M4 Mac Mini regularly reboots itself

[dagi]

Hi all,

Last summer I took the plunge of buying a base model M4 Mac Mini. This is my first Mac after being a Windows user for many decades, I was attracted to the idea of having an Apple desktop that would allow seamless integration with my iPhone and iPad.

The experience has been ok but a little spoit by the Mini rebooting itself every 1-2 days. I tend not to shut it down but let it go to sleep when idle, but sometimes when I wake it up I'm met with the message, "The computer was restarted because of a problem".

Connected to the Mac are three USB external hard drives, one of these is a SATECHI Hub & Stand with NVMe SSD Enclosure. Also attached via USB-C is an external CD/DVD reader/writer, a USB-A Hub (connecting to a Logitech mouse) and a bluetooth Logictech keyboard.

I've removed one of the external drives but this makes no difference.

Is the only means of identifying the source of the probelm to remove each external device individually and to see if this rebooting stops?
Could having the home drive on the NVMe SSD Enclosure device be part of the problem?
Could the problem be with the Mini itself?

Any views or advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks, David

 

[elptdbi3lYI]

Sounds like kernel panic, next time you get it press on report button and read backtrace, maybe it will give you a hint.
Also see: https://eclecticlight.co/2023/05/29/dealing-with-a-kernel-panic/

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Detach anything you can live without for a few days. If you CAN’T detach it, then detach before letting the computer go to sleep.

Highly likely to be related to an external device… not 100% but it’s BY FAR the leading cause of kernel panics. Could be the device itself, could be cable, could be driver.

 

[Fishrrman]

I'd start by disconnecting everything except the keyboard and mouse.
Plug the keyboard and mouse DIRECTLY into the Mini.

If you have a time machine backup (I don't use tm), connect that to one of the external ports.

Leave the hub disconnected for now.

Try running this way for a few days.
Do the restarts disappear?

A final thought.
I've been a Mac user for 39 years now.
I ALWAYS turn my stuff off and night, and reboot in the morning.
In fact, I have things plugged into a power strip, and after I shut down I reach down and turn off the power strip, as well.
And my Macs have always run great. For 39 years...

 

[bogdanw]

I have the exact Mac mini with a NVMe SSD Enclosure connected permanently (Acasis TBU405 Air).
Like on every other Mac I own, I have completely disabled sleep. No problems so far.

To disable sleep, from Terminal:
- save the current configuration in a txt file

pmset -g >> ~/Desktop/pmset_settings.txt

- disable sleep

sudo pmset disablesleep 1; sudo pmset sleep 0; sudo pmset hibernatemode 0; sudo pmset autopoweroff 0; sudo pmset disksleep 0; sudo pmset tcpkeepalive 0; sudo pmset powernap 0; sudo pmset ttyskeepawake 0

Documentation
Execute commands and run tools in Terminal on Mac
https://support.apple.com/guide/ter...s-apdb66b5242-0d18-49fc-9c47-a2498b7c91d5/mac
Enter administrator commands in Terminal on Mac
https://support.apple.com/guide/ter...b6259-a7d4-4435-947d-0dff528912ba/2.15/mac/26
pmset manual https://ss64.com/mac/pmset.html Also available from Terminal:

mandoc -T pdf -O paper=a4 $(man -w pmset) | open -fa "Preview"