA adapter.

My MacBook Pro mounts the SSD and the display shows 4.97 V and 0.29 A. When I uses the Disk Utility to erase the drive (to format it), the display showed stable 0.39 A.

With the PowerBook G4, first of all, it could not mount the drive and the figures were like 4.97 V and 0.13 A or so. Obviously this is the reason it could not mount the SSD. The SSD did not get enough juice out of the USB port.

Now it is official that the two USB ports on my PowerBook G4 are not working properly. I guess the reason it could not mount a DVD disc was also attributed to insufficient power supplied to the optical drive.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [How is my PowerBook G4 (A1106) doing?]の続きを読む

テーマ:Apple - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2019/04/08(月) 20:11:55|
2. MacBooks and Macs
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Ringtones, fake news and men in black

When I think of fake news (or mass media propaganda), I am reminded of some lines by Chris Rock. I think I saw this in a downloadable Podcast.

I think it was part of "Kill the messenger". By googling "Chris Rock Kill the ..." will tell you what that is. Anyway, I liked it and some lines are still with me.

One of the topics he dealt with there was this ringtone business. Downloadable ringtones were (still now?) hot back then. He said that soon phone companies would start selling phones with no ringtones built-in and to see if you had a call, you would have to guess (or you were forced to buy ringtones).

This was funny. I liked it although I have never purchased a ringtone myself. I have almost always used a simple ringtone like an old classical ringtones from the early days of fixed phones.

So in this evil business model that he predicted to take place in near future, the customers would be forced to purchase ringtones because phones were sold without ringtones when the phone left the factory. Customers would forced to buy ringtones and if they did not want to do so, they would have to guess if they were receiving a phone call on their own.

Let's face it! This is (and has been for quite a while) the business model widely spread among news services by mass media. Am I right or wrong?

What they write, broadcast or push is all fake news nothing but fake news and if we (who are awake) want to know what is really taking place in the World as we live in, we have to seek for it.

In the original (first) Men in Black movie, I was taken a back when I saw K (played by Tommy Lee Jones) revealed that what was really happening in reality and really trustworthy information was published actually in the junk magazines displayed by the supermarket cash registers.

I remember that I was really shocked by it. I have lived in the States for a while when Bill Clinton was the president over there and saw those magazines daily at the cash registers when I was in a queue waiting to check out the groceries. They often had articles like "Elvis lives" or "(Some long deceased celebrity) spotted at a gas station" or likes.

I sometimes wondered who would buy them and how do they (the publishers) get the money to keep those magazine business up.

So when I watched K checking the trash magazine for real news, I was amused but at the same time I was shocked in a way as it changed the way I see the world.

Now, 2019, I think of these small but memorable moments in my life as I see more and more fake news by the media. If I want to know what is really happening, I have to seek in other areas than the mass media.

As far as I know no companies have come up with the business model that Chris Rock described back then but when it becomes reality we may now feel any objections and might accept it. After all, most people are accepting the fake news and have been doing so for a long time already.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [Ringtones and fake news]の続きを読む

テーマ:日記 - ジャンル:日記

1. 2019/04/07(日) 16:28:40|
2. Diary
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A New Hope

I am a fan of "Star Wars" series. So I might be talking about Luke Skywalker here but I am really talking about the possibility of having a trailer hook installed on my MX-5.

Just a few days ago I got a reply email telling me that this business had too much workload for the next 3 months and did not want to give me a spot (for installation). 3 months? Wow, good luck!

So I tried another one. I found this business almost at the same time as I found the one who gave me a cold shoulder. I focused on the cold shoulder business because its advertisement was more appealing with a lot of pictures but slightly far away from me (600 km oneway).

The other business is also located in Germany. It is 530 km away from on the opposite side of Germany (North almost to the Nord See - The North Sea) whereas the other is located to the South-East, close to Austria.

I filled in the inquiry form Yesterday (the previous day) and Today I got a response.

The price was good so I want to go ahead with this company and I will call him (the man who wrote me back) on Monday for an appointment as in the message he wrote that "appointment arrangement by telephone".

I hope I get one in May or June. I really hope so.

Not having a trailer hook and traveling with a bike and a cat (coming soon) will be impossible.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [A New Hope (for the trailer hook installation) on my Mazda MX-5]の続きを読む

テーマ:カスタム - ジャンル:車・バイク

1. 2019/04/06(土) 14:41:34|
2. Mazda MX-5
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Trailer hook on my Mazda MX-5

I am trying to get a confirmed appointment from the company who offers the installation service but their reply is kind of dodgy. Dodgy? Yes, their reply by e-mail is dodgy.

Do they have so much work and don't need me? They always tell me that they have too much workload and can not give me an appointment.

I want to have it installed on my Mazda MX-5 before the Tour de France, of course. It is better if I could have it by the end of May so that I can use it and do a simulation of packing things up for a long car travel.

What do they want, business or no business? I don't understand.

I am willing to to spend whopping amount of what they had asked me but they are not giving me any appointment.

I will keep pushing until I get one so that I can plan my trip to get there and come back in one piece safely.


And I got the answer on April 5th. The answer was that they had enough work for the next three months so they did not want me to be there.

What?



I have unopened box containing Saris Axis 2-bike rack in my room and it will be continue to be unopened for the next how many months?

De Ronde

I want to go there but I don't know if I can. I am trying to secure that day off but I really don't know yet.

I will drive to Oudenaarde and drive one of those climbs or use the free shuttle service. Either way, I want to get there.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ
[Trailer hook on my Mazda MX-5]の続きを読む

テーマ:カスタム - ジャンル:車・バイク

1. 2019/04/05(金) 16:04:23|
2. Mazda MX-5
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MIA came turned up finally

Last night I came home and as usual and obligingly I peeked into the mailbox before entering my humble residence.

It was dark but I recognized something on the bottom. A small bulky package something like an egg wrapped inside.

It was extremely light as the title shows. What would be in it?

I opened it up and found a CPU. An Intel Core 2 Duo (T7600)! Wow! I thought it had been lost on its way. It had not been lost and finally it arrived. Or it had been lost and the seller sent a replacement?

I don't care and all I care is that I have it now.

In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [A small package arrived (weighing around 70 grams)]の続きを読む

テーマ:Apple - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2019/04/03(水) 15:19:47|
2. MacBooks and Macs
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A dog ate my homework!

I was wondering (have been wondering) if I should upgrade the system on my PowerBook G4 to Leopard from current Tiger.

I knew I could do it easily as I have a Leopard DVD that successfully booted iBook G4 (A1134) 2005.

As I had not used the optical drive on the PB G4, I wanted to know it it existed at all. I knew something was there as I started it I could hear a brief slight noise (the optical drive tried to see if it had any disc inside).


So the following incident took place last night.

I opened the DVD Player for the first time but it gave an error message saying there was no suitable DVD drive. In disbelief, I started the DVD Player several time but every time it gave me the same error message and closed itself. The DVD Player gives this message if it does not find an Apple-branded optical drive connected internally to the logic board.

???

I haphazardly put the OS Installation DVD that came with Mac mini Late 2006. I had used it on my iBook G4 and it successfully booted the beast.

First time I put the DVD into the slot, it (PB G4) span it for a while but it ejected the DVD.

Second time I put it into the machine, it span for a while and went quiet without loading it on the desktop.

???

This is one of the complaints that many Mac users have. It is difficult to eject a disc from the Mac machines once this happens. There is a small button located in the right upper corner of the keyboard with a sign signifying an upper arrow (not exactly but).

It won't force the disc to eject. It is not directly wired to the optical drive (I think). It is just one key on the keyboard and when it is pressed the system (Mac OS) interprets what is needed and make it happen (if possible to make it happen).

I pressed this key but nothing happened. I restarted the machine and after hearing the startup chime, I pressed the Trackpad button but nothing happened. The disc span but after a while it went quiet.

I tried and tried to eject the disc but I failed. I gave up.

I have to disassemble this beast and take out the optical drive to eject the disc.


So my PB G4 ate my Leopard DVD Installation disc and won't give it back to me.

I don't know why this happened but the point is that even the system won't recognize the optical drive. Is it possible that the logic board is suffering from weak power source? The internal HDD spins well and works. The LCD screen works and the speakers work.

Anyway, I have to disassemble PB G4 and do something about it. I was planning to replace the current HDD with an SSD in near future and I think this near future is now.


In Japanese: 続きをどうぞ [A dog ate my homework story (PB G4 woe)]の続きを読む

テーマ:Apple - ジャンル:コンピュータ

1. 2019/04/02(火) 15:05:46|
2. MacBooks and Macs
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