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Imac keyboard and shutdown problems

M

meduk1

macrumors member
Original poster
May 30, 2008
58
27
Hi, I have an Intel based Imac and have recently had problems using certain commands on the keyboard and shutting down/restarting.

Occasionally, usually when left on for a while certain commands on my keyboard will stop working such as cmd+tab to tab through open applications, and also the Function keys such as F1 for dimming and F2 for brightening. The rest of the keyboard will work fine however (Im having the problem now and still typing this message)

When this happens I'm also unable to shutdown or restart my mac as when i click restart it will hang for about 30 seconds then tell me that one of my applications is failing to shutdown and i can use force shutdown to close it, however the application it mentions isn't listed in the force shutdown list.

Anyone else having this problem or can offer any help?

Cheers
 
M

meduk1

macrumors member
Original poster
May 30, 2008
58
27
Quick update,

Whenever i try to logout/shutdown/restart one application that i have open will fail to quit, and the next time it will be a different application until i have no applications left and i will just get the error message:

Logout has timed out because the application Finder has failed to quit.

I've tried doing a disk permission repair but it hasn't helped, I'm fairly new to macs so would appreciate any help anyone can give.
 
gehrbox

gehrbox

macrumors 65816
Jul 5, 2007
1,040
0
Charleston,SC
meduk1 said:
Hi, I have an Intel based Imac and have recently had problems using certain commands on the keyboard and shutting down/restarting.
Click to expand...

It would help to get some more information about your configuration:

1. What model of Intel iMac do you have?
2. What version of OS X are you running?
3. Do you have BootCamp installed and if so, does Windows exhibit the same problem?
4. Any errors in the system.log? You can see it by selecting the "About This Mac" under the Apple Menu. Select the "More Info..." button. In the System Profiler window scroll down the left pane to the "Software" item. In it you will see the logs. Click on "system.log". Post the events listed from the last hour or so before and after the problem occurs.

Some basic troubleshooting items to try:
1. Make sure you have the latest updates.
2. Perform a NVRAM and/or PRAM reset. This is known to cure many a Mac illness. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
3. Turn off any unnecessary login startup items.
4. Unplug any external drives to isolate out a fault on one of them.
5. Backup your data and reinstall OS X.
 
M

meduk1

macrumors member
Original poster
May 30, 2008
58
27
Thanks,

I've got an Intel 2.8 24", but not one of the new ones, from 6 months ago. Its running Leopard 2.5.3 everything up to date. I do have bootcamp and I've never seen it happen before but to be honest i hardly ever use bootcamp.

The only way i can get out of it is by manually turning off the machine with the power button, and afterwards when i turn it on everythings working fine. I do have a USB HDD connected pretty much all the time.

Its fine now but next time it happens ill check the log you mentioned out and see if i can see anything. I've been doing a bit of research and other people have had similar problems but theres no definite answer anywhere.

I'll wait until it happens again and try a few things out, my mac is on most of the weekend and usually its fine to start with but will just develop the problem after a time.

Thanks again.
 
gehrbox

gehrbox

macrumors 65816
Jul 5, 2007
1,040
0
Charleston,SC
meduk1 said:
Thanks,

I've got an Intel 2.8 24", but not one of the new ones, from 6 months ago. Its running Leopard 2.5.3 everything up to date. I do have bootcamp and I've never seen it happen before but to be honest i hardly ever use bootcamp.

The only way i can get out of it is by manually turning off the machine with the power button, and afterwards when i turn it on everythings working fine. I do have a USB HDD connected pretty much all the time.

Its fine now but next time it happens ill check the log you mentioned out and see if i can see anything. I've been doing a bit of research and other people have had similar problems but theres no definite answer anywhere.

I'll wait until it happens again and try a few things out, my mac is on most of the weekend and usually its fine to start with but will just develop the problem after a time.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

Also consider installing a temp monitor/fan controlling utility like SMCFanControl to see if you have a failed fan . Note the fan RPM and temps reported at boot, after it is warmed up for say an hour and what it is when the problem occurs. Post them here and folks with similar computers will be able to compare it to theirs to see if yours are normal.
 
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