20/03/2007 by david.

Last weekend I powered on my macbook (which I completely love) only to find what looked to be a serious problem with the display.  Running diagonally across the lower half of the screen were a series of bright lines. 

I googled for the problem to get a resolution but although there were a lot of people having display problems with horizontal, coloured lines and other strange artefacts I only found one other mention of this problem, with no fix.  Panic time. 

 The previous night I had updated Mac osx to 10.4.9, but this seemed to be a coincidence, as the lines were visible prior to the OS booting up.  In fact these lines were actually visible on the display when the macbook was switched off!  They presented themselves as a series of darker lines on the display when it was powered off.

The only other thing that I had done was to upgrade the RAM to max it out to 2GB, but that was done the previous weekend so I’m not pointing at that.  Well, I don’t think so anyway, but…

I decided to bite the bullet and pull the Ram (replacing it with the original memory) and boc the macbook up to bring back to PC World.  Now I really didn’t want to do this, with the prospect of being without my macbook for what could be weeks so the next morning before I headed off to PC World, I unboxed it again and powered it up, as much out of hope.

Strange happenings had occurred! The lines were now only half the width that they had been the night before.  I decided to leave it for another day, and lo and behold, the following day the lines had disappeared altogether.  I replaced the origianl memory with the 2GB again and so far (2 days now) the lines haven’t returned.  I’m certain the memory wasinstalled properly the first time so I really have no idea how this happened, but needless to say I am happy it is now rectified.  I will post a couple of pics here to show the lines when I get the chance.

macbook display day 1

macbook display day 1 (2)

macbook display day 2

macbook display day 2 (2)

macbook display day 2 closeup

macbook display day 2 closeup (2)

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12/03/2007 by david.

Just remembered!! I lose all contact with the outside world from tomorrow (not really, still have windows to look out, a couple of telephones, and a TV) as I am changing my broadband provider. I currently use PIPEX who have been very reliable, but thought I would give Talk Talk a go as the service is free with the phone package I already have with them. Problem is that PIPEX account gets closed on the 23rd Feb, but Talk Talk can’t have me up and running until the 2nd of March at the latest. So hopefully all will go to plan and I will be back online before then, but these things aren’t guaranteed so I’m a bit apprehensive to say the least.
Not to worry, it will give me an opportunity to do some offline blogging and other site stuff, and then blast it all live in one go. So keep in touch.
UPDATE: March 12 2007
Well, what a nightmare this is turning out to be!!  Ever wish you didn’t start something?  Despite Talk Talk’s claiming they have ironed out all the problems with switching users due to unforseen demand, they are still really really poor!  It is now the 12th March and I am still no closer to having my broadband connected than I was a month ago.
On March 3rd I emailed Talk Talk;
Hello, Can you please confirm when my broadband will go live?
When I signed up I was told the latest date for
activation would be 2nd March.  This date has now
passed and I have heard nothing.  
Regards
David Irvine
On March 6, 3 full days later someone actually got back to me.
Dear Mr Irvine,
Thank you for your email.Before TalkTalk can confirm any details about the account could you please inform me of your telephone number, your address, postcode and
name of the bank that the direct debit is taken from?TalkTalk need this information to conform with the Data Protection Act, once we have this information we will be able to assist you further.
Yours sincerely,
Lesley Dunnett
TalkTalk
Correspondence Department
 
To which I sent all the requested details, despite that I am already a Talk Talk voice customer, and all the details were in an attached previous email. AND despite the fact that I had also phoned (what a disaster) Talk Talk support and given them all the same details: It went a lot like this:
I phoned them on the March 5 at 1pm on 0800 049 7802. After being on hold for 3 minutes I was given a new number to ring, 0800 049 0498.  I phoned this new number and was on hold for a further 6 minutes until I got someone to talk talk to. I provided all the details and was then put on hold.  Well, not put on hold actually.  I held for a further 10 minutes like a complete prat but no one came back to me, so I hung up. 
 I phoned 0800 049 0498 again, held for another 3 minutes, then the line died.  I then decided to wait until after 2 pm (perhaps the Talk Talk support staff were having lunch?)I phoned at 3pm and the helpful message on the line informed me the wait was likely to be over 20 minutes, so I hung up again (I was at work after all).
I phoned back at 3.15 and got the same message, it was going to be longer than 20 minutes due to the volume of calls, but this time I decided to hold.  In fairness I got through in about 4 mins and……provided all my details again.  I was told that someone would phone within 48 hours to get it sorted, that was 7 days ago and still no one contacted me.
In the meantime, on 8th March I got a reply from Talk Talk broadband support responding to the details I had provided them in the previous email, there response was this;
Dear Mr Irvine,
Thank you for your email.I apologise for the delay in receiving your TalkTalk Broadband service.  I can confirm that this delay has been due to you already having an already active Broadband account on your line. Before we can transfer your service over to TalkTalk we will need a Migration code as you already have broadband with another supplier. You will need to contact your current service provider and request a Migration Code (MAC Code). Once you have received this, please contact us on the number below, or by email reply and we will be able to process your order. Typically you will be transferred over to Talk Talk within two weeks of your order being approved. You will receive a letter with the confirmed transfer date, along with your username and password. Your modem will arrive under separate cover.If you have any general landline queries, please call customer services on 0870 444 1820.RegardsHayley Gee
Correspondence Department
TRACKING NUMBER: A00000559169-00001889039
Now, right at the outset of transferring Broadband from Pipex (who always provided very good support and service) to Talk Talk, the Talk Talk sales person had said that they would contact me when they needed the mac code.  Pipex had provided me with the code within 24 hours, but Talk Talk, until now hadn’t requested this from me. 
My Reply;
Thank you,

David
On March 9 Talk Talk broadband support got back to me with this;
Dear Mr Irving, (Can’t even get my name right after all this time and correspondance)
Thank you for your email.If this is the MAC code supplied to you back in January, you will need to contact your old supplier for another one as they only last for 30 days.  I am sorry that there has been such a delay in your order due to this lack of communication however once we receive your new MAC code, we will be able to provision your account without any further delays.If you have any general landline queries, please call customer services on 0870 444 1820.For technical queries, please contact Broadband Technical Support on 0871 226 7146. Calls to this number are charged at 10 pence per minute (call charges may vary from mobile phones and other telecom operators).Both of these numbers can become busy during peak periods and TalkTalk apologises for any inconvenience caused by the delays.Regards,Zoe Walton
Talk Talk Correspondence DepartmentTRACKING NUMBER: A00000559169-00001895237
So now I have had to request a new mac code from Pipex which I have done on the same day, Friday March 9.  As soon as Pipex get me a new mac code I will provide this to Talk Talk and we’ll see how quick the transfer is. 
I live in hope.
David
 

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