Ibook shuts off

Hi everyone.......
2nd time posting same question....
Need some help. ibook was running fine (10.2.8) yesterday, put it to sleep last nite without a problem. Woke up this morning and the laptop was shutoff? When I tried to powerup it would startup for about 5 secs then shutoff. Kept trying but same result. Then I disconnected the power adapter and just ran on battery power and everything booted up and ran fine. Decided to plug in the P/A into the ibook because battery was running low and the computer shut down again and will still not power up with P/A plugged and battery in place. Will only boot up with battery power....wierd?
Also I did notice when I tried to boot up with the P/A in there was a flash/spark or lite of some kind coming from under the "little circle" on the small plastic cap located between the F5 and F6 keys and the "little circle on the "caps lock" key.
Thanx,
Margie
ibook blueberry, ibook 12', B&W G3 Mac OS X (10.2.x)

Hi Margie -
I'm just guessing here but it may be your charging board that's giving problems? Or perhaps the entire plug on the ibook itself.
Have you tried the power adapter without the battery?
The flashes from the 'caps' and 'num' lock leds are strange ...did this always occur or was it just lately?
I've never had to deal with power supply issues before but I'm sure someone in the forum will eventually offer a solution Hang tight.

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12.1" G4 IBook shut off this morning on it's own.... won't start back up.

Hi everyone,
I have a 12.1" 1.2 GHZ G4 IBook. I've been using it with little to no problems, up until the last week or two... which culminated this morning. I could use some advice/ help if you all so inclined.
Let me preface this by saying that in the last week or so, I've had 2 times that the backlight seemed to go out. It's never done that before, and after resetting the PMU etc it seemed to be just fine.
Cut to this morning...
I was on the IBook checking a few things online and stepped out of the room. I came back in the room and while reaching for the Ibook (and looking at the screen), I saw (and I think "heard") the computer shut off. I thought that maybe the backlight went out again or finally died, but when I tried a restart, it did nothing.
I've tried several key combos but nothing seems to do anything. I've unplugged the computer, taken out the battery (which reads fully charged) then tried and still nothing.
I have had no processor or HD issues with the laptop, so I'm guessing (optimistically) that it's a hardware issue perhaps and that the HD is intact and can be pulled. I've got virtually everything backed up on my external, but you know there's always some stuff that isn't.
Does anyone have any advice? I know a pretty decent amount about Macs, but this is getting out of my realm of knowledge and could use some assistance. I wonder if it's possibly a logic or motherboard issue, but that's just an uninformed guess and I could be WAY off base.
I've got a few emails out right now to see if I can pick up a used IBook off Craigslist to swap my HD into (as an aside.... am I limited in G4 IBooks I can put this one into as far as screen size models etc) but if it is something I could possibly take care of, that would be great.
Any advice, suggestions, tips or help would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Jeff

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
Does your iBook show any signs of life at all--drive noise? startup chime? anything? If nothing at all, it sounds like a power problem of some sort. In that case, chances are that your hard drive may well be OK, and is just not getting power.
Did any of your key combos include resetting the PRAM?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379?viewlocale=en_US
You might want to try the steps in this article to see if anything helps:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA25686?viewlocale=en_US
If you decide to get another iBook, you should try to get one that is exactly the same build as your current iBook, as the OS is optimized for each individual build. With an iBook of a different build, there might be problems with your hard drive working properly.
You could also put your iBook's drive in an external enclosure, and access your files that way. If you did that, you could move them to any computer.
If you have access to an Apple Store, it may be that they could try booting your iBook from the store feed and running their hardware test on it. That wouldn't cost anything, and it could tell you exactly what you are dealing with.
It's probably worth making the effort to see if you can get your iBook to boot up. If it is truly dead, then you can look into alternatives.
Good luck!

IBook shutting off randomly - battery problem?

Hey everyone,
I've looked at a few posts, and my problem might be similar to others, but I'm not sure.
A couple weeks ago, when I was on the internet, my computer randomly shut down, I couldn't turn it on. Took it in to a Genius, who told my my PMU had crashed, and he showed me how to reset it. Whew, easy!
Well, since then, my computer has continued to randomly shut off, always when I'm on the internet, sometimes 4-5 times a day. Just this evening, in the span of an hour, it did it 3 times. Thought it was an issue with Safari, but it's happened with Firefox too. Resetting the PMU always fixes it, but now I'm worried because it's happening a lot.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Mary

There's a few things that come to mind here:
1) The DC-in board on your computer is failing. This controls portions of power flow from the battery & adapter to your computer. I believe the strange behavior you're seeing could be caused by this. The flickering light with your power adapter could also be an indicator.
2) Your AC adapter is bad. Only good way to test this is try another adapter with your computer.
3) You've got a dying battery. How old is your battery? Also, let's check the health according to *System Profiler* in Applications>Utilities. In the left-hand column, click the Power heading, then copy the battery information and paste it here.
~Lyssa

IBook shuts off completely at random times when plugged in

I've had my iBook for 3.5 years with no problems until my Apple Care expired a few months ago. Now I'm having all of these problems!! My battery died (again) and my power cord broke (again--have replaced both twice already). This time I bought non-Apple items that were recommended here b/c they were cheaper. Ever since I got the new battery, the computer randomly just shuts down when it is plugged in. And it's completely off. I cannot even turn it back on. The only way I can get it back on is to leave it for awhile and then unplug it, take the battery out, put it back in, and hold the power button down for a long time. Sometimes I have to do this a few times and it will come back on. When it comes back on, it makes a loud fan noise. Is this really bad?? Is it on its way out?? Any suggestions? I am devastated if it's a major problem since I don't have my apple care anymore!

The various probable causes of battery, charger and power management issues
as they relate to the iBook G4, PowerBook G4 and some others, may relate to
these components similarly when maintenance (calibrate battery, etc) and when
the DC power in gets disrupted.
At some point, if the adapter and batteries have been replaced and also damages
to the adapter's plug (someone tripping over power wire to computer, etc) are one
of the reasons the adapter was damaged and replaced, there is another item that
may need looking into. If the battery maintenance has been done, or can't be due
to the extreme issue at hand - if that has gone that far, and power is not stable,
there may be something else failing in the computer.
Or, it may be the DC In-Board is failing or has failed; since this component does
help control the power from the charger and battery. If it has failed, issues may
result which could render the charging and battery life short to useless.
The part isn't that costly, nor is the service for someone to repair the computer;
it may be you could get an online DIY guide and see how to do that yourself.
Or have someone knowledgeable look into it and see if that's all it needs; and
have them replace the part... You could get an estimate from an authorized
independent service facility, or ask around to see what all or else is involved.
Also, some cheap third party batteries do not really work all that well, some
may last half as long as Apple replacement quality ones; and of the poorer
ones made elsewhere, some do not have the same microchip inside so
the charger and computer may not see those batteries correctly. Part of a
test and troubleshooting process could include a known good Apple AC
power adapter and a known good Apple iBook battery; then the DC-In Board
can be looked into as a next probable cause of hardware based trouble.
There also is a way to reset the Power Management Unit (PMU reset.)
And in iBook computers, from early white G3-500 to the later 1.42 14"
G4 models, have slightly different PMU reset instructions. The Support
page has several models listed, and how to reset the unit.
Resetting PowerBook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU)
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449
Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1490
{When fully recalibrating the battery, do not use the computer; instead
let the computer stay off or asleep (it should go to sleep automatically
when the battery is very low on power) and plug it in, let it fully charge
and this may take more than 16+ hours; and do not try to use it at all.}
The problem, if not in adapters, batteries, PMU, or calibration, may be
in the DC-in Board. Troubleshooting involves a concerted effort.
Good luck & happy computing!

IBook shuts off without warning

Hi,
How do I solve this? My iBook's started powering off without warning -- even if the battery's fully charged. I left it on charge overnight and only got ten minutes use out of it before the iBook switched itself off.
What do I do?
iBook G4 12 Mac OS X (10.3.9)
iBook G4 12

HI Oliver,
You may want to try reseting the PMU (Knowledge Base Document #14449, which covers Resetting Powerbook and iBook Power Management Unit (PMU)). Have you looked at Knowledge Base Document #300552 on My computer won't turn on (Display troubleshooting) and Knowledge Base Document #106214 on Troubleshooting Startup Issues.
Jon
Mac Mini 1.42Ghz, iPod (All), Airport (Graphite & Express), G4 1.33Ghz iBook, G4 iMac 1Ghz, G3 500Mhz, iBook iMac 233Mhz, eMate, Power Mac 5400 LC, PowerBook 540c, Macintosh 128K, Apple //e, Apple //, and some more... Mac OS X (10.4.5) Moto Razr, iLife '06, SmartDisk 160Gb, Apple BT Mouse, Sight..

Shutting off....only when plugged in.

I know there are a lot of posts out there about the ibook shutting off, but mine has some peculiarities I didn't see in others, so before I take my computer apart as was the conclusion here http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1082138&tstart=0, I'll give this a shot.
My ibook randomly (when in use mostly but sometimes not) shuts down, though I don't think all the way. The screen goes black, and it is quieter, but there is still some sound, indicating it is on somehow. I remove the battery, unplug, wait a bit, put it back in, sometimes this works fine. Sometimes I have to repeat the process.
I should note a few things:
This ONLY happens when the power cord is plugged in.
The power cord is not made by apple, it is a replacement cord.
This started happening after buying and using a different replacement cord than the one I am currently using. This particular cord actually died on me. It still had some power, but not enough to power my ibook.
Does anyone have any recommendations? Even just what to ask if I take it to a mac place?

Do you happen to have iStatPro? It is a widget available from the Apple Web Site. I am wondering if the whirring noise you hear is your fan? Intensive applications tend to raise the temperature of everything and cause the fan to come on.
You might also put activity monitor in your dock and check the CPU usage during some of these big applications. I'm wondering if you are running it almost at its limits and it might be getting overheated and shutting down for that reason. I am not a gamer, but possibly some other member of the forum is and has experienced this phenomonon. I'm not sure of this, but I think the iBook is designed to shut itself off before incurring damage from overheating. I don't know what HD, processor, or RAM you have, but it might be helpful to post that. And also, how much free space there is on your HD. I probably can't help any more, but it might give another gamer enough information to confirm or refute my guess.
Good luck!

My iBook just shuts off when it is still partially charged. Help?

Hello, I have an 14" iBook G4, and have been having problems lately with the computer shutting off (going dead, and not into sleep mode) after it has been running on battery power for awhile. It usually shuts off when the battery is at around 45-60 percent charge still left. It never shuts off when plugged in to the charger. Here are some specifics on the battery from the System Profiler:
Battery Information:
Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 1545
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 1542
Amperage (mA): 0
Voltage (mV): 16543
Cycle Count: 225
I have been thinking about getting a new battery but I just replaced this one a year or two ago so I don't think it should be bad yet.
A few things that I think might be causing the problem might be that I upgraded this computer a while ago by putting in a 100 GB hard drive and putting in a Superdrive (it originally had a 40 GB HD and a Combo Drive). I also have an extra 512 MB of RAM installed. I also just recently upgraded to Mac OS 10.4.11. I had been running 10.4.6 for the longest time (mostly because I always though it was safer because sometimes when I had updated computers in the past they'd run into problems. Plus, I have software that I knew would run with OS 10.4.6 - plus the install discs).
Anyway, let me know what you guys think I should or could do to fix this problem. I'm on my computer all the time so I should respond quickly to your guys' (or girls') advice.
Thanks for any help you can give. Later

I looked into resetting the PMU (although I think I already tried that a week ago), I don't know if something specific is supposed to happen to let me know something was reset but everything functioned pretty much as normal.
I tried recalibrating the battery with minimal success, it went down to 31% then actually said 0% and died. I tried recalibrating twice and it doesn't go into sleep mode, it just dies. It'll go down to 0% and still not go into sleep mode. Now my battery reading says this(with the power cord unplugged):
Battery Information:
Battery Installed: Yes
First low level warning: No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 1315
Remaining Capacity (mAh): 1313
Amperage (mA): -778
Voltage (mV): 16178
Cycle Count: 225
I took continual readings of the Battery in the System Profiler and pasted them into a Word document when the computer was at 0% capacity and was still on but wouldn't go into sleep mode (it eventually just died). I can post some of those on here if you want.
I also tried that Coconut Battery program to let me know any new information about the Battery and it says nothing really new. It says the battery has a max capacity of 1315 mAh (although just couple of days ago it used to have around 1500mAh - read my first post above - I don't know if that means I've made progress or the battery is worse off then when I started) and also the Battery originally had 4400 mAh capacity (so now it's at about 29% of its original strength).
One thing did disturb me though is that the battery might not be recording the number of cycles correctly. Even though I've gone through at least a few charges in the last couple of days, it still says "225" and it should be higher. You'll even notice that it said "224" in the Battery Information in my first post. I've gone through at least a couple of complete discharges, I would think.
Anyway, I hope there are some more options on the table, but I'll see if I can keep re-calibrating it and it will finally work. I am starting to wonder if its the battery or the module inside it or some other problem. Anyway, thanks for the help.

Fan shuts off when iBook is moved

Greetings everyone!
I've become bored with helping everyone else out around here I'm hoping someone out there has an answer/some references for me.
Here's what's going on: my iBook's fan works just fine--kicks in when it's supposed to, doesn't run excessively--but if I move my iBook in any direction other than perfectly vertical or perfectly horizontal, the fan makes a loud grinding "whirr" and shuts off. Once the iBook is returned to its normal position, the fan resumes.
I think something's out of place in there and I'm wondering just how difficult it would be to open things up and look for myself. My warranty is long gone and I didn't purchase the extended warranty.
My apologies for the length of this post and thanks in advance for any assistance :-D

Hi Lyssa,
In my own opinion, maybe there's some loose parts or wire that protruding the motion of your fan. Opening up your iBook will be so much fun, and I hope this INSTRUCTION might give you some insight. Goodluck!
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My iBook randomly shuts off HELP!!!!!

My iBook started to make a high pitched sound which I'm guessing was the fan. After about 15 seconds of that it shut down yet still continued to make that sound. Finally after about 30 more seconds of that it stopped, so I proceeded to turn my iBook back on. When booting it started up just fine, I signed in to my Admin account with no problems. After about 2-3 minutes of use it shut off again, but this time with no high pitched sound. Now every time that I try to turn my iBook back on it boots just fine, but continues to shut off after only a minute or two of use. What can I do to fix this????

HI,
Try Resetting the PMU
Might want to run the Apple Hardware Test also.
Carolyn

IBook G4 - suddenly shuts off and sometimes screen dims

I have a new iBook G4, less than a year old. I've been very happy with it except for this week. A few days ago the screen unexpectedly dimmed to its lowest setting, even though when I tried to change the screen brightness it showed it at its highest setting. I was able to fix this by closing the computer and reopening it.
Now I was working on the internet (not many applications open even) and it just shut off. No notice, lots of battery power. The left part of the computer made a noise (like the fake laser noise from powerpoint) when it shut off. I was able to immediately turn my computer back on, but when it loaded OS X it informed me that my data and time had been set back to 2001. The clock adjusted this on its own and the computer appears to be working fine, but i did nothing to warrant it shutting itself off and now I am worried I will lose my data in the midst of my final exams. Any advice? The computer is still under warrenty and I have apple care, but I am hesistant to just get the computer fixed or even get it replaced given the problems I've been having. I owned a iBook G3 before this and never had any problems with it.
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Hi, and welcome to Apple Discussions.
You may want to try resetting the PMU.
I take it you were working under battery power when this happened?
Is it possible that your battery status indicator is incorrect? Calibrating the battery periodically can help keep the battery status indicator display accurate.

My ibook G4 shuts off randomly without warning when it's plugged in.

I have a ibook G4 (late 2004) running leopard. I recently (a month or so) installed a new HD, since original finally failed. I have been running my ibook on power only for 3 years, since my battery stopped charging.
In the last few days my computer has started shutting off completely without a pattern or warning. I hear a single click as it shuts off.
This began when I was using hulu and wanted to plug the video adapter in as a larger display on my TV. In order to do this, I closed the ibook (putting it to sleep) while on hulu. Plugged in the video adapter and opened the ibook. It seemed that my computer had shut off suddenly when I opened to awaken it. I held down the power button to hard reset it, not knowing if the comp. was off or not. A low-long beep came from within the computer and the sleep button blinked very quickly about 8 times or so(too fast to count).
Ever since then I can't trust it to stay on for any amount of time. Sometimes it will shut off as it is booting. Other times it may run for several hours then suddenly shut off.
I am wondering if some other part of this ibook is dying or if I created an issue with the video adapter? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Jason

HI,
Try Resetting the PMU
Might want to run the Apple Hardware Test also.
Carolyn

Ibook randomly shuts off

About 2 weeks ago my G4 ibook suddenly shut off. By shut off, I mean the screen went grey and the computer didn't seem to respond to anything. I tried shutting it off completely by holding down the power button and nothing happened so I ended up taking out the battery to shut it off. I waited about 10 seconds to put the battery back in and when I tried to power up the laptop the fan kicked in, but the machine itself would not boot up. I took out the battery again and tried the same process. This time it sounded like it was trying to boot up, but failed after about a second and was off again. Eventually I got the machine back up and running, but ever since then I've been having the same issue randomly (and sometimes the screen goes completely black instead of grey). Sometimes it'll go grey after only a few minute, other times I can be on it for hours. Also sometimes it resets my date, sometimes it doesn't.
I've tried to read through the forum a bit to see if anyone else has had this issue, but no topic seems to match my issue exactly. I have no real knowlege of computer hardware, so I don't even know where to begin thinking of a cause to this issue.
For reference it is running on panther and the only upgrade that I've done was adding ram about 6-8 months ago. Oh, and I tried booting it without the battery, but plugged in and got the same issue.
Is my ibook dying?

Did it have the exact same symptoms? If so, try resetting the parameter RAM and PMU again and see if it does any good.
It does sound like there may be more going on. I know that iTunes is pretty processor intensive, and am wondering if the iBook might have gotten hot enough to turn itself off. Did you happen to hear the fan come on?
Also, were you on battery only or plugged in? Processor intensive applications can run the battery down pretty quickly, which could also cause it to shut off.
Something else to try would be to run the Apple Hardware Test, which will be on one of the set of discs that originally came with your computer. It might possibly show something.
Good luck!

14" iBook G4 shuts off when I open it up

I just started having this problem two days ago with my iBook. When I close it everything looks fine, the little light in the front is lit showing that it is still on but when I open up the computer, instead of waking up, it just shuts off and then won't turn on forever. It seems like I have to hit the power button just right for it to come back on. It does not shut off at any other time, only when I open up the computer. Other than this I have no problems. It does not appear to be the battery and it does not shut down at any other time. Why is it shutting off when I try to open it and why will it not turn on again? I hope this question makes sense!

nerone,
but when I open up the computer, instead of waking up, it just shuts off and then won't turn on forever. It seems like I have to hit the power button just right for it to come back on. It does not shut off at any other time, only when I open up the computer. Why is it shutting off when I try to open it and why will it not turn on again? I hope this question makes sense!
I tried to put it to sleep through the Apple menu and it also shuts down then.
OK that last step eliminated the cable, reed/cable and inverter problems.
So that makes it a PMU problem. The PMU is actually a tiny computer within the computer. It's official designation is PMU99.
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Hardware/DeveloperNotes/Macintosh_CPUs-G4/12inchPowerBookG4/2_Architecture/chapter_3_section4.html
"Power Control IC
The power manager IC in the 12-inch PowerBook G4 is a Mitsubishi M16C/62F microprocessor, also called the PMU99. It operates with its own RAM and ROM. The functions of the PMU99 include:
*controlling the sleep and power on and off sequences
*real time clock
*controlling power to the other ICs
*monitoring the battery charge level
*controlling battery charging
*supporting the interface to the built-in keyboard
The 12-inch PowerBook G4 can operate from a 15-volt power outlet on an airliner, however for safety reasons the computer will not allow battery charging. In order for the computer to detect the connection to airline power, the airline power cable should have a sense resistor of 24.3K ohms connected between the power plug's shell and ground.
The PMU99 also provides the hardware interface to the keyboard. Software in the PMU99 IC scans the keyboard, then sends the data to the system in packets like those from the ADB. To the system, the keyboard behaves as if they were ADB devices"
Try resetting it:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=14449
If that doesn't work try what I call a deep PMU reset.
Pull all power including the battery, push the power button to remove residual charge in soft start capacitors.
Then walk away from it for at least 10 hours.
Try it again in the morning. Stuff like this has happened and people have left things alone and come back days, weeks and months later and their Macs are fine.
Richard

Ibook just shuts off !

Ok. This is bad. And strange. My iBook will just completely go black and power off out of nowhere.I have tried taking out the battery and power cable. Restarting with the command, option, shift, and power. Tried all the resetting the PMU options....and it still just shuts off. I'm hoping I even get thru this post without it powering off. Need some tips and help. Thanks !

In the System Profiler, does the energy-battery life numbers and cycles,
mAH power levels, and other information indicate the battery is shot?
If the battery is too far gone to calibrate properly due to charge cycles
and usage indications, you may have to get a replacement battery. If
the battery is tested elsewhere as known-good and the cycle count
is low, and power reserves high (4,000mA, etc) there may be a problem
in the DC-in Board or power adapter. The DC-in board helps switch
power and sometimes those fail. Also, the power management unit
may crash or other faults may not allow a reset of PMU to work.
Troubleshooting sometimes includes the need to have a known good
second battery, another power adapter, and time; re-calibrating the
computer/battery after a good battery has run near flat, and according
to the calibration instructions for that model computer from Support,
may give an indication of what to try next. Could be just the battery.
Good luck & happy computing!

IBook G4 randomly shutting off

My iBook G4 just started doing this today and it is alarming me a bit. Any thoughts are appreciated.
I have an iBook G4, running OS X 10.4.2, about a year old now, normally has been working just fine. No new software of note added recently, no new hardware either. I usually keep it asleep, though I reboot every few days.
Anyway, today it started doing this thing whereby it immediately shuts off at random intervals. It does not have the little sleeping light on and it does not respond. Holding down the power button got it to actually shut off so that it could be restarted again, though a few times it did not even want to restart. At one point after restarting it reset the clock to 1969, but then it changed it back again (I assume because I have it set to auto-sync the date and time online).
I've reset the Power Management Unit, which did not seem to have any noticeable effect. It repeated the crash about five minutes later. The screen simply goes black and it does not respond.
A few times when I tried to turn it back on (and it didn't), I could hear the fan running quite a bit. I don't think heat is the issue -- that is, it is not subjected to anything extreme, nor is it running lots of things that it is not used to running (Mail, Firefox, Word, etc.), nor does it feel hotter than usual.
Plugging it in to the wall didn't seem to change anything. I'll try swapping the battery with another iBook but I'm not sure that's the issue. My battery has, for a long time now, been acting a little funny, though: the green indicator light on the bottom of the battery (not the AC Adapter, but the battery itself), has been stuck "on" for a long time now, and pushing its little button does not give the battery status like it once did. Not sure if this is a sign of anything or not.
Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks a bunch. Everything else about it seems to work fine. All of the latest updates have been applied. Thanks.

A few days ago, my ibook wouldn't startup again. I heard the CD-player 'initialize' but after that there was no startup. Only a fan that ran quite fast.
I removed the battery for some hours and then tried again. It started up, but within a few minutes, it crashed. The screen was filled with lines, etc. In this way, it happend about ten times. Sometimes it crashed after 10 minutes. Another it couldn't awake from sleep.
Last weekend, it couldn't startup again. On Monday I removed the additional RAM (as I did before) and it started up again, but crashed later. At this moment startup isn't possible again.
I really don't know what reason this could have. It acts a little bit random-like.
Can anyone help me? To pay the replacement of my logic board is quite expensive (especially for a student)

Ibook shuts off

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