Can overheating shut down MBP?

I have a new (late 2008) MBP 15 (2.53/4g/320hd). Please excuse the long story but I'm not sure what's important to know here. I was using the Boot Camp program to create the needed partition for Windows. About 30% through the formatting process the computer turned itself off! Just shut down. I picked it up and it was incredibly HOT on the upper part of the bottom (not the battery area). As a newbie, it took a lot of checking around to figure out what to do with a machine that now did nothing at startup except give me a black screen with a flashing cursor at the top left. I was finally able to get help so that I could get a disk start, and have gone through some steps to where I now have the OS back on and running. My concern is that I wasn't using any program except the formatting cycle, and it was almost too hot to put on my lap! Is that what shut the unit off (not to mention playing havoc with the disk)? Have I got a bigger problem with the CPU or the fan? I see a lot of comments about heat and am now concerned. (And this is without any heavy duty processing yet!) Thanks for any insight.

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
You might try running the extended version of the Apple Hardware Test to check for any problems with the thermal sensors or the fans. You can also check fan speed using iStatPro. I believe that your fans should idle at around 2000 RPM, and should speed up to 6000 RPM if the computer starts getting too warm. It almost sounds like your fans are not speeding up or maybe not running at all.
Good luck!

Similar Messages

  • Equium A100-02L - overheating/shutting down

    Hi folks
    My daughters Equium A100 02L keeps overheating/ shutting down. The fan underneath is choked with dust etc. I dislodged some of it by blowing and poking with a fine wire. How can I remove the fan to give it a good clean? I know I could use compressed air and try blasting it from the exterior grilles, but this may not suffice?
    any help diagrams/ video link help would be great.
    cheers

    > How can I remove the fan to give it a good clean?
    It is not so easy because the whole notebook must be disassembled. Unfortunately Maintenance manuals is not public document and on the net you can maybe find some descriptions and several pictures but I don't think it will help you much.
    The first problem is how to remove speaker cover placed on the top of the keyboard. If you do this on the wrong way you will damage small plastic holders and ...... you know what I mean.
    If the notebook is still good and your daughter is satisfied with it contact service and ask how much will cost professional cleaning.
    They will disassemble whole notebook and check how it looks inside. I saw very often that CPU grease on old notebooks is also not the best and completely desiccated. That means the CPU temperature can grow up and reach critical level. Talk with them. Maybe they can also replace CPU grease.
    Ok it costs a money but on this way you will be sure everything will be done well and on professional way.

  • HT5361 I can't shut down my computer because it says mail is open.  It says to close mail and continue shut down.  Problem is I can't open or close mail now.  Can't shut down my computer at all.  What can I do?

    I can't shut down my computer because it says mail is open.  It says to close mail and continue shut down.  Problem is I can't open or close mail now.  Can't shut down my computer at all.  What can I do?

    If you cannot get mail to quit/force quit, you can always remove power from your Mac.
    NOTE: removing power is a bad idea, and can result in data loss, but sometimes it is the only thing left to do.
    Press and hold the power button for 5 to 10 seconds, and the Mac will power off.
    When you power back on, the Mac should reboot.

  • TS3276 Hello I have a MacPro Book. When I try to open my email it doesn't open. And when I try to shut down it tells me to close out my email.  But I can't even open my email so I can't shut down?  What do I do?

    Hello, I need help I can't shut down my Mac when I try it tells me to shut down my email.  The other problem is that I can't get into my emails.  What should I do?

    OS X: How to quit an unresponsive application using Force Quit

  • TS3276 When I click on my mail icon nothing happens...it won't open or quit (so I can't shut down my computer). What's going on?

    When I click on my mail icon nothing happens...it won't open or quit (so I can't shut down my computer). What's going on?

    Which Mail icon? That in the Applications folder, that in the Dock, or some other? You do not have to quit your applications in order to shut down your computer (heck, you hardly ever need to shut down your computer).

  • Iphoto has been importing photos for over an hour and i can't get it to stop. can't stop importing and can't shut down computer.

    iphoto has been importing photos for over n hour and I can't get it to stop.  Can't get out of iphoto and can't shut down computer.

    iPhoto works best when the source (Pictures folder) is on a different disk drive than the iPhoto Library is on.
    And you need to have enough free disk space to work with, the faster the better.
    Also, do not keep your media folders and those in your home folder on the same drive as the system, also another bottleneck.
    Until or unless you have everything on 1400MB/sec SSD PCIe controller, you want
    System boot drive
    Media and data folders and such
    scratch
    backup
    etc
    I put iPhoto on an SSD off an SSD PCIe Sonnet Tempo card
    If you stop- it, you will need to trash the Library it was creating.
    Reading and writing to/from the same hard drive will be slow.
    You don't mention which Mac, or how large you are trying to import etc
    Also the support page and link to the iPhoto Commuinity is off this page:
    http://www.apple.com/support/iphoto
    Take a look in Activity Monitor. See what the % being used for iPhoto, how many pageouts, how much free space on the various disk drives, and how much RAM do you have installed?
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1342

  • Can't shut down after opening Java Control Panel

    Hello,
    I'm just a regular guy with Windows ME and since I installed JRE 1.4.2_02 (for Mozilla 1.5), I can't shut down my pc after opening the Java Control Panel. Javaw.exe stays in memory (Norton System Information) even after the JCP has been closed. This was not an issue with 1.4.1 beta which I used for a long time. Then I could open the JCP applet and make adjustments (minor, just whether or not I wanted it to be able to cache applets etc.) then I would close it and nothing interfered with shutdown.
    I have even tried Enditall2 and Sysinternals Process Explorer's close and kill functions and neither can close or kill Javaw.exe.
    I have very little running in the background and never had shutdown issues until installing JRE 1.4.2_02 and it works fine other than this issue with JCP and shutdown.
    Thankyou for any advice.

    Gave up, went back to 1.4.1_05, shutdown problem solved.
    Disappointed but at least Java works okay and I can adjust things in JCP applet without having to do the three finger salute twice each time. No more Javaw in memory when I close the applet.
    Played with Java Web Start's demos, seem to work fine, I guess. Really don't understand what JWS is for, not for us non-programmers?

  • I can't close safari (option is greyed out) and I can't shut down the computer because of it. How do I fix this?

    I can't close safari (option is greyed out) and I can't shut down the computer because of it. How do I fix this?

    Try to "Force Quit" Safari - either under the Apple menu or by holding down option-Command-esc.
    Clinton

  • How can i shut down depreciation for an Asset for few days??

    Hi Friends,
    How can i shut down depreciation of a particular Asset for few days say 5 days??
    I have done the necessary changes in Time dependent tab like checked asset shut down and in AFAMA i changed the shut dawn as YES.
    The only problem i am in is "how can i maintain the 5 days like from 10.05.2009 to 14.05.2009
    If i go to MORE INTERVALS then only From date is available over there.There is no To date opition.
    How can i maintain To Date??
    Plz suggest.
    Regards,
    Sumaya

    Hi
    Go for shut down approach. But your depreciation key should allow shut down. check your depreciation key configuration
    In asset master data
    Go to time dependent terms,
    Define the appropriate time interval for shutdown
    Set the shutdown indicator
    The system does not calculate the depreciation for the shut down period,
    The useful life of the asset will increase to the extent of shutdown period.
    When you remove the shutdown indicator, system automatically resumes the depreciation calculation.
    Regards
    Tanmoy

  • I can't shut down my MacBook Pro.  I'm getting the following message: "The Finder can't quit because some operations are still in progress." How can I determine what is running?

    I can't shut down my MacBook Pro.  Each time I try, I get the following message: "The Finder can't quit because some operations are still in progress."  How can I determine what is running?

    Yea,
    I bought an original CRT iMac  two day's before  they were launched, which got the reseller into trouble, and had it replaced by APPLE.
    This was a great learning process for me dealing with the glitches. :-)
    I LOVE MAC. Now own 4 and on my 10th. in 15 years + 7  bought for family.
    Cheers,
    Tom

  • What does "Analyze audio for flex time editing" in Garage Band? It's taking so long(3 days)! and I can't shut down my pc.

    What does "Analyze audio for flex time editing" in Garage Band? It's taking so long(3 days)! and I can't shut down my pc.

    Did you ever figure out what was going on? i've got the same issue.
    I record 2 hour choir practices then edit the talking out to make more useful accompaniments for personal practice. During my editing process my MacBk Pro (0r GarageBand) decides it needs to "Analyzing audio for Flex Time Editing". It will finish doing it and immediately start over again. I can not cancel it so I just have to force quit Garageband and lose eveeryrthing I have editied since my last Save. I've shut my mac totally off and rebooted and to no avail. Any suggestions?

  • Can not shut down at retina

    Can not shut down the machine, close the display to dark , But still running, lost all power pass the night!

    hold down the power button until you get the box that asks you if you want to shut down.

  • Can't shut down after going on line

    After going on line I am unable to shut down the computer without using the power button. If I start up and don't go on line I am able to shut down with no problem. I have even redone my internet connection. Have a dial up connection. I have done a clean install and after still having the problem I did another install. I have used Preferential Treatment and DiskWarrior but am still having the same problem. Have checked the permissions and trashed some preference files without any luck. When the computer is running I am not having any other problems, just can't shut down.
    PowerPC G4   Mac OS X (10.4.3)   1.75 GB DDR SDRAM

    You might try launching Activity Monitor from your Utilities folder, click on the Process ID to arrange things in the order in which they were launched. Take a look and see what has started running after Finder was launched. Activity monitor and pmTool will both be running, so too will Spotlight related processes mdimport and mds. Anything else, if you have quit all the programs you launched, is a potential candidate for interfering with shutdown, if it is refusing to let go. Those items with an icon are "regular" programs running, those without an icon are UNIX programs that are running. See if you have anything that might be related to Internet usuage that will not quit. You can force quit from the Activity Monitor.
    Francine
    Schwieder

  • After installing Mavericks my MacBook Pro and my MacMini can't shut down, only a grey screen and finish. Must be killed by the power button. Why?

    After installing Mavericks my MacBook Pro and my MacMini can't shut down, only a grey screen and finish. Must be killed by the power button. Why?
    Nach der Installation von Mavericks kann ich weder das MacBook Pro (2 x 2.4 GHz) noch den MacMini (2 x 2.66 GHz) herunterfahren. Es bleibt ein dauerhafter grauer Bildschirm. Nach 20 min habe ich einen erzwungenen Neustart durchgeführt.
    Ausserdem startet die Macs wesentlich langsamer als mit OS X 10.6.8.

    same here...  sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't!!

  • Can not shut down.

    So I can not shut down either of my MacBooks, 2006 Macbook and 2008 Aluminum Macbook, by going Apple>Shutdown. It just sits there and does nothing. Same thing happens when I go to Restart, Logout, or Sleep. I have repaired my permissions and disk and have scanned for viruses and nothing is wrong in either department. I did not download anything new or install a bootcamp partition or any new VM via VMWare. It just randomly started happening one day. Then when I got the new Macbook, I transfered my Applications and it still happened, which is what made me think it was either a virus or permissions. I have also tried to create a new user of each usergroup, ie Admin, Guest, etc... and I still have the same result.
    Any solutions or idea would be greatly appreciated.

    Somewhere in other posts, it's been mentioned to check the processes in Activity Monitor; I will be doing the same tonight when I am in front of mac at home.
    Meanwhile, you could try the same, try looking any drivers or any other processes that might be preventing the shutdown.
    Hope it helps.

Maybe you are looking for