[grendal]

Is my situation experienced by any of you?

I had ordered my Imac just prior to the new aluminum model the Summer of 2007. As I ordered it with the upgrade 2.33 Ghz. Intel dual2 core and also with an extra 2 gigs of memory, 256 graphics card. As it came with OS X 10.4, I had downloaded boot camp and installed Windows XP Home. No problems. Installed City of Heroes, no problems. It ran fine, till about a month later, while playing all of a sudden, It shut down and reboots. Where I would need to start all over with pressing the option key. At times it would need to do a disc scan since it shut down out of the ordinary.All year, as I played, it would shut down every so often, usually after and hour of play, sometimes, as early as 5-10 minutes. It was irritating at first... still is.

I thought at first it was overheated, or may be too little RAM, but recently found that it may be the power main being too low comparing the voltage with PC systems. I still am experiencing the same shut down problems just to deal with it, but if there is a solution, I would like to know and understand how to fix it if possible. If this is how it is, well, I will just need to take it as it is.

[Arkham_c]

Does it only shut down while in Boot Camp, or does it do so in OS X also?

[grendal]

This only happens while playing City of Heroes, in Boot Camp. I suppose any other type of high end games would be the same, but I have never tried other games. OS X works fine as well as Windows XP. No problems with MS Office or any of the Internet browsers, Internet Explorer/Safari while in Windows XP.

[grendal]

These are the things I have tried. Increased RAM memory to 3 Gigs, placed a fan in front of the screen (LOL), Lowered the Graphic resolution for the game (very low quality image, like the early TV video games), I had even resulted to the game support site only to be shut out saying that they only support PC systems....

I had read on another site that it will take at least 450-700 volts of power to have a stable system to play a High end PC game, without having the computer shutdown.... Is this actually true? The IMacs have .....? how much? 180 v? I thought this should be the reason, but wanted to check if someone out there knew.

[Drakino]

The numbers you are seeing are probably recommended wattages for power supplies in self built computers to power modern desktop video cards. The iMac uses a mobile graphics card, and mobile CPU, so power requirements are lower.

The problem might be a Windows blue screen. To eliminate this possibility, follow these directions to turn off the autoreboot when a bluescreen occurs.

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings to open the Startup and Recovery dialog box.
4. Clear the Automatically restart check box, and click OK the necessary number of times.
5. Restart your computer for the settings to take effect.

If a blue screen appears next time, jot down the technical details, as they may point to the problem. If no blue screen appears even after changing the above setting, something is indeed causing the system to just reboot. If it is still under warranty, contact AppleCare to have the system looked at, and provide them details on exactly how to trigger the problem. If it is out of warranty, it might be worth talking to a local authorized Apple repair shop and see how much they estimate it would cost to fix. You line of thinking with the power isn't completely off, as it is possible the internal power supply isn't pushing out the power it should be.

[grendal]

Thank you Drakino,
I'll follow as explained and suggested.

[grendal]

Dear Drakino,

The advice that you gave appears to have done the trick. I will continue to play for however long till the same problem occurs. If it doesn't occur within a month or two. It must have been solved.

crossing my fingers.

[grendal]

I was wondering if any of you had this same problem in any other games in PC format

As it looks, it has been repaired by clearing the Automatically restart setting.

[grendal]

It happened again recently.

I was on a team with four others and all of a sudden everything stopped moving on the screen, sound started to buzz continuously and then IT restarted. Before it restarted, there was a lot of movement and action from enemy attacks as well as the hero team. May be it was just too much for the IMac to handle.

It didn't do this for sometime, as I didn't team for that duration. But doing Solo missions is a bit boring after a while. Teaming is usually more fun, especially when you come up with a great team.

It just may be the way it is, in which I need to deal with it as is. Hopefully there is something else that I can do.

[Drakino]

Ok, so since you changed the setting I recommended, and didn't see a blue screen, it's likely a hardware fault of some kind. Is the unit still under warranty? It's worth calling Apple about if it is.

Even if the unit is out of warranty, it could be something simple, like too much heat buildup due to dust in the system. Grab a can of compressed air and see how much you can blow out of the vents in the system and see if that improves the situation.

[grendal]

Thank you for your suggestions. I just extended its warranty, so I do that.

First, as you stated, I will try to air out the vents. Even continue to use a small fan under the screen vent.

Anyway,

This shut down problem only happens when running the game. I can understand that in some situations, I lose connection or have a lot of lag on screen. This is common with other players, but to shut down and reboot is unusual for them.

[grendal]

I had just received an e-mail stating a Mac version of City of Heroes will be coming out soon. There was all this discussion about not being wise to even think of releasing it in Mac format, but it seems like they had no choice. I'm glad to hear this. Now, I may not need to use boot camp to open Windows just to play CoH. LOL