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MacBook random shutdown

Possibly a BootCamp problem??

Hey guys, I was wondering if all of the people encountering this problem had bootcamp with windows xp installed on their macbooks? I read in a different forum that there are some booting problems when bootcamp is installed which leads me to believe it might also be related to the random shutdowns....my friend has a macbook with bootcamp and he is experiencing the same random shutdown problem but I haven't had any problems at all so far. I want to install bootcamp with windows but I'm kind of worried it might cause the shutdowns......I'd be happy to hear any possible answers to this. Thanks.

Also, a possible solution suggested was to always hold the option button when starting up so that the desired os will be properly booted.
 
j17lee said:
Hey guys, I was wondering if all of the people encountering this problem had bootcamp with windows xp installed on their macbooks? I read in a different forum that there are some booting problems when bootcamp is installed which leads me to believe it might also be related to the random shutdowns....my friend has a macbook with bootcamp and he is experiencing the same random shutdown problem but I haven't had any problems at all so far. I want to install bootcamp with windows but I'm kind of worried it might cause the shutdowns......I'd be happy to hear any possible answers to this. Thanks.

Also, a possible solution suggested was to always hold the option button when starting up so that the desired os will be properly booted.
Click to expand...


I've never had bootcamp on my machine, yet it still had the problem. Many other people experiencing the shutdowns do not have it installed, either.
 
j17lee said:
Hey guys, I was wondering if all of the people encountering this problem had bootcamp with windows xp installed on their macbooks? I read in a different forum that there are some booting problems when bootcamp is installed which leads me to believe it might also be related to the random shutdowns....my friend has a macbook with bootcamp and he is experiencing the same random shutdown problem but I haven't had any problems at all so far. I want to install bootcamp with windows but I'm kind of worried it might cause the shutdowns......I'd be happy to hear any possible answers to this. Thanks.

Also, a possible solution suggested was to always hold the option button when starting up so that the desired os will be properly booted.
Click to expand...

I know people on the Apple Discussion boards without Windows on their Macbook and still have this problem. Though I have heard a Theory that turning the machine off too many times may cause the problem, and rebooting to go into Windows has made turning off the computer more common. I probably restarted my Macbook more in the 2 months of ownership than I rebooted my old powerbook in the course of 3 years.

not saying it's normal though - but if this is the case then people who rarely reboot may see this problem later on in their computing.
 
7on said:
Though I have heard a Theory that turning the machine off too many times may cause the problem, and rebooting to go into Windows has made turning off the computer more common.
Click to expand...

I rarely turned mine off - 90% of the time I merely put it to sleep.

It's been two days now with the new logic board and so far everything is okay. Still holding my breath, as I know many others who have had the logic board replaced experience a recurrence of the problem after a week or two.
 
I've posted details about our logic board issues earlier in this thread.

In response to the last couple posts: Bootcamp was never installed on ours. It is also never turned off. Our replacement logic board does seem to be working just fine.
 
My Macbook - never had bootcamp and rarely turned it off. After two months it suddenly developed the spontaneous shutdown. I took it to my local authorized repair location and had the logic board replaced. It worked perfectly for a month - not a single self-shutdown in that time until I did the last security update. This update required a re-start. The machine never restarted - went to white screen with vertical colored lines or blue screen after a normal chime. I tried multiple restarts, booting from the install disk, resetting the PMU, calling Applecare for advice etc. All with no luck. I'm just waiting til I can get back to drop it off again for, what appears to be, another logic board replacement. My local Apple reseller says that I am the second customer to have had their machine killed by the security update.

Not really impressed with the reliability of the machine but when it works, it's great.
 
Count me amongst those with shutdown problems! I got my new macbook as an early Christmas present August 1st. By August 10th, it was shutting down randomly. August 11th I started having problems getting the thing to turn on (so that nixes an overheating problem). I took it in on the evening of the 12th and they had it until the evening of the 14th. Of course, they couldn't "recreate" the problem at the Apple store.

I brought it home on the 14th, left it off for a few hours, and lo and behold, it wouldn't turn on. The same thing happened three times on the 15th, twice on the 16th, and I haven't even tried to start it up today. I'm typing this post on a Dell laptop I've had for two years (one without a defective battery!)

Being completely new to Macs, my laptop only has the ram that came with it, so it's not problems with replacment or additional ram (it's one of the 1.83's, and a week 30). I got updates when I first started it, but I'm 99% certain it had 10.4.7 on it already. The only software I've installed is Office for Mac, no bootcamp, parallel, not even any widgets that didn't come pre-loaded by Apple. So whatever the problem is, it's most likely something to do with the computer itself, not anything I've done to it.

Typically it doesn't shut down during use, although it did last night when I was running a video on Youtube. It just refuses to turn on unless I hold down the start button for 15 seconds. Sometimes it gets as far as the desktop before shutting down, other times it shuts off within a second of turning it on. I've gone as many as 15 attempts before I get frustrated and hold down the power button. Oh, and btw - it does this whether I'm starting it with the power cable plugged in, or on battery power alone.

I wanted to take it back in today for servicing again, but my Genius bar is overbooked (hmmm, harbingers of things to come??). So I'll try again tomorrow. I've used PCs for 15 years, and even when I used one of the first beta versions of Windows 98 I didn't have this many problems. If Apple doesn't fix it soon, or better yet, replace it, I may return it, even if I have to get Amex to stop payment. And then I guess I'll be in the market for another PC. Seems a shame though...that guy on the Mac commercials seemed so nice and sincere.
 
Goddess groovy said:
I may return it, even if I have to get Amex to stop payment.
Click to expand...

Your experience is an exact copy of mine. Extremely frustrating. My advice to you is to get your money back. I really regret having spent the money on my Macbook. I'm a long time Apple fan and I love the thing when it works but it's clear to me that the Macbook just wasn't ready to be sold. My friend with the Sony Vaio and my friend with the Dell are laughing themselves silly everytime my superior Apple shuts itself off or won't boot or starts mooing. They especially love the commercial where he says, "Everything just works with a Mac."
 
If it helps anyone I had a very similar problem, brand new Macbook, worked fine for 3 weeks then sporadic shutdowns (anywhere from 5 seconds to 45 minutes after being turned on), then refusing to boot etc etc - not much fun! It wasn't overheating (didn't feel too hot and happening from cold) and I had no new RAM in it.

After doing the standard flashing of PRAM, checking PMU & battery etc (advise doing all this before calling careline - they will ask & it saves time) I ended sending it back to apple and after 10 days (14 from fist call) I got it back with the 'Thermal Module' replaced. Now is (sorry, seems) okay, its been bout 2 weeks so fingers crossed!

Shame about the reliabity of early models cos they're good machines...

Good luck
 
my first random shutdown

Had my first string of macbook shutdowns yesterday. I stopped by the Apple Center here in Chiang Mai, Thailand and the general manager said he's having the same probs with his macbook. They will be replacing my logic board next week as soon as more stock arrives from Singapore. The really sad part of this whole saga is how secretive Apple is. When I asked the manager what he thought the problem could be, his answer seemed to be drawn directly from these forums. He commented how Apple is always so hush hush about problems. Hmmmm, that's great...keep your service providers and stores in the dark...really helpful. Yikes!
 
my probs!

I too have had the random shutdowns on my MacBook 2ghz with 1gb apple installed ram. Only just started noticing them.... after updating the Macbook firmware (which i thought was to fix the mooing but i never had that problem). Been using 10.4.7 for a while with no apparent problem before 21aug.

So on the 21aug i had about 3 random shut downs and decided to start a log of this issue.

On 22aug i had 9 shut downs. First couple took about an hour, then most of rest took about 20mins to occur. Was monitoring CPU temp with iStat and CoreDuoTemp and was getting to around 55-60degC when shutting down. When i ran it hard with Photobooth, Garageband, iTunes, iPhoto, and Skype I could make it die in less than 5mins. I found this problem occured in Windows XP under Boot Camp (v1.1) equally as much and at same time intervals.

On 23aug i had 8 shut downs. About half of them were with CPU temp lower than 30degC and most of them were between 5-15mins after power up (some less than 1min). This was the day i called Apple and was told to reset the PMU. Same problems still persisted in MacOS and Windows. Called them back and ran some sysinfo capture program and emailed results back. Going to take to Apple store for fix.

24aug. Now on power up, grey "Apple" does not display and sometime replaced by grey screen with coloured vertical lines. Sometimes just blank screen. All the time, it will not boot into MacOS. I can however boot into Windows by holding Option, pressing across and enter. Shut down problem still exists in Windows. I have tried booting from original MacOS cd to reinstall but even that doesn't show up (*sounds* like its working though) so am unable to try a reformat.

Tomorrow i will be taking to the store to get looked at. I am 100% confident i will be able to reproduce my results on demand. Hope this helps! Wish me luck!
 
Just an update. Still have no problems with our MB after getting the new motherboard. This is our 1.83MHz stock config, purchased on the 3rd day of availability. So, here is our timeline:

-About a month and a half of no problems with the original board (May, June)
-About a month of escalating shutoffs til it finally refused to boot (July)
-2 boards replaced in quick succession (within 6 days of each other)
-About a month of no shutoffs since (August)
 
Apple have got a secret

I took mine to the Apple Store today and they said they knew what it was. They said it was a post between the top case and the logic board that heats up and suddenly breaks a connection. They would replace it when they get the parts in.

I pointed out that it only happens in OS X and not when I load the machine in Windows. The "Mac Genius" looked sheepish and said "yes, we know why that is but I can't tell you". He said "I've signed a non-disclosure agreement this thick" and held up his finger and thumb separated by about an inch.
 
Ah crap...

Now I'm getting random shutdowns on my MacBook Pro. It's ridiculous. Just going from no problems to completely off.

Maybe I'll drive an hour to the Apple store tomorrow and raise hell until they exchange it... I really can't be without a laptop for over a week. My case is coming apart as well and the hand rests are getting all messed up... so it's got multiple issues. Oh, and whine of course.
 
I went to the apple store and they took my macbook away. I guess I'm getting a new Main Logic board and I hope that fixes the problem. 5-7 days...:(
 
"hot post" between logic board and top case

flimbar said:
I took mine to the Apple Store today and they said they knew what it was. They said it was a post between the top case and the logic board that heats up and suddenly breaks a connection. They would replace it when they get the parts in.

I pointed out that it only happens in OS X and not when I load the machine in Windows. The "Mac Genius" looked sheepish and said "yes, we know why that is but I can't tell you". He said "I've signed a non-disclosure agreement this thick" and held up his finger and thumb separated by about an inch.
Click to expand...

That's very interesting. I was going to have my logic board replaced here in Thailand next week. Upon hearing your news I might just wait until I visit the States next month and see what the Apple Genius decides.

What Apple center did you go to for your service flimbar?

Please keep us posted on your repair and hopefully success.

Thanks!
 
I started getting this in the last two days. Right after I downloaded a firmware update that said it had something to do with the fans.

I have my same ram that came with it and had no bootcamp or any windows anything on it.

I am also getting the "discoloration."

So I am new to Apple. What are my chances of getting a new case and when should I take my in for this shutting down problem?
 
s0unds4il0r said:
So..Apple just released a SMC firmware update for Macbooks. A fix maybe?
Click to expand...

Not a fix, but it might stop it from happening if you don't get the power loss.

I've had my book back for over a week now and all they replaced interior was the heat assembly. Still on my Week 22 Logicboard and everything is still dandy - no power loss yet.

Personally I think it's due to how they applied thermal paste.
 
s0unds4il0r said:
So..Apple just released a SMC firmware update for Macbooks. A fix maybe?
Click to expand...

This is when I started to get the problem. After I downloaded the firmware update.
 
Ditto..

davede70 said:
This is when I started to get the problem. After I downloaded the firmware update.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with the above, never happened to me before that "fan issue" firmware patch. Now it has been getting progressively worse over the past 2 weeks.

I took it to my local genius yesterday. He quickly defaulted to suggesting that we "send it in for a new logic board". I was hesitant since I just recently got it back from repair... bad isight camera. After discussing it a few more minutes, he proceeded to read something on his console (internal tech support posts I presume) then he told me that I should hang on to it for a few more weeks. He seemed to believe the issue may be resolved by a patch in the near future. Of course he was vague about why he thought that and he told me that he wasnt at liberty to discuss what it was that he read.
 
Macbook Shutting Down

I have bought 2 MACBOOK.
the first one on May 26th, the second in mid June.

Both have the problem !

I am very disappointed.

So far, apple refused to reimbourse them
they also refuse to replace them

I expect more from APPLE.

The first computer is in for more than one week.
They say they need to replace the logic board.

What a disaster !!!

Any suggestion ???
 
Can I get a tally

I am thinking about just allowing apple to replace my logic board even if some patch may fix the issue in the near future. This shutdown thing is getting unbearable. It shutdown 8 times in on me this morning.

Can I get a tally of people who had their logic boards relaced and STILL have the shutdown issue? Thanks
 
I just got off the phone with Apple. I have to say that my non stop bragging about how great Apple is has taken a big hit over the last week.

I've had the shutdown problem since Saturday morning when I downloaded the new firmware.

I called and discovered that if I wanted phone support I would have to pay 50 bucks or whatever it is and then IF it is a hardware problem they will then reimburse me.

I wasn't too happy with that and talked about how when I bought my dell if I had a problem within my warrenty I called Dell and they fixed my problem and didn't charge me more money.

He got on the phone with a manager and "waived" the fee and gave me one free call.

I also had to correct him that Applecare is not a 3 year program but a 2 year program since it starts from the day I bought my computer NOT when the 1st year ends. I said, "Calling it a 3 year program isn't correct.

Anyway.

They ran through some disk test on my hardrive with the install disk and gave me a case number and said to call back if it shuts down again.

He said he hadn't heard of any shutdown problems with people. He did however ask me a lot of quesitons about what it was doing and how I was using the computer when it shut down. I don't know if these standard questions they ask or if they are trying to pinpoint the problem without saying there is a problem.

He asked about new ram. Still the same ram that came with it. He asked about battery vs. powercord. It's shutdown on both. He asked how many programs I had running when it shutdown. I said sometimes 1 sometimes 2-3.

If you're reading this and thinking about buying a macbook. I would wait. I learned my lesson about buying apple new apple products. Let the dummies like me who couldn't wait deal with the headaches.
 
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