This is not PowerPC-related, but since I began the story here (see parts 1 and 2…there was, at one point, a PowerBook involved) I thought an update here would be in order.
To recap, my law school requires that we use exam security software from a certain vendor, if we want to be able to use a computer on our exams. The software requires OS X El Capitan as a minimum on a Mac; or you can use Windows. So I picked up a 2007 A1226 MacBook Pro (2.4 GHz C2D). Unfortunately, the exam software did not play nice with my MBP; during the first exam I used it on, I had to do a hard reset 3 times in order to get through the exam. Afterward, trying the steps suggested by the software publisher’s tech support, my MBP locked up so tight that I had to just shelve the thing for a few days until I had time to mess with it (it was unusable, wouldn’t completely boot). That’s where the PowerBook came in, which I used for a few days until I got the MBP back on its feet.
Not wishing to repeat this experience, I picked up a “broken” HP laptop from a classmate. I just needed to replace the hard drive and battery, and the machine then worked fine. I loaded up Windows 8.1 Pro on it and was off to the races again. The little HP has been a solid performer, giving me not one bit of trouble. When it came time for me to take my final exams starting last week, I had every expectation that I’d be using it, but…
Well…ok, look, there’s a reason for my username: it’s a pretty accurate assessment of my approach to things. I wish it wasn’t true, but much of the time it seems that I learn things the hard way. Then, I get angry (raging) at myself for being such a…dufus. Unfortunately, it’s the way I’ve gained much of my knowledge about working on computers – by doing stupid things that, if I’d just taken a minute and thought about it, or maybe googled a bit, I could have avoided a problem. I’ve ruined some good machines that way, I’m sorry to say.
So anyway, on the eve of my first final exam, I decided to download the exam security software to the HP, because I hadn’t done that yet. I noticed from the publisher’s website that this was a newer version than the one I had previously used on my MBP. On a whim, I thought to check the system requirements for the newer version, and – oh look! It still supports El Capitan on the Mac side, that’s good…oh and, looks like they’ve added Mojave support too. Ok, well good for them – now what about Windows? Ok, it supports Windows 7 and…and…Windows 10.
No 8, no 8.1, no nothing but 7 or 10. Whaaaatttt?!?
My exam was the next morning. I didn’t have time to mess with downloading and updating a different version of Windows, which can be an all-day/night affair…and there was a reason I put Windows 8.1 on this thing in the first place! I knew Windows 7 support would end before I graduated law school, but 8.1 should see me all the way through. I didn’t want Windows 10 under any circumstances. But, living up to my username, I had failed to check the one thing I should have checked before I chose – of all things – an operating system(!); was it going to run what I needed it to run??? NOPE, apparently not!
So now I’m looking at my MacBook Pro. It’s been pulling desktop duty ever since I got the HP to carry to school, and it’s been a flawless performer. Truth is, even though I didn’t really want to go Intel in the first place, I’ve been impressed with this MBP, and I’ve even come to appreciate El Capitan. The newer version of the exam software still supported El Cap, so – saddle up, MBP, let’s ride!
I used it on the exam, and I’m happy to report that although running the exam software wasn’t problem free (I did have to reboot twice), I managed to get about 2.5 hours of good use out of it before the first reboot…overall, a much better performance than on the previous attempt. Not only that, it has experienced no problems whatsoever since the exam, which is a far cry from what the exam software did to it the last time.
I did use the little HP laptop on my next final exam, with the Windows 8.1 installation. I figured, what the hell could there be about Windows 8 that’s so different from 7 or 10 that they couldn’t support it? In any event, the HP w/8.1 ran the software just fine, and in trying that out I think I may have stumbled upon the reason for the problem with my MBP. The HP running Windows was able to go to sleep a couple of times during the exam. Each time I woke it up, a dialog box would appear telling me that my computer had gone to sleep, and that the event would be noted in the exam log.
I’m guessing at this, but for whatever reason it seems that the exam software doesn’t play well with my MBP’s power management system, because the MBP never once went to sleep despite periods of inactivity (periods long enough that, on battery power, it ordinarily would have slept); whereas on Windows it seems that the OS still gets to manage the computer's power system. I have no idea why this would be – other than perhaps poorly written code – but there it is. It’s the only theory I’ve got, anyway. I do know, too, that there seemed to be many more people who had problems with the software this time – and they were all running MacBooks.
So the moral of this long and boring story is: it’s a Windows world, my friends.
And, despite my best efforts, I’m still a raging dufus.
To recap, my law school requires that we use exam security software from a certain vendor, if we want to be able to use a computer on our exams. The software requires OS X El Capitan as a minimum on a Mac; or you can use Windows. So I picked up a 2007 A1226 MacBook Pro (2.4 GHz C2D). Unfortunately, the exam software did not play nice with my MBP; during the first exam I used it on, I had to do a hard reset 3 times in order to get through the exam. Afterward, trying the steps suggested by the software publisher’s tech support, my MBP locked up so tight that I had to just shelve the thing for a few days until I had time to mess with it (it was unusable, wouldn’t completely boot). That’s where the PowerBook came in, which I used for a few days until I got the MBP back on its feet.
Not wishing to repeat this experience, I picked up a “broken” HP laptop from a classmate. I just needed to replace the hard drive and battery, and the machine then worked fine. I loaded up Windows 8.1 Pro on it and was off to the races again. The little HP has been a solid performer, giving me not one bit of trouble. When it came time for me to take my final exams starting last week, I had every expectation that I’d be using it, but…
Well…ok, look, there’s a reason for my username: it’s a pretty accurate assessment of my approach to things. I wish it wasn’t true, but much of the time it seems that I learn things the hard way. Then, I get angry (raging) at myself for being such a…dufus. Unfortunately, it’s the way I’ve gained much of my knowledge about working on computers – by doing stupid things that, if I’d just taken a minute and thought about it, or maybe googled a bit, I could have avoided a problem. I’ve ruined some good machines that way, I’m sorry to say.
So anyway, on the eve of my first final exam, I decided to download the exam security software to the HP, because I hadn’t done that yet. I noticed from the publisher’s website that this was a newer version than the one I had previously used on my MBP. On a whim, I thought to check the system requirements for the newer version, and – oh look! It still supports El Capitan on the Mac side, that’s good…oh and, looks like they’ve added Mojave support too. Ok, well good for them – now what about Windows? Ok, it supports Windows 7 and…and…Windows 10.
No 8, no 8.1, no nothing but 7 or 10. Whaaaatttt?!?
My exam was the next morning. I didn’t have time to mess with downloading and updating a different version of Windows, which can be an all-day/night affair…and there was a reason I put Windows 8.1 on this thing in the first place! I knew Windows 7 support would end before I graduated law school, but 8.1 should see me all the way through. I didn’t want Windows 10 under any circumstances. But, living up to my username, I had failed to check the one thing I should have checked before I chose – of all things – an operating system(!); was it going to run what I needed it to run??? NOPE, apparently not!
So now I’m looking at my MacBook Pro. It’s been pulling desktop duty ever since I got the HP to carry to school, and it’s been a flawless performer. Truth is, even though I didn’t really want to go Intel in the first place, I’ve been impressed with this MBP, and I’ve even come to appreciate El Capitan. The newer version of the exam software still supported El Cap, so – saddle up, MBP, let’s ride!
I used it on the exam, and I’m happy to report that although running the exam software wasn’t problem free (I did have to reboot twice), I managed to get about 2.5 hours of good use out of it before the first reboot…overall, a much better performance than on the previous attempt. Not only that, it has experienced no problems whatsoever since the exam, which is a far cry from what the exam software did to it the last time.
I did use the little HP laptop on my next final exam, with the Windows 8.1 installation. I figured, what the hell could there be about Windows 8 that’s so different from 7 or 10 that they couldn’t support it? In any event, the HP w/8.1 ran the software just fine, and in trying that out I think I may have stumbled upon the reason for the problem with my MBP. The HP running Windows was able to go to sleep a couple of times during the exam. Each time I woke it up, a dialog box would appear telling me that my computer had gone to sleep, and that the event would be noted in the exam log.
I’m guessing at this, but for whatever reason it seems that the exam software doesn’t play well with my MBP’s power management system, because the MBP never once went to sleep despite periods of inactivity (periods long enough that, on battery power, it ordinarily would have slept); whereas on Windows it seems that the OS still gets to manage the computer's power system. I have no idea why this would be – other than perhaps poorly written code – but there it is. It’s the only theory I’ve got, anyway. I do know, too, that there seemed to be many more people who had problems with the software this time – and they were all running MacBooks.
So the moral of this long and boring story is: it’s a Windows world, my friends.
And, despite my best efforts, I’m still a raging dufus.
