help - me mac's shagged!

[Sparky750]

I was explaining it in lawyer (read dick turpin wannabes ) terms but after that mate no i can't help sorry give them a call or take it into the shop

[CatB]

The phone is probably the way forward - it took a couple of calls for me when I needed something fixed but they give you a Case number so when you call back you carry on from where you left off (having done whatever they suggested) rather than going back to square one.

I'm afraid that this discussion Apple - Support - Discussions - bottom half of my screen turned darker. ... sounds relatively like your problem - might need to go back

[pieater]

Originally Posted by WannabeMermaid

The phone is probably the way forward - it took a couple of calls for me when I needed something fixed but they give you a Case number so when you call back you carry on from where you left off (having done whatever they suggested) rather than going back to square one.

I'm afraid that this discussion Apple - Support - Discussions - bottom half of my screen turned darker. ... sounds relatively like your problem - might need to go back

I would agree, except that the display starts at full brightness on startup and then visibly darkens down. Sounds unlikely to be a hardware issue therefore?

[Sparky750]

I hope it's just a setting mate see what apple say on the phone or try asking on one of the many mac forums around.

[CatB]

Originally Posted by pieater

I would agree, except that the display starts at full brightness on startup and then visibly darkens down. Sounds unlikely to be a hardware issue therefore?

That's actually more positive then. Is it a laptop?

The rest of this advice comes with the disclaimer that I am a not a Mac expert and haven't tried this myself but, resetting the PRAM (see below) is often suggested on the help discussions to fix firmware problems and resetting the PMU may fix it the problem if it is power issue which is likely if it's the backlight. Links to the Apple 'How To' articles are below. I repeat however that I haven't tried this so read the articles and decide if it is something that you want to try!

Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM

Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU)

Can you tell that I'm really bored of writing my thesis tonight

[Simon A]

Originally Posted by pieater

I would agree, except that the display starts at full brightness on startup and then visibly darkens down. Sounds unlikely to be a hardware issue therefore?

Ok I assume this is a TFT?
the display needs fixing, one of the backlights has failed/is failing, it could be the tube or less likely the inverter.
If it's under warranty put a call in, if it's not you may be able to get the backlight replaced. But if not you need a new screen. If it's a laptop you'll get the quote for a replacement screen, and when you come round you'll just go and buy an external screen.
HTH
Simon A

[Captain Deco]

Originally Posted by PeeBee

Serves you right for having a mac... if it was a PC you'd have 50 replies by now

Yeah. He'd also be on here 50 times a day with a problem!!

[MattS]

Originally Posted by PeeBee

Serves you right for having a mac... if it was a PC you'd have 50 replies by now

And 47 of them would be wrong

[MattS]

Originally Posted by pieater

I would agree, except that the display starts at full brightness on startup and then visibly darkens down. Sounds unlikely to be a hardware issue therefore?

Well it could be a hardware issue.

First thing I would do is completely disable the Energy Saver.

Click the Apple in the main menu, select "System Preferences". Click the light bulb icon, drag both sliders as far as the they will go to the right (never), then Click "Options" and un-tick "Automatically reduce the brightness of the display before display sleep."

If it is a lap top you need to make the settings twice, once for each power profile (mains and battery).

There is a known issue with some Macs not retaining the energy saver setting between full reboots. If you are affected you will need to tick and then untick the "Automatically reduce brightness..." option after each boot. If you normally leave your Mac sleeping but have recently rebooted, it would explain why it has started behaving oddly.

HTH

[pieater]

Apparently it is a hardware issue. It's gone in under warranty.