Macbook Pro won't shutdown

gtessier00 said:

Hey all,

I have a problem which occurs about 3/4 times when I shutdown my MBP early-2011. As the title says, it just won't shutdown and stays on the grey screen with the spinning wheel.

I always close everything before shutting it down...

Any advice???

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After you close all apps, launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes", then click on the CPU column heading once or twice, so the arrow points downward (highest values on top). Then look to see what may still be running that's causing it to hang on shutdown. You can always force it to shut down by pressing and holding the power button for 10-15 seconds.

Something tells me this isn't to do with an app hanging on shutdown...

@OP, try repairing disk permissions.
When did this problem start?
Do you keep backups?

gtessier00 said:

That's what I do but I hate doing that. I don't want to hurt my 2000 bucks laptop

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It's not the best way to shut down, but you won't hurt it by doing so.

Squashy said:

Something tells me this isn't to do with an app hanging on shutdown...

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Any facts to support your theory?

Squashy said:

try repairing disk permissions.

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Some people repair, or recommend repairing permissions for situations where it isn't appropriate. Repairing permissions only addresses very specific issues. It is not a "cure all" or a general performance enhancer, and doesn't need to be done on a regular basis. It also doesn't address permissions problems with your files or 3rd party apps.

Five Mac maintenance myths

Disk Utility repairs the permissions for files installed by the Mac OS X Installer, Software Update, or an Apple software installer. It doesn’t repair permissions for your documents, your home folder, and third-party applications.

You can verify or repair permissions only on a disk with Mac OS X installed.

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Does Disk Utility check permissions on all files?

Files that aren't installed as part of an Apple-originated installer package are not listed in a receipt and therefore are not checked. For example, if you install an application using a non-Apple installer application, or by copying it from a disk image, network volume, or other disk instead of installing it via Installer, a receipt file isn't created. This is expected. Some applications are designed to be installed in one of those ways.

Also, certain files whose permissions can be changed during normal usage without affecting their function are intentionally not checked.

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There are times when repairing permissions is appropriate. To do so, here are the instructions:
If repairing permissions results in error messages, some of these messages can be ignored and should be no cause for concern.

Try booting into verbose mode a few times until you get the lock up. When shutting down, you should see what process is taking a long time to kill.

To boot into verbose mode, simply hold down Command+V when you push the power button, until the black screen with text comes up.

Mac OS X: How to start up in single-user or verbose mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1492

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This won't fix it, but it will help you debug it.

I've been lucky in the past with starting into safe mode.

Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455

To start up into Safe Mode (to Safe Boot), do this:

1. Be sure your Mac is shut down.
2. Press the power button.
3. Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
4. Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).

During startup in Mac OS X v10.4 through Mac OS X v10.6.8, you will see "Safe Boot" on the login window, which appears even if you normally log in automatically. During startup in Mac OS X v10.2 through v10.3.9, you will see "Safe Boot" on the Mac OS X startup screen.

To leave Safe Mode, restart the computer normally, without holding any keys during startup.

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It will take a lot longer to boot during safe mode, but that's because it's doing its job, and it doesn't indicate anything is wrong.

Mac OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1564

Starting up into Safe Mode does several things:

• It forces a directory check of the startup volume.
• It loads only required kernel extensions (some of the items in /System/Library/Extensions).
• In Mac OS X v10.3.9 or earlier, Safe Mode runs only Apple-installed startup items (such items may be installed either in /Library/StartupItems or in /System/Library/StartupItems; these are different than user-selected account login items).
• It disables all fonts other than those in /System/Library/Fonts (Mac OS X v10.4 or later).
• It moves to the Trash all font caches normally stored in /Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS/(uid)/ , where (uid) is a user ID number such as 501 (Mac OS X v10.4 or later).
• It disables all startup items and login items (Mac OS X v10.4 or later).
• Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later: A Safe Boot deletes the dynamic loader shared cache at (/var/db/dyld/). A cache with issues may cause a blue screen on startup, particularly after a Software Update. Restarting normally recreates this cache.

Taken together, these changes can help resolve software or directory issues that may exist on the startup volume.

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