Filed under: Hardware, Troubleshooting, MacBook
Test your MacBook for random shutdowns
Some MacBook owners around the web are reporting a 'random shutdown' issue, where the machine will - as you might guess - seemingly shutdown at random; either during work or patiently idling for your next command. If you haven't experienced this issue yourself yet but are still concerned about it, The Apple Files has devised an unofficial test to see if you might be a victim. The test involves entering a few simple commands into the Terminal and testing a few things over roughly half an hour of your time. Just to be thorough, the author recommends running this test two or three times to be sure, but it's really up to how paranoid you're feeling. Again, this is an unofficial test, and we haven't seen any official reports or announcements from Apple on this issue, its cause or how widespread it might be, but it's simply nice to have options, hey?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
joppe said 4:53PM on 8-28-2006
Didnt take those test, but my Macbook often shut downs when I open Starcraft, the only game I play :( Im calling Apple Store tomorrow about it.
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Chris P. said 4:58PM on 8-28-2006
I believe that this may happen when you use non-standard Apple RAM memory. I recently installed it on one of my MacBooks and that's when I noticed the problem. It doesn't happen when one of the two non-Apple RAM chips are installed but when both 1GB chips are installed, the computer has those types of hiccups.
All in all, the machine should have had 2GB but I will settle for 1.25 GB for the time being. (1 non-standard 1GB and 1 standard 256MB)
Does anyone else who had this problem also use up to 2GB of RAM? Could it be that? Or just bad RAM ?
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Brian P. said 5:04PM on 8-28-2006
This problem has been widely(??) reported on the net. I had the same problem and had Apple Store replaced the logic board. It's been a few weeks and so far I have not had the problem but others reported that the problem recurred after a while. And FYI, I had a 1GB configuration from Apple Direct so it's not related to non-Apple brand RAM.
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motech said 5:12PM on 8-28-2006
mine just wont stay on, randomly.
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R Bishop said 5:13PM on 8-28-2006
My MacBook has started giving me a black screen after awaking from sleep. First it allows me to log in w/password, and then goes to a black screen. The cursor is still visible, and it can be moved around, but a re-boot is required to get the screen back. Do not know if this is related to above described "shut-downs."
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Seth said 5:27PM on 8-28-2006
My macbook (2.0/2.0/80) has never shut down randomly (knock on wood)....first I've heard of this problem...
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Bjorn Townsend said 5:40PM on 8-28-2006
R Bishop: I've had a similar problem with my Powerbook G4. I find that closing the lid and letting the Powerbook go back to sleep, then reawakening it, lets me get back in without rebooting.
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Logan Rockmore said 5:56PM on 8-28-2006
Both mine and my sister's MacBooks haver had this same problem. I sent mine in, and they replaced the logic board, but after about a month, the problem started happening again. I've sent it in again, and they should be sending it back sometime this week. The AppleCare CSR said that they replaced the heatsink, so that might be a cause of the problem as well. I will definitely try this test out when I get it back. Thanks.
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Rob said 5:57PM on 8-28-2006
We have two macbooks in my office, one a white one, the other a Darthbook made a few weeks apart. Both have had this problem. Mine (the black one) was replaced with no hassles and with no issues in the past week or so since I got it back. The other is in now and should be back tomorrow or Wednesday.
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Gary said 6:10PM on 8-28-2006
how about a macbook that won't shut down unless you hold down the power button? anyone have this problem except me?
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nam3 said 6:14PM on 8-28-2006
i'm not owning one, let's say yet, but as an old PC user that i seem to be that would really sound like some heat or power problem. like an emergency shutdown preventing any real damage. regarding the CPU or the hard drives in case of power issues...
these mac forums sound a lot more like the PC ones since all these isues after there big change to intel, i believe they just don't have everything perfectly figured out yet.
and still, a MacPro will be in front of me in a few weeks, and i can't wait...
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Dewey said 6:40PM on 8-28-2006
Yep, this has been happening to me for the past 2 weeks or so. This is really making me mad. I've been trying to find info. on it ever since. On the apple discussions there are tons of people having the same problem. I called apple and they said they could'nt do anything for me because I don't have applecare, which sucks cause I already paid 1200$ for it, why is it my fault it don't work? So now I have to drive about an hour and a half to my nearest Apple Store to have them look at it. I've also had problems with my "super"drive. It always freezes when I try and import a CD, so i've not had a very good experience with my MacBook. But hopefully things will work out for me.
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Jon said 6:53PM on 8-28-2006
Strange... I have similar problems with my PowerBook G4. Not only does it shut down randomly, but when I resume from sleep, the keyboard doesn't work for about 30 secs. It's out of warranty now, and I was thinking of buying a MacBook but I may just wait now ;)
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James said 7:13PM on 8-28-2006
I've used my MacBook for a total of 5 hours in between sending it to Apple. Its now on its second trip back. They are unable to reproduce the issue.
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Jason said 7:52PM on 8-28-2006
From my personal experience, this problem seems to be that the CPU gets hot too quickly for the temperature sensors to switch on the fans and something shuts the whole computer down. If I am able to gradually ramp up the CPU so that the fans are already on when CPU load gets heavy, the shutdowns don't occur.
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Deb said 10:11PM on 8-28-2006
I bought my MB (1.83ghz) upgraded RAM to 1gb about three weeks after they hit the stores. My RSD started about 3.5 weeks ago, some days are worse than others with 5+RSD and then there are many days between a RSD. Who Knows??!!
I'm holding on until it becomes impossible to work with in hopes that Apple can figure out what is causing the RSD. I don't want to send it in just to have it happen again..........
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01 said 10:39PM on 8-28-2006
I'm glad (well, maybe glad isn't the right word...) that I'm not alone in this problem. Most often it's when I open up my macbook pro, but has happened once or twice while using it. I haven't run the test yet, but it will be intrestig to see what it comes up with.
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Ben said 1:08AM on 8-29-2006
This is problem has been around for a while. I have it on my 2.0Ghz Macbook white with the stock 512 ram. I sent it to mac and they replaced the bezel and a bunch of other stuff including the HD back on August 16th. It just started to shut down again TODAY, so mac is sending me another box to send this macbook back to them AGAIN, we'll see...but its definately affecting a lot of people. Its some of the most popular threads on the Macbook forum section of apple.com and there is even a website called http://www.macbookrandomshutdown.com/
Gotta love it
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Macaddict said 6:53AM on 8-29-2006
Gee, no test needed here. My sweet-looking black MacBook has RSS (Random Shutdown Syndrome). I'm on my second logic board :( Guess that wasn't the right fix there Apple!!! Three shutdowns yesterday, and one today translates into one expensive paperweight. What? Bring it in you say? They are clueless about the solutions - that's why Apple is silent.
I'm hoping they'll come up with a firmware fix or something. A recall would be a pain. Remember back in 2003 when AirPorts just wouldn't work right? Eventually, they pushed out a fix and all was well. But, dang. What a pain, what a pain.
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Ben said 10:25AM on 8-29-2006
Unfortunately I feel Apple doesn't seem to really have a clue yet...its a pain. Its only going to get worse in about a month, when all the college kids with their new macbooks start shutting down on them.
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