Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Texan in Calgary for a while
Posts: 1361

Murphy's law of laptops

I had a near heart-attack this weekend (and I'm only 26). I was opening the cabinet next to my computer desk to put up some DVDs that I had been watching when something bumped my near-empty bottle of Shiner Bock which spilled over the top left corner of my PBG4 400's keyboard. ACK!

I hurriedly shut down the system and cleaned the keyboard off, then removed the keyboard and wiped up anything that was damp. Removed the back casing, got some more beer off the airport card, then put it all back together. Waited a while and booted it up... shut itself off at the point OS X changes from a grey background to a blue one. @#$%

Now I'm panicking. This is my first Mac so I don't have the same troubleshooting skills that I have with the PC. I booted off the OSX disk, same result. Booted off the repair disk that came with the Ti and ran a disk repair. During the repair my screen's graphics kept getting screwy and flickering. Eventually it finished and my HD checked out ok. Used a hairdryer on the bottom just in case I missed anything, then set the Startup disk to OS9 and rebooted.

OS9 booted up, leaving me to think that it was something in the graphics that OSX used that was too much for it. So I played a DVD, and sure enough, the graphics started wigging out big time. Even a reboot didn't fix it.

At this point I called it a night, shut down the system, and said a long prayer to God. Went to bed and woke up and tried it again in OS9, screen came up. Played "GalaxyQuest" with no problems! Booted OS X, worked! Played "Duality" QT movie, worked!

After all this, my keyboard was a little sticky but got better with use. All this happens the weekend before PC Expo. Talk about Murphy's Law. I don't know what repair services are available on a Sunday, but I'm glad I didn't have to find out.

I am so happy now that I think I need a beer. Just not in this room!

Has anyone else had a close call with a liquid spilling on your laptop?

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

You did the right thing...wipe it clean and use a hair dryer.

A friend that used to work for a computer repair firm would take soiled laptop keyboards and just throw them into a pan of soapy water for a bit. Rinse it, hairdry it, and stick it back in.

He said it works fine to fix soda-spills.

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Registered: May 2000
Location: St. Paul, MN
Posts: 1429

YOW! OMG that was close! You sure your ok? Ti?s ok? wow. Again, as others said, you did the right thing. There's not much else you can do, but turn things off, wash things, and than dry things, and hope for the best. LUckily, I don't have a laptop (not), I have my Visor, and it's like impoossible to spill something that's lawys in my hands! :-D

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-miradu

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Out of my skull, back in five minutes
Posts: 1435

[condescending]Don't you know better than to keep liquids near your computer?[/condescending]

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Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

You bring back painful memories. Beer and computers don't mix. The only thing that would've been worse in your case is if you had spilled Amber Bock. I suppose the computer biting the big one would've sucked, too.

Thank God she's still running like a champ. Hopefully she doesn't get a taste for alcohol.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location:
Posts: 268

my stupid roommate spilled beer on it and fried my hd ... good thing i had insurance through the school. the laptop support people at school put in a new hd, although it did take 2 weeks.

stupid roommate breaks everything. oh, actually ex-roommate cuz he moved out last wednesday to move in with his girlfriend.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 1883

I haven't spilled anything on my laptop (yet ) but a long long time ago I spilled a full glass of white wine in my (running) XT which had the case open....
I let it dry for a day and it worked ok after that... the only thing that changed is that I had to press F1 to make it recognize the keyboard at boottime...
I was amazed it would still work..

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Registered: May 2000
Location: St. Paul, MN
Posts: 1429

All you people are your adult drinks.. tsk tsk! I guess I haven't been allowed to develop a taste for them yet :-D It's cherry coke for me..

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-miradu

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Out of my skull, back in five minutes
Posts: 1435

miradu, some of us "adults" don't have a taste for it either ... I can't stand the taste of alcohol and don't understand why beer and wine are so popular. It's kahlua for me
but I keep the beverages on the desk behind me!

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Redwood City CA
Posts: 472

Palm III in a thunderstorm

I never drenched a laptop, but I did get my Palm III good and wet in a thunderstorm. Popped the batteries, let it dry out overnight, and in the morning it was as right as rain.

Ahem.

So I started carrying a small plastic baggie in my wallet just in case.

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Aberdeen, SD
Posts: 2531

My tastes are rather limited. I don't like beer (with the exception of Amber Bock - Guiness tastes like donkey piss), I don't like wine (used to until an unfortunate experience with 8 month old boxed wine turned me into a winocerous - I still catch hell for that evening), and I don't like hard drinks straight (mixed is usually ok).

I'm plenty happy with a rum&coke, amber bock, or sex on the beach.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 278

The first day I got my laptop my brother drenched it in milk. It works fine now though, I just let it dry.

--David

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: "Children are a gift from God, they are a reward"
Posts: 1049

I won't go into details, but my Lifebook survived an assault by a wet diaper, and the required clean up.
I was almost driven back to drink. I had a Coke instead.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 1062

quote:

---

Originally posted by miradu2000
All you people are your adult drinks.. tsk tsk! I guess I haven't been allowed to develop a taste for them yet :-D It's cherry coke for me..

---

The times we drink non adult drinks are not usually the times we spill on our keyboards!

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

I've never spilled on my laptop, just spilled the laptop itself: Left it sitting on the top of the car, realized it as I saw it spinning out the rearview window at 50mph!

It was my first, a big old clunky presario, in a slim fake leather case. I ran out into two lane highway traffic to retrieve it before someone ran it over. A few loose keys that popped back in, a lot of road rash, but otherwise fine. Eventually, the HD started to get bad sectors, but that was months later...

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Out of my skull, back in five minutes
Posts: 1435

after reading dietrichbohn's post all I can think of is the scene in Raising Arizona where John Goodman and his buddy leave the restaurant or convenience store (or whatever) with the baby still atop the car ...
and a friend who lost his leatherman tool doing the same thing.

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Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Prison
Posts: 421

You'll soon learn to lay off the Vodka, James Hromadka! Haha... that rhymes.... oh wait... it was beer.... oh well.


BUT, it may be a good idea to CAREFULLY open up your Titanium Powerbook and clean out the insides.

The problem with beer, is that the yeast will grow and damage your computer parts. So you MUST get it cleaned. The heat probably won't be enough to kill it, but instead make it thrive.

I feel downright terrible about it. I mean, the Powerbook G4!

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

Originally posted by bblue:
The problem with beer, is that the yeast will grow and damage your computer parts.

Shiner Bock and most mass-produced beers along the lines of Bud Miller and Coors have imperceptible amounts of yeast left in them (if any at all) by the time they reach the consumer. Between filtering and pasteurization, there is little chance of any yeast surviving. If we were talking about Chimay all over the keyboard, that'd be another thing, though.

So you MUST get it cleaned.

Yeah, but not because of the yeast. The sugars would be more trouble by far.

The heat probably won't be enough to kill it, but instead make it thrive.

How hot does it get inside a G4? What's the average heat tolerance of beer yeast (hint: it's usually even lower for lager yeast)? Don't hand me no lines and keep your FUD to yourself.

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Prison
Posts: 421

Yeah, the sugars too. I've heard of it happening all the time, so that's what I'm basing it off of.



FUD??? WTF???

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 3034

Originally posted by bblue
Yeah, the sugars too.

No, not the sugars 'too', since as I explained there is usually no yeast that matters in most mass-produced beers.

I've heard of it happening all the time, so that's what I'm basing it off of.

I'd like to see documented proof of yeast growth from the average NAIL (North American Industrial Lager) beer bottle in the hostile (to yeast) environs of a computer. Most beer yeasts crap out well before even hitting 90 deg. F, so the chances of them being able to survive _and_ replicate are extremely slim.

FUD??? WTF???

Fear Uncertainty Doubt. IOW, you're raising a cry of alarm over something that is not supported by facts. I'm just calling you on it since brewing beer is one of my favorite pastimes.