random macbook pro shutdown

[daesup45]

i have a 2.8 ghz, 4 gb, 10.6.2, macbook pro. i got it last year. its started to shutdown randomly for the pass 2 weeks. i cant take my laptop to the apple store because im in south africa right now and there is no stores or shops that can help me. is there something i can download or do to fix this dumb problem

 

[Pax]

does it shut down randomly when running on battery? If so you could have a bad battery

does it shut down when working hard? if so you could have a cooling system problem

are there any other symptoms you can tell us about??

 

[daesup45]

it does shut down randomly on battery, and even sometimes with the power plugged in. it mostly happens when i am converting my movies but even when im not doing that it shuts down. there r times when i just start the laptop and in 10 mins it shuts down

 

[MBHockey]

it does shut down randomly on battery, and even sometimes with the power plugged in. it mostly happens when i am converting my movies but even when im not doing that it shuts down. there r times when i just start the laptop and in 10 mins it shuts down

Do you think it may be overheating?

 

[daesup45]

i thought it might have been overheating but its not. the laptop is 40-50C temp

 

[henry72]

At this stage, I think only the Apple Care can help you bro~

 

[MBHockey]

Have you checked your System.log in Console? What does it say just prior to the random shutdown (look at the timestamps)?

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Probably a bad battery. Had a similar situation with a MBP a couple years ago. Has it shut down on you while plugged in? That would be a good clue. If its shut down while plugged in then could be bad RAM or logic board.

 

[everysandwich]

MBP shutdown -- cause 74?

Does anyone know what cause 74 is? with a Shutdown NOW! message in console? I suspect it's heat-related. The 1.83 mbp has done this a few times lately (plugged in both times,) during operations that I suspect tax the processor -- video in one case, lots of audio plugins during a mix in another. I don't know if it's related, but this machine also sometimes fails to connect to the wireless network on waking from sleep. I've already replaced the wireless card once. The other evidence it might be a heat issue is that the machine was blazing hot. One other thing, I'd replaced the battery with a non-mac battery, which seems to work but doesn't show a percent-charged number, just an "x" through the battery. These shutdowns, though, happen while plugged in.