Help - Thermal or Random Shutdowns

My MBP 15” is outside the warranty and developed what appears to be a thermal shutdown issue. After a period of time it just shuts down. When I restart, it shuts down again very quickly. Each restart results in a shutdown sooner than the last. If the MBP is left off for a longer period of time it will restart, but shuts down after 10 or so minutes.
Being out of warranty and being brave I dismantled it and found nothing outwardly wrong. However, the heat sink compound was pretty dried and cake-like. So I cleaned and replaced the compound and fired it up only to have the problem once again. The compound may have helped a little, but it is not statistically significant. I also pulled the battery backup wire while I dismantled the MBP. I am not sure if that erases the non-volatile memory or not.
The problem shutdowns occur with and without the battery installed. The only way I have been able to work around this problem was to install a third-party fan control program. I set the minimum fan speed to 2500 – 3000 RPMs and life is fine. I have not had a shutdown in the last two weeks since I installed the fan control program. That tells me that the thermal sensors are probably initiating the shutdown. I can’t say what they are measuring is real or not.
However, I can’t recall ever hearing the fans before the MBP shuts down. I hear them now with the fan program running, but I can’t ever recall hearing them before the install. Any thoughts?

Have you run something like iStat Pro... just to get an idea of what the temp sensor readings are? It's possible you may have just a faulty sensor... Something like iStat Pro:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/istatpro.html
or Temperature Monitor:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19994
... will give you the reported temps of a number of components. If you have a faulty sensor... it should be easy to detect (for example, if your heat sink shows 120 C but both your processors show around 60 C and your other heatsink slightly lower... you'll know the first heat sink probably has a bad sensor). The first generation MacBooks had a problem with random shutdowns due to a faulty heatsink sensor. Apple was able to put out a firmware update that basically ignored the faulty sensor... but for those that had the problem, if they run one of the above programs... they can still see the faulty readings... only their machines no longer shut down as they are now ignored.
You should first determine your processor and heatsink temps... just to make sure you actually are not experiencing an overheat problem vs. just a faulty sensor.

Similar Messages

  • Heatsink Thermal Paste Random Shutdown Revelation

    Symptom: Random freezes, overheating problems, random shutdowns if pressure not applied to top or bottom of computer
    Solution: Make sure screws are tight!!
    Model: Mid 2007, pre-Unibody
    Screws: The two torx screws under the memory panel
    I've been doing TONS of searching to try and solve a problem with my macbook pro freezing, even at low temperature. I have seen many people that have had VERY similar symptoms as me, and would constantly discuss having to re-apply thermal grease. I have only applied thermal grease once (arctic silver) and was having these problems. As I disassembled it today getting ready to reapply it, I pondered carefully while taking apart my macbook for the billionth time. I thought about the points in which I had to apply pressure in order for my macbook to power on properly and not freeze. When I got to the torx screws, I realized these were responsible for clamping the logic board to the bottom case. It is most likely quite important that they be properly tightened, as these are basically the heatsink-processor mating screws!! There should probably be a torque rating for these, as I would be afraid of tightening them too much and breaking the plastic they screw into. Also, I would alternate back and forth between them.
    I had recently transferred my logic board from my MBP to a used one I purchased which has the defective logic board (I plan to bake some time in the future). There were many reasons I purchased the additional MBP, but it was mostly due to mine being in really bad physical condition (dropped, marked up, material loss on upper case at palm area), having a bad display (I bought a replacement but spilt liquid on it) (also had the keyboard/trackpad disconnect issue, but I frankensteined the connector, which I had broke as well, to ultimately work perfectly again). I had THOUGHT I had another problem with the issues in the subject of this post. I was taking apart my original MBP a lot for my display replacement, as well as memory and hard drive upgrades. That's when I first started getting issues with strange freezes and shutdowns. I believe that this lack of tightening of torx screws was the problem even when my logic board was in my original case. The problem definitely became a lot more frequent when I transferred it to the new/used case and in the process cleaned and re-greased the processors. I had trained myself to not tighten those screws enough, and this was especially bad when the new thermal paste needed to be squished down.
    This has been quite a frustrating issue to deal with for the past 6 months or so. A year ago I purchased a brand new adapter and battery from Apple, and I was fearing that they had gone bad (I have the fraying at the magsafe connector....should have taken better care of it, but it can be repaired). Luckily the only loss from this whole dilemma has been a lot of time and a couple hundred to purchase a 2nd machine used, which was actually a great buy. Hopefully I'll bake the bad logic board and get the 2nd machine up and running some day, at the very least it's spare parts! It is great to have the perfect condition LCD and nice condition case.

    Alright, so I got to the point where I was having the problem nice and consistently. It happened to be when my battery was low on charge (I believe this can happen with a high charge too though...). I experimented with having the battery in and out and was able to reproduce the problem even with the battery removed.
    When I was repeating the shutdown failure (it would happen exactly this way when my computer would freeze during normal or non-use <randomly> and would try to turn it back on) I could turn it on if I was tilting the comp, then I would tilt it back toward resting and it would shut off. I did this with the battery in and out, so I could at least rule the battery out. I then started playing with the top case a bit. I noticed the more I had it removed, the more often it seemed to turn on. I found that bringing the top case down would trigger the shutdown.
    There seems to be some sort of grounding issue. I honestly have never been super careful with pads and tape, so missing one of those might be the cause.

  • Random Shutdowns on a MBP Core Duo, Suggestions/Help would be great

    I've had two random shutdowns of my mac since purchasing it back in August. The first happened on January 11th, when it said it was at 11-12% power. The second happened about two weeks later, at 23% power. I've been looking around these forums and other pages, and haven't really found anything that has helped so far.
    Details of the first crash:
    Open apps- Firefox (5 windows, two had about 20+ tabs open, the rest were single page, and yes, I know it crashes often with that many), Camino (1 window with 5 tabs), and Word 2004, as well as Quicktime open to the iPhone stream.
    I had an USB key plugged in, to which I was saving my Word document.
    So I was working in Word while in front of the TV and during an interesting bit, didn't do anything for a minute. So, like the many times earlier, it slept the display to conserve power (in "Better Energy Savings" mode). I moved my finger on the trackpad to wake it back up, and it turned back on the backlighting, and then stopped. I thought it had just went back to sleep, but after a few key presses and a check of the light that usually pulsates when it's sleeping (plus the USB key , I found out that the computer had turned off. I let it sit for a while, and when I plugged it back into AC power and turned it on, with my USB key still plugged in, and although it booted to my desktop, the Finder never started (so no desktop icons for anything), unplugging the USB key fixed this and everything returned to normal. I then installed the only update I was missing, one for iChat, restarted, and continued working.
    In the second incident, I only had my browsers open, nothing external plugged in, and my displayed was dimmed to the third darkest level. When it was at about 23% power, it once again randomly shut down. This time, I attempted to turn it back on, and nothing happened. After plugging it into AC power, it turned on and once logged in showed a very low (2-6%) power, so I guess it was reporting the power incorrectly?
    Anyways, went back to look at the battery exchange on Apple's website. I had checked before when they started it, and was pretty sure mine wasn't covered, and a second check confirmed that. My Mac's serial is W8618091VWX, which isn't covered by the recall.
    So, I have a few questions:
    1. Is there a toll-free number I can phone Apple (Canada) at? The only number I've found seems to be only free for those who bought their computer in the last 90 days, which I'm no longer covered by, and haven't been for a while. Talking to someone at Apple would be good.
    2. Otherwise, if I took my computer to an Authorized Service Provider, would they be able to take a look at it and answer some questions? I bought my MBP at a London Drugs and they aren't service providers, so how much would it cost to do this?
    3. Is there a definite cause for these random shutdowns? It seems to vary among other people, so it would be helpful if I could try something to eliminate one of the causes.
    4. Does Tiger report battery levels pretty accurately? In the past when I reached 6% I got a warning and was able to plug it into AC power and had no problems.
    Thanks for any help you can provide.
    Macbook Pro 2.16 GHZ Core Duo, 15.4", 1GB RAM   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    I had this problem of RSD fixed for a while after having had the battery replaced by Apple, till yesterday, when the MBP suddenly experienced a shutdown during a meeting presentation, while it was connected to the AC power. At the first restart, as coming back from a stop-mode, for a while appeared a warning of low-battery level, with battery level indicator flashing red and showing the empty icon but with a 86% of charge level and a new shut-down definitely put the MBP out of service, no way to have it functioning again. Obviously, AC power was OK, no problem with the microphone or the projector ( I was at the podium of an international meeting) and a lucky precaution ( double save of the same presentation on a friend's twin MBP, that worked correctly) saved the job.
    Then, a couple of hour later, my MBP started up normally and everything works fine, with or without MAGsafe connected to AC power, almost up to now.
    I've read the post with a link to the procedure for resetting the power controller chip on the mainboard, I'll do it in a minute, hoping that this will help.
    Any further suggestion?
    ambabu, Italy

  • Random Shutdown/Thermal Runaway

    Unfortunately, the AppleCare Plan on my iMac G5 (iSight) expired a month ago. Or, to be a little more clear on the irony, a month before I started getting a repeat of a random shutdown issue that I had the machine in for about a year ago. These typically happen when my son is playing WoW or we are watching YouTube vids, movie previews, etc. or just plain using a lot of processing power.
    *Most recent detail on the forced sleep shows the following:*
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel IOPMSlotsMacRISC4::determineSleepSupport has canSleep true
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel SMUNeo2PlatformPlugin core dump:
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel IOHWControls:
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [0] "ODD Fan" Type:"fan-rpm" Id:0 TGT:1475 CUR:1476
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [1] "HDD Fan" Type:"fan-rpm" Id:2 TGT:1975 CUR:1976
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [2] "sysclk slew" Type:"slew" Id:100 TGT:0 CUR:0
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [3] "CPU Fan" Type:"fan-rpm" Id:1 TGT:3600 CUR:3600
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel IOHWSensors:
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [0] "CPU Power" Type:"power" Id:3 CUR:19.55327 W
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [1] "ODD Temp" Type:"temperature" Id:5 CUR:44.32768 C
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [2] "HD Temp" Type:"temperature" Id:4 CUR:52.32768 C
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [3] "GPU Ambient" Type:"temperature" Id:8 CUR:56.16384 C
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [4] "NB Temp" Type:"temperature" Id:9 CUR:84.8192 C
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [5] "GPU Temp" Type:"temperature" Id:10 CUR:79.0 C
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [6] "NB Ambient" Type:"temperature" Id:7 CUR:54.32768 C
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [7] "CPU Voltage" Type:"voltage" Id:2 CUR:11.61504 V
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [8] "CPU T-Diode" Type:"temp" Id:0 CUR:85.2628 C
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [9] "CPU Current" Type:"current" Id:1 CUR:1.60800 A
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [10] "Incoming Air Temp" Type:"temperature" Id:6 CUR:35.0 C
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel IOHWCtrlLoops:
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [0] "Clock Slew" Id:0 MetaState:0 "Dynamic Power Step"
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [1] "M33 CPU Control" Id:1 MetaState:0 "Normal"
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [2] "M33 HD Control" Id:2 MetaState:0 "Normal"
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [3] "M33 ODD Control" Id:3 MetaState:0 "Normal"
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [4] "M33 GPU Control" Id:4 MetaState:0 "Normal"
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel [5] "M33 KODIAK Control" Id:5 MetaState:0 "Normal"
    1/23/09 8:27:06 PM kernel ---------------------------------
    Have tried the standard resets of PRAM and SMU, permission repair, etc. which, though fun, have not done anything to solve the problem.
    Any thoughts, suggestions as to what I can do or what can be done now that I am outside the AppleCare Plan would be very appreciated. Other than spend lots of money on a repair of course!
    _Just to give you a little peak into the frequency, here is a short sample from console_:
    1/21/09 7:54:38 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/21/09 7:56:51 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/21/09 7:59:36 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/21/09 8:54:00 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/22/09 11:13:58 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/22/09 11:17:50 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/22/09 11:24:11 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/22/09 11:41:16 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/23/09 4:40:52 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/23/09 4:46:17 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/23/09 4:48:58 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/23/09 6:00:00 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    1/23/09 8:25:20 PM kernel Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    Message was edited by: James Seines

    Your power supply is failing, take it in and have it replaced, your symptoms are classic and point to thermal overload caused by the power supply failing.
    You might try calling Apple Customer Relations at 800-767-2775 and see if you can talk them into paying for the repair. Be polite but firm and ask to be escalated to the next level.

  • Random shutdowns/related to bad RAM? pls help

    my 3 week old macbook was randomly shutting down all day yesterday. apple agreed to replace it. i just put the original RAM back in the macbook to prepare it for shipment back to Apple. i've had it on for a bit now and it has yet to randomly shutdown.
    Is it possible that the RAM i bought from newegg is defective and that was the problem? what are symptoms of bad ram?
    thx

    thanks all. early this morning after i posted this i re-installed the newegg ram. ran the memtest. it took alot longer with 2gb to finish the test but it came out fine. i got up just now. the macbood was asleep. i lifted the screen and have been running alot of programs to see if it will shut down. it is working great.
    so maybe the newegg ram was seeded wrong? maybe some kind of bump or something knocked it slightly out of place? I've had the newegg ram installed for the last 3 weeks and had no problems before so i cant understand why it would just stop working.
    is there any was else i can test to see if this ram is working like 2gb should work?
    anyone think it is highly probable that i do not have the random shutdown problem?

  • To Everyone with Random Shutdowns! (Solved! REALLY!)

    Hey all,
    I had posted about a week back about my Macbook (Core duo white, late 2006), it was having the same symptoms as some of the others with the known random shutdown syndrome (RSS). Like many others I had thought it was the end of my macbook and the logicboard needed replacing because that is what the 'genius' people do, but I was still wondering what would cause it. It would randomly shut off! (or so I thought) I'd be typing in Safari, watching a youtube video, and even playing games, it would just shut off and I could hear the hard drive spin down. I'd restart and it would do it again sometimes right away, sometimes hours later.
    This got me to thinking (like others have said) that it must be an issue with over heating. To test my theory I backed up my HD, and tried to reinstall Snow Leopard after zeroing the HD (as a fresh install). During the install process the Macbook's fan started to get loud and then it happened, it died again! So, this proved to me that it is NOT a software/OS issue at all, which means the said efforts in other posts of changing screen saver and energy saver settings had nothing to do with the cause! Aha moment!
    I thought to myself... something is making it shutdown, obviously, and has to do with too much heat as the fan was going crazy even while reinstalling the OS. After reading many posts on different support forums I came accross the possibility that it could be the heatsink and/or sensor that is attached to it. I also found out that this "RSS" only applies to the non-unibody, core duo, and core 2 duo macbooks... you know what that means?
    These models are the only ones with the shared memory and GPU on the same heatsink! GAH! A possible solution presents itself? To make a long post even longer... I removed the keyboard, carefully unscrewed the heatsink and fan and what did I see? Cracked and dried out thermal paste on the CPU AND GPU, they are both under the same heatsink after all, this was bad, really bad.
    Luckily I had some Arctic Silver thermal paste in a tube from years ago when I upgraded my PowerMac CPU. Using some rubbing alcohol and a soft cloth I removed the crud on the heatsink, processor, and GPU (I might add that there was way too much paste on there in the first place). I waited an extra few minutes to make sure the alcohol evaporated, and then I applied a small (dime sized) amount of thermal past directly onto the two chips, I aligned the heatsink carefully and gave it a very small gentle push down onto the chips, reattached the sensor wire to the mainboard, and screwed the heatsink back in.
    After putting the keyboard back on and making sure all screws were in... I immediately turned on the laptop and reinstalled the OS. The OS install took approximately 10 mintues! (crazy!) The last time I did that it took over 30 mins to install! I was stunned!
    After the OS installed I let the computer idle and shut down, I let it sit for about an hour to allow the paste to contract as it cooled. After starting up again I immediately downloaded Temperature Monitor and installed it (I did have it running when my mac had RSS by the way), here are the results to prove my theory:
    My Macbook with RSS:
    CPU1 and CPU2 Idle temp - 114 degrees (F)
    Heatsink temp - 128 degrees (F)
    Approximate over heating temp - 184 degrees (F) (causing the heatsink sensor to shutdown the laptop)
    My Macbook with new high quality thermal paste:
    Idle temp of CPU1, CPU2, and GPU - 77 degrees (F)
    Heatsink temp - 84 degrees (F)
    Running temp with adobe CS4, youtube, and typing this message - 103 degrees (F)
    Pretty amazing if you ask me!
    Before I applied the thermal paste my Macbook took at least a minute to start up with a fresh OS install, now it only takes about 15 seconds! I have not heard the fan spin up and go crazy since! And I can't even explain to you how much fast it is now!
    This does prove that Random shutdown syndrome (RSS) is caused ONLY by your GPU over heating due to old thermal paste between the chips and heatsink! A design flaw by Apple? probably not because thermal paste will crack and dry over time.
    This also proves that energy conversion to data in the chips can decrease because of over heating, causing the computer performance to dramatically drop!
    So before you take your out-of-warranty macbook to Apple or a repair shop, see what your internal temp readings are and try to replicate the problem with over heating your CPU/GPU! This was a 10 minute fix! I am still amazed at how much faster everything is, and haven't had a random shutdown since! I hope this helps alot of people that think they are out of luck and have to pay to get it fixed!
    - Cory -

    I too have this problem as well and it has been getting worse lately, I don't know what to do anymore. Here is a little info about my macbookPro. I have the late 2008 unibody model, i bought it in late 2009 Refurbished from Apple. Recently my mac has been turning off out of nowhere. I may be doing something and all of a sudden it just shuts off, it usually happens faster when i start to open up more programs like Photoshop or Final Cut Pro. My mac is out of warranty now and i dont know how much apple is going to charge me to fix it. i mean they want 50 bucks just to talk to them on the phone (ridiculous if you ask me)!.
        I have a temperature sensor installed and here is my data
    CPU A Proximity: 126F
    CPU A Temperature Diode: 133F
    Graphics Processor Chip 1: 122F
    Graphics Processor Heatsink 1: 113F
    Graphics Processor Heatsink 2: 126F
    Graphics Processor Temperature Diode: 131F
    Left Palm Rest: 91F
    Main Heatsink 3: 122F
    Main Logic Board: 118F
    Northbridge Chip: 127F
    Northbridge Position: 124F
    Here is more data from the Power
    Battery Information:
      Model Information:
      Manufacturer:          GSA-1281
      Device Name:          ASMB016
      Pack Lot Code:          0
      PCB Lot Code:          0
      Firmware Version:          0
      Hardware Revision:          0
      Cell Revision:          0
      Charge Information:
      Charge Remaining (mAh):          3739
      Fully Charged:          No
      Charging:          No
      Full Charge Capacity (mAh):          4610
      Health Information:
      Cycle Count:          68
      Condition:          Normal
      Battery Installed:          Yes
      Amperage (mA):          -1766
      Voltage (mV):          11793
    System Power Settings:
      AC Power:
      System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          0
      Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          0
      Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          90
      Automatic Restart on Power Loss:          No
      Wake on AC Change:          No
      Wake on Clamshell Open:          Yes
      Wake on LAN:          No
      Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes
      GPUSwitch:          2
      PrioritizeNetworkReachabilityOverSleep:          0
      RestartAfterKernelPanic:          157680000
      Battery Power:
      System Sleep Timer (Minutes):          60
      Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):          0
      Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):          2
      Wake on AC Change:          No
      Wake on Clamshell Open:          Yes
      Current Power Source:          Yes
      Display Sleep Uses Dim:          Yes
      GPUSwitch:          2
      Reduce Brightness:          Yes
      RestartAfterKernelPanic:          157680000
    Hardware Configuration:
      UPS Installed:          No
    AC Charger Information:
      Connected:          No
      Charging:          No
      PLEASE HELP ME, I CAN NO LONGER TRUST MY MAC FOR WORK. any replies will be appreciated. thanks

  • [solved?] possible reasons for random shutdowns

    Several months ago, my laptop started to suddenly shutdown for no apparent reason. Initially, I assumed it was overheating. Lenovo had a look, found nothing but replaced the thermal paste anyway, gave it back.
    The issue continued so somebody from IT stuck my laptop in a server room on top of a hot computer and stress tested it for a few hours. Conclusion: can find nothing wrong, definitely not a heat problem! (Laptop never went above 65.) They ran a bunch of hardware tests as part of this, got my cable and adaptor tested etc.
    Next theory: issue had only ever occurred on one level of the building (in my office) and it turned out there had been another issue with another laptop in that area and it turned out to be shutting down to protect itself due to spikes in the power supply. A UPS solved that issue. One is currently on order for me.
    Meanwhile, last weekend I had the issue occur twice in a friend's house in Birmingham. Even more worrying, however, I just had it happen here at home even though I use the machine extensively here and have never seen this happen here before.
    I'm guessing this rules out the environmental hypothesis although I'm by no means certain of this.
    That leaves: hardware or software.
    Hardware is a pain - Lenovo already ran it for 48 hours straight and found nothing. Moreover, although I have paid to extend the warranty and although they've taken my money, I've so far been entirely unsuccessful in getting Lenovo's system to recognise the extension. In any case, with the holidays and everything I'd rather be sure of what I'm dealing with before giving the machine up for an extended period of time. I cannot reliably reproduce the issue so it is hard to troubleshoot.
    So I would like to know what possible software issues might trigger apparently random shutdowns.
    The shutdowns are immediate. One minute I am working on some document or whatever. The next the machine is off. journalctl shows nothing except:
    -- Reboot --
    If it was a hardware protection feature, would this get logged?
    It does not reboot - it powers off - but I always have issues with reboot since I switched to systemd. Generally, it just powers off instead. [Oh, and before anybody tries to blame systemd, the random shutdowns started before I switched to systemd.]
    I've checked the RAM.
    Any suggestions, however unlikely, are welcome at this point.
    Last edited by cfr (2013-04-13 23:42:03)

    Thanks. The adaptor, cable etc. was "PAT tested" by the electricals person in our building and they checked the fuse etc. in the plug as well. Moreover, the laptop never usually has a problem switching from AC to battery and back. My battery is more than adequate for this sort of purpose and, if the battery did run low, the laptop would automatically suspend to RAM. Also, I know if this happens because, among other things, the display is set to dim on switch to battery. When the power supply has disappeared due to a power cut or just unplugging it, the switch has always been flawless.
    I've just been jiggling and shaking and rotating the laptop itself as suggested above with no effect whatsoever. I've also tried pressing around the edges of the casing just in case I'm somehow putting pressure somewhere and that's affecting things. (I assume if it was pressure due to typing or touchpad, it would be happening all the time.)
    I've also just spent a while jiggling the adaptor and both parts of the cable - also with no effect.
    The one thing which makes me reluctant to test sans battery is that I've read that the batteries in ThinkPads serve some sort of protective function in case of issues with the power supply and that you shouldn't use them without the battery for that reason. (Somewhere on Lenovo's site but it was months ago so I can't remember where to check the details.) In case there is an issue with the power, I'd obviously rather not fry the laptop. (But it seems weird if it happens in several places in that case...)
    I'm not sure about the cold boot comment. Do you think a cold boot might help? If so, I already performed one yesterday as I opened the back to look for loose connections. So if a cold boot might help, I'll just have to see. I've done cold boots before, though, after opening it up to look for issues following shutdowns.
    These issues appeared several months ago and I've reproduced the issue with the LTS kernel a while back. So if it is a regression, it has been around for a bit. I might try a live Ubuntu USB. (I don't have an optical drive.) The problem is that a negative result won't really prove anything because the issue is so random. Given that yesterday is the first time it has ever happened to me at home and that even in my office I've sometimes gone three or four days without problem, a couple of days testing won't cut it. (And will make it difficult for me to get stuff done!) It might be best to wait and try it in my office after the holidays - if it worked for, say, a week there without issue, that would strongly suggest something in my Arch setup. (Or something about the hdd, I guess.)
    Somebody suggested modules so, for the record, here's output from lsmod:
    Module Size Used by
    usb_storage 47385 0
    uas 11120 0
    efivars 12441 1
    fuse 69213 3
    hid_generic 1114 0
    usbhid 37036 0
    hid 85974 2 hid_generic,usbhid
    rfcomm 33792 8
    bnep 8858 2
    ipt_REJECT 2282 2
    ip6t_REJECT 2797 2
    xt_LOG 12055 6
    xt_limit 1978 6
    xt_tcpudp 2472 4
    nf_conntrack_ipv4 7799 5
    nf_defrag_ipv4 1340 1 nf_conntrack_ipv4
    nf_conntrack_ipv6 7512 5
    nf_defrag_ipv6 6318 1 nf_conntrack_ipv6
    xt_recent 8603 12
    xt_conntrack 3298 10
    nf_conntrack 64101 3 xt_conntrack,nf_conntrack_ipv4,nf_conntrack_ipv6
    iptable_filter 1457 1
    ip_tables 16947 1 iptable_filter
    ip6table_filter 1397 1
    ip6_tables 18519 1 ip6table_filter
    x_tables 17000 11 ip6table_filter,xt_recent,ip_tables,xt_tcpudp,xt_limit,xt_conntrack,xt_LOG,iptable_filter,ipt_REJECT,ip6_tables,ip6t_REJECT
    nls_cp437 5954 1
    vfat 10120 1
    fat 48403 1 vfat
    uvcvideo 72788 0
    videobuf2_vmalloc 2469 1 uvcvideo
    videobuf2_memops 2283 1 videobuf2_vmalloc
    coretemp 6071 0
    kvm_intel 124718 0
    snd_hda_codec_hdmi 24529 1
    videobuf2_core 24073 1 uvcvideo
    videodev 100860 2 uvcvideo,videobuf2_core
    snd_hda_codec_conexant 47159 1
    btusb 12373 0
    kvm 374014 1 kvm_intel
    media 10406 2 uvcvideo,videodev
    joydev 9992 0
    arc4 2040 2
    bluetooth 192234 22 bnep,btusb,rfcomm
    iwldvm 171052 0
    mac80211 426350 1 iwldvm
    snd_hda_intel 26181 2
    snd_hda_codec 98034 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_hda_intel
    thinkpad_acpi 62562 0
    snd_hwdep 6429 1 snd_hda_codec
    snd_pcm 75735 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel
    snd_page_alloc 7218 2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
    microcode 12346 0
    snd_timer 18935 1 snd_pcm
    nvram 5907 1 thinkpad_acpi
    snd 60189 12 snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_pcm,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,thinkpad_acpi
    rts_pstor 401665 0
    atl1c 33647 0
    psmouse 71952 0
    iwlwifi 125182 1 iwldvm
    iTCO_wdt 5256 0
    iTCO_vendor_support 1930 1 iTCO_wdt
    cfg80211 177109 3 iwlwifi,mac80211,iwldvm
    rfkill 15605 5 cfg80211,thinkpad_acpi,bluetooth
    soundcore 5443 1 snd
    i2c_i801 9572 0
    evdev 10267 25
    serio_raw 4690 0
    pcspkr 1900 0
    mei 32666 0
    lpc_ich 10610 0
    ac 2537 0
    thermal 8120 0
    battery 6774 0
    wmi 8380 0
    nfs 127008 0
    lockd 64905 1 nfs
    sunrpc 186134 2 nfs,lockd
    fscache 40996 1 nfs
    acpi_cpufreq 5934 0
    mperf 1300 1 acpi_cpufreq
    processor 26856 1 acpi_cpufreq
    ext4 440435 10
    crc16 1360 2 ext4,bluetooth
    jbd2 78802 1 ext4
    mbcache 6027 1 ext4
    sha256_generic 10262 2
    ablk_helper 1973 0
    aes_x86_64 7556 5
    aes_generic 26139 1 aes_x86_64
    cbc 2737 1
    dm_crypt 15800 1
    dm_mod 72106 35 dm_crypt
    sd_mod 29560 4
    crc32c_intel 1988 0
    ghash_clmulni_intel 4278 0
    cryptd 8742 2 ghash_clmulni_intel,ablk_helper
    ahci 21361 3
    libahci 20024 1 ahci
    libata 167757 2 ahci,libahci
    scsi_mod 133434 5 uas,usb_storage,libata,rts_pstor,sd_mod
    ehci_hcd 41817 0
    usbcore 150472 6 uas,btusb,uvcvideo,usb_storage,ehci_hcd,usbhid
    usb_common 955 1 usbcore
    i915 496012 3
    video 11277 1 i915
    button 4663 1 i915
    i2c_algo_bit 5392 1 i915
    intel_agp 10745 1 i915
    intel_gtt 15660 2 i915,intel_agp
    drm_kms_helper 32878 1 i915
    drm 218903 4 i915,drm_kms_helper
    i2c_core 20708 6 drm,i915,i2c_i801,drm_kms_helper,i2c_algo_bit,videodev
    I did wonder about the watchdogs and whether I should try turning (any of?) them off. But I suspect this thought just shows my ignorance of these things.
    I don't think there's a fan in my power supply - it is just a brick type adaptor between the AC and the laptop.  If it is the battery, it would be odd that it only ever happens when I'm plugged into AC. (Again, I use it a lot more on AC and the problem is random so this need not mean much.) One difference between battery and AC is that laptop-mode tools is configured to disable the NMI watchdog on battery.  But again, I don't understand enough of what this means to know whether this is even vaguely relevant.
    My graphics is intel so I'm not using any closed source drivers from Nvidia or ATI. The driver is currently set to use the default acceleration. QT is using default rendering (X11/XRender) rather than Raster or the experimental OpenGL.

  • Random shutdowns - IT'S THE BATTERY, NOT THE LOGIC BOARD!!!!

    Hey,
    Just got my battery replacement, and the shutdown problem is GONE. Here's how you verify - run your Macbook with the battery removed, on AC power - the problem disappears.
    The tech told me that it is a short in the battery, which tells the PMU that there is no power (whether there is or not!)...anyway, I hope this is helpful to all of you!
    P.S. If you're also getting the vertical lines at startup, that's a video driver issue - just zap the PRAM so you can boot, and once booted, change the resolution to something else and back to normal - it will fix the problem entirely.
    THERE IS HOPE!!!!

    <<<dear ASPs! this is -NOT- true!!!! it is NOT the battery!>>>
    probably thanks to you my ASP (DataQuest, Zurich Switzerland) only replaced my battery and handed back my MacBook unrepaired.
    After the "repair" the problem at first was rare but after just three days I'm back at normal frequency of random shutdowns. I have to spend another two weeks waiting for my macbook. this time I'm sending it to Netherlands
    I guess that it's really that badly calibrated thermal module causing these shutdowns. obviously the thermal module is irritated especially if you use your macbook often - so after 1-2 weeks of repair time the problem is barely apparent. (which causes unsuccessful repair - "testing after battery replacement worked fine" says ASP)
    MacBook 1.8Ghz   Mac OS X (10.4.7)   & iBook 2 600

  • Random Shutdowns and Logs

    Like some others, I have started having random shutdowns and some high fan activity. So I can probably guess that it is the power supply.
    However, in previous posts on this topic, some have suggested checking a couple of different acitivity logs that exist somewhere on everyone's Mac.
    My question is...what logs might they be, and how does one find them?
    Thanks for any assistance....
    CHUCK
    iMac G5   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    Hi Chuck--
    But is there a log that would show me why the
    computer randomly shutdown?
    Shutdowns and going to sleep are two different things. If your power supply is starting to fail, your computer will periodically just shutdown completely. Sometimes, the fans will run faster, but often, they won't. If this happens, you can find it out by looking at the system log right after you reboot, or by typing a command in the Terminal application. Terminal is found in your Utilities folder. You would just open it and type the following command, followed by the "enter" key:
    <pre class="command">sudo dmesg | grep shutdown</pre>Unfortunately, those codes are not published anywhere. However, my iMac G5 has shut off a couple of times due to the UPS inexplicably draining its battery. The last time was Sunday night, and here's the code I get from that command (you'll have to type in your password when it asks):
    <pre class="command">AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = -110</pre>I've also seen -118 and -122 as the error codes. I think the latter came when I had the same random shutdown problem. You can also find the same information in your system log, using the Console application. However, it's mixed in with a whole bunch of other stuff, so it's harder to find. You can use the little search window at the top right of the Console app to help you narrow it down. If your system has been on overnight since it last shut down, you may need to look at an older log, so look at the one marked system.log.0.gz for yesterday, and so on, where the larger the number in the name, the older it is.
    The second problem is that the computer overheats and puts itself to sleep. This is, fortunately, easier to find in the logs. Once it cools down a bit and you can get it running again, use the Console application and see if you see lines much like this:
    <pre class="command">May 28 10:49:08 localhost kernel: Thermal Manager: max temperature exceeded for 30 seconds, forcing system sleep
    May 28 10:49:08 localhost kernel: SMUNeo2PlatformPlugin core dump:
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: IOHWControls:
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: [0] "System" Type:"fan-rpm" Id:0 TGT:1343 CUR:1343
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: [1] "Hard Drive" Type:"fan-rpm" Id:2 TGT:1929 CUR:1919
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: [2] "CPU" Type:"fan-rpm" Id:1 TGT:4400 CUR:4401
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: [3] "sysclk slew" Type:"slew" Id:256 TGT:1 CUR:1
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: IOHWSensors:
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: [0] "CPU Power" Type:"power" Id:5 CUR:12.2119 W
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: [1] "CPU T-Diode" Type:"temp" Id:0 CUR:85.38558 C
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: [2] "CPU Current" Type:"current" Id:1 CUR:1.15552 A
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: [3] "CPU Voltage" Type:"voltage" Id:2 CUR:11.64384 V
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: [4] "Hard drive" Type:"temperature" Id:4 CUR:54.0 C
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: IOHWCtrlLoops:
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: [0] "Clock Slew" Id:0 MetaState:1 "Force Reduced Speed"
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: [1] "PowerMac8,1 B System Fans" Id:1 MetaState:0 "Normal"
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: [2] "CPU Fan" Id:2 MetaState:0
    May 28 10:49:09 localhost kernel: ---------------------------------</pre>Your output could be somewhat different, since this is the log from an iMac running 10.3.9, not Tiger.
    If you see this error, the fans can't get enough cool air flowing through the interior of the computer. Some people have reported that they've had success in fixing it by carefully cleaning out the vent holes at the bottom of the iMac, so air flows freely again. They've reported that pet hair or dust can get in there and clog it up.
    On the other hand, this log is from a replacement logic board on that iMac. When I showed the techs that log, they didn't even bother with any tests, other than look to see if the interior of the computer was dirty (it wasn't) before they decided to replace the logic board as a defective.
    charlie

  • K9N Platinum: CPU upgrade = Random shutdowns..

    I just installed a new AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ EE in my MSI K9N Platinum motherboard (MS-7250 v1.0, the 070 model according to the box). I had updated the BIOS to version 1.7 before installing the CPU. Anyhow, I got the CPU installed and it seemed to be running fine. Until I started playing my games. Upon playing fifteen (!!!) minutes of Day of Defeat, the system completely turned off. COMPLETELY. No error messages. I check core temp's log to make sure the CPU wasnt overheating; it wasnt. The max temp was 38C on one of the cores. Just to make sure the CPU wasnt the problem, I ran two instances of prime95 for 5 hours and there were no calculation errors whatsoever. I also ran 3-4 loops of SuperPi, using the 32M test. No errors.
    I have come to the conclusion that it must be the motherboard, and possibly it does not like the CPU. Or else it is having the same random shutdown problems as many other K9N Platinum/Ultra boards are experiencing. From what i have read, this issue only relates to boards that are 040, 050, or 060 models. I have a 070 model, and I AM GETTING THIS PROBLEM!!
    Help!!!
    Full specs:
    MSI K9N Platinum MS7250 V1.0, BIOS 1.7, model 070
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ EE (old CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+; had no issues with the 3500+) vcore: 1.225
    1 GB OCZ Platinum DDR2-800, 5-5-5-15, 2.1v
    eVGA GeForce 7800GT videocard with Zalman VF900, 490/1220
    Hitachi Deskstar 7K80 SATA HDD
    LITE-ON DVD-ROM drive
    Floppy drive
    3x 80mm fans, 1 cold cathode
    Antec Truepower 430 watt PSU, dual +12v @ 17A a piece.
    Any ideas? 

    well, i know that ACPI has to do with power saving features.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACPI
    and HPET also has something to do with CPUs
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HPET
    and MCP55 is the nortbridge.
    so i suppose i can conclude that it protects from overvoltage or promotes more power-saving?  i dunno i really dont care as long as my PC works now, 

  • Macbook won't detect external display anymore - Random shutdown injury??

    Hi,
    my Macbook has the dreaded random shutdown thing happening, often it can't even get through the startup sequence. If I reset the PMU and PRAM and check the disk every week I can keep it running. Applecare are making not particularly helpful suggestions like "run it in safe mode" - hello people, random means it can take days to happen again... I use this computer for work so I need it at full capacity every day!!!
    Anyway, enough angry ranting. The casualty of today's RS and subsequent PRAM PMU resetting is my external display (Viewsonic LCD). The macbook is no longer sending signals to it (display says "no signal"). When I ask the macbook to "detect displays" nothing happens. I have restarted the macbook several times and unplugged and replugged the display connection it doesn't help. Yes, I have the AC power cable plugged in on the Macbook (I know it doesn't like talking to the screen if I don't).
    The display and macbook have always worked fine together in the past...
    Does anyone have any suggestions on how to test for causes or fix this display related problem?
    MacBook   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  
    Powerbook G4   Mac OS X (10.4.2)  

    You don't mention ever having brought the problem to Apple's attention, or what resulted from your request for Apple's help with it. This isn't a universal or widespread problem. It may be a hardware fault in your own equipment that needs to be resolved with a repair, or it may be a software problem (corrupt file, incompatible software conflict, update needed, etc., etc.). You seem to think Apple should have fixed it for you without your lifting a finger, and you're eager to complain about Apple's lack of support. But you've offered nothing to indicate that Apple even knows you need support. You do have to ask for it. Have you done so?
    We have no idea what steps you've taken to try to narrow down the possibilities, e.g., making sure the monitor is turned on; trying a different video cable as iVmichael has suggested; testing the monitor with the same cable on a different computer; testing a different monitor with the same cable and then with a diferent cable on your computer; substituting a different cable adapter, if you are using one; applying all applicable system software updates and then Repairing Permissions and Repairing Disk; starting in Safe Mode and seeing whether the monitor is recognized and activated then; seeing whether the monitor is detected in System Profiler; and so on. You may have done some of these things, but you haven't told us about them or about the results.

  • Random Shutdown Because of Heat Sensors?

    I bought my white MacBook in mid-May (week 19 production) and it worked fine with the exception of a whine when I did not have the iSight Cam on, the occasional mooing after using the computer heavily then using the CPU lightly for a while, and the discoloration. If you ask me it wasn't that much of a set back because this computer was fast and reliable... or so I had thought!
    All of a sudden about a week ago, after I had the discoloration fixed, thanks to AppleCare (which only took 5 days), my computer shut down randomly in the middle of light usage...
    At first I had thought that my external hard drive was the problem and I was very upset that this had happened. I tried to reboot my computer, but all that would happen was the usual DVD drive start up sound and then it would turn off again. I tried about 5 times to restart it with no luck, so I walked away. About 20 minutes later I was able to start it back up...
    After not using my external hard drive for a day, it happened again, in the middle of normal internet browsing and listening to music it randomly shutdown. I thought that maybe it was an OS 10.4.7 issue, because I had not had any problems with x.6, so I erased and restarted from scratch, and once again, another MacDeath. Once again, I thought it to be my fault in my installation of 2Gb of RAM. I re-installed the custom 2x256 RAM that came with the computer ( and will remain in my hands forever, because you can't even pay someone to take away a stick of 256Mb RAM these days) well after the old RAM was forcefully shoved back in, it died again! This is when I started to get mad...
    I put up with the whinning, I put up with the heat, I put up with the discoloration (for a while), but now this? WHY!
    Over the next week it happened almost daily and sometimes when I would turn on my computer after it being off for at least 5 hours, it would load my home screen and after about a minute I would hear the fan come on for a few seconds, and then it would die again. I noticed that most times that my MacBook would shutdown unexpectedly, the fan had just turned on for a few seconds or I was playing a game and the fan was already on...
    So today I called AppleCare and I had to wait about 30 minutes before I talked to someone... (When I called last time about discoloration, the wait was about 5 minutes) So either there are more and more angry customers calling, or Apple is firing employees to increase their stock value...?
    When I finally got through the man told me that it was most likely not the Logic Board, but instead FAULTY HEAT SENSORS and/or FAULTY HEAT SINK APPLICATION. I won't lie I have seen Core Duo Temp show readings as high as 91 C (about 196 degrees F). I knew that this things got hot, but not so hot as to start a fire if left on too long....
    So I am getting a box from DHL tomorrow (woohoo) MacB. and I get to part ways again, but this time, from reading many threads, I assume our time apart will be much longer approaching around 2 WEEKS!!!
    All I hope is that AppleCare will fix the heat sensors that are supposed to shutdown the computer when it gets overheated.... I have to go to school in about a month and I will not have time to deal with these kinds of issues! I really like the MacBook and all of it's features, but I did not sign up to get a MacDieOnMeBook!
    APPLE USE SOME OF THE 24% SALE INCREASE THIS QUARTER TO HELP YOUR LOYAL CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE BEEN WITH YOU THROUGH THE GOOD AND THE BAD!
    MB 2GHz White 2GB RAM - 250 GB External HD   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  

    As of yet i'm not exactly sure about the heatsink problem, although a few in here have reported machines that work well after having this part replaced, while others who only had the MLB replaced reported a recurrence of the problem.
    as for the volume indicator, i noticed that mine did that too, but it was in fact muted whether or not the tool bar indicated it. i dismissed this as a small quirk, similar to when my volume indicator didnt change as i pressed the volume buttons on my old laptop. but so long as there was an acknowledging "squirt" noise on the computer indicating change of volume, that shouldnt be a problem.
    good luck withyour MB

  • Random shutdown then fixed?

    well like alot of other users i got the random shutdown on my macbook the other night. i've been a long time windows user and finally got around to getting myself one of these nice new macbooks just last friday. (my pervious mac being a powerbook 190cs about 9yrs ago now) anyways all was going well till it randomly shut down on me. so i unplugged it and turned it on again this time it took alot less time to just shut itself down without my input. after this it wouldn't even make mac OS so i held the power button for 15 secs and it booted and didn't shut down for the rest of the night (except for when i reset it).
    i had had boot camp installed and while i was in the city today i went into next byte and talked to the guy in there who said that some people had solved it with a software fix. i had a look through these forums and saw that bootcamp didn't seem to play a part in most cases of this happening.
    i ended up deleting bootcamp off the hard drive as i was no longer using it after finding replacements for all bar VS 2005 and Access and was using them in parallels. after deleting bootcamp i haven't had a problem however in trying to work out what it was i noticed that instead of displaying the apple logo first up when i booted the machine it held the folder with ? on it for a minute. after getting rid of bootcamp this no longer happened.
    i dunno how or why but it no longer seems to be randomly resetting and not turning on. i'm hoping that its fixed becuase i really don't wanna have to send it in to apple for some of the fixes other people have had to do.
    anyways i just thought i'd post it incase it helps someone.

    Anybody have any ideas?
    I shut it down for a couple days. Just tried starting it up last night and it only made it to the login screen before it shut down again. This time it didn't try to turn back on.

  • Problems with random shutdown after replacing a swollen battery

    Hello all,
    Perhaps one of you can help with this issue.
    I'm using a Macbook Pro 17" mid-2007 model. A few months ago, the power disconnected from the machine when the battery had already run down and the machine did a hard shutdown. When I booted it back up there were serious problems with the display. Eventually it stopped working altogether. I took it for service and it was determined to by the NVIDIA graphics processor problem, so Apple replaced my motherboard.
    When I got the machine back from servicing, there was a rattle in the right fan that gradually got worse. After a while the touchpad button stopped depressing in the center. I also experienced several random shutdowns while operating on battery power. I learned about the swelling battery issue with macbooks and ordered a replacement. By the time the replacement battery arrived my original battery was quite swollen. I'm concerned that the swelling battery may have warped the case a bit, leading to the fan noise.
    I have now replaced the battery, but I'm still experiencing random shutdowns after 20+ minutes of use on battery power. I have done the RSS tests that were recommended in other forums and there doesn't seem to be any random shutdown problems when I'm plugged in -- only under battery power. My understanding is that a swelling battery can sometimes cause the battery to disengage from the electrical contacts on the MB, causing a sudden shutdown. I'm wondering why the problem is persisting now with a new battery? After one random shutdown, I tried to power up again using the battery, while pushing the battery into place at various angles, but I couldn't find any angle that would give power to the machine. The fan noise is also still present.
    Can anyone offer an explanation or advise on any methods to overcome these random shutdowns? I have checked the console and the machine isn't registering any error when it shuts down, although when it restarts it says "DirectoryService[35] Improper shutdown detected"

    Yep, it is video (or: or audio for video) so unless you're sure you need it (because you work or will work with the DVC Pro HD video/audio codec), you can remove the plug from its' folder and put it in your documents folder (don't trash it, I have no idea if it is necessary for non-DVC Pro HD users to have it installed too).
    The WWW is littered with posts from people encountering bugs and crashreports with DVCPROHDAudio.plugin as the main suspect. Most of those posts seem to be from video people rather than audio folks.
    http://www.google.nl/search?q=DVCPROHDAudio.plugin&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=or g.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
    But, if you get crashes and you see this one mentioned in the report, disable it, restart, and see if the problem's gone.

  • Not so random shutdowns...

    Hi,
    My Macbook is just over a year old now still under applecare, I had random shutdowns before and did the firmware update which fixed it. Yesterday, I had the +please hold down the power button...+ message and so did thinking little of it, after all it is not uncommon to have to do it once in a while. Since then though it has been intermittently restarting all on its own and occasionally throwing up the +please hold power...+ message. Interesting to note is the optical drive noise when it restarts itself. I know how it should sound, the kind of mechanical movement sound that happens when you restart normally (or launch parallels and windows grabs hold of your drive). However, occasionally on these restarts it pauses during this sound several times making the same noise but stuttering through it... Strange!
    It seems that I can often make it restart or throw up the power button message by just lifting up the front of the computer, as you would if you were turning it around or something. This leads me to believe it's a hardware fault... Looking under the battery compartment the two outside screws that are on the battery connection side were loose and nearly falling out so I tightened those back up, still the problem persists.
    After the last restart message I copied this error report, I have no idea what to look for, just wondering if anyone can see anything helpful?
    panic(cpu 1 caller 0x001A4A55): Unresolved kernel trap (CPU 1, Type 13=general protection), registers:
    CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0x00270000, CR3: 0x00e08000, CR4: 0x000006e0
    EAX: 0x00000000, EBX: 0x00025fde, ECX: 0x02fa4d90, EDX: 0x24188000
    CR2: 0x02f67af8, EBP: 0x13f7bfc8, ESI: 0xfc52147b, EDI: 0x0000009c
    EFL: 0x00010046, EIP: 0x00101a00, CS: 0x00000004, DS: 0xb018000c
    Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
    0x2f67968 : 0x128d08 (0x3cc0a4 0x2f6798c 0x131de5 0x0)
    0x2f679a8 : 0x1a4a55 (0x3d24b8 0x1 0xd 0x3d1cc8)
    0x2f67ab8 : 0x19aeb4 (0x2f67ac4 0xe 0xffe10048 0xc)
    0x13f7bfc8 : 0x19b28e (0x2f67b0c 0x1 0x19ad3b 0x2f97d90) No mapping exists for frame pointer
    Backtrace terminated-invalid frame pointer 0xbffffb58
    Kernel version:
    Darwin Kernel Version 8.10.1: Wed May 23 16:33:00 PDT 2007; root:xnu-792.22.5~1/RELEASE_I386
    Model: MacBook1,1, BootROM MB11.0061.B03, 2 processors, Intel Core Duo, 1.83 GHz, 1 GB
    Graphics: Intel GMA 950, GMA 950, Built-In, spdisplaysintegratedvram
    Memory Module: BANK 0/DIMM0, 512 MB, DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz
    Memory Module: BANK 1/DIMM1, 512 MB, DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz
    AirPort: spairportwireless_card_type_airportextreme (0x168C, 0x86), 1.1.9.3
    Bluetooth: Version 1.9.0f8, 2 service, 1 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
    Network Service: AirPort, AirPort, en1
    Network Service: Parallels Host-Guest, Ethernet, en2
    Network Service: Parallels NAT, Ethernet, en3
    Serial ATA Device: WDC WD1200BEVS-60LAT0, 111.79 GB
    Parallel ATA Device: MATSHITACD-RW CW-8221
    USB Device: Built-in iSight, Micron, Up to 480 Mb/sec, 500 mA
    USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller, Apple, Inc., Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
    USB Device: IR Receiver, Apple Computer, Inc., Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
    USB Device: Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad, Apple Computer, Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
    I have tried a PMU reset, PRAM reset and whatever it is that happens when you hold the power button when you turn it on to make it beeeeeeep... The issue happens with or without the power cable attached.
    Unless anyone can suggest anything here I'll be taking it to the repair centre...
    Thanks for reading!

    Ok, this is not an answer but it may help you a little: have you checked your logs? It may be an indication of what has happened there. If you don't know the drill: go to console under applications/utilities, select logs, and go there to /library/logs/panic.log. Some information may appear there, for instance if there is some consistent cause like one of your processors, some specific fault.
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