Random Shutdown Problem

Hello I started seeing the random shutdown problem around 6 weeks ago. The problem occurs every once in a while usually around the first 5 minutes of the unit booting up. When the system powers down I will try to bring it back up but it just powers down within about 15-30 seconds again. So I wait a little while about a minute, sometimes removing the battery for 30 seconds and the system will come back fine. The random shutdown has happened probably about a dozen times within the last 6 weeks. It's not causing a real big headache yet. I didn't purchase Applecare as I never do because I rarely keep a laptop for more than a year. My question is has anyone got their unit fixed what was the culprit. I've sent my unit in already once due to receiving a spinning pinwheel 90% of the time. They gutted the unit and sent it back and it has been working fine other than the RSD. I've been waiting things out to see if there is going to be a software fix for the RSD. Any tips recommendations are appreciated.

My question is has anyone got their unit
fixed what was the culprit.
Mine has not had the problem recur after replacing the heat sink a month ago. Currently Apple seems to be replacing both logic board and heat sink with a new design for the combination.
They gutted the unit and sent it back
and it has been working fine other than the RSD. I've
been waiting things out to see if there is going to
be a software fix for the RSD. Any tips
recommendations are appreciated.
General opinion would say it's a hardware problem; there won't be a software fix.
I'd say you should send in it for repair.

Similar Messages

Random shutdown problem on G5 dual 2.3 GHz w/OS 10.4.7

Hello,
I’m using a dual 2.3 GHz G5, and it’s been working flawlessly since I bought it about a year ago. Until yesterday, I was running OS 10.4.5. Yesterday I upgraded to 10.4.7, and as soon as I booted up after the install, I started having a maddening problem with my computer randomly shutting down. (Not sleeping, but a complete power down.)
At first, the shutdown would happen immediately after powering up; my computer wouldn’t even make it to the blue progress bar. I zapped the PRAM and tried something I found online about unplugging the computer for 15 seconds, then plugging it back in. It now boots up, and I can log in, but the computer still shuts down randomly.
There seems to be no pattern to the shutdowns. I tried taxing the processor by opening and resampling huge Photoshop files while lots of other apps were open, and things were fine. Then it would conk out while I was composing an email.
I’ve heard of this random shutdown problem affecting Macbooks, but I have yet to find anything about G5 towers and OS 10.4.7. Does anyone have any info/advice?
Many thanks.
G5 dual 2.3 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.7) 2.5 GB RAM, 250 GB HD
G5 dual 2.3 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.7) 2.5 GB RAM, 250 GB HD

Thanks for the advice. I did check the system.log in Console and found the following altert:
PMU FORCED SHUTDOWN, CAUSE = -122
Now, since my computer is just over a year old, and since this problem happened immediately after applying the 10.4.7 OS update, I found it hard to believe that my hardware could be responsible. After 2 days of troubleshooting, I was stumped; after a 2-hour service call, so was Apple tech support. I ended up doing an archive and install back down to 10.4.5, and all is well.
I tested this issue on other machines running 10.4.7 and had no problems. It seems that the following specific combination of elements triggered the problem:
• PowerMac G5 dual 2.3 GHz (dual 1.8 machines did not exhibit the same problem)
• OS 10.4.7
• Logging in with Open Directory/Active Directory mobile profiles
• iTunes 7
Bottom line: if you’re using a dual 2.3 GHz PowerMac with mobile OD/AD profiles, do not update to 10.4.7, and steer clear of iTunes 7, at least until there is a patch update available.
(And Apple wants to be taken seriously in the enterprise market?)
G5 dual 2.3 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.7) 2.5 GB RAM, 250 GB HD

Are the replacement Heatsinks fixing people's Random Shutdown problems?

Is the replacement heatsink (the shorter one) still the method of choice from Apple for fixing Random Shutdown problems?
Is it working for people who've had it done recently?

Does this max out the CPU?
Yes. People who advocate this are testing to see if it's possible to induce a "random" shut down.
Why would anyone want to do that?
Good question. I've seen two reasons put forward: (a) It's better to make it happen now yourself rather let it strike out of the blue at some later date (and if running this test doesn't induce RSDs you can feel confident that your computer is probably immune); (b) If you take your MacBook to an Apple Store it could be useful for demonstrating to an Apple "genius" that your computer has the problem, especially if your shutdowns are infrequent.
(personally, I don't agree with (a))
MacBook (OS 10.4.8) iMac G4 (OS 10.3.9)

Random Shutdown Problem Fixed (for now)

I experienced the same random shutdown problems/symptoms with my MacBook that have been extensively described in this forum and elsewhere. I sent it back for repair under AppleCare and it was returned in 3 days. It has been running now for 4 days with no problems and far cooler and quieter (the fan rarely comes on) than it was before. The repair sheet indicates that the heat sink and heat assembly unit were replaced.
I'll keep my fingers crossed, but at least in my case and perhaps others, the problem may simply have to do with the thermal contact with the heat sink going bad and the processor simply shuts down due to overheating.
MacBook 2 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Followup:
They told me something interesting at my Mac Retailer. They have had two other machines brought in doing the same thing. They tried new logic boards with no success, they tried new thermal assemblies with no luck, new ram - nothing seemed to solve the problem.
What they finnally did was replace the Hard Drive - they tell me this has fixed the problem. Now I don't know if that is what they'll do to mine. The other two machines had the 60gb drives - mine is a 100gb, but we'll see. From all I have heard, this doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Anyway, we'll see what happens.
Anyone else hear anything about replacing the hard drive?
Clayton

Have any T430x users had random shutdown problems?

like this one with the T400x model:
T400s random shutdowns - Lenovo Community
If not I'll buy a new one, otherwise I'll buy another brand. Thanks!

Have you run all the newest updates at the new Lenovo update site. It is up and running and took my computer a while to update including a new bios.
This helps but will/can make it worst for a while.
My Take:
If you laptop is new OR you have just installed a good bit of software OR did anything to move alot of files around on your drive it will take time for Vista to re index the files. Being that the processor is slow it will suck up resources that are required for the touchpad or even the keyboard. Mine would even freeze the keyboard and you could type and nothing would happen and then all of a sudden everything you typed pops up on the screen.
I have found that when ever you "upset" the indexing it is best to just leave your computer alone and let it do it's thing. You will see alot of hard drive and processor activity. After this stops, all is well and you should not have any more problems.
This is my opinion on what is happening and I have noticed the same on all three of my X301 units one with normal hard drive and one with 80gb SSD and 128gb SSD. Basically the slower processor is fine 90% of the time but seems to bog down a bit when asked to do too much.
Try this and see. Leave you laptop up and running for several hours, make sure it is set to not go to sleep and come back and see if it does not make a difference.

Random shutdown problem after replacement of new MB

i got the replacement of my MB one month ago due to the random shut down problem. the symptom before the replacement was not only random shut down but also that the MB could not be turned on once a while.
now it's been one month after i got the replacement from apple store, there is no randon shutdown at all, but when i got up this morning, i couldn't turn it on. i tried several times, but it just turned out to be dead. any suggestion about what i'm supposed to do? shall i ask for a refund or a replacement? i'm just afraid of that i would get a defect model again.

thanks for both replies.
i usually close the MB when the shutdown is completed, i know the shutdown won't be completed if i close it right after i shut it down.
and also, i got a whole new mb as a replacement from apple store rather than having it repared and just the logical board replaced. and it's really weird, since it was said the new logical board doesn't have whatsoever problem. i also read some news on tuaw or infiniteloop (i forgot which one it is), the RSS is not really caused by the faulty logical board, it was the heat sink melt by the high temperature coming from the intel processor which shortcut the circuits around it. now i'm totally desperated. it looks like unless apple drops the stupid intel chip, otherwise the RSS will never go ever.

Random Shutdown Problem (External HD problem?)

I've had a problem that's been getting worse recently. My MacBook Pro will freeze up, and a multi-language "you need to shut-down" message will cover the screen at seemingly random times. I've started to notice that this only happens when I'm using iTunes. I have a good amount of music, and it's all on my external hard-drive. I think this may play a part in the error, but I can't tell anything besides that. It's happened after my external HD was asleep and I clicked on a song to play it, and its also happened when my external was awake and playing my music. Also, it happened when I just closed iTunes. To resolve it I have to do a hard reboot.
Any possible solutions? I'm a student, and I don't want it to happen when I'm in the middle of a paper or other projects.

Turns out it is what they call a kernel panic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_panic
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106227
Unfortunately they don't have much to say as for fixing it...
Looks like I'll have to make a trip to the Apple store.

Pro Random Shutdown problem?

So we bought a 15" Pro and it has this odd problem of just randomly shutting down. The battery has power in it and most of the time it is plugged into the wall anyway. Sometimes music is playing or I am even actily using teh laptop and then it just shutts down and I have to reboot. I know I will have to take it in for repairs and/or replacement, but I was wondering if anyone else has heard of or experienced this problem and have any idea what would cause such an issue?

The problem you are describing could be a bad battery. You should check to see if your battery is part of the recall (https://support.apple.com/macbookpro15/batteryexchange/). If it is...there's your problem.
If it's not, it still could be the battery, but you should try resetting the PMU first (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303319). If that doesn't work, call AppleCare and ask for a replacement battery...
Lots of folks on these boards have described similar experiences....try using the "Search Discussions" feature next time...

Random shutdown problems, MBL late 2011

Hi, I have a late 2011 MBP 13". I bought new mushkin 8gb ram (2x4gb), 10600 pc3. When i switch out the rams, macbook randomly shuts down sometimes. At the same time, if I mix up the rams, put one of the 4gb sticks in and leave an original 2gb stick in their, it works fine? Why is this happening?
This is the new ram i bought.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226166

That's excellent RAM and should work well in your model. I'm not sure why, when you mix the RAM, your machine doesn't crash nor why, with both sticks installed, your computer crashes. It could be that you've one bad stick of the new RAM or that you somehow damaged the DIMM socket when you installed the RAM.
Try, with both new modules installed, to run Rember - this will help eliminate one or more sticks as damaged.
Clinton

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.

Is random shutdown a problem on newly purchased MBs as well?

I am considering buying a couple of macbooks for my kids, but am troubled by all these reports of the random shutdown problem. Has anyone experienced this problem on macbooks purchased since say mid-August, or is it only on the original factory run? i.e. I am wondering if Apple has figured out the hardware problem and quietly fixed it? The alternative is a Fujitsu laptop (which I am typing on now--have had it for two years and it's great but my kids like the macbook). Any feedback from newer macbook owners would be appreciated. Thanks.

I'm not a new Macbook owner but certainly read this forum enough to know that the random shutdown problem isn't isolated to specific dates of manufacture. Those who are affected have machines ranging from the earliest to the most recent.
That said, if you search around here, you'll also read again and again that the number of people affected is very small. There has been a figure of 10% thrown around, which isn't exactly scientific in its basis.
Buy the machines. Your kids will love you, you'll love yourself and all will be right with the world. Apple isn't going to just let this thing continue. When they find a lasting fix, they'll implement it somehow, either through a recall or on a case by case basis. The benefits of owning a Macintosh over a PC really do far outweigh the potential that one could be stricken with a problem that will soon be fixed.
Then again, you may never have the problem at all. I have not and have been using this one since late May/early June.

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,

Random Shutdown in 2010 for a 2006 Macbook

Hello-
I have a 2006 Macbook 1.83 GHz processor and I never had the whole random shutdown problem previously... it burned through batteries like nothing and I was about to install my third hard drive, but no random shutdown problems. Well, now I have it...
Anyway, it is out of warranty, obviously.
1) Will Apple still replace the heatsink, since it was defective even though I am out of warranty?
2) If not, does anyone know if by replacing the heatsink that should fix the problem?
Thanks

Sure Apple will replace the heat sync. At a price. I may be something else though. It might be full if dust after all these years. You could try putting a vacuum cleaner over the in vent and give it a good sucking. Worked for a friend of mine...

Random Shutdown: Locked Clockspeed, Processor Voltage Correlation?

I use Hardware Monitor to keep track of more sensor readouts than just temps. I recommend everyone install it. Using it, I've discovered some weird behavior in the processor clockspeed and voltage that correlates in a predictable with my typical macbook random shutdown problem. I wonder if others witness the same correlation.
Normally, according to my sensor readings, the clockspeed and cpu voltage fluctuate frequently and continually, presumably according to the demands on the processor. Clockspeed typically runs between 1333Mhz and 2000Mhz, voltage between 1.00 and 1.30V.
When running like this, it is subject to random shutdowns at any time, but most especially — indeed with absolute reliability, so to speak — within ten minutes of waking from sleep — regardless of whether i'm using mail, surfing, playing music, or running intense calculations and (so far as i can tell), regardless of how many or few processes are running simultaneously, and regardless of temperature readings. Indeed, now with the new firmware update my temps are quite low. In fact, since the computer most reliably shuts down soon after waking up, it's temp at shutdown often registers no more than the mid-50s (it'll shut down at 47).
After the macbook shuts down, it refuses to restart reliably with a simple press of the power button. Like many others, I have to hold down the power button for about ten seconds, until I hear the pained protracted beep, before the computer will enter into the normal booting process.
After it boots up like this from a shutdown — and this is what I haven't seen enough commentary on — the processor speed remains locked at 1000Mhz and the voltage at .99V until the computer goes to sleep again.
While the computer is locked into this slow-clockspeed-low-voltage mode, it is absolutely reliable. It never shuts down randomly. It runs much slower. Which is really noticeable and frustrating when using any graphics-intense or movie app.
So my questions are:
Does anyone else experience this sort of locking processor behavior?
Why would the processor lock like this?
Is it possible that the sensors are wrong? That in fact the processor is fluctuating normally but now the computer doesn't "know" it?
How would the processor's ability to vary its clockspeed and the voltage it draws affect its propensity to shutdown randomly?
I would be grateful for the observations of others regarding clockspeed and voltage at shutdown and after rebooting.
Thanks.
macbook 2.0 Ghz, 1.25GB, 80GB, week 20 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

hi
I have exactly same problems and symptoms.
It was a refurbished week 20 unit from apple uk it arrived in excellent condition and worked perfectly for two weeks without the fan comeing on at all it was perfectly quiet but hot.
As this was my first mac I was unaware that this was abnormal I had heard that they ran hot but being new to mac I was on a learning curve. Then two days after the remorse return period it began to shut down the first time was after a period of sleep just after I opened the lid. It then was and still is impossible to start it from warm or cold in the normal way, but only by holding the power down until beep. Then it will work for days at 27 deg c without a problem all be it at the 1 gig reduced speed which as you say is frustrating to say the least. Applecare UK don't acknowledge the problem at all they just want to treat it as a normal warrenty repair at my inconvenience. I am at present awaiting a more generous response from apple. I'm demanding a replacement unit but they just want we to fill out their standard web questionaire. (with non relavant tick boxs) If only one could speak to a real knowledgeable individual at apple I'm sure I'd get some satisfaction. But in this age of executive big bonuses what can one expect.
I hope Apple get real with this soon because the disscussion forums are getting overloaded with this issue its getting harder to login have you noticed.
yours unhappy customer.

After a year, another chain of random shutdowns

can anybody tell what's going on with my computer from a remote desktop? by now that should be easy.
i had random shutdowns problems last year, one month after buying my macbook pro, but they seemed over after the download of the oct.2006 firmware. now they're back. as random as they were. could it be possible that the new battery update clashed with something? the appearance seem to have occurred just after that update. maybe a coincidence. but i had started to have battery failures - computer shutdowns at 95% of battery charge, with 28 cycles count - and was about to go replace it (the sick battery).
just i cant stand abandoning my computer in a dark room with many others, so i didn't turn it in and kept it on ACDC.
anybody may guess what i should do to avoid a premature death?

There's nothing anyone here can do about this. We're all just users like you. Was the phone still covered by warranty? Was there an explanation from Apple?

Random Shutdown Problem

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for