a question for ibook g4 users...

HD1 · Post by **HD1** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:16 am

can it bus-power peripherals that use firewire buspower ?

can you change the preferences so it doesnt go to sleep when you shut the lid ?
(someone mentioned on another thread this is what happens with macbooks)

areinitz · Post by **areinitz** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:51 am

yea it can do bus power with firewire... for example i use a M-Audio Firewire 410 interface and it draws all the juice from the port.

as far as running an iBook with the lid closed, no you cant (at least with traditional means). I assume you have an external montor and dont need the display on the LCD. But remember there exists a heat issue if you tried to run the computer while it was closed, it will end up f-ing up your LCD and probably other things as well. I just turn the brightness all the way down.

BUT, if anyone knows of 3rd party software that can cut the signal to the LCD to save processor, please post!

HD1 · Post by **HD1** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:08 am

the reason I want to close the laptop and have it remain ON is because I want to use it to field record. I've got the mic, the ad/da that can use firewire buspower, now all I need is for the ibook to operate whilst its 'closed' .....

any input appreciated!

edit: i suppose i could put a matchstick between the lcd and the base to keep it about an inch open with the brightness turned all the way down....heh, I assumed this wouldnt be an issue before I blindly bought it

dirtystudios · Post by **dirtystudios** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:46 am

All you have to do to run it with the lid closed, is use an external keyboard to wake it up after you close it.

Yes, any 6-pin FireWire port (the one that looks like a cross-section of a bullet) can supply power. It's only the 4-pin that can't supply power. No Mac has ever been built with a 4-pin.

k

HD1 · Post by **HD1** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:50 am

dirtystudios wrote:All you have to do to run it with the lid closed, is use an external keyboard to wake it up after you close it.

so you mean it can run software this way, recording audio while its closed?

seems strange you need an external keyboard to wake it up, shouldnt the lid opening take care of that?[/code]

muthafunka · Post by **muthafunka** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:03 am

S/he means that by having an external kboard attached you can re-awaken it while the lid is still closed. I'd advise against doing this though-try leaving a book or a file on top of the keyboard for a while and see how hot it gets

Why not just get a black screensaver and assign it to a hot corner?

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 3:09 am

Since the iBook's only air intake is through the keyboard, running it with the lid closed will mean it'll get very hot, very quickly, possibly leading to damage to your system. Ie., don't.

gomi · Post by **gomi** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 4:58 am

noisetonepause wrote:Since the iBook's only air intake is through the keyboard, running it with the lid closed will mean it'll get very hot, very quickly, possibly leading to damage to your system. Ie., don't.

yah the ibook is not designed to be run with the lid closed.
the powerbooks are however, you can plug in external keyboard and monitor
and close the lid and it's just like a desktop.
without all the noise.

HD1 · Post by **HD1** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 6:38 am

good to know,
thanks

forgie · Post by **forgie** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:11 am

Sleepless should help you out. There's another utility called insomnia I think that will do the same thing. iBooks, however, are definitely not designed to be run like this. Plastic doesn't conduct heat well, so heat dissipation has to be done by convection, which means airflow. If you were to do it, I'd dim the screen all the way and set the CPU to low speed before you did it, and only ever do it for a short period of time.

HD1 · Post by **HD1** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:48 am

cheers forgie. I'm in no rush to fry the ibook..
i got a jansport laptop bag from a few years back. its fairly huge for a backpack, allowing you to carry a massive laptop in one compartment and giving you 3or4 others to load with other stuff......

it would be possible to have the ibook open within the bigger compartment , whilst I'm field recording, this would protect it against the elements,

not as mobile as I would have hoped, but definately more functions than using a dedicated field recording unit like edirol and tascam have on offer....

maybe I could make something designed to hold the ibook while it is completely open so that its flat. It could be made completely of a fabric mesh, allowing for movement whilst field recording (so long as its not raining)

madison · Post by **madison** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 10:17 am

Sounds like a lot to carry around and mess with.
Why not record to one of these and upload the info later?

http://www.djmart.com/m-audio-portable-recorders.html

forgie · Post by **forgie** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 10:39 am

Those M-audio microtrack thingies have had some serious issues with the early devices. I don't know if they fixed the issues in a firmware upgrade or something, but the early ones had shitty noise specs and firmware bugs as serious as deleting the recording you'd just done if you named it a particular thing... nasty.

HD1 · Post by **HD1** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:03 pm

madison wrote:Sounds like a lot to carry around and mess with.
Why not record to one of these and upload the info later?

http://www.djmart.com/m-audio-portable-recorders.html

cheers madison, I already got the edirol r1 a 2gig compact flash card, and a mini-jack sony condenser mic ....... these I keep in my backpack as often as possible,

but I've just splashed out on a really nice seinheiser condenser mic designed for field recording , so I need to put it through some xlr preamps....would only plan on using it in relatively controlled/planned conditions......I suppose I could sit there with the laptop open, but I didnt think operating the laptop whilst closed would pose a problem....anyways, no biggy - just something to work around.

thanks for the info fellas