PowerPC :: G4 Turns Itself Off / Shuts Down Unexpectedly
Sep 23, 2008
I've a MDD G4 dual 1.0 along with the wide acrylic-bezel 20" Mac monitor with the light in the lower right corner. Yep, it's starting to look ancient. But I still have much use for it EXCEPT that it has a very nasty habit of turning itself off catastropically in mid-thought, as it were. Oddly, this behavior comes and goes in spurts. it will hit hard for a couple of weeks then a couple of months will pass with relative peace and stability. Then, back to the crisis.
Sometimes I get a warning from that power-on light in the bezel -- it might flash brighter for an instant, then within a few seconds the whole system loses power just as if I'd turned off my power strip. Other times, it pops in and out of sleep mode for several cycles, but usually this ends the same, with no power at all. Odder still, the machine has a tendency to turn itself on unaided. This can happen even after a controlled shutdown. It turns on, acts normal for 20 minutes, then maybe goes to sleep and wakes up a couple of times, then crashes. No intervention at all on my part at any time. This is not a software shutdown of any controlled variety. Anyone know what's happening? I can't tell you how much gnashing my teeth have endured.
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Nov 26, 2007
My Mac has been shutting off by itself with no warning. Sometimes it takes me 5-6 times to get it up and running.
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Jan 11, 2010
My iBook G4 crashed on me one night, and the only way I could turn it on again was to unplug the power cord from my computer, turn it over, remove the battery, put the battery back in, plug the cord back into the computer, hold down the start button, and it would restart. Although, when it restarted, the fan would go on first, and then the computer would make the normal start sound. Some times the finder would be on the screen after I restarted it displaying a quick link icon of the hard drive. So after a few weeks, it did it again, then a few days, and then it got to the point where I had to keep my computer in the same position otherwise it might shut down.
Now, if the power cord is green everything is fine, but if I move my computer and bump the cord into the wrong place it turns from green to bright red, makes an evil buzzing sound, and in three seconds the computer shuts off and I have to restart by using the method above. If or when the power cord goes bright red I do have 3 seconds to pull out the cord before it shuts down. I then sleep the computer, put the cord back into the computer, and move the cord around until it is green again.
I took my computer to a mac genius, and when he looked at the crash report he said it was frequent, but not caused by the battery and couldn't tell me what was the exact problem. I bought a brand new power cord, but I still couldn't move the computer around to much or it would shut down.
1.) Has anyone ever heard of this happening? And if so, what causes it to be so touchy?
2.) What can I do to fix it myself?
3.) If I send it in, will they be able to fix it so that it is perfect again without having to spend more than the money assessed?
I would like to try to have it fixed. At this juncture, my only option is to send it in for $280 and hope they can fix the problem that no one seems to know what is the exact problem, or even where the problem stems from. I should add here that the battery is fully charged, and the report says it can hold about 1 hour of life, although it's more like 30 minutes, and then without warning to plug in or risk shutting down (like it used to give me) it will shut down.
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May 17, 2012
The Mac Pro shuts down unexpectedly, and changed the RAM, graphics card, power supply but the problem is not over.
By taking away the power for a long time and switch it to two months without any troublelights stop after 5 days is powered down unexpectedly.
Info:Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4)
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Sep 3, 2010
Macbook pro intel core duo. My macbook is turned off, when I press the power button the light goes on and the computer starts making sounds of turning on for about half a second and than shuts off. I tried removing the battery and putting it again, I tried to hold the power button (the light flickers at one point and eventually shuts off as well after 2 seconds), and tried turning it on with the adapter plugged in and unplugged.
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Apr 21, 2012
My computer starts up with grey screen,apple logo, rotating cirlce, and then it shuts off. Is there anything i could do before i take it to the apple store for help?
Info:
MacBook
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Apr 4, 2012
Three times today, my iMac has shut down while working. This has never happened before. Could it be related to the external backup drive, a G Drive Mini, pulling too much power?
Info:
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3)
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Jun 4, 2014
As of a few days ago my MacBook Pro has been acting oddly. When I shut the clamshell and reopen it again a few minutes (or hours) later it's hot and makes sounds as if it is working hard at something but the display will not turn on. I usually end up turning it off anf then on again via the power button. I have a wireless keyboard attached due to damage to the laptop's own keyboard, but use the laptop's power button (which still functions). I've reattached, and reset, the keyboard a few times in case that was the problem but had no luck. It doesn't hinder my usage of the computer once it's on again but it is strange.
Info:
MacBook Pro
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Jul 29, 2010
I have a strange problem with my late-2008/early-2009 MBP. In the last couple of days, I have been using it and the screen goes black suddenly. It happened once for just a few seconds and then recovered, but today it completely shut off-- even though the battery was mostly charged (and I had received no warnings)-- so I had to reboot.
A few possibly relevant facts about this computer and this incident:
1) I've had it over a year and never had this problem before.
2) I had the logic board replaced recently because of an issue with sleep mode. This problem never appeared before the logic board was replaced (although this may be a coincidence).
3) Both times the problem happened this week, the computer was running on battery power.
4) Earlier this week (before the incident), I got a little warning to "Check battery" or something similar. The warning went away, though. Maybe this is a faulty battery issue?
5) When the computer completely shut off, it was also running a Time Machine backup. I noticed that TM has been having trouble today-- giving warnings about errors. Not sure if this could be related.
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May 16, 2012
Recently, my MBP has been shutting down unexpectedly and then the front light will flash 3 times.
The MBP is running Mac OS X, version 10.6.8, 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Info:
MacBook Pro (15-inch 2.4/2.2 GHz), Mac OS X (10.6.8)
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Feb 21, 2008
I'll just be doing basic web browsing with Safari on my MacBook Air and Safari will just unexpectedly close and then the error report comes up asking if I want to send it to Apple.
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Mar 25, 2010
I own the first 'remolded' revision of the Macbook released in '08 (5,1), and have had it for over a year now. Recently though, after 10 or so minutes running off just battery power (fully charged), it shuts down unexpectedly. It doesn't say the battery is low, or near low, it just shuts down. It's really annoying, I have to use the charger wherever I go. I really need my laptop so I don't really want to take it to an Apple Store and have to wait a week to get it fixed, unless it's really necessary. My software is up to date. Any ideas on what my problem is/how to fix it?
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Dec 16, 2007
I have Western Digital My Book Pro II 2TB hard drive connected through FireWire 800 or 400 cable. The problem is that it shuts itself off unexpectedly all the time. Sometimes right after I turn it on, sometimes after 30 minutes. After turning it back everything seems to be fine, no loss of data. Anyone else experienced the same problem and can suggest how to fix it?
Information:
G5
Mac OS X (10.4.10)
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Mar 14, 2010
I got my macbook during November of 2009 but two weeks ago it started shutting down by itself once I touch the magsafe of the macbook or remove the magsafe. All it needs is a simple touch and it shuts down. When it does shut down, the light indicator doesn't come on anymore. I have to keep removing the magsafe, and plugging it back in like 20 times until it starts charging again. So now I just let it fully charge every time I use it since any sudden movement will cause it to shut down. I will be making an appointment next week at the apple store because I had no time to go these past 2 weeks. I never dropped it and take good care of it. I am just wondering what might be the cause of this? I hope they do not take weeks to fix the mac since I have a lot of homework to do
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Jun 26, 2014
I have a MacBook Pro from 2010 I believe with iOS Maverick installed. (MacKeeper is also on there, which I just found out is apparently malware)
So three days ago I was watching Netflix, the image froze, but the audio kept going. Figured my internet was slow, so I waited a little, nothing happened. pressed escape to leave the full screen mode, but nothing happened. None of the keys would do anything, not even the sound or brightness keys. So I did a force shut down by holding down the power button.
I waited a little, then decided to turn it back on. Start up sound played, white screen with grey apple logo and loading gear appeared together with a grey loading bar. I figured that this meant it had to repair something. But after about a minute or two it just went to a black screen/ shut down. I left it off for a day, tried it again, same thing. Next day I tried booting it up while holding the shift key to do the safe boot (I knew it wouldn't work since I already had the grey loading bar anyways), same thing happened.
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Feb 17, 2009
Well just recently my MacBook (bought 2/17/2007) started shutting down by itself. Seems to happen after long use (3hrs) and when it starts to get hot. Also noticed screen doin a "fizzle" when using a thumb drive. Anyway went to Apple and dropped it off. They said they will run some stress tests on it and get back to me. I know there are a few things out there about this but wondering if any of you have experienced this recently or at all?
No warranty either. So if it is a logic board issue not sure... or if its a heat sink issue? Not sure what that entails to get it repaired. I was not expecting them to take the MacBook right then and there so i was sorta concerned as it has everything but... want to get it figured out.
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Aug 25, 2006
A couple of weeks ago, out of the blue, my Ibook 12" started turning off by itself.
At first it would turn on again, I was able to check the HD with the Disk Utility, which reported a fault in the HD. Then after a few times it wouldn't turn on anymore. I couldn't hear the chimes sound and the fan (or HD) would start running pretty fast.
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Jan 6, 2011
Thought it would be fun to troubleshoot it, since I already own one and have taken it apart.
Here's what's wrong with it.
I've gotten it to boot up. Curiously, it describes itself as a powerbook!?
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Nov 20, 2006
Late last night, I ran into some problems with my iBook G3. It's the 700 Mhz model, with 384MB of RAM. Nothing else special in terms of hardware config (unless an Airport card is special). OS X 10.2.8.
Basically, the computer seemed to hang and I did a hard reboot, and upon starting up I got a folder with a flashing ? .
I can't seem to find my Install disc 1 to run Disk Utility or just boot up - hopefully I will find that when I go home tonight (or maybe I left it at my parent's place), but I checked using the Hardware Test CD and it didn't detect any problems.
I am having problems opening the CD drive, so I've had to open it using a paperclip. Sometimes it doesn't appear to be using the CD.
I also have run the Micromat test CD that came with Applecare (of course this machine is almost 4 years old so that's finished...) and it detected a problem with the Read Buffer last night, but then I guess the battery ran out while it was on the last test.
This morning, I ran the Read Buffer, Write Buffer, and Volume structure tests and the first two passed very fast (unlike last night), but the Volume Structure test failed. I'm not surprised since I've been aware I have issues with this before. I tried to repair before going to work but at one point it seemed to hang so I gave it another hard reboot.
Last night, I would sometimes get the apple logo with the spinning "clock", and sometimes I would get the ? but it would never get to the login screen.
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Oct 5, 2009
My co-worker needs help with his iBook.
I switched when the Mac Mini came out, so seeing this iBook from 2001 is pretty interesting.
Anyways, he's having problems with the LCD that when he opens it all the way the LCD turns off. Any ideas for DIY fix? He also wants to know if he can add Wi-Fi?
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Sep 5, 2009
My iMac runs for 10-15 minutes and then turns itself off. This has happened 3-4 times in a row.
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Apr 18, 2007
I have a G4 Power Mac. It's the "digital audio" model that has been upgraded with a 1.2Ghz G4 processor. It works well except for one thing. It shuts down randomly and suddenly. Then after 5 or 10 minutes it turns itself back on, reboots and runs fine. (It is set to re-boot after a power failure.)I suspect what is happing is the power supply is turnning itself off due to some kind of a thermal, self protection switch. The fan seems to work but the PS gets warm.What's the cure? Replace the power supply? If so where to get a new(er) one?
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Jul 21, 2007
I hadn't been using sleep mode on my iMac G5 for a while (but it always worked previously to me setting it to "never"), and now yesterday when I turned the sleep mode back on, it has decided it wants to shut down instead of sleep. But it's not a nice shutdown...it just powers itself off, as if it was unplugged. It always boots back up with no problems.
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May 24, 2009
i have a powermac g4 that is running fine, but when i click on the apple sign and tell it to go to sleep. It goes into sleep mode and then after that shuts down. Is this normal, I think it might be a setting a have to change but I am unsure because this is my first mac.
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Apr 17, 2010
I have a power pc and recently installed some new RAM. All worked fine for a few weeks then the computer randomly shut down. I would turn it back on and it would chime but shut down again before it was finished booting. Thinking this was the new RAM I took it out and rebooted. All was fine. To cut a long story short, I now get this problem with any configuration of old RAM and/or new RAM and to allow the computer to boot successfully I have to at least take out a RAM card and then put it back where it came from...
It seems though the new RAM did trigger something but this now happens no matter what RAM is in there. Also, taking RAM out seems to reset something that makes it start up OK. Any ideas what could could causing this..?
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Jun 20, 2005
My Powerbook G4 only turns on if the battery charger is plugged in, and if I unplug it, the computer shuts off. On the menu bar, it says charging. I know the battery has to be full. This just started happening last night. Also, I just had the hard drive replaced and I've only had it back for a couple weeks.
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Nov 24, 2006
I have a little problem with my last generation 12" Powerbook G4. Sometimes, after I wake it up from sleep mode, the screen has a kind of blue tinge to it, as if there was some blue transparent plastic stuck to it. After I reboot, it's just fine.
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May 28, 2007
Two days ago my iBook G4 (about 18 months old) has started to shut down instead of sleeping when I close it or when I select "Sleep" from the menu.
Strangely enough, it seems to only happen when I have iTunes open before I try to put the computer to sleep.
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Jul 24, 2008
I have this iBook G4 and the wierdest thing is happening. When it is on and you bump it or move it a little it just shuts off like a hard shut down. Has anyone else out there heard of this problem or does anyone know how to fix it?
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Dec 25, 2008
I have a 700MHz iMac G3, which froze during DVD playback and it needed to be rebooted. Now it will not boot, the gray screen comes up with the loading circle, but it will just shut down after about a minute. I have reset the PRAM, PMU and it is running 10.4. No beeps or anything when it shuts down, it just turns off.
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