PROBLEMS SOLVED -- help with my Dad's i-mac...

[Rooster_Ties]

You know how when the screensaver kicks in (presumably) on a Mac (he's got a Powermac (correction: an i-mac) of some sort, circa 2000/2001 maybe), and the screen goes grey. And then when you hit something on the keyboard or touch/move the mouse -- the "gray" screensaver "mode" goes away???

Well, my Dad said he thinks maybe he hit some sort of (maybe) function key that has now caused the computer to stay in the "gray" mode all the time. Meaning he is able to move the mouse/pointer around, move the cursor, and otherwise manipulate the computer "normally" -- EXCEPT the thing stays in "gray mode", and won't get out of "gray mode" at all. He's powered the thing down, and the problem is still there when he boots back up.

AND starting at seemingly the very same time (and therefore possibly related, though possibly not related??), he also said when he goes to print now -- what the printer churns out is blank paper. And he said that it didn't quickly form-feed the paper out blank, but rather that the printer seemed to be printing (the print-head was audibly and visibly moving from side to side (some kind of Apple inkjet, also circa 2000/2001), but what came out was blank paper.

Does anything here ring a bell with anyone?? My Dad is not terribly computer literate, and I'm trying to advise him over the phone (he's in St. Louis, me in Kansas City). My mom used to do all the computer stuff in their household, and I haven't used Macs much hardly at all in well over 15 years.

Edited January 20, 2006 by Rooster_Ties

[Rooster_Ties]

Oh, and my Dad's almost 80 -- so he pretty much only knows exactly what he knows about the computer (which ain't all that much). I love him a ton, but his occasional computer problems drive me up a wall.

Discovered last November, for instance, that he's been adding to the same word processing document since 2002. Every time he wants to write a new letter, he just adds new pages to the same document (keeps hitting the "enter" key until he gets a new page to write on. His one word processing file was 189 pages long, with every letter and 'document' he's ever written for the last four years, page after page.

So of course, like a good son -- I started him a new blank document for him, backed-up the old one, and I made a mental note to help him start a new document every couple years or so. (So yeah -- deep in my gut, I knew teaching him how to create actual new document files would just open a new can of worms, cuz then he'd never be able to find anything. With one file, there's only one file -- and everything is in the one file, so there's no searching for files.)

So, anybody know what his crazy-ass "gray mode all the time, and the printer only prints in white" problem is??

Edited January 20, 2006 by Rooster_Ties

[Christiern]

Sorry to hear about your father's Mac problems. I have used Macs exclusively since 1984 and that probably includes whatever model your father has, but I have never experienced the grey screen. The way to get out of a screen saver is to hit any key or move the mouse; if the sleep mode is on, the space bar will bring the machine back to life.

How is your father able to activate the printer when his Mac is essentially dormant? Do you know which OS is installed? It would be helpful if you could tell us details like that. Go to System Profile (perhaps via "About this Mac," under the Apple icon--depending on the OS). That will give you all the details. You might post the details and a description of the problem in the "Genius Bar" forum at Applenova, a dedicated Mac BBS.

Applenova

[jazzbo]

On my G4 Powerbook there is a button in the top row left that basically controls the screen brightness; sometimes I hit that by error and it makes my screen so bright that it cannot be seen. . . which may be another way of saying it is "grayed over." I've never tried to print from this status. . . I'm not sure it would print all whited out though.

Have him try hitting the top keys on the left. . . one should make an impact if it is this key (it should return to the screen to the status it was in before).

I'm sorry, I'm about twelve hours away from laptop the moment or I could pinpoint the key.

[Rooster_Ties]

Thanks everyone, a bunch!!. jazzbo, I'll give my Dad a call yet this morning, and see if your suggestion about some sort of screen-brightness key does the trick. I have a hunch it will -- if we can only find it.

[Rooster_Ties]

Depending on keyboard, etc...try the F14 and F15 keys

for brightness control.

F14 and F15 did the trick, as far as the brightness problem goes. THANKS!!!!

And the printer issue was clogged print head problems -- which I'm mostly resolving on the phone now, as I'm typing this.

Totally unrelated issues, that happened at the same time.

THANKS EVERYONE FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!!!

Edited January 20, 2006 by Rooster_Ties

[jazzbo]

Cool! Glad we were collectively helpful.

[Christiern]

Nice of you to share the credit, Lon, but we know better.

[jazzbo]

Hey, I work in a big beurocracy. . . .Sharing the credit is relatively safe, but not guaranteed.