Question

Mac shuts down automatically for no reason

Asked by: masterorb

Hi, my Mac desktop just shuts down for no reason after about 5 minutes idle. It started doing it about a month ago. I've never installed anything new since I bought it.

specs:
OS X version 10.3.9 (7W98)
1.8 GHx
PowerPC G5 (3.0)
768 MB DDR SDRAM
1 CPU
L2 Cache 512K
600 MHz bus
Boot ROM version 5.2.2f2

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Asked On
2009-02-16 at 04:35:13ID24146338
Tags

macintosh

,

mac

,

apple

,

OS X

,

shutdown

,

hardware

,

desktop

,

Panther (OS 10.3)

Topic

Mac OS X

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
12

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Answers

 

by: jhyieslaPosted on 2009-02-16 at 04:48:18ID: 23649214

Is it possible that you have an external power problem like a bad surge strip or something similar?

 

by: jhyieslaPosted on 2009-02-16 at 04:49:18ID: 23649222

You may also want to reset the SMU:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1767

 

by: masterorbPosted on 2009-02-16 at 05:21:43ID: 23649425

I'll direct connect to the wall for the first suggestion and investigate the second, thanks!

 

by: strungPosted on 2009-02-16 at 05:53:23ID: 23649637

Check the energy saver prefs.

 

by: masterorbPosted on 2009-02-16 at 05:56:20ID: 23649672

When you do that, is the Mac supposed to give off an angry beep, and then the power button supposed to flash?

I did it, then shut down and restarted. Same problem. My Mac is now directly plugged into the wall, too.

 

by: jhyieslaPosted on 2009-02-16 at 05:59:18ID: 23649697

When you do which one?

 

by: jhyieslaPosted on 2009-02-16 at 06:08:47ID: 23649792

I wouldn't  think so, but I don't have a G5 here to test.  I have reset the SMU on a newer imac and didn't have that issue, but the procedure is a little different.

 

by: jhyieslaPosted on 2009-02-16 at 06:11:25ID: 23649819

If you have a powerMac G5 instead of an imac G5. Try this.  Turn off the mac.  Pull all cables including the power for 2 minutes.  Then plug all cables back in and then power on the mac.  Note that this is a slightly different set of instructions that for an iMac G5.

 

by: jhyieslaPosted on 2009-02-16 at 06:12:29ID: 23649832

I'm including the apple document as well in case you have a later version powermac G5.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1436

 

by: dalesitPosted on 2009-02-18 at 02:10:44ID: 23668546

Check the system log - it might be a temperature issue or the bad capacitor problem that affected some G5 imacs. If it is a temperature issue, this might be recorded in /var/log/system.log - it will also give details about what is happening if it is deciding to shut down.

Cheers,

Joel

 

by: masterorbPosted on 2009-02-18 at 02:29:46ID: 23668646

jhyiesla

"When you do which one?"

When I do this: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1767  (it makes the angry beep)

I'll check all other suggestions later this week.

 

by: masterorbPosted on 2009-03-17 at 05:01:22ID: 31547286

I'm really not sure how this worked, because at first, I had the exact same problem. But about three days later, the Mac started acting appropriately again!

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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