PowerBook G4 shuts down with no warning

My PowerBook G4 15" Double Layer is sometimes shutting down completely without warming when running on the battery only. Upon starting the computer clock will be set to 1969 (if “Set data & times automatically” is not on in System Preferences). The problem has been present since about two months ago, with the old recalled battery and as well now with the new one, and has not been related to the battery level. Neither it is related to the fact that the computer is being moved or pressed, or used on an unstable surface, since it may happen even when the keyboard or mouse is not being touched. That is, I could not find any pattern that could help discovering the possible cause. I tried resetting the PMU, with no help.
I found out that a problem of "random sudden shutdowns" has been reported in several threads on the MacBooks. I wonder if the problems are related.
Any hint would be appreciated.
Regards,
Valerio
Powerbook 15 High Res 1.67 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

The most difficult troubleshooting occurs when more than one thing is wrong. That may be what is happening here.
The fact that you need to reset the system clock may imply that the PMU is being reset without your help-this may point to battery issues, or power to the battery.
Do you properly your battery? And will it calibrate?
Joe

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Snow Leopard shutting down with no warning is getting more complex!

I have a series 1 Macbook Pro and have updated to Snow Leopard. As with most other people I immediately got problems with the "battery Service" message. So, having read all the various posts, and tried re-calibration, I bought a new battery.
Charged fully and disconnected adaptor. The machine shut down with no warning at about 85%! I tried a few more times after fully charging the battery and it shut down a number of times - 83%, 85%, 89% and 98%. The battery shows a cycle count of 1. The last time it shut down (89%) I decided to try re-starting without plugging the adaptor back in. The machine started and ran up to the point where it properly started Snow Leopard - when it was about to change from the blue screen - at which point it shut down again. I tried this a number of times and it was absolutely conisistant, doing it every time.
I then had the bright idea of plugging in the adaptor but watching the LED to see what happened. The LED came on green for 1 or 2 seconds, then went red. I then immediately unplugged it again. I then tried to start the machine with battery only. It started perfectly and went on running until down to 15% at which point it shut down, again with no warning. Tried re-starting - it wouldn't! Plugged the adaptor in so that it would charge the battery whilst using the machine. Then, much to my amazement, while the adaptor was still plugged in, and the battery was far from fully charged, the machine shut down - again without warning. That's "it shut down with battery installed AND mains connected". The machine then wouldn't start, with mains connected. It would switch on for a few seconds then shut down again. To get it to start I needed to remove the battery and run it on mains only.
That's where I am at the moment, running 'mains only' with no battery installed. It looks as if Snow Leopard sets the battery monitor / charging hardware incorrectly on the MBP. Once set incorrectly it looks as if it loses itself!
Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

It really doesn't get any better! Well, not a lot. I decided that I'd try yet another brand new battery. I charged it fully, disconnected the mag connector and it ran happily without shutting down - hooray. However, after putting out the message about low power and about to shut down, at about 5%, it ran to about 2% and shut down without warning. It didn't go to sleep.
I then couldn't get the machine to start again. I reset the SMC and still no joy. it would start to run, flash the screen a couple of times and then die. To get it to run I had to disconnect the battery, start it, then plug the battery back in again. Snow Leopard does appear to do something odd with the charging hardware. It appears to leave it in an odd state.
You may be right about Battery Update 1.3, but there appears to be no way of installing it under 10.6.8 - unless you know something I don't!
This is the current battery:
Manufacturer:          Sony
Device name:          ASMB012
Pack Lot Code:          0002
PCB Lot Code:          0000
Firmware Version:          102a
Hardware Revision:          0500
Cell Revision:          0303
Charge Information:
Charge remaining (mAh):          3734
Fully charged:          No
Charging:          No
Full charge capacity (mAh):          5205
Health Information:
Cycle count:          2
Condition:          Normal
Battery Installed:          Yes
Amperage (mA):          -2230
Voltage (mV):          11429
As you can see, I'm running 'battery only' at the moment!

Shut down with no warning 49% battery left.

Macbook Pro 15".
This is a brand new battery. I bought it because I was told my laptop was shutting down early with no warning because the battery was bad. Well, this is a new battery and it's doing the exact same thing.
I have NEVER had a warning prior to shut down. And it doesn't go to sleep. It completely shuts off with NO warning and I lose anything I was working on at the time.
There is no way I can recalibrate it according to the many posts already about this problem. They all suggest recalibrating the battery by running off the battery and waiting for the low power message. There is no message. And I can't run the battery down because it won't go down past 49%. Or at least that's what the computer is showing.
Since this is not a battery issue I'm thinking that this is a software issue. Something that happened with one of the leopard updates.
So what now? What can I do software wise to repair or update the battery sensing part of my software?

The same thing is happening to me. Again. Last year same thing happened and a new battery fixed it, but going bad again way before it should. Problem started with computer not waking from sleep, and now the sudden shutdowns. I did update Itunes fairly recently, around the start of the problem, otherwise use 10.4.11 and had not updated anything since the last time I had this problem (curious).
There are an overwhelming number of bad batteries for this machine, I would not conclude it is not the battery and I would turn in the one you just got and try another one.
Also there is another reset to try besides recalibrating, since that is not possible, (PMU?) that I cannot seem to find this time. It did not work the last time but wanted to try it anyway if anyone knows of it, I think it involves removing the battery. Please post it if you know what I am referring to.
I was lucky last time because when I took it in to Apple store it shut off right in front of them at 97% charged!

New IMac shuts down with NO warning - can some one help?

Yes, I have a brand new iMac and five more unopened and out of nowhere - it shuts down - no error message, no freezing - just gone...

Hello FPMS
That kind of sounds like, improperly or not fully seated ram module(s). Try reinstalling them again, pushing with both thumbs real hard.
[iMac (Mid 2007): Installing or replacing memory|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306204]
Dennis

MBP low power shut down with no warning

In the past, I’ve always been able to rely on a warning window that would remind me my laptop battery was running low and that the screen would be dimmed to conserve energy. Suddenly, that warning is gone...I’ll be merrily cranking along on something (without continually looking at the battery level to notice it’s waning) when BAM. The low battery level triggers a full shutdown with no warning.
I can’t begin to tell you how many documents and changes have been lost in the past few weeks since this began....
This is limited to low battery situations. It doesn’t happen any other time. There’s no pattern to which apps are open at the time.
Any ideas where my warnings went and how to get them back again?
Thanks!
MacBook Pro, G4 PowerBook, G4 tower Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Depends on how long you've being using the battery without complete discharge and then recharge, the battery meter may become inaccurate, and that's probably why your Mac didn't realize the low power and didn't give you warning.
You can re-calibrate the battery meter by a complete discharge immediately follow by a complete charge. Make sure you charge it right after the discharge, otherwise it may went to a protected mode that need to be revived. Note that you should only do this occasionally, keep it charged in usual usage.
If this doesn't seem to work, maybe you should call Applecare.

No low battery warning / shutting down with no warning

My macbook has shut itself down about 6 times when it is on a low-ish power status, and before the 'attach power' warning appears.
There doesn't appear to be anything on the support pages for this - the only ones I can find are from 2006 and relate to the old Macbook. I think it is something to do with the SMC firmware (which I have the most up-to-date - 1.38f5).
Has anyone else experienced this, and is there anything I can do?
Thanks
Paul

please check it out with this utility & report back: http://www.coconut-flavour.com/
I think your battery is bad but you can also try the smc & pram reset.
SMC: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US
PRAM: Hold Command Option P R at startup until you hear the chime twice.

Mac book pro automatically shutting down with a warning

my mac book pro running mountain lion keeps restarting itself showing a warning screen at the beginning of each restart saying there is a problem, what is this caused boy, and what are possible solutions?

Thanks for the response Grant. I had both set to "never" and the power connected. I did however find while searching the forum page, an answer already given to another enquiry. The security/general tab. I had it checked, now unchecked am hoping it will solve my problem. Thanks again, Cebustu.

Computer shuts down with charge on battery and no warning

without warning and plenty of charge on my battery my mac book pro shuts down? if it just sits there in sleep unplugged it seems to run fine, but if its unplugged and i try to use it (with a charged battery) it shuts down with out warning. started about 3 months ago. Is the battery just old..?

It is almost certainly a sign that your battery is dying, timskins.
The problem is that when batteries deteriorate their internal resistance increases and they are no longer able to deliver power when it is demanded, even though they still have the ability to store it. They may chug along providing low power for quite a bit longer, but when your computer suddenly needs a bit more (because of increased CPU or GPU demand, or the HD spinning up or whatever) it is unable to provide it and the computer shuts down unexpectedly.
Think of it like driving a car with a bad fuel pump. Your car is driving along a highway with a full tank of gas. Its running smoothly enough. You put your foot down to accelerate up a hill or overtake a another vehicle and the engine dies because the fuel pump can't meet the greater demand for gas. The tank is still pretty full but the fuel can't be pumped in fast enough to keep it running in a high demand situation, so it shuts down.
See the section dealing with increasing internal resistance in batteries at http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-31.htm for more about such things, or http://www.buchmann.ca/Chap9-page1.asp for a longer, more technical, account.
Once this starts happening the only options are to get a new battery or to avoid any work that makes much demand on power (like visiting a "Flash" based website or, when it gets bad enough, even spinning up the HD from a stationary situation.) Unfortunately even with light use the battery will soon reach a point where the regular peaks of CPU and HD use will become too much for it and you will suffer more and more unexpected shutdowns until the battery is replaced.
My suggestion would be that you take the battery to an AASP or Apple Store, where they can quickly "stress test" the battery for you to make certain that in your case this is, indeed, the problem.
Rod

Yet another Shut Down Problem - No warning

Same problem as countless other users on here... 17 inch Mac Book Pro Shuts down with no warning at exactly 48% battery life with no ac charger plugged in. I'm not 100 percent sure of this but Im pretty confident it only started doing this after the last major software upgrade to 10.1.11. I havent yet migrated to Leopard due to reported software issues.
battery seriel number: No.6N6261VRU50A
But like many others have stated on this forum, Im doubtful this is a battery fault, more likely a software bug. Upto the software update my battery and computer were faultless and the battery always decharged properly and with warning before shutdown.

The same thing is happening to me. Again. Last year same thing happened and a new battery fixed it, but going bad again way before it should. Problem started with computer not waking from sleep, and now the sudden shutdowns. I did update Itunes fairly recently, around the start of the problem, otherwise use 10.4.11 and had not updated anything since the last time I had this problem (curious).
There are an overwhelming number of bad batteries for this machine, I would not conclude it is not the battery and I would turn in the one you just got and try another one.
Also there is another reset to try besides recalibrating, since that is not possible, (PMU?) that I cannot seem to find this time. It did not work the last time but wanted to try it anyway if anyone knows of it, I think it involves removing the battery. Please post it if you know what I am referring to.
I was lucky last time because when I took it in to Apple store it shut off right in front of them at 97% charged!

PowerBook G4 shuts down without warning even when battery is over 60%

My powerbook has started to shut down without any warning - even if the battery is over 60% charged. The battery is the second (being sent free by apple under the replacement programme). I cannot restart until I have inserted the power cable.
I have tried to reset the PMU - but, following the instructions from apple support ('after shut down simultaneously press Shift - ctrl - option - power, wait 5 secs then press power button') does not work - PMU does not seem to reset. Apparently, when the PMU has been reset, the time and date change and need reseting - but this does not happen - and mine still shows the current date time after attempting a PMU reset.
so - still the Powerbook still shuts down working on a nearly full battery. Battery info seems ok.
I think this is a software problem - any ideas?

Hi, Pieterrr, and welcome to Apple Discussions. No, my post above is absolutely not an official (or unofficial) statement from Apple. These are user-to-user forums. I'm just another Powerbook user like yourself; I have no connection with Apple. Apple employees very rarely post in these forums, and Apple policies are never announced here.
What I wrote is a personal view and recommendation based on reading all the posts in the 15" Aluminum Powerbook forums for a while now. I've posted very similar comments many times before, and some (not all) owners of prematurely-old replacement batteries have succeeded in persuading Apple to replace them again after I suggested trying to do so.

Shutting down (with warning). Now dead.

I have read about other people's issues and this one seems slightly different:
My 15" G4 PowerBook Titanium seemed to be running fine. The battery (not included in the recall) had a normal charge. But then it was like I pressed the power button and that window poped up asking "are you sure you want to shut down"? I would race to say NO and some times it would work and sometimes it wouldn't. But then it would start back up so I didn't take it in (or take it seriously).
This went on for about a month until one day it shut down - with a sound. It sounded like one of those Emergency Broadcast System beeps. You know, long and steady.
I removed the battery and it started up for a second. Then it shut down agian (with out a sound this time).
It is about 3.5 yrs old and not under warranty anymore.
Anyone got any ideas?
G4 PB 15" Mac OS X (10.3.1)

If you go to http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx and search on 'battery' you should find a battery status program that will tell you how many cycles you have. (I don't believe Panther included battery cycles in the system profiler).
If you haven't already, you should read this Apple article http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html . Lithium batteries should be discharged about once a month.
If you took the battery out and the system doesn't work with the power adapter plugged in, either the power adapter isn't working, or there is a logic board-related issue. Run your Apple hardware test to see if that indicates a problem. Insert your first OS X CD, reboot holding the option key down, choose Apple hardware test, follow directions, and choose the extended test. Does it indicate any issues? You can also use TechTools deluxe or Pro if you happen to have one of those programs.
Sometimes resetting the Power Management Unit will help. Directions at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449

MacBookPro shuts down with no low power warning.

Once my battery drains to around 10%, my mac just completely shuts off, with no warning. In the past, I had received a warning.
I've reset the SMC several times. I've reset the PRAM/NVRAM several times. This has had no effect.
The shutdowns are occuring both with an Apple branded battery and with a 3rd party battery.
I've only recently noticed this problem, because for a long time I've been using my laptop more like a desktop, completely on battery. Once I went back to using it as a proper laptop, I began to experience these warningless shutdowns.
Any advice besides trying to reset the SMC and PRAM again and again?

I've fixed the problem and want to share my solution.
I suspected some corrupted system files, so I reinstalled Lion (command-R at start up followed by a large download). This was extremely easy over a T1 connection and resulted in the low battery warning messages reappearing. But the mac still unexpectedly shut down instead of sleeping when the battery got too low.
So, I did another SMC reset, figuring it might have an effect in conjunction with the newly installed Lion. It worked! I now see low battery warning messages (at around 6%) followed by sleep (at around 4%).
I hope this info might help someone else.

DVI to ADC adapter forcing powerbook to shut down on connection

Hi there,
I have been using my powerbook 1.25GHz for about 8 months with my DVI to ADC adapter to connect to my 22" cinema display with no troubles whatsoever. Yesterday evening when I came home as soon as connected the adapter to my powerbook- it shut down my powerbook within a couple of seconds. Not only that I was blasted with a 3-5 second low tone from my powerbook as it attempted to restart. At the same time the sleep light (one that purrs softly in sleep mode on the powerbook) flashed in quick succession for the length of time that my powerbook made the the long beep noise.
Following this the computer then makes the usual start up noise but nothing happens on either my powerbook display or the 22" display. I am then required to take out the adapter connection from my powerbook and my computer restarts normally after holding down the start button again.
I have tried a few times now to connect the adapter with the same problem. Has anyone else experienced this or have any idea what the sound being emitted is all about and the disco light display from my powerbook?
Would be grateful for some hints... Thanks!
1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 Powerbook Mac OS X (10.3.9)

The exact same things (low tone, furiously flashing sleep light) has happened to me on several occasions, and it happened again today. I just googled up the symptoms and this is where I landed. The only thing I can correlate among our experiences is that the DVI connection on the powerbook is involved (the problem may or may not have anything to do with the ADC adapter).
For my problem, it's usually occurred after I've either just connected or disconnected a second display using an Apple dvi-->adc powered adapter or a small unpowered dongle (dvi -->vga) for an lcd projector. The restart after either one fails can take quite awhile.
Twice in the past six months, I've been at the "two minute warning" before a presentation, and the book has crapped out just as I connect it to the projector and then it's gone into the psycho light and sound mode you described. Today's failure occurred after unhooking from the powered Apple DVI-->ADC adapter at my desk to go down the hall for a meeting. The computer went into blue screen and stayed there after it was disconnected from the Studio Display and DVI-->ADC adapter. Attempting to hard reset/powerdown by holding down the power button initiated the tone/light flashing.
These few cases may seem pretty isolated, but perhaps a pattern will emerge if people keep adding their experiences.
15" G4 1.67gHz powerbook Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Laptop shuts down without any warning

My laptop is shutting down without any warning. It has done so twice. When I run the preboot diagnostic, everything is fine. When I run Dell Support Assist app, this is the error message that I got from the System History:
Application Error
Fault bucket 86066676302, type 4
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab ld: 0
Problem signature:
Pl: DllHost.exe
P2: 6.3.9600.17415
P3: 54504134
P4: StackHash_216b
P5: 6.3.9600.17736
P6: 55014336
P7: c0000374
P8: PCH_CF FROM_ntdll+0x000000000009177A
P9:
P10:
Attached files:
C:\Users\Raymond\AppData\Local\Temp\WER6C2E.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
These files may be available here:
C:\Users\Raymond\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_OUHost.exe_fcb15f1d8bcda961763f8dc9a8f899f8621977b_30a79b3d_14cf863e
Analysis symbol:
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report 10: toala596-eca4-11e4-bfac-08edb9244ef6
Report Status: 0
Hashed bucket: 7b43e3b419dd3feaa74b55be5e190271
These files may be available here:
C: \Users\Raymond\AppOata \Local\Microsoft\ Windows\ WER\ReportArchive
\AppCrash_OUHost.exe_fcb15f1d8bcda961763f8dc9a8f899f8621977b_30a79b3d_l4cf863e

Hi ,
Thank you for writing to the Dell Community Forum.I am Jennifer and I work for the Dell Social Media Team .
To assist me to resolve this issue I would suggest you to try these steps and advise the result ,
*)Is this issue seen with all applications and any particular applications.
*)When the system crashed did you experience any over heating issue.
*)May I know the operating system installed on the system .
*)Would suggest you to work on this system in safe mode with networking then test if the same issue is seen .
*)Also as you mentioned that with the preboot diagnostic the system passed all the test so the system's hardware is working fine.
If there are any more queries do reply to this post with the system model ,operating system installed on the machine, service tag of the system(sent via private message) so that I can look into the details of the system and assist you better .
Awaiting a reply from you .
Kindest Regards,

Powerbook suddenly shuts down...

Last night my powerbook suddenly shut down while in use. After I rebooted, there was a message saying the date was set back to an earlier date and keeping that the computer could face unstable condition. So I checked under preferences > date and time but the date seemed correct.
After that I used my cloned external HD to boot into OS and ran DiskWarrior to see if there was any disk errors. While running that I got a Kernal Panic message (the power sign, w/multi-language), so I shut it down and attempted to restart, but then it had problem booting into the desktop.
After restarting, the open-source gray screen came up, asked to type in "mac-boot" to boot or power button to shut down, so I typed in the prompt "mac-boot", and then a little OS folder icon showed up with a question mark flashing.
So I shut down the computer again, took the battery out and did the power-management reset (hold down pwr btn for 7 secs). Then I was able to boot back into desktop.
Has anyone experienced sudden shut-down on your PB? I think this is the second that has happened on this PB.

my 15" powerbook has done the same thing, well at least the first part of your message. The computer shuts down suddenly and then I get the error message about the date and time being set to the wrong date, etc. i thought this had to do with the new battery received from the battery exchange.
Where is this other external battery found. Is it user replaceable?

PowerBook G4 shuts down with no warning

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