PowerMac G5 random shutdown

[epicwelshman]

My father's dual 2Ghz PowerMac G5 just randomly shut down with no warning. It turned back on fine, and there seems to be no other issue. This is the first time this has happened, and there have been no other problems. Is this a cause for concern, or is it simply one of those things that happens?

 

[eva01]

Is it hot in the room?

 

[epicwelshman]

Is it hot in the room?

No, the air-conditioning is on I believe. Even if it's not, it's no warmer than at any other point. He'd only been working on it for a little while as well, not as if it had been on for days. He's very paranoid about shutting it down when it's not in use.

 

[Sun Baked]

Is it on a UPS with AVR ...

Otherwise if it wasn't software, then I'd almost say brownout.

 

[iamhammill]

Wasn't using Garageband by chance was he?

My MacBook keeps randomly shutting down, first couple times it did it with Garageband, now it just does it at random.

 

[epicwelshman]

Is it on a UPS with AVR ...

Otherwise if it wasn't software, then I'd almost say brownout.

It's on a UPS, but I don't know what AVR is. We get a lot of power surges, but he was printing and watching TV at the same time, and nothing happened to them. Everything was fine until it turned off.

Wasn't using Garageband by chance was he?

My MacBook keeps randomly shutting down, first couple times it did it with Garageband, now it just does it at random.

He wasn't using Garageband, but he was using a drafting program called VectorWorks. But he uses it every day, and this has never happened before.

 

[Sun Baked]

It's on a UPS, but I don't know what AVR is. We get a lot of power surges, but he was printing and watching TV at the same time, and nothing happened to them. Everything was fine until it turned off.

AVR is Automatic Voltage Regulation, look it up at the UPS sites.

Unlike a plain battery backup UPS, which is useless for many common power ills, the UPS w/AVR will regulate brownouts and surges -- a battery backup is basically useless for these types of power problems.

A battery backup works when the power is off, not a little to a lot high or low.

The printer and TV may be perfectly happy when the power surges, dips, and noise, but it may shut a computer down.

Check out the UPS, find out if it is a $20-50 battery backup or something that actually works for the power problems you admit you have.

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In reality, these types of power problems kill electronics, or makes them act unstable at times -- it is worth it to spend a little more on a UPS w/AVR to keep expensive stuff running.