My macbook pro won't shut down, restart or log off

it's a month old. was behaving fine until about a week ago when it wouldn't shut down because itunes kept restarting itself whenever i quit. realised it was because of my alarm clock widget, which i've now removed. so the itunes is sorted, BUT, my mac still won't shut down.
what can i do? someone told me to download onyx but i haven't a clue what to do with it?

Don't upgrade to Snow Leopard in the hope that it will eliminate any preexisting problems on your MBP — it almost certainly won't, and you may have other problems as well (e.g., incompatible applications and startup items). Solve the problem first, then perform the upgrade.
If you Safe Boot the computer, will it shut down normally afterward? If so, disable all third-party startup items (System Preferences > Accounts > select your account and click the Startup Items tab), boot normally, and test again. If you can still shut down normally, one of the startup items is at fault. Re-enable them one at a time, testing after each addition, until you determine which one is causing the problem.
There are also applications that can run in the background and don't show up in the Force Quit dialog box — but they do appear in Activity Monitor when you instruct it to list Active Processes. Some can interfere with shutdown by refusing to quit when the Shut Down command is given. If the suggestion in the preceding paragraph yields no progress, let us know what processes are active on your computer when no applications are shown in the Force Quit dialog box.

Similar Messages

My Macbook Pro won't shut down/force quit/log off...

I've been having a problem turning my macbook pro off for about a week now. It won't shut down, force quit or log off. I've tried holding the power button down as well, with no luck. It won't even go to the sign in screen ....
I'm not sure what the problem could be because I haven't done anything different lately... no new software, websites, etc.. Nothing came up with my Avast full system scan either.
Help please! Thanks in advance.
-Jessica

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) - Apple Support

Macbook Pro Won't Shut Down, Restart, or Logout after using Onyx.

Hi,
Earlier this week I found that my macbook wouldn't shutdown, restart, or logout from the finder menu (or any other menu, such as Onyx or Software Update). The only way I could get it to restart was through Terminal. I tried every solution, but nothing would fix it. After backing everything up, and doing a clean reinstall, everything was fine. Then, when I used Onyx, I tried to install the Archives Preference pane and the Processor Preference pane. The window just sort of hung there not responding - and finally I had to force quit Onyx. Now my system is back to not shutting down, restarting, or being able to log out again. The good thing is that I think I've isolated the problem. The bad thing is that I have no idea how to fix it. I tried uninstalling Onyx, but that did nothing. I've used Onyx regularly and have never had any issues, and I can't seem to find anyone else with this problem.
Can anyone help? I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum for this topic. If there is a better forum for it, let me know and I can repost.
Another problem that I'm having is when I open iTunes, the dock icon comes up for about a second and crashes. I tried completely reinstalling iTunes, but that hasn't worked. Perhaps I missed something? BTW - everything else is operating just fine (i.e. Quicktime, etc.)

HI and Welcome to Apple Discussions...
Run Disk Utility from your Mac install disc.
Insert your install disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
*(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)*
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
While you have the Disk Utility window open, look at the bottom of the window. Where you see Capacity and Available. *Make sure there is always 10% to 15% free disk space*
If you cannot boot from your install disc, try booting in Safe Mode
You do not need Onyx, especially not good for Snow Leoaprd. You can run cron tasks from the iStat Pro widget available here.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/status/istatpro.html
Carolyn
Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit

MacBook Pro won't shut down - restarts instead

I have to say, this is one of the strangest issues I have ever seen on a computer, ever. I just recently (5 days ago) received my new, and first, Mac, a 15" MacBook Pro, and have not heavily used it since - I've been very slowly organizing my files to transfer over. After the 10.5.8 update, though the OS seemed a bit more sluggish overall, there were no real issues.
Just today though, when trying to turn the computer off, I realized I just couldn't. Whether I select Shut Down from the Apple menu, or press the power key on the MacBook itself, the system actually does a restart instead of a shut down. I've tested this connected to power, and running off the battery, and occurs in both cases. I've repaired disk permissions, no luck. After reading around, as a last measure, I reinstalled OS X with the Archive & Install option. And still, I cannot shut down the machine.
While this never occurred under 10.5.7, I have no reason to believe that the update broke it, since it didn't happen immediately after updating (I updated the day the update was available, this occurred only today.)
What are your guys' suggestions? Is there anything I can do? Or can I only take it in to the Apple Store at this point? I already have a reservation set up, but if I could do something, that would be great, because I don't wanna have to keep this thing on for 3 days straight.
Thanks!
Message was edited by: wisewarrior

I occasionally have the same problem as the last post of yours. It won't go to sleep when I close the lid. One day I were walking with the Macbook Pro in my Oakley Flak Pack and when I sat down on the bus and took it out it was really hot! I was afraid I'd destroyed my backpack! Also, since it didn't go to sleep, I didn't have enough battery power for the bus trip! Quite annoying!
My tip to you, is to call Apple Support. If they don't have an answer to your problem, and have to ask the engineers for help, then just return it and get a new one!

Macbook pro won't shut down, restart or logout and finder cannot open

I installed an update and restarted my Macbook Pro. After it restarted, I opened iTunes and it lagged everything so I couldn't doing anything for like 2 hours. Then finally I was able to close iTunes through command-option-esc. And everytime I open iTunes it just continues to lag again and so I would have to keep doing command-option-esc. I thought a way to fix this was to restart my Macbook Pro again, but this time it wouldn't restart. It would close everything, remove everything that was on desktop, and only the Dock would just remain. I've also tired shutting it down and logging out, but the same thing would happen. Everything on the Dock would open except for Finder. Don't know about iTunes though. I don't want to open that just in case it lags my Macbbok Pro again.
So can anyone help me? Give me any advice on how to fix this problem, without losing all of my files?

The advice depends upon which OS you are running. Well the advice is the same the procedure is different.

Macbook Pro will not shut down/restart/sleep/log out after Mountain Lion update

Dear all,
I upgraded from Lion to Mountain Lion yesterday and since then I have encountered a few issues:
- The only way I can shut down my computer is to hold down the power button or entering commands in terminals. The commands under the Apple menu do not work at all. No window opens when I click on it.
- The about this mac, force to quit, sleep, shut down and restart button, log out do not work.
- When I restart my computer, it takes 3-4 minutes to log into the account (it used to be less than 1 minute, I have an SSD).
I have tried all of these solutions to solve the problem:
- I created another user account and I do not encounter the same problems. It logs in quickly, can shut down etc.
- I have repaired the disk and the disk authorisations using disk utility
- I have cleaned up all caches and did maintenance using OnyX
- I have cleaned up all ACL using terminal
- I have never installed Kapersky (this was the cause of the problem for some people in the past)
I am starting to be a bit short on ideas. All I know is that there is a problem with my user account. I do not want to do a clean install as I have quite a lot of work stored on this user account and preferences that took me ages to set up. If I have to start fresh I will but I would rather avoid this extreme solution.
Has anyone else experienced such an issue? If yes, how did you solve it?
Thank you very much

Had the same problem and this worked for me:
Try deleting following two items:
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.db
Make sure you take a screenshot of your current dock since deleting these files will reset your dock to default.
Now open terminal and do a sudo reboot w/ your password.
This solved the problem for me.

My macbook pro won't shut down i want to shut it down and then turned it back on and i want it to work

Hi,
I put in a dvd-r and then it won't come out so i shut it down and then turned it back on the dvd came out phew but then matters got worse and my macbook pro won't shut down however i want to shut it down the way it should and when i turn it back on it work and shut down back the way you have to.
Please help

Perform SMC and PRAM resets and see if that helps the situation:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
Ciao.

Cannot shut down, restart, or log off iMac

I have an iMac with OS 10.5.2. I use the Virus Barrier virus protection program and have not had any problems with it. However, immediately after installing the latest Virus Barrier update, my computer began acting strangely.
Most importantly, since that time I have not been able to shut down, restart, or log off my computer. When I try to take any of these actions, I get the standard message box asking, for example, "Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now?" I click on "Shut down" and the desktop icons and the menu bar disappear but then nothing at all happens. Sometimes, after a while, I may get a message saying that the action "timed out." I then click on the Finder icon on the dock, and the desktop icons and menu bar reappear. I've tried force-quitting the Finder, but that did not work. Even if I manually shut off the power, when I turn it back on, the desktop immediately appears without the usual beep and without going through the normal startup procedures. It seems that even when I turn off the power manually, the computer itself does not actually shut down.
Additionally, my screen saver no longer works. Although I have it set to come on automatically, it never does.
I contacted Virus Barrier support which advised me to uninstall the program. I did, but that did not help the problem. I've tried "Repair Disk Permissions" in the Disk Utility application, but that did not help either.
Apart from the above, I still seem to be able to use the programs on my computer with no problem.
Does anyone have any idea what is causing this problem and what I can do about it?
Thank you.

DO NOT JUST PULL THE PLUG! Press and hold the power button until it shuts down fully. This can take several seconds. Once you are sure the fans are off, click the mouse a couple of times to make sure there is no response, then you can pull the plug, to be sure.
I suggest that you then start up in Safe Mode by holding the Shift key as soon as you hear the chime. The OS should start in the normal fashion, except you will see a Safe Boot legend.
Once you've logged in, bin the Finder .plist as suggest, and I'm make sure that all the Virus Barrier files are well and truly gone as well. Don't forget to check /Library/StartupItems and ~/Library/StartupItems. Once you reboot, things should be back to normal.
As suggested, AV programs are pretty much a waste of CPU on a Mac. If you really must have one, I recommend ClamXAV. Apart from anything else, it's free.

My Macbook Pro won't shut down or restart without forcing shut down. Hangs on grey screen. iTunes not recognizing iPod.

HELP!!!
Here are the specs of my machine:
2011 13.3" MacBook Pro
4 GB Ram/320 GB HD
For the past several months my MacBook Pro refuses to shut down or restart without holding down the power button. Whenever I choose to restart or shut down the computer, it will hang on a grey screen. I have even tried letting it hang for an hour, and it still won't shut down. I notice that once in a while it will retart or shut down correctly if I had not used opened iTunes since turning it on. However, even manually closing iTunes before shutting down or restarting does not solve the problem. It seems as though it only shuts down if iTunes was not used since restarting the computer. Is this a registry error? Do I need to reinstall iTunes? I noticed this problem began happening after I uninstalled Kaspersky Virus Scanner, could that be the problem as well? Also, I cannot guarantee that the problem is only associated with iTunes. I just noticed that one of the few times it shut down or restarted correctly, iTunes coincidentally had not been used. Also, this problem started happening while I was still using Lion and has continued despite upgrading to Mountain Lion.
Also, whenever I update my iPod through iTunes, it won't eject properly, and a transparent icon of the iPod displays on the screen even after I have removed it from the USB port. Furthermore, the iPod will only be recognized by iTunes and will only be updated the first time I plug it in. After removing it and plugging it back in, it won't recognize or update the device unless I shut down and restart the computer. I have the latest addition of iTunes. I also have two iPods, one 80 GB Classic, and one 8 GB Nano, and I have the same problem with both.
I have AppleCare. Should I take my macbook to the genius bar?
Applications I normally use are Word, Safari, FireFox, iTunes, FinalDraft, Photo Booth, Notes, Mail, App Store, etc. No real heavy lifting.
Any feedback would be very much appreciated. :-)
Thank you everyone!!

I have this question too.

Macbook Pro won't shut down or restart under Lion.

After installing Lion, my i5 Macbook Pro will not shut down or restart. The shutdown starts and then hag=ngs with a grey screen and a spinning process indicator. Thoughts?

Mine too. Restart and shutdown do longer works. Have to hard crash it each time.
Called Apple, they have no clue.
Buy a PC. At least Microsoft admit problems and offer solutions.

My Macbook Pro will not shut down, restart or sleep, with either Apple Logo at the top or the power button.

Hi, I have a 13" Macbook Pro with Mountain Lion, and I've had it for less than six months.
It has worked perfectly ever since I got it and I have been completely happy with it, until today. My computer's had a variety of problems; The screen has turned black three times now in the middle of me using it (actively typing or using the touch pad). After clicking some keys or swiping the touchpad, it comes back, but I cannot figure out why this is happening. The big problem, however, is that it won't shutdown.
I usually shut my computer down at night, and I was trying to today, but it just didn't work. I have tried shutting down by pressing the power button; no dialogue or question box comes up. I have tried shutting down from the Apple Logo at the top left of the screen; nothing happened. My computer won't sleep, restart or shutdown at all. When I close the screen, it goes darkens and lights up as usual, but it won't shut down! What's more, none of the options in the Apple Logo will work; for this post, I tried to see the About This Mac screen, and nothing happens. At best, the Rainbow Disc of Pain will appear and then just go away. The menu does pop up though when I click on it, my Wi-Fi is fine, the apps work, the keyboard's fine, the touchpad is great, everything works but that.
I have tried Command+Tab to see open applications; I have shut them all down till only Finder is left. I have tried click Force Quit, of course, nothing happened. Nothing at all, not even a dialogue box. I have tried emptying my trash, along with all the 'sketchy' applications. I have plugged my computer in, just in case. Nothing has made any difference and I am very worried!
I love my macbook pro, and have up to this point, but now I am extremely worried about it; all my important files are on it, and I have nothing to back up with.
Please, please, please, please help!
FYI; I have avast! Virus Database. I cannot imagine that that would cause a problem. Please help me!!!

Yay! Solved my own question; just did a hard shutdown, worked like a charm! Funny, didn't before. But who am I to question salvation?

MacBook Pro won't shut down. At all.

I have been googling this for days now. The only way I can shut down my core duo macbook pro is by holding down the power button. Using the restart and shutdown options in the menu don't work. At all.
When I try to click shut down nothing happens, I have tried waiting as long as an hour and it doesn't quit any applications or shut down.
I have tried quitting all open applications first, still no luck. I have tried resetting the PRAM, no luck.
I need to update the firmware to version 1.2 and I can't because the MBP won't shutdown by itself and a hard reboot won't let me upgrade the firmware.
Please help!
Ben

I am new the forums, i read a lot but don't post. but i think this might be something that will help the shutdown/restart problems. I have recently encountered the same problem and i found that it might be connected to airport wireless. the only thing that i started doing differently was using my airport and that is when i started having the trouble. if i turn off airport before i shutdown/restart then it will proceed with no problems, but if i keep it on then i get the blue screen of death that goes no where. give it a shot and let me know if it works for you. it is a bandaid at least until apple gets their airport troubles fixed.

MacBook Pro won't shut down since itunes 7

Since installing iTunes 7 on my MBPro Intel Core Duo with OSX 10.6.8, once I open iTunes, iTunes freezes and requires a forced quit. Then, my MBPro won't shut down, it hangs at the end and requires a forced shutdown with the power button. Any suggestions appreciated.

You can force quit by clicking on the Apple logo in the upper left:
Then selecting the app in the window that comes up and hitting "Force Quit"

Macbook Pro won't shut down or restart because of Finder

I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013). Recently, I tried to shut it down, but couldn't. I closed all running apps, then clicked on shut down, but nothing happened except the menu bar on the top of the screen vanished, but the dock was still there. I hit Command+Tab to check which apps were running, and it showed only Finder. When I right clicked on Finder it said Application not Responding. There was a relaunch option as well and I clicked it but nothing happened. How can I fix this? I have to force shutdown it every time. Though I am still able to put it to sleep.

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

MacBook pro won't shut down only after sync with iTunes?

MacBook pro stays on blue screen with spinning gear when I try to shut down only if I have synced either an iPhone or iPad with iTunes. If i have not synced with iTunes the shut is ok.
Any suggestions would be great :)

I had the same problem and just fixed it.
What I did:
- Launch Disk Utility > Select Macintosh HD > Verify Disk
Let the Verify run until it's done
- If you are seeing any error try the Repair disk
It's possible you need to restart (holding cmd+r while restarting)
- Next I did a verify disk permissions and a repair disk permissions
- reboot
After this the shutdown issue was gone!
Hope this solves your problem as well.

My macbook pro won't shut down, restart or log off

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