Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > MacBook Sudden Shutdown

MacBook Sudden Shutdown (Page 2)
Thread Tools
BillB_SD
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 12, 2006, 01:29 PM
 
     
BillB_SD
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 12, 2006, 01:30 PM
 
     
Yakov
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Jerusalem / Pittsburgh
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 12, 2006, 09:25 PM
 
my macbook/itunes has now trained me to import the 1st track of a disc, then cancel import, then restart importing from the second track. this seems to have addressed the problem. unlike yall, all my shutdowns happen when importing music into itunes, except for one terrifying instance when i was syncing my ipod with itunes (with no disc in the drive)
     
mac_cap
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 14, 2006, 10:03 AM
 
Hi,
I have a similar issue with the random shutdowns although mine doesn't seem as bad (sorry folks). Mine happens every few days, again for no apparent reason. Although in my logging it seems to be after long periods of sleeping. I'm powered by AC constantly and yes this puppy gets pretty hot on my desk. I wanted to know if any mini Mac users are seeing this problem? I've been talking them up to my Mom and I didn't want her to have to deal with this possible defect. BTW, after every crash I have the -82 for the Reason for Previous Shutdown in my /var/log/system.log. Thanks for responses on my mini Mac question.
     
mac_cap
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 14, 2006, 04:41 PM
 
This may be of interest to you all:
It hammers home the idea that most of these issues are heat related after all...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....96120&tstart=0
( Last edited by mac_cap; Aug 14, 2006 at 07:24 PM. )
     
davdav
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: May 2005
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 14, 2006, 05:06 PM
 
I sure hope so
     
Yakov
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Jerusalem / Pittsburgh
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 16, 2006, 02:11 AM
 
woah, it's been getting MUCH worse. i get 4-language panics and sudden shutdowns all the time now. very very scary since i'm leaving for 10 months in Israel starting on Tuesday. i'm going to go to the store and demand a replacement unit, i think... :o
     
Ham Sandwich
Guest
Status:
Reply With Quote
Aug 16, 2006, 06:47 AM
 
I sent my 1.83 Macbook off to Kentucky for three weeks due to the random shutdown problem. Just got it back this past Monday and seems all that they "fixed" was replacing the heatsink.

I put it through the paces of trying to get it to shutdown by itself and can't get it to. Seems fixed to me for the moment.
     
HarriganC
Forum Regular
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Rhode Island
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 16, 2006, 11:01 AM
 
Called in Monday due to one week of "on-hold part on order," they put on a global search, I received the book back today, and they sent it back without the part they were holding for!!!! I called in and they were just as appauled as I was, seeing that it was the part that the machine was holding for. This was the second time my machine had been in for the random shutdown problem, fist time a logic board was replaced, and this time they replaced heatsink, and some other assembly that I can decipher. Long story short, they gave me the option of sending it in again, or, getting a replacement. I have opted for a replacement primarily because everytime it comes back there is atleast one new pry-mark on the bottom case from when the tried to remove the top case. I hope that the new machine serves me better.

CH
     
brrabbit
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 18, 2006, 03:40 PM
 
Well my new white MacBook (1 gig ram, 80 gig drive, is jusy crashing all over the place. Posts here mention the fan? Mine gets so hot when it's running that it will burn my left leg on my lap. The fan has never been heard from. Now it cannot even be started without using the # 1 system disk first. This unit is less than 2 weeks old!!!!! Grrrrr. I think Apple has a major problem here. I'm about to call them.
     
jaydon34
Senior User
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: NY
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 18, 2006, 04:05 PM
 
get the logic board replaced using your applecare then install the macbook firmware update. Thats should help a ton
myflickr : mytwitter : twentyonethirty
17" Macbook Pro 2.6Ghz 4gb 200GB HD: 8gb Iphone 3g: Hp Mini 1000 Netbook
     
davidsi
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Feb 2005
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 18, 2006, 05:55 PM
 
Originally Posted by brrabbit
Well my new white MacBook (1 gig ram, 80 gig drive, is jusy crashing all over the place. Posts here mention the fan? Mine gets so hot when it's running that it will burn my left leg on my lap. The fan has never been heard from. Now it cannot even be started without using the # 1 system disk first. This unit is less than 2 weeks old!!!!! Grrrrr. I think Apple has a major problem here. I'm about to call them.
i had the same problem. just call applecare. tell them u have random shutdowns, u tried resetting pram etc. and send it back. they replaced my discoloration, and a lot of toher stuff ie logic board, heatsink, and hasnt crashed since. i dont think the smc firmware update helps with the random shutdonws.
     
Guy Kuo  (op)
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Aug 2001
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 20, 2006, 03:35 AM
 
Replacement MacBook still running without glitches. I'm starting to trust my Mac again.
     
tadunne
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 20, 2006, 01:02 PM
 
I was just doing a few tests using the yes > /dev/null trick to use 100% and the machine just shut off and had all the classic sudden shutdown problems..

I can reproduce the problem by doing the following... put the machine to sleep and leave a couple hours to make sure the machine is cold when it wakes from sleep.

Wake from sleep and then stright away run two yes > /dev/null commands in two different terminal windows to max out both cores.. wait a couple of mins and the machine shuts down.

Now if I wake from cold and then let the machine warm up a bit then run the YES command it handles that fine, no matter what I try?

This makes me think the problem is related to the temp sensor in some way? Maybe on my machine it just freaks with such a quick temp rise and shuts the machine down? Maybe different senors are more sensitive than others?

Can some of you guys try a 100% cpu from cold and let me know what happens please?

I probably will take the machine in for repair as a thermal shutdown is something that should never really happen!?
     
chadseld
Forum Regular
Join Date: May 2001
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 20, 2006, 10:57 PM
 
Originally Posted by tadunne
I was just doing a few tests using the yes > /dev/null trick to use 100% and the machine just shut off and had all the classic sudden shutdown problems..

I can reproduce the problem by doing the following... put the machine to sleep and leave a couple hours to make sure the machine is cold when it wakes from sleep.

Wake from sleep and then stright away run two yes > /dev/null commands in two different terminal windows to max out both cores.. wait a couple of mins and the machine shuts down.

Now if I wake from cold and then let the machine warm up a bit then run the YES command it handles that fine, no matter what I try?

This makes me think the problem is related to the temp sensor in some way? Maybe on my machine it just freaks with such a quick temp rise and shuts the machine down? Maybe different senors are more sensitive than others?

Can some of you guys try a 100% cpu from cold and let me know what happens please?

I probably will take the machine in for repair as a thermal shutdown is something that should never really happen!?
I was seeing exactly the same thing. After the SMC update, though the shut-down problem has been much harder to reproduce. Before the update, I could do exacly what you describe and always get a shutdown. After the update, a shutdown is rare... though I have still gotten two shutdowns since the update.
If your computer stops responding for a long time, turn it off and then back on. - Microsoft
     
tadunne
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 21, 2006, 08:19 AM
 
Originally Posted by chadseld
I was seeing exactly the same thing. After the SMC update, though the shut-down problem has been much harder to reproduce. Before the update, I could do exacly what you describe and always get a shutdown. After the update, a shutdown is rare... though I have still gotten two shutdowns since the update.
I'm in two minds what to do about this? as the machine does not shutdown durning normal use. Only when I perform the 100% from cold thing. If I just use the machine normally for a couple of mins before using 100% then it's not a problem.. I just hope this is not the start of a problem thats going to get worse
     
Yakov
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Jerusalem / Pittsburgh
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 21, 2006, 01:54 PM
 
my problem got a LOT worse for several days, then i installed the update. now i can run it in "hold down the power button beep mode" (1ghz mode) without shutoffs. (actually, they still happen, but only occasionally.) i'll try getting the logic board replaced in Scotland (where I'll be for a week) or more likely Israel (where I'll then be for ten months).
     
tadunne
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 21, 2006, 03:21 PM
 
Originally Posted by Yakov
my problem got a LOT worse for several days, then i installed the update. now i can run it in "hold down the power button beep mode" (1ghz mode) without shutoffs. (actually, they still happen, but only occasionally.) i'll try getting the logic board replaced in Scotland (where I'll be for a week) or more likely Israel (where I'll then be for ten months).
Well I've put the original RAM back in to rule that out and had two sudden shutdowns when I tried the 100% cpu thing.

I've decided to take this in to get something done about it, mine does not seem as bad as some of you guys but I had an ibook that I had some issues with and I left it too late to be covered by warrenty and then it completely died and I was left sh1t out of luck!

When I buy something I expected it not to shutdown for any other reason than me telling it to.
     
tadunne
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 23, 2006, 10:27 AM
 
I took my macbook in to an Apple store and told the guy what was happening. He said that he had read about a fix on the internal apple boards that seemed to work for this problem and it would take ten mins to do.

so he went off and make the fix (Something to do with taping something inside as the top of the macbook was touching the top of the heat sink or something). When he got back the hard drive was corrupt! So we reinstalled tiger and everything seemed fine.

Until I go home I tried to insert a disc to reinstall my stuff but something was jamming the drive. I think he had damaged something when he had the machine apart.

Anyway I tried to get the macbook to shutdown but it never would, so I guess that fix did work!

So I took it back today. When re booted it up We were greeted with a screen full of colours so he decided that there were some serious problems as well as the broken drive so it's now been sent of to the depot for repair..

     
Frans
Forum Regular
Join Date: May 2005
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 30, 2006, 07:09 PM
 
Hi there,

Posted a thread earlier on this issue.
http://forums.macnn.com/66/ibook-and...shes-frequent/

I thought is was the memory, but the test didn't come up with any faults. To be sure I put in new memory, which didn't make any differences. Shortly after that we went to France for 8 weeks, and after a week things got really really bad. Like four times a day, and sometimes it would ever crash while booting, sometimes four times in a row

However, what I DID notice was that the crash typically started after the laptop had been in sleep-modus and woken up. I also noticed that programs like Back-up, Windows auto-update would startup immediately after I restarted the MacBook. So I turned all of the off: Quicktime, Software-update, ALL auto-updates that you can think of, turn them off. That helped me through the holiday without to many crashes.

It's a black Macbook, with a 2Mhz Core Duo. It sounds to me that most people with problems seem to have the 2Mhz chip. My wife has a 1.83 Mhz and she's fine.

I send it to Apple today, and hopefully they found the solution by now...
After 18 years of MS-DOS and Windows working very happy on Mac, now on a 15" MacBook Pro 2.2 Ghz - 2Gb memory - 200 Gb HD with a 20 and 23" screen. I've been waiting for the iPhone for quite a while, let's role it out in Europe. Just one wish left for now: a light mac (2-3 pounds) with 8 hours of working time. They can do it... :-)
     
seanc
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cambridge, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 30, 2006, 07:27 PM
 
Mhz haha, you mean Ghz Good Luck.
     
monkeybrain
Mac Elite
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Dark Side of the Moon
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 30, 2006, 10:24 PM
 
I have a 1.83 and mine shuts down. I think there are just more 2 Ghz around. I doubt the speed is an issue because a lot of the time they both clock themselves down to 1.5 Ghz anyway.

But I agree, mine has the biggest problem after waking from sleep. If I can get it to stay on after waking it'll be fine all day. It seems like an old car you have to let warm up first!
     
freerider_h
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 31, 2006, 10:56 AM
 
i think i may have found a solution to thi problem!

try holding the option key while starting the computer, and choose the startup disk you wish to use. since ive done this the macbook started up fine, didnt shut down during booting up, or when i was using it.
     
smileydub
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Jun 2005
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 31, 2006, 11:55 AM
 
Originally Posted by Guy Kuo
Sorry to hear another person afflicted with the problem. On the brighter side, my replacement MacBook as been solid (and cooler running than the old one) for over a week now. I'm hopeful this is behind me.
How is your second replacement now? (3rd macbook and one replaced logic board later?)
     
mac_cap
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 31, 2006, 12:03 PM
 
Howdy Folks,
I've been following this board as well as http://www.macbookrandomshutdown.com/ but that site was here this morning and gone just now. I'm talking 08/31/2006 12:00 ET the site is GONE! I think Matthew was the creator is he out on this board and could offer some insight? I'm going to post on a couple other boards, pardon the repeats.
     
mac_cap
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 31, 2006, 12:07 PM
 
OK -it's back now. Sorry for the wasted reads!
     
Kar98
Forum Regular
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 31, 2006, 05:09 PM
 
An IT engineer in Munich, Germany, offers this:

Physik im MacBook: Fehler des Ausschalt-Ph�nomens gefunden

The gist of it:
A certain sensor cable is too short, so when the machine gets warm under full CPU load, it contracts too much, which brings it into contact with the heatsink on the CPU, which now causes the insulation to melt, and then it shorts out, disabling the temperature monitoring, which in turn causes the CPU to overheat and shut down.
     
Franz
Forum Regular
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 31, 2006, 06:01 PM
 
My MacBook only turned off twice so far, and the last time it happened to me was two weeks ago. I figured it may have been a hardware problem, but today my iMac G5 (Rev A) started shutting off randomly too (five times so far).

I don't think this problem is limited to MacBooks...
     
seanc
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cambridge, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Aug 31, 2006, 07:08 PM
 
Rev A iMac G5s are prone to this. I think there is an extended repair program out for them. You will most likely have your power supply replaced.

The problems of the MacBook and your iMac are hardware and are not necessarily the same problems.
     
Photo678
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 1, 2006, 02:34 AM
 
Just throwing this out there.....i was having shut down problems out of nowhere, only thing i did recent that could of caused was bootcamp>windows. It was to the point where if I tried to start up, it made a dying cow bong and never booted, just never powered up.

Anyway, removed the window partition and all seems to be well...so far anyway.

any of you people running a windows partition perchance?
     
monkeybrain
Mac Elite
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Dark Side of the Moon
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 1, 2006, 02:57 AM
 
Nope, it's been confirmed on the Apple boards that this happens regardless of whether you've used bootcamp, or whether you are in OS X or Windows.
     
Michael T. Doyle
Forum Regular
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Chicago, IL
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 1, 2006, 09:35 PM
 
This morning, the Macbook I bought 31 days ago at a Chicagoland Apple Store suddenly came down with RSS. Every 30 seconds to 2 minutes, all day long, the MB would just pop itself off suddenly like someone pulling the power cord for a table lamp out of the wall.

I made a Genius Bar appointment at the local Apple Store, but showed up two hours before and pointedly asked to speak with a manager. The manager I ended up speaking with remembered me from my boyfriend's woeful month of Macbook Pro problems (the service department was never able to fix his MBP but put him through hell in the process and the Apple Store ended up giving him a new computer).

As soon as he heard the words "random shutdown" he told me not to bother to wait for the Genius Bar appointment. He immediately called a POS Macbook up to the register and swapped my book for the new one in a matter of minutes, leaving me stunned but thrilled. (The exchange was made even easier by the fact that my HD was completely backed up and I didn't need them to transfer my data, although they offered to do so--folks, this is why you backup your data!)

I guess, at least depending on the Apple Store, Apple staff are more than aware of this problem. I literally walked in and out of the store in 15 minutes. If there's anything to take away from this, its that you should be nice to your local Apple Store staff. I could just be coming home from the Apple Store right now instead of typing away on my fully restored new laptop.

I gotta find out if that manager likes steaks...
Mike Doyle
Chicago, IL
     
Simon
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: in front of my Mac
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 2, 2006, 12:57 AM
 
Mike, that' great service.

I hope you told the manager that he's doing a great job. I'd love to see more of that from Apple.
•
     
Torbocto
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Sep 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 2, 2006, 10:40 AM
 
As previously stated, I bought two macbook recently and both of them have been randomly shutting down. I am very disappointed. Apple won't replace or reimbourse me. I understand from this thread that I am not the only one dealing with this problem.
How many are we ?
If you have this problem with your macbook, can you please send me an email at [email protected] with the complete serial number of your computer, model , date of purchase,outcome and as much information as you want.
I plan on publishing weekly stats about number of computer affected and contact apple with the information when I will reach 100 SN. I may contact you by email if there is any info to pass on.

any suggestions welcome.

I had a powerbook 12' before and never had so much problem with a mac before.

This is the third stats report:

NUMBER OF MACBOOK with SHUTDOWN PROBLEM : 37

serial numbers / model / purchase date / email available


4H61815 EVMM/2Ghz, Black/May 21st /email

4H619 / Black MacBook 2.0 / late May / email
4H619 / ? / ?
4H619 /White 1.83 GHz /June 15 / email
4H6195XHU9B / 1.83GHz 512MB RAM (2*256) / 24-05 /email
4h6199n2u / ? / ?
4H6199X8U9C / ? / 20-05 / email
4H619ASPU9B /1.83 ghz, white /10-06 / email

4H620 / white, 1.83 GHz / 31-05 in SF/ email
4H620 / white, 2GHz, 1GB / ?
4H620033VMN /black macbook 2.0ghz / 19-05 /email
4H6201 / white, 2GB / ?
4H6208TGVMM / 2 GHz / ?

4H621 / ? / ?
4H621 / black / case#65194196
4H6211 / ? / europe
4H621276VMM / black / 10-6 in Germany case#67490518 /email
4H62128KVMN / black, 2 GHz, 1GB ram / 26-5 in Canada /email
4H6212C4 / White 2Ghz / Italy / email
4H6213M / white / end of May
4h6215ueu9e / ? / ? /email
4H6216UYU9B / 1.8GHZ/512MB/60GB/Combo / 13-06 Perth, Australia /email

4H622 / ? / 13-06 / email
4H6228STU9C / white, 2 GHz, 2GB ram / 13-06 in Belgium /email

4H623 / ? / ?
4H6232ESU9B / 1,83GHz, White. / 18-06 / email

4H62413RVMM / Black, 2GB / July*/ email
4H6242DPU9D / white, 1.83 GHz / 14-06 in France / email
4H624 / white 2.0 GHz / 2 GB Crucial Tech RAM / 100 GB HD / July/email

4H625 / 2 GHz, 2GB ram / USA
4H625 / white, 2 GHz, 2GB ram / USA
4h6257xxxxx / white 2.0 /Houston / email

4H62918BVMN /Black 2Ghz / 10-06 Antwerp, Belgium / email
4H6291D4VMN /Black 2GHz 1 GB RAM 120 GB / midjuly /email

4H630767U9E / 2.0 / 2x512 / 100gb / email

4H631KXTU9B / 1.83Ghz / 19-8 / email
4H6317RR / 2 GHz, 100G HD, 1 GB / 4-8 / email


some example of the problem:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cWsPzS5eK...book%20problem
or
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vThy5yF-3...book%20problem

A lot of users are reporting problems even after repair.

Time for a recall ?

Thanks
Stephane Elkouri, Montreal, Canada
     
kennedy
Mac Elite
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Dallas, TX, USA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 2, 2006, 12:23 PM
 
Originally Posted by Kar98
The gist of it:
A certain sensor cable is too short, so when the machine gets warm under full CPU load, it contracts too much, which brings it into contact with the heatsink on the CPU, which now causes the insulation to melt, and then it shorts out, disabling the temperature monitoring, which in turn causes the CPU to overheat and shut down.

ahh... now that makes some sense!

So, over time, that insulation melts away... explaining the fact that many machines don't encounter this for a month or two. But also meaning that many, many more people have these failures in the future.

Also it explains how some have reported no problems until they had some "heat up event" and since then they've had the Random Shutdown problems. If your machine ever gets real hot, then it will quickly melt away that insulation.

Also explains why if I can ever get it running, and leave it very still on my desk, it'll usually stay running. But if I move it around, there's significant chance of it having the problem when I wake it up. And others have reported increased likelihood following sleep... I wonder if that's just any sleep, or only sleep where they've moved it around.

Also would be consistent with the observation that rapid ramp up of the temperature increases incidence... since the thermistor would likely heat unevenly and move in a rapid heat up.


A corollary, thus, is that there is high likelihood that every MacBook out there is eventually going to have this problem... eventually that insulation will melt away. If you own a MacBook, sell it before your AppleCare runs out!


P.S. My mac is another white, 2GHz, 2GB MacBook with the problem... 4H625xxxx
Mac Nut since before color Macs, working for UT Austin Microcenter supporting Mac users
     
tadunne
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 2, 2006, 02:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by Kar98
An IT engineer in Munich, Germany, offers this:

Physik im MacBook: Fehler des Ausschalt-Ph�nomens gefunden

The gist of it:
A certain sensor cable is too short, so when the machine gets warm under full CPU load, it contracts too much, which brings it into contact with the heatsink on the CPU, which now causes the insulation to melt, and then it shorts out, disabling the temperature monitoring, which in turn causes the CPU to overheat and shut down.
Right I had took my machine in the other day and the genius had a quick look on the apple genius boards and said give me the machine I might have a quick ten min fix. Not sure what he was doing but he did say something about something else getting to close to the heat sink and it could be fixed with some special tape. I'm not sure if it did fix it but in the time I had it the problem never occured. I had to send my macbook in for a depot fix tho because he broke the CD drive during his fix!
     
iamwiz82
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Feb 2003
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 4, 2006, 09:38 AM
 
I'm having this issue as well. It first started about a month ago (originall purchased in May). Every once in awhile I'd come in to see that it was shut down, not sleeping. But now it has become much more frequent. It's dropping off 3-4 times a day. If I do not let it sit for some time, it won't even power back on. This certainly leads me to believe that it is a sensor wire causing the problem.
     
bosco
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Sep 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 5, 2006, 06:28 AM
 
Hi, I'm a new member. Have an iMac Intel, before that an iMac G4. Am ("was??") about to purchase a MacBook, but after reading about all these sudden shutdown problems I'm having second thoughts.
Especially because after buying it in CA I'll move to Indonesia to work there.

How serious is this shutdown problem?
My new iMac Intel has also exhibited some strange behaviour (software related) but so far have been able to "solve" them. And anyway it is for home use. The macBook would be for work though, so I cannot have frequent problems... perhaps I should *shudders* buy a Vaio?
     
monkeybrain
Mac Elite
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Dark Side of the Moon
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 5, 2006, 12:01 PM
 
I wouldn't buy one bosco. Reading the Apple forums, it seems that the problem is even more widespread with newer models (it used to take months for the problem to appear, now it is happening to some people as soon as they turn it on for the first time).

I'm a long time mac user, but I am actually recommending you to buy a pc instead. I've many bad things about sony laptops to though, so wouldn't recommend that. Just get something cheap. Then run ubuntu linux on it, that's what I would have done before I got stuck with this macbook (facing the tiresome task of taking it to apple in Taiwan). The alternative is get a second-hand ibook or powerbook off ebay.

Edit: further advice would be to wait a bit. In my opinion the firmware update caused problems for many people. If the new ones have that pre-installed it would explain their early malfunction. It could be that Apple will announce something soon.
     
Yakov
Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Jerusalem / Pittsburgh
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 5, 2006, 03:40 PM
 
The firmware update gave me a temporary quick fix -- it allowed me to keep my computer on for longer.

I would suggest to go ahead and buy a Macbook. The ratio of good to bad systems is very high.

You always run a risk when you buy technology. Dell computers, for example, seem to explode.

The warranty works worldwide. See: Apple

This is a two-page thread that's been around for months. Put that into perspective...
y
     
seanc
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cambridge, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 5, 2006, 04:05 PM
 
Apples laptops explode too you now. Not Dells fault that their laptops are exploding. Blame Sony.
     
pat++
Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Earth
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 6, 2006, 05:28 PM
 
Good news, the issue with the shutdown problem has now been identified by Apple. It's due to the logic board and the heat sink which are being replaced.

MacBook: Shuts down intermittently
     
seanc
Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Cambridge, UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 6, 2006, 05:30 PM
 
Originally Posted by pat++
Good news, the issue with the shutdown problem has now been identified by Apple. It's due to the logic board and the heat sink which are being replaced.

MacBook: Shuts down intermittently
Not a very informative link:

MacBook: Shuts down intermittently If your MacBook is shutting down intermittently, please contact AppleCare for service.
     
pat++
Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Earth
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 6, 2006, 05:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by seanc
Not a very informative link:

MacBook: Shuts down intermittently If your MacBook is shutting down intermittently, please contact AppleCare for service.
At least the problem is officially recognized by Apple and been taken care of...
     
quiklee
Senior User
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Los Angeles
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 7, 2006, 03:10 AM
 
so i was having RSS problems with my Macbook prior to 8.23 . I called AppleCare and the last solution they could offer was to reinstall my OS. So, I backed up all my important data, reinstalled the OS and it worked fine until today. Mind you, this problem started on July 1st, so I've already done the standard "drop it off at the apple store - have the genius look at it - can't do anything - replace the logic board" routine. After the logic board was replaced, it was cool for 2 weeks, then BAM . . . RSS started all over again. So anyways . . . I'm backing up my data right now. Hopefully it doesn't shut down on me while i transfer 20GB of data over to my External which is taking an eta of 12 hours right now (damn Western Digital USB 2.0). I'm going to call AppleCare tomorrow and seriously insist that I get a replacement MB.

Does anyone know if Apple will compensate me for my invisible shield ($50) and Stussy stickers ($3)?

By the way, here's the last 2 months of hell documented.

July 1st - Random Shutdowns Started
July 5th - Turned into Apple Store Pasadena where Genius replicated problem with overload and accepted for repairs. During the process, they discovered it was a logic board problem. Replaced logic board and top case for discoloration.
July 19th - Receive Macbook back.
August 1st - RSS happens again. Call Applecare. Find out that the RSS only happens when the wireless is on and being used.
August 10th - Called applecare again since I had more time to talk and the final solution they had was for me to backup my files and reinstall my OS.
August 23rd - Formatted HD and Reinstalled Fresh OSX
September 6th - 1st Random Shutdowns. Only One.
September 7th - Random Shutdowns every 10 minutes with Wireless On. With Wireless Off, it hasn't shut down and is currently transferring my data to the external hard drive.


I deserve a replacement, right? I think i've been really patient with Apple so far.
I am part of Lakers Nation and love to buy Used Golf Clubs
     
Appleman
Mac Elite
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: France
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 7, 2006, 06:14 AM
 
     
cyberwarrior
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: May 2005
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 7, 2006, 08:44 AM
 
Similarly to quiklee, my MB has been repaired (logic board replaced) but not fixed. I am in the UK. I believe we deserve MB replacements, I have already shouldered enormous inconvenience, being without my MB for 9 days whilst it was 'repaired', to receive it back and experience anything other than 100% satisfaction is appauling. I hope apple isn't geting too comfy as a result of the somewhat strange 'forgive all : it's a Rev.A' following. They've the cheek to ask me to send it in again for repair, thanks apple, not only is this a known problem on their side, i have given them a second chance by having it repaired once, now they want me to let them try again.. i think not. Appauling customer service.
MB 1.83GHz/2GB
ACD 20"
     
Doug78
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Maryland
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 7, 2006, 02:11 PM
 
Just got my Macbook back from being serviced for the random shutdowns. On the Service Details list, is says for parts used " APP-333-0557 MOD, 512MB, DDR2, 667, MICRON".

What does this mean? I have 2GB of RAM, so the 512MB throws me off. Plus, I thought they were replacing logic boards.. is that what the first part number that's listed is?
     
quiklee
Senior User
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Los Angeles
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 7, 2006, 02:24 PM
 
I just called in . . . talked to Andy - Product Specialist . . . he said that engineering has located the exact problem and that he will send me a box tomorrow so that i can ship it out to the depot for repairs. I asked him what the problem was and he couldn't tell me because he didnt know . . .

thought I'd let you guys know. . . . . if it shuts down again . . . both the Applecare person and product specialist said that i would of reached the limit of repairs and I would be classified a "looper" so they would most likely give me a replacement . . . i hope it doesn't get to that point . . i have an awesome sticker scheme going right now along with my invisible shield!
I am part of Lakers Nation and love to buy Used Golf Clubs
     
mstar
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Sep 2006
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Sep 8, 2006, 10:34 AM
 
I am wondering if there are several RSS issues at play here.
my macbook will only RSS when it is totally cold. ie after a full night of rest.
then when starting, after the login, it will crash.
(actually, system log shows rss cause = -82 like others)

if I keep the mac switched on all the time, I can still push it hard, 100+% cpu, I am using parallels sometimes which will push it hard too, no problem. I have it running non stop for a week now. never a crash, and never a crash when hot.
the fan works very well and keeps the mac cool.

if I shutdown and restart from a "warm" state, no problem. only when starting from a dead cold, will it RSS.

very annoying.. so I hope Apple has found out the fix for ALL rss issues. not the heatsink problem only. actually we have evidence from this thread and others, that replacing the logic board and heat sink is not enough to prevent recurrence. so..

this is very bad after all this promotion "a mac doesn't crash".. well.. you know.. at least one does.
     
 
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:06 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,