[iBook] iBook G4 date/time issue

[Clark Martin]

At 12:46 AM -0400 8/28/05, Samantha Cornell wrote:
>Recently, I have noticed that the date on my iBook (G4 1.2 GHz, 
>running 10.4.2) has reset, a number of times to 1969.  Is this 
>indicative of a larger problem, or is it simply the result of the 
>battery running down too far?  Has anyone else experienced this.
>
>In a quite possibly unrelated incident, my latest power-on resulted 
>in an odd tone, a few notes higher than the typical start up chime, 
>which did eventually occur.  This is a new one to me.  Any ideas?
>What on earth did it mean?

If the battery goes down really low, yes you can lose the date and 
time.  These models have a super cap rather than a PRAM battery. 
This means they can't operate the PRAM / Clock or keep up the memory 
in sleep very long.  It is intended to provide power only while 
changing the battery.  But they have a much longer component life 
than a battery.

Not sure about the higher chime.

I'd reset the clock and not worry about it.  If it happens again 
after the deep battery discharge that would confirm  the theory.
-- 
Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA
Macintosh / Internet Consulting

"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"