Apple PMU Forced shutdown message

Question

I just purchased a used Quicksilver 2002 model. Been having some intermittent power shutoff problems (kernel message asking to press power button for several seconds until shutdown), also some kernel issues with a Griffin PowerMate knob (which has since been unplugged)- it has shut down 4 times in the last 20 minutes. System log reports this all 4 times:
Dec 31 18:00:34 localhost kernel[0]: ApplePMU::PMU forced shutdown, cause = -122
Two of the four times, I was installing some software; the other two times it was just sitting there, running nothing but the OS. Interesting that all other time stamps in the system log showed the correct date and time, but this one above is off. Could this be the PMU battery (you know, that little battery that plugs into the motherboard)?

Answer 1

Actually, Patrick, the last four times it has shut down today, it didn't prompt me to shut it down via the power button- it simply blinked off. When it has done that, the message stored in the Console is different from the kind that occurs when a kernel panic happens. The kernel panic log does indeed tell me what hardware might be giving it fits- but that hardware has since been left unplugged. This log entry is different- not associated with any hardware, just the PMU message as mentioned above (there's also no mention of the PMU when I get the kernel panic screen).
The note about testing the memory is a good one though- I'll have to try that. I still tend to think that it is a heat issue or a bad Power Supply- but I can't say for sure yet.
Alas, I can't run the Apple Hardware Test disk- I didn't get any disks with this used machine. I have other AHT disks for other Macs I own, but they're not compatible.
Message was edited by: Terry Smelker