iMac question

[lionking]

Well it's not specific to an iMac. Last night there was a big thunderstorm and lightening struck nearby. When I tried to get on the net this morning, I noticed the modem was dead. I tried another modem (and another ethernet cable) but couldn't connect to the internet, even the modem looked fine according to my ISP. That modem connected okay to my other computer.

So it looks like the lightening fried both the modem and either the ethernet port and/or the network card (everything else seems to be working okay).

Now my question. I, thankfully, purchased the extended Apple support and am taking the machine in tomorrow. Would they be able to tell if the problem was caused by lightening? Lightening surges are normally not covered by warranties. Secondly (and lightening does actually strike twice) is power surge protection a good idea or a waste of money?

 

[Stray Cat]

Now my question. I, thankfully, purchased the extended Apple support and am taking the machine in tomorrow. Would they be able to tell if the problem was caused by lightening? Lightening surges are normally not covered by warranties. Secondly (and lightening does actually strike twice) is power surge protection a good idea or a waste of money?

I'll leave the fried network/ethernet question for someone who'll no doubt know a lot more than I do.

As for the second part of the question: power surge protection is a complete waste of money... until the first time it prevents damage to your computer, which of course if it's working correctly, you'll never know it even happened.

 

[nvidiot]

IANAE, but you don't know that the lightning caused the issue, and I wouldn't have thought that it could with modern electricals in most houses today. Barring a direct strike on the device in question of course.

All you need to do is take it to them, say "this doesn't work, please be fixings for me oh great genius person" and leave it to them.

Don't most common surge protectors do so by burning out before it can pass the current to the device? Would think you might notice that.

ETA: insert back to the future joke here.

 

[lionking]

IANAE, but you don't know that the lightning caused the issue, and I wouldn't have thought that it could with modern electricals in most houses today. Barring a direct strike on the device in question of course.

All you need to do is take it to them, say "this doesn't work, please be fixings for me oh great genius person" and leave it to them.

Don't most common surge protectors do so by burning out before it can pass the current to the device? Would think you might notice that.

ETA: insert back to the future joke here.

Believe me, I have turned playing dumb in circumstances where it suits me into an art form.

 

[Stray Cat]

Don't most common surge protectors do so by burning out before it can pass the current to the device? Would think you might notice that.

Yup they just click off... the thing being that you'll never know if the reason for them clicking off would have caused any damage to your computer.

@ Lionking; Are you suggesting that the damage causing current came down the phone line and not through the power line?
If it only took out the modem and the network/ethernet card, that would seem to be what you're implying.

If this is the case, simple surge protection wouldn't have stopped it anyway would it? I know you can get surge protected plug boards with telephone/ethernet sockets built in to them too, but have no idea if the they actually offer any protection from unwanted current coming down phone line though.

 

[lionking]

Good point Stray Cat. I think I might get surge protection anyway. It only costs $20 or so.

 

[MrQhuest]

Having worked in warranty claims before, I would suggest that you do not mention the lightning strike, and/or power surge, because you don't KNOW that was the cause. It's a quick and easy way to have your entire warranty voided.

Personally, I can't really see how a power surge from a lightning strike will just fry a NIC without cooking everything else, and other things in your home to boot. Stranger things have been known to happen, but I think you will find you cause to be something else.

Good luck with your repair!

MrQ

 

[lionking]

Having worked in warranty claims before, I would suggest that you do not mention the lightning strike, and/or power surge, because you don't KNOW that was the cause. It's a quick and easy way to have your entire warranty voided.

Personally, I can't really see how a power surge from a lightning strike will just fry a NIC without cooking everything else, and other things in your home to boot. Stranger things have been known to happen, but I think you will find you cause to be something else.

Good luck with your repair!

MrQ

Thanks. You may well be right, but it was the loudest thunderclap I've ever heard, and two light globes blew, so that's why I thought it was the cause. I haven't checked every power outlet, so others may have been effected.

I won't mention the lightening, and didn't when I rang phone support.

 

[Ocelot]

Well it's not specific to an iMac. Last night there was a big thunderstorm and lightening struck nearby. When I tried to get on the net this morning, I noticed the modem was dead. I tried another modem (and another ethernet cable) but couldn't connect to the internet, even the modem looked fine according to my ISP. That modem connected okay to my other computer.

So it looks like the lightening fried both the modem and either the ethernet port and/or the network card (everything else seems to be working okay).

Now my question. I, thankfully, purchased the extended Apple support and am taking the machine in tomorrow. Would they be able to tell if the problem was caused by lightening? Lightening surges are normally not covered by warranties. Secondly (and lightening does actually strike twice) is power surge protection a good idea or a waste of money?

In answer to the question about whether lightning can do that to modern electircals, yes it can. However I'm sure that a detailed investigation would only reveal a power surge, not the source. Play dumb about the lighning strike.

Not sure about your set up. You talk about a modem but also about ethernet. I'm assuming you have a router with a built in modem. That the router handles the connection (supplies password etc.) rather than your computer. As far as you PC is concerned it just uses TCP/IP with the router as the gateway.

To troubleshoot whether the problem is with the router or your ethernet card. Try talking direct to your known good router. If you can get that far it probably just needs configuring. If not then the ethernet card is out, wouldn't be too expensive in a normal PC but I think with the iMac it's an integrated network card with no available expansion slots.

 

[Ocelot]

As for suge protection there's two sources of surge. The power line and the comms line. Surge protectors are available for both, used to be standard for phone lines, isn't any more.

 

[BenBurch]

If they will not fix it you have two options short of motherboard repair;

- Get a WiFi modem and connect using that
- Get a USB Ethernet adaptor. Sustworks.com has drivers. Some adaptors (Apple's for example) work out-of-the-box.

 

[Giordano]

I had a Apple monitor that went down after a town-wide power surge. Apple fixed for free under Applecare a few years ago. They had to replace the external transformer (which I believe had a sacrificial fusible link in it, if I am remembering correctly). But I agree you shouldn't offer to diagnosis it, especially if your (potentially faulty) diagnosis might give them an excuse to not cover the repair.

The power surge was itself interesting; a ship dragged an anchor over a high voltage power line that ran under a local river. Apparently that left a lot of angry 60 Hertz electrons with nowhere else to go. The lights suddenly glowed at what looked like twice their normal brilliance before everything went dark. We lost a couple of freezer compressor motors and some additional digital equipment. AC power transmission is a complicated business.

 

[Babbylonian]

A friend and I have established that Apple is really easy to deal with when it comes to support, if you remember these two rules:

1. You have no idea what happened. "It just won't turn on." "When I touch the screen nothing happens." "When I picked it up it just suddenly split into 3 pieces." Phrases like this are your friends.
2. Don't be a jerk. "I'll never buy another Apple product if you don't take care of this!" "I paid good money for this and it doesn't work!" "If you're not supposed to hit the screen with a hammer, the manual should say so!" You'll almost certainly hear the words "I'm sorry but..." if you use any of the preceding phrases or otherwise act entitled.

If there's one thing Apple does well, it's err on the side of the customer when it comes to support. As Giordano said, all you're doing by going into detail about the problem and its potentialprobable cause is limiting the leeway their employees are given to deal with you.

 

[not daSkeptic]

A drunk-driver once plowed into a power pole and the resultant surge slammed into an environmental testing laboratory. I observed the mess first-hand. Internal power supplies had literally ejected themselves from their devices. People were picking up charred capacitors and bits of circuitry in every room. Fortunately nothing caught fire. Given all the chemicals and other nasty things on-site it could have been much worse.

 

[lionking]

No problem with getting the repairs done under warranty. The efficiency and service levels at Apple shops is awesome. Arrived at the booked time, was immediately met by the service guy who thanked me for being punctual and sat down while he went through the diagnostics, explaining what he was doing. He found it was a hardware problem, and booked it in, no questions asked.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

In the US the Mac stores are overly generous about replacing things regardless of the cause if the warranty is still in effect. But I can't speak for Ozland.

Oops, just saw the post above. Sounds like it's a worldwide policy.

My son stepped on his Kindle and broke it and Amazon replaced it even though we bought it at the Apple store.

 

[lionking]

In the US the Mac stores are overly generous about replacing things regardless of the cause if the warranty is still in effect. But I can't speak for Ozland.

Oops, just saw the post above. Sounds like it's a worldwide policy.

My son stepped on his Kindle and broke it and Amazon replaced it even though we bought it at the Apple store.

Looks like it's a worldwide policy, I agree.

As for the Kindle, so they should replace it (in fact there's an argument they should give them away). While they work, they make money for Amazon.

 

[TJM]

Well it's not specific to an iMac. Last night there was a big thunderstorm and lightening struck nearby. When I tried to get on the net this morning, I noticed the modem was dead. I tried another modem (and another ethernet cable) but couldn't connect to the internet, even the modem looked fine according to my ISP. That modem connected okay to my other computer.

So it looks like the lightening fried both the modem and either the ethernet port and/or the network card (everything else seems to be working okay).

Now my question. I, thankfully, purchased the extended Apple support and am taking the machine in tomorrow. Would they be able to tell if the problem was caused by lightening? Lightening surges are normally not covered by warranties. Secondly (and lightening does actually strike twice) is power surge protection a good idea or a waste of money?

For the money you spent on your fanboy machine, I could custom order a PC that's not only faster than the lightening bolt, but also with the capability to capture the bolt and break it down to its subatomic structure, re-sequence it to include an order of mongolian beef with egg rolls, shoot the bolt back into the stratosphere to my local Chinese joint and my order will be delivered by a smoking hot delivery girl - happy ending, no tip. I won't even have to leave my house, let alone go to something called an "apple" store.

In honor of the late dtugg, Hater of All Things Apple. RIP.

 

[lionking]

For the money you spent on your fanboy machine, I could custom order a PC that's not only faster than the lighten bolt, but also with the capability to capture the bolt and break it down to its subatomic structure, re-sequence it to include an order of mongolian beef with egg rolls, shoot the bolt back into the stratosphere to my local Chinese joint and my order will be delivered by a smoking hot delivery girl - happy ending, no tip. I won't even have to leave my house, let alone go to something called an "apple" store.

In honor of the late dtugg, Hater of All Things Apple. RIP.

And what sort of firearm are you fondling when doing so?

 

[Walabio]

WiFi and SurgeProtection are your friends.

…

So it looks like the lightening fried both the modem and either the ethernet port and/or the network card (everything else seems to be working okay).

Now my question. I, thankfully, purchased the extended Apple support and am taking the machine in tomorrow. Would they be able to tell if the problem was caused by lightening? Lightening surges are normally not covered by warranties.

They will suspect but cannot be sure.

Secondly (and lightening does actually strike twice) is power surge protection a good idea or a waste of money?

SurgeProtection is a a good inexpensive idea. Also use WiFi so that you cannot get surges through ethernet. If you use WiFi, if local laws permit, please open your network to the public:

If all would open their WiFi, we would all have emergency connectivity. This connectivity would be slow and intermittent because neighbors tend to be at the edge of range of WiFi.

I opened my WiFi and named the network OpenNetWork. In the logs, I see MacBooks, iPods, Androids, iPads, LapTops, iTouches, iPods, et cetera. The benefits to society of ubiquitous connectivity out way the downsides.

ISPs fearing that 10% of their clients will be so cheap as to put up with slow intermittent connectivity rather than pay the monthly bill and copyrightholders afraid of filesharing have started a war against open WiFi. They use three tools:

* Securityscares.
* Threats of prosecution for downloading or sharing illegal material copyrighted software, copyrighted mulimedia, and childpornography.
* Laws against deliberately opening WiFi.

As far as security goes, every computer should be firewalled anyway.

As far as illegal material, everyone should be innocent until proven guilty. The police should have to show probable cause to a judge. The judge should then issue a search-warrent for forensic examination of storage-media. If forensics finds nothing illegal or infringing, that should end the proceedings. The benefits to society of ubiquitous connectivity outweigh its downsides.

In some countries, copyrightholders and ISPs have made it illegal to open a WiFi-network. If you are in 1 of those countries, then opening your WiFi would only accomplish getting you thrown in prison.

If no such law exists in your country, then you would do a great public good by opening your WiFi-network to the public.

Hopefully, your neighbors will do likewise so that all can enjoy emergency connectivity if, let us say, lightning would fry most of the DSL-modems in your neighborhood.