MacBook random shutdown - Page 6

etoiles · Sep 1, 2006, 02:39 PM

I have the issue, too (happened twice over the last week or so...never before). I will need to check the serial number when I get home.

jimrich3 · Sep 1, 2006, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBi

I'd love to agree with you but class action lawsuits only really make the lawyers rich and we users don't get much out of it and apple loses millions it could be putting into fixing this problem.

I'd prefer to put them under media pressure, get a few news networks to talk about it and they'll be going head over heels to look good.

You're exactly right, but I think Apple is doing a poor job of keeping in touch with it's customers (most of whom are new customers). I'm going to see if I can't make some waves within the media first.

etoiles · Sep 1, 2006, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBi

I'd love to agree with you but class action lawsuits only really make the lawyers rich and we users don't get much out of it and apple loses millions it could be putting into fixing this problem.

I'd prefer to put them under media pressure, get a few news networks to talk about it and they'll be going head over heels to look good.

yeah, a 'class complaint' might be more appropriate at this point... and then take it from there, depending on how responsive they are.

It is def not heat related (at least for me), as it happened to me first thing this morning... a few minutes into checking email/checking the news.

Unfortunate thing for me: the ram lever broke off when I installed some RAM (another quality issue)... so it will be difficult to revert to Apple memory... I am going to blow a fuse if they blame it all on me.

jimrich3 · Sep 1, 2006, 03:59 PM

Okay, I’ve e-mailed CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the local NBC affiliate station about the problem and I’m urging everyone who reads this board with ANY sort of Q.C. issue (like the gentleman with the broken RAM installation arm), and especially our infamous shutdown issue, to do the same. If you go to their home pages and then scroll to the bottom, you’ll see the “contact us” link, and the rest is self explanatory. I’m sure my one message won’t be enough to spark any national press coveage, but 40, 50, 100, 200 e-mails might get us started. Once again, I agree that the class action should be our last resort, but at this point it’s an option we should definitely be kicking around (if Apple continues to stay silent on the issue).

Here’s the message I’m sending out:

I’m sure the staff at ______ is quite aware of the buzz generated by Apple’s new Intel based line of laptops and portables. Well, there’s a nasty little secret about those new svelte machines… they’re plagued with quality control issues. The most prevalent seems to have affected the majority of MacBook owners, and it’s a defect that causes the laptops to spontaneously / randomly / suddenly shut off. Many Internet users seem to think it may have something to do with the heat generated by the new Intel chips, but so far Apple has been mum. Can you please investigate this issue? It has been going on so long and has come to such a point that there are rumblings of a class-action lawsuit against the company. For more info, Google “macbook random shutdown” or “macbook sudden shutdown.” Thanks.

Nephalem · Sep 1, 2006, 04:28 PM

So i seem to have the same problem. Its pretty depressing to find out there are so many people with yet another mac problem with plague like symptoms.

Mine also started after the firmware update. It started as the "vertical lines" problem on boot, and thats all i had for weeks. After a few weeks of that it died on my wife. To tell you the truth i thought it was just her, but now i feel like a fool as it happened to me five times this morning while watching videos on Quicktime.

I know that pram and pmu resets wont fix a thing, as i have tried them both only a week ago to help the vertical lines problem.

Stock RAM (obviously it doesn't matter)

I ran the yes ">/dev/null &" test, and sure enough after about 70 seconds, dead.

I called apple care and had them directly transfer me to a product specialist. The guy (tho very nice about it) didn't have a clue what to do. He said as far as he knows there isn't any fix, and no one is getting replacements. He claimed this even after i told him about all of the poor souls on this site. He told me i could send it in for "extensive diagnostics", but he couldn't guarantee that anything would be fixed. I told him i would wait untill i could prove it was happening.

Does anyone know what the people at the "genius bar" would think about the "yes >/dev/null &" test? I would love to run one for them to prove i have the problem, but i fear that they will just be like "of course some random load test will cause a shutdown. Its your fault."

It seems to me that since the "yes >/dev/null &" test puts a string load on both CPU's to cause the shutdown, wouldn't this obviously be a cpu problem? I know that the shutdowns aren't always during load, but still. Am i totally wrong in that assumption?

TBi · Sep 1, 2006, 05:13 PM

I don't think they'll be too interested just yet.

Oh and my random shutdown's happen when the machine is cold, not hot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimrich3

Here’s the message I’m sending out:

I’m sure the staff at ______ is quite aware of the buzz generated by Apple’s new Intel based line of laptops and portables. Well, there’s a nasty little secret about those new svelte machines… they’re plagued with quality control issues. The most prevalent seems to have affected the majority of MacBook owners, and it’s a defect that causes the laptops to spontaneously / randomly / suddenly shut off. Many Internet users seem to think it may have something to do with the heat generated by the new Intel chips, but so far Apple has been mum. Can you please investigate this issue? It has been going on so long and has come to such a point that there are rumblings of a class-action lawsuit against the company. For more info, Google “macbook random shutdown” or “macbook sudden shutdown.” Thanks.

fatties · Sep 1, 2006, 06:05 PM

i am not sure a media campaign is the best way to go... then apple will be like all PR like and doing the spin thing instead of actually working out what is wrong with the computers. It took them 3 months to solve the whine/ moo problem and that is a far more consistant problem than what we are experiencing (i assume here, because i am guessing that the computers moo whatever and whenever and none of them have spurted milk yet). They also seemed to fix the funny coloured palm rests pretty hastily.

with rsd we are getting people who have it with bootcamp, with/out 3rd party ram, hot and cold, running specific apps (eg wow) so i think this problem is more difficult to fix than the others.

yes. i am feeling impatient, but if you look at the macbook rsd poll (and everyone please chip in, there can't be only like 20 of us experiencing it on the forum, it is the one titled all macbook owners or something like that) you see that we are in the minority here.

be patient, i am sure apple is not intentionally screwing with us, and they are saying nothing because the techs either- don't know, or they might know but are not allowed to tell the customers for legal reasons.

and with all the bad computer press lately, i seriously dont think networks are that interested in rsd. there is something called oversatuation of news- personally i don't even flinch anymore when firefox opens up first thing in the morning and we find another 100 or so people died last night in the middle east. i know its very un pc and heartless of me... but you get used to it. like we are all used to apples and dells not working thanks to some 3rd party part provided by some 'reputable' company, all made in china.

jimrich3 · 02:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatties

i am not sure a media campaign is the best way to go... then apple will be like all PR like and doing the spin thing instead of actually working out what is wrong with the computers. It took them 3 months to solve the whine/ moo problem and that is a far more consistant problem than what we are experiencing (i assume here, because i am guessing that the computers moo whatever and whenever and none of them have spurted milk yet). They also seemed to fix the funny coloured palm rests pretty hastily.

with rsd we are getting people who have it with bootcamp, with/out 3rd party ram, hot and cold, running specific apps (eg wow) so i think this problem is more difficult to fix than the others.

yes. i am feeling impatient, but if you look at the macbook rsd poll (and everyone please chip in, there can't be only like 20 of us experiencing it on the forum, it is the one titled all macbook owners or something like that) you see that we are in the minority here.

be patient, i am sure apple is not intentionally screwing with us, and they are saying nothing because the techs either- don't know, or they might know but are not allowed to tell the customers for legal reasons.

and with all the bad computer press lately, i seriously dont think networks are that interested in rsd. there is something called oversatuation of news- personally i don't even flinch anymore when firefox opens up first thing in the morning and we find another 100 or so people died last night in the middle east. i know its very un pc and heartless of me... but you get used to it. like we are all used to apples and dells not working thanks to some 3rd party part provided by some 'reputable' company, all made in china.

After reading and talking to other Mac owners (both veteran and rookie owners), I think Apple’s dirty little secret is their poor quality control. This is my second Mac, and my second Mac problem. Other customers have said they’ve experienced multiple problems with multiple computers (from iMacs, to iBooks, to PowerBooks). For years I’d owned Toshiba laptops and they were flawless. I have buddies who are loyal to ThinkPads that can say the same. I think it’s insane we’ve paid premium prices for a sub-par product. They shouldn’t be fixing problems… they should be testing thoroughly enough to release a solid product. If other companies can get it right, why can’t Apple?

gemsung · Sep 1, 2006, 07:53 PM

I bought my macbook in Jun, I have changed the logic board in JULY because of the shutdown problem, but the porblem still exist, the mac book shutdowns more and more, I am very headache of this problem, can I return my Macbook to apple and get back my Money? Help me.

Torbocto · Sep 1, 2006, 08:48 PM

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 macbookproblem@mac.com 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 second stats report:

NUMBER OF MACBOOK with SHUTDOWN PROBLEM : 34

serial numbers / model / purchase date / email available

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

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

Nephalem · Sep 1, 2006, 11:13 PM

"For years I’d owned Toshiba laptops e and they were flawless"

That isnt true for all toshibas. I owned a satallite that burned itself up so bad the cpu started functioning at about 10% speed. So many people had the same problem, and all were treated so poorly by toshiba, that a few years ago they all settled out of court on a class action. We all got $1000 back, which was nice, but the systems cost $2000, and we were all stuck with our own various repair bills, which were usually pretty large sums.

jimrich3 · Sep 2, 2006, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nephalem

"For years I’d owned Toshiba laptops e and they were flawless"

That isnt true for all toshibas. I owned a satallite that burned itself up so bad the cpu started functioning at about 10% speed. So many people had the same problem, and all were treated so poorly by toshiba, that a few years ago they all settled out of court on a class action. We all got $1000 back, which was nice, but the systems cost $2000, and we were all stuck with our own various repair bills, which were usually pretty large sums.

I can only speak on MY experience with Toshiba... as I'm speaking from MY experience with Macs.

Hmm... so Toshiba settled from a class-action, huh? Food for thought.

AnthonyKinyon · Sep 2, 2006, 06:41 AM

Sorry if this has already been posted (I did not read each post on all the pages for this thread).

http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?...60821101232169

Maybe this will help with the Macbook shutdown thing.

Torbocto · 10:36 PM

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 macbookproblem@mac.com 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 : 45

serial numbers / model / purchase date / email available

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

4h619/ white 2ghz/ 2gig 3rd party ram /email
4H619 / Black MacBook 2.0 / late May / email
4H619 / ? / ?
4H619 /White 1.83 GHz /June 15 / email
4H6192YBVMM / 2.0GHZ/512MB/80GB/SUPER/BT/AP / June/ 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 / ?
4h6201up / white 2.0 ghz 1gb ram / 5/16 /email
4H6203BW*** /White, 2.0ghz, 2.0gb ram from OWC, 60gb/ email
4H6204CDVMM / ??? / email
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
4H6220xxxxx / 2ghz white/ 1gb/ 80gb hd/ july /email
4H6221XXXXX / 2.0Ghz MacBook White / USA / 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

4H626 / White 2Ghz / France / purchase : 06/2006 / 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

CanadianGrit · Sep 2, 2006, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the7dwarfs

I have also been getting this problem and after a few calls to apple I decided to take it to my local store. Luckily it cut out in the shop and so they took it in for testing.

I got a call a few days later saying it had passed all its tests and hadn't cut out on them, they said they had reset a few things and hopefully the problem had gone away. It cut out 4 times that night. I took it back the next day and the guy reccommended I format my hard drive and reinstall 10.4.6.

I got home turned my laptop on and the screen went grey only rather than an apple logo appearing it started filling up with multicoloured lines running vertically down the screen, it is still doing this, I assume its the graphics card thats playing up now because I can still ping the computer and view files hosted on it . I am currently awaiting a courier to pick the thing up.

The coloured lines issues is very easy to fix. As the computer starts up hold down Apple + Option (ALT) + P + R, until the lines go away. Then go into your display settings and change the resolution to something other than what is set currently (1024x768 streched seems to work the best). Then Reboot. No more coloured lines, after the reboot you can change the resolution back.

7on · Sep 2, 2006, 04:02 PM

My computer is still going strong after getting it back from APPLECARE.

4H6221XXXXX

They replaced my Heat Assembly - which is probably slang for "we made the thermal paste not look like a monkey slathered it on."

But so far no misfortune.

Nephalem · Sep 3, 2006, 01:37 AM

Im glad to hear you had a good experiance with them jim. I really really wished i had. I had really high hopes for the satellite. Yeah, they did indeed settle, tho it took a good four or five years.

That link up there with the possible fix is pretty interesting. I would like to see how peoples books work long term after this.

MikeInSandy · Sep 3, 2006, 02:48 AM

Well just recently I have been having the same problem as everyone else. I have a standard White 1.8MHz MacBook. No Upgrades. It seems that the problem started to happen to me when I upgraded (Software) my Mac to take care of the fan problem. And It also seems to only happen to me when I visit either YouTube, or MetaCafe.. I have heard rumors that it could be a Quicktime problem, but seems unlikely...Any news would be good from Apple. I have a store locally here in SLC, Utah. Im thinking about bringing it in soon.

jshaevitz · Sep 3, 2006, 10:07 AM

Starting yesterday I started to have the shutdown problem:

2.0 GHz macbook with factory installed 2 GHz of RAM, week 21

It seems to shutdown at random times, and is not correlated with what software is running. After shutting down it usually shuts down several times during bootup before I finally get it up and running. Once up, it will run for 5 min to a few hours before shutting down again.

Ugh. I hope Apple figures something out...

gemerchant · Sep 3, 2006, 01:02 PM

I had bought a 1.83GHz MacBook in May. After four random shutdowns recently, I brought it into an Apple Store yesterday. All I had to say was "I have random shutdowns" and he immediately took it so they could ship it to their repair center. He asked me no other questions and all he put down on the repair form was "Unit shuts down randomly". This is the first time I have never been asked to prove to them that the problem exists so I suspect they know about it. I got curious and said "so other people have had this problem too?" and he said "we have had a few other customers with the same problem". Usually, the Apple Store always makes me try to replicate a problem and it usually never happens when in the store. Only at home. However, this time they seemed to be used to many different people coming in with this same random shutdown problem.

Nephalem · Sep 3, 2006, 05:03 PM

That is some fairly good news. I plan on taking mine in to the local store on Tuesday. Problem is, ours is a really small one, and i think they only have one certified genius that works for them. Hopefully i will get the same response that you did, as I am pretty worried about being able to replicate the problem on the spot.

stuuke · Sep 3, 2006, 05:45 PM

The genius bars are ridiculous. I called to see if they had the logic boards in stock just to get a time frame on the repair and they told me the genius bar employess were not allowed to take calls and that they were the only ones that could find out. What if I lived an hour away? I have to drive in just to see that they don't have the parts to fix my computer.

I bought this laptop to replace a 12" powerbook that had the logic board go out and now I'm dealing with the same issue in a brand new machine. I've had mooing, my firewire port go out and now my computer decides to go on strike whenever it feels like it.

altogether · Sep 3, 2006, 11:27 PM

I had about 3 random shutdowns since May, never had any trouble starting up the system after it happened. Just tonight I had a shutdown where it took several tries to get it up and running

Guess I'm part of the club now too.

S/N 4H62002KVMN Black added a gig of crucial ram

Fedge · Sep 4, 2006, 02:08 AM

I just found this site. Apparently some folks have discovered the source of the macbook woes.

http://maba.wordpress.com/2006/09/01...ast-hopefully/

Torbocto · Sep 4, 2006, 06:58 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 macbookproblem@mac.com 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 fourth stats report:

NUMBER OF MACBOOK with SHUTDOWN PROBLEM : 46

serial numbers / model / purchase date / email available

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

4h619/ white 2ghz/ 2gig 3rd party ram /email
4H619 / Black MacBook 2.0 / late May / email
4H619 / ? / ?
4H619 /White 1.83 GHz /June 15 / email
4H6192YBVMM / 2.0GHZ/512MB/80GB/SUPER/BT/AP / June/ 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 / ?
4H62002KVMN / Black added a gig of crucial ram / email
4H620033VMN /black macbook 2.0ghz / 19-05 /email
4H6201 / white, 2GB / ?
4h6201up / white 2.0 ghz 1gb ram / 5/16 /email
4H6203BW*** /White, 2.0ghz, 2.0gb ram from OWC, 60gb/ email
4H6204CDVMM / ??? / email
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
4H6220xxxxx / 2ghz white/ 1gb/ 80gb hd/ july /email
4H6221XXXXX / 2.0Ghz MacBook White / USA / 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

4H626 / White 2Ghz / France / purchase : 06/2006 / 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

Sep 1, 2006, 03:59 PM	#129
jimrich3 macrumors newbie Join Date: Sep 2006	The Media Campaign Starts Okay, I’ve e-mailed CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the local NBC affiliate station about the problem and I’m urging everyone who reads this board with ANY sort of Q.C. issue (like the gentleman with the broken RAM installation arm), and especially our infamous shutdown issue, to do the same. If you go to their home pages and then scroll to the bottom, you’ll see the “contact us” link, and the rest is self explanatory. I’m sure my one message won’t be enough to spark any national press coveage, but 40, 50, 100, 200 e-mails might get us started. Once again, I agree that the class action should be our last resort, but at this point it’s an option we should definitely be kicking around (if Apple continues to stay silent on the issue). Here’s the message I’m sending out: I’m sure the staff at ______ is quite aware of the buzz generated by Apple’s new Intel based line of laptops and portables. Well, there’s a nasty little secret about those new svelte machines… they’re plagued with quality control issues. The most prevalent seems to have affected the majority of MacBook owners, and it’s a defect that causes the laptops to spontaneously / randomly / suddenly shut off. Many Internet users seem to think it may have something to do with the heat generated by the new Intel chips, but so far Apple has been mum. Can you please investigate this issue? It has been going on so long and has come to such a point that there are rumblings of a class-action lawsuit against the company. For more info, Google “macbook random shutdown” or “macbook sudden shutdown.” Thanks.

Sep 1, 2006, 04:28 PM	#130
Nephalem macrumors newbie Join Date: Sep 2006	Again So i seem to have the same problem. Its pretty depressing to find out there are so many people with yet another mac problem with plague like symptoms. Mine also started after the firmware update. It started as the "vertical lines" problem on boot, and thats all i had for weeks. After a few weeks of that it died on my wife. To tell you the truth i thought it was just her, but now i feel like a fool as it happened to me five times this morning while watching videos on Quicktime. I know that pram and pmu resets wont fix a thing, as i have tried them both only a week ago to help the vertical lines problem. Stock RAM (obviously it doesn't matter) I ran the yes ">/dev/null &" test, and sure enough after about 70 seconds, dead. I called apple care and had them directly transfer me to a product specialist. The guy (tho very nice about it) didn't have a clue what to do. He said as far as he knows there isn't any fix, and no one is getting replacements. He claimed this even after i told him about all of the poor souls on this site. He told me i could send it in for "extensive diagnostics", but he couldn't guarantee that anything would be fixed. I told him i would wait untill i could prove it was happening. Does anyone know what the people at the "genius bar" would think about the "yes >/dev/null &" test? I would love to run one for them to prove i have the problem, but i fear that they will just be like "of course some random load test will cause a shutdown. Its your fault." It seems to me that since the "yes >/dev/null &" test puts a string load on both CPU's to cause the shutdown, wouldn't this obviously be a cpu problem? I know that the shutdowns aren't always during load, but still. Am i totally wrong in that assumption?

Sep 1, 2006, 07:53 PM	#134
gemsung macrumors newbie Join Date: Jul 2006	I can't endure the random shutdown anymore. I bought my macbook in Jun, I have changed the logic board in JULY because of the shutdown problem, but the porblem still exist, the mac book shutdowns more and more, I am very headache of this problem, can I return my Macbook to apple and get back my Money? Help me.

Sep 1, 2006, 08:48 PM	#135
Torbocto macrumors newbie Join Date: Aug 2006	We need INFORMATION - update#2 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 macbookproblem@mac.com 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 second stats report: NUMBER OF MACBOOK with SHUTDOWN PROBLEM : 34 serial numbers / model / purchase date / email available 4H619 / ? / ? 4H619 /White 1.83 GHz /June 15 / email 4H6195XHU9B / 1.83GHz 512MB RAM (2256) / 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 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

Sep 2, 2006, 09:58 AM	#139
Torbocto macrumors newbie Join Date: Aug 2006	We need INFORMATION - update#3 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 macbookproblem@mac.com 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 : 45 serial numbers / model / purchase date / email available 4H61815 EVMM/2Ghz, Black/May 21st /email 4h619/ white 2ghz/ 2gig 3rd party ram /email 4H619 / Black MacBook 2.0 / late May / email 4H619 / ? / ? 4H619 /White 1.83 GHz /June 15 / email 4H6192YBVMM / 2.0GHZ/512MB/80GB/SUPER/BT/AP / June/ email 4H6195XHU9B / 1.83GHz 512MB RAM (2256) / 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 / ? 4h6201up / white 2.0 ghz 1gb ram / 5/16 /email 4H6203BW** /White, 2.0ghz, 2.0gb ram from OWC, 60gb/ email 4H6204CDVMM / ??? / email 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 4H6220xxxxx / 2ghz white/ 1gb/ 80gb hd/ july /email 4H6221XXXXX / 2.0Ghz MacBook White / USA / 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 4H626 / White 2Ghz / France / purchase : 06/2006 / 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 Last edited by Torbocto : Sep 3, 2006 at 10:36 PM.*

Sep 1, 2006, 02:39 PM	#126
etoiles macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Where the air is crisp	I have the issue, too (happened twice over the last week or so...never before). I will need to check the serial number when I get home.

Sep 1, 2006, 06:05 PM	#132
fatties macrumors regular Join Date: May 2006	i am not sure a media campaign is the best way to go... then apple will be like all PR like and doing the spin thing instead of actually working out what is wrong with the computers. It took them 3 months to solve the whine/ moo problem and that is a far more consistant problem than what we are experiencing (i assume here, because i am guessing that the computers moo whatever and whenever and none of them have spurted milk yet). They also seemed to fix the funny coloured palm rests pretty hastily. with rsd we are getting people who have it with bootcamp, with/out 3rd party ram, hot and cold, running specific apps (eg wow) so i think this problem is more difficult to fix than the others. yes. i am feeling impatient, but if you look at the macbook rsd poll (and everyone please chip in, there can't be only like 20 of us experiencing it on the forum, it is the one titled all macbook owners or something like that) you see that we are in the minority here. be patient, i am sure apple is not intentionally screwing with us, and they are saying nothing because the techs either- don't know, or they might know but are not allowed to tell the customers for legal reasons. and with all the bad computer press lately, i seriously dont think networks are that interested in rsd. there is something called oversatuation of news- personally i don't even flinch anymore when firefox opens up first thing in the morning and we find another 100 or so people died last night in the middle east. i know its very un pc and heartless of me... but you get used to it. like we are all used to apples and dells not working thanks to some 3rd party part provided by some 'reputable' company, all made in china.

Sep 1, 2006, 11:13 PM	#136
Nephalem macrumors newbie Join Date: Sep 2006	"For years I’d owned Toshiba laptops e and they were flawless" That isnt true for all toshibas. I owned a satallite that burned itself up so bad the cpu started functioning at about 10% speed. So many people had the same problem, and all were treated so poorly by toshiba, that a few years ago they all settled out of court on a class action. We all got $1000 back, which was nice, but the systems cost $2000, and we were all stuck with our own various repair bills, which were usually pretty large sums.

Sep 2, 2006, 06:41 AM	#138
AnthonyKinyon macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2006	Sorry if this has already been posted (I did not read each post on all the pages for this thread). http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?...60821101232169 Maybe this will help with the Macbook shutdown thing.

Sep 2, 2006, 04:02 PM	#141
7on macrumors 68040 Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Thriller Bark	My computer is still going strong after getting it back from APPLECARE. 4H6221XXXXX They replaced my Heat Assembly - which is probably slang for "we made the thermal paste not look like a monkey slathered it on." But so far no misfortune. __________________ 任天堂 Leave luck to heaven MRoogle

Sep 3, 2006, 01:37 AM	#142
Nephalem macrumors newbie Join Date: Sep 2006	Im glad to hear you had a good experiance with them jim. I really really wished i had. I had really high hopes for the satellite. Yeah, they did indeed settle, tho it took a good four or five years. That link up there with the possible fix is pretty interesting. I would like to see how peoples books work long term after this.

Sep 3, 2006, 02:48 AM	#143
MikeInSandy macrumors newbie Join Date: Sep 2006	Same Problem Well just recently I have been having the same problem as everyone else. I have a standard White 1.8MHz MacBook. No Upgrades. It seems that the problem started to happen to me when I upgraded (Software) my Mac to take care of the fan problem. And It also seems to only happen to me when I visit either YouTube, or MetaCafe.. I have heard rumors that it could be a Quicktime problem, but seems unlikely...Any news would be good from Apple. I have a store locally here in SLC, Utah. Im thinking about bringing it in soon.

Sep 3, 2006, 10:07 AM	#144
jshaevitz macrumors newbie Join Date: Sep 2006	Another report Starting yesterday I started to have the shutdown problem: 2.0 GHz macbook with factory installed 2 GHz of RAM, week 21 It seems to shutdown at random times, and is not correlated with what software is running. After shutting down it usually shuts down several times during bootup before I finally get it up and running. Once up, it will run for 5 min to a few hours before shutting down again. Ugh. I hope Apple figures something out...

Sep 3, 2006, 01:02 PM	#145
gemerchant macrumors newbie Join Date: Sep 2006	Random Shutdown I had bought a 1.83GHz MacBook in May. After four random shutdowns recently, I brought it into an Apple Store yesterday. All I had to say was "I have random shutdowns" and he immediately took it so they could ship it to their repair center. He asked me no other questions and all he put down on the repair form was "Unit shuts down randomly". This is the first time I have never been asked to prove to them that the problem exists so I suspect they know about it. I got curious and said "so other people have had this problem too?" and he said "we have had a few other customers with the same problem". Usually, the Apple Store always makes me try to replicate a problem and it usually never happens when in the store. Only at home. However, this time they seemed to be used to many different people coming in with this same random shutdown problem.

Sep 3, 2006, 05:03 PM	#146
Nephalem macrumors newbie Join Date: Sep 2006	That is some fairly good news. I plan on taking mine in to the local store on Tuesday. Problem is, ours is a really small one, and i think they only have one certified genius that works for them. Hopefully i will get the same response that you did, as I am pretty worried about being able to replicate the problem on the spot.

Sep 3, 2006, 05:45 PM	#147
stuuke macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2004	The genius bars are ridiculous. I called to see if they had the logic boards in stock just to get a time frame on the repair and they told me the genius bar employess were not allowed to take calls and that they were the only ones that could find out. What if I lived an hour away? I have to drive in just to see that they don't have the parts to fix my computer. I bought this laptop to replace a 12" powerbook that had the logic board go out and now I'm dealing with the same issue in a brand new machine. I've had mooing, my firewire port go out and now my computer decides to go on strike whenever it feels like it.

Sep 3, 2006, 11:27 PM	#148
altogether macrumors newbie Join Date: Jun 2006	I had about 3 random shutdowns since May, never had any trouble starting up the system after it happened. Just tonight I had a shutdown where it took several tries to get it up and running Guess I'm part of the club now too. S/N 4H62002KVMN Black added a gig of crucial ram

Sep 4, 2006, 02:08 AM	#149
Fedge macrumors regular Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Boulder, CO	I just found this site. Apparently some folks have discovered the source of the macbook woes. http://maba.wordpress.com/2006/09/01...ast-hopefully/ __________________ Macbook Pro 2.5GHz - Penryn \| Powerbook G4 1.25GHz \| Mac Pro 2.66 - 2GB RAM - x1900XT - 4.5TB \| 2 x 2407WFP System 7 anyone?

Sep 4, 2006, 06:58 AM	#150
Torbocto macrumors newbie Join Date: Aug 2006	We need INFORMATION - update#4 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 macbookproblem@mac.com 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 fourth stats report: NUMBER OF MACBOOK with SHUTDOWN PROBLEM : 46 serial numbers / model / purchase date / email available 4H61815 EVMM/2Ghz, Black/May 21st /email 4h619/ white 2ghz/ 2gig 3rd party ram /email 4H619 / Black MacBook 2.0 / late May / email 4H619 / ? / ? 4H619 /White 1.83 GHz /June 15 / email 4H6192YBVMM / 2.0GHZ/512MB/80GB/SUPER/BT/AP / June/ email 4H6195XHU9B / 1.83GHz 512MB RAM (2256) / 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 / ? 4H62002KVMN / Black added a gig of crucial ram / email 4H620033VMN /black macbook 2.0ghz / 19-05 /email 4H6201 / white, 2GB / ? 4h6201up / white 2.0 ghz 1gb ram / 5/16 /email 4H6203BW** /White, 2.0ghz, 2.0gb ram from OWC, 60gb/ email 4H6204CDVMM / ??? / email 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 4H6220xxxxx / 2ghz white/ 1gb/ 80gb hd/ july /email 4H6221XXXXX / 2.0Ghz MacBook White / USA / 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 4H626 / White 2Ghz / France / purchase : 06/2006 / 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

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