It was a mere two days ago that I uttered these words:
It’s hard to tell, as always, just how many users are being affected by [spontaneous shutting down]. I’ve had no problem with my MacBook, nor have I heard anything from others I know who own a MacBook or MacBook Pro. Could this be another example of the Internet echo chamber, or does Apple have a serious QA problem here?The morning after I made that post, I pulled my MacBook out, opened it up from its slumber, and worked for about a minute before the screen went black, and I heard the telltale sound of the hard drive spinning down.
It started up again readily enough, but cold fear had already crept into the pit of my stomach. Sure enough, later in the day it happened again—this time it took quite a while before the computer was willing to start up for more than a minute or so. I took it to my local Apple Store, but couldn’t get in to see a Genius (no Mac blogger clout there), so I made an appointment at another store for tomorrow.
In the intervening time, the computer seemed to stabilize. I had no trouble at all last night, even under normal usage for several hours. But this morning, I opened it up again and, sure enough, same deal. A minute or so into my routine, it died. I took it into the Cambridge Apple Store for my appointment at 3:30, and spoke to very nice Genius Brian. I’d been a little worried that the computer would refuse to have any problem, but my concerns were quickly assuaged (sort of) as the computer died after a couple minutes of waking. I’m arranging to ship it back, but I wanted to backup my data first.
A couple of things I’ve noticed: the only commonality between the times it dies are 1) it’s usually when waking from sleep and 2) take from it what you will, but the machine has only died in early morning, or in the afternoon. Can’t explain it, but there it is.
I’m planning to ship it back in the next couple of days, so I’ll keep you guys updated with the progress. Any fellow shutdown sufferers, feel free to commiserate.
I'm not sure, but I think this may have happened to me while waking it up from sleep.
I don't think I thought much of it at the time, because it'd never happened before, and never happened again, but I recall something strange happening one time when I brought it back from sleep.
Hey Dan, you got your MacBook pretty early, didn't you?? I'm gonna be getting one in early September... do you think it will have this problem?
I have started experiencing a similar issue. However, instead of it shutting down, the macbook will just stop responding. This also only happens after I put it to sleep.
I'm curious, has this been reported to happen with MacBook Pros? I've had mine since early March and have only noticed a few times where waking from sleep took a minute or more but no anomalous shutdowns, yet. All in all, my experience has been great and I wouldn't wish this annoyance on anyone.
This may not shed any light on things, but it has happened with my TiBook G4 as well. I'm currently mulling an upgrade, so this will be interesting...
Dillon,
May I suggest that you keep up to date with speculations of MacBook updates before you buy one in early September. I'm going to get a Pro in early September, but only if they are updated. Otherwise I'll wait for the upgrade. With Merom so close I'd hate to see you buy a current MB a few days before they get updated.
To clarify, I'm still pretty happy with my MacBook for the most part. I rarely buy Rev. A Apple products for just this reason: there are almost always kinks that need to be worked out. Aside from this random shutdown thing (which is annoying), I've had nothing but positive things to say. Let's hope Apple has worked out whatever's causing this issue.
I've had mine shutdown on me the other night. No warning sign...nothing... it just turned off. I powered it back on and it seems ok.
I have ths same problem, but its on a HP Laptop.
The problem is, I think, the computer is overheating. This was the case with mine. I made some home made 'feet' for it, to lift it up to give it more surculation, and it works fine now. If you havent shipped it back yet, try it.
My two-month-old MacBook has sometimes (perhaps one in ten days) not awakened properly from sleep. That's to say, rubbing the track pad did not immediately make her spring to life. I discovered that pressing a key on the keyboard brought her back instantly. Does anyone know if this behavior is something easily fixed by some sort of update, rather than the radical sending-back of machine?
Hey Dan, its going to be pretty hard trying to clone a drive on a computer that keeps on shutting down all the time.
I have a second gen. iMac G5 and it had the same problem. When I tried to clone my drive, it'll just shut down in the middle of cloning. And my Lacie crashed several times because of this!!!!
Hope you some how manage to clone it though
I had the store put the hard drive into another computer then cloned it from there.....that's how I did it
This happens with my G4 Powerbook. I think its a software issue. This seems to be a software issue.
I did manage to clone the drive eventually by pulling it out (thankfully easy in the MacBook) and using Carbon Copy Cloner on a G5 that I have access to. So my backup's pretty good right now.
As far as the suggestion that it's a software issue, I don't buy it. I tried to boot into XP via Boot Camp as well, and ran into the same problem. Overheating is a good guess (or at least it thinks it's overheating), but most of the times it shuts down, the fans aren't even on, which seems to suggest that the temperature is not high enough to trigger them. Dunno.
I've had none of the problems with my MacBook that other people have had - no shutdows, discoloration, or insanely high temps - although my 'Y' key is getting a little dirty. That's odd - the 'Y', not the space bar, enter key, or dozens of more popular letters, only the 'Y'.
I have just started experiencing the same thing with my 17"1.64gh powerbook. I followed the problem to a faulty trackpad sensor. After you have it shut down again, look at the console -> open the system log and take a look what causes it. Mine always says temperature warning, shutting down. I downloaded a temperature sensor and low and behold once in a while the trackpad temperature goes from 0c to 99c. It seems totally out of whac, needless to say that seems to be causing the problem.
Just to clarify--what do you mean by "shutting down"? Crashing and going black where you need to reboot (and with potential data loss), or just going directly to sleep and needing to be re-awakened? I have had the latter happen several times, where it will wake up for a minute, and usually just after I've typed the password into the Mac screensaver and sometimes briefly flashing the desktop, it goes black, and I simply repeat the process and usually it does not happen a second time. I thought I had taken too long to type the password or the use of the password-protected screensaver was the problem.
Thanks in advance for the clarification.
P.S. Could this be solved with a OS upgrade in the future as opposed to getting a new MacBook?
Shutting down means just that: the computer powers off. No sleep, no crashing. Just turns off. I'd say this is almost certainly a hardware issue: I have Boot Camp installed, and it's happened while trying to boot into XP as well. Apple's currently replacing the logic board and the DC-N board (power circuitry), which hopefully will alleviate the problem.
This shutdown issue seems to be a widespread problem. Check the apple discussion boards under MacBook. I have finally had it with the lack of quality and have initiated a class action lawsuit against Apple.
Here's the link to the Apple Discussions thread titled "Randomly Turns Off" with a massive 23,000 views and 622 replies:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2644318�
Apple just began locking and deleting these threads on 7/26/06 (last week) with no reason stated. It's suspicious that the threads would be locked when they were the top 5-6 threads on the Macbook forum, all of them about the random shutdown issue. It's getting too much attention from Apple's point of view, especially close to their back-to-college marketing.
Apple stands to lose significant sales on this flawed product. If you're thinking of buying a Macbook, I recommend you DO NOT BUY a MACBOOK until Apple is honest and releases and official word on this flaw.
The shutdowns hit me three days ago. Seems to happen when the MacBook is cool - waking from sleep, for example, or after powering up. Once it's up and running, it's pretty stable.
I tried resetting the PRAM, reinstalled the OS (shouldn't have done that, it messed up some settings), etc. Nothing I did made a difference.
Took my computer to my local Apple Store this morning. Within a couple of minutes, the "genius" decided it needed a new logic board.
So I think Apple is well aware of the problem and ready - at least at my Apple store - to try to fix the problem as expeditiously as possible.
I have the same issue. The MacBook doesn't like to get up in the morning. It's been happening for 2 weeks. Stabilizes after 2 or three tries (read: 2 or 3 more power-button re-starts). It happens if coming up from sleep mode or full power-up, and at various levels of battery power level, and regardless of powering up from battery only or with th power cord attached. But it happens in the morning, with 2 afternoons thrown in for good measure.
(Yeah, I know, 2 weeks is a long time, but I was on the Cape and as soon as I'd decide to do something about it, it wouldn't happen for a day or two, and the beaches were great.)
Mac Support on the phone said they hadn't heard of this happening, but that if it happened again I should call them and mail it in, bypassing the Apple Store altogether.
just so u guys with the trackpad problems are aware, that is almost always caused by the battery swelling, the trackpad is directly above the battery (in the macbook atleast)
and btw, i sent out my macbook yesterday for not starting up on the first press of the on button/ random shutting down....
good luck to all
Dan,
I got my MacBook in June and after about a month I started experiencing the random shutdowns. First time it did it, I had been running it most of the day. It doesn't happen too often, but mostly right while it's booting up or shortly thereafter, so I don't think it's a heat issue.
I've been reading a lot of discussion threads about this problem and there seem to be a lot of people with the same complaint. I'm going to call Applecare today and see what they have to say. I'm in Iraq, so getting it repaired may be something of a hassle.
Dan,
Thanks - I don't feel quite so alone now. My white MB 2ghz went through the exact same scenario yesterday and gave me an encore this morning. Like yours it was about a minute or so after waking up.
My local Mac retailer told me to bring it in and I will. I have done the usual tests, PMU, PRAM, memory test etc. I have not been able to duplicate the error yet, but something tells me it won't be that long.
I am curious to see what they say. Sigh. I am anticipating the separation anxiety already.
Ugh! It just did it again. Oh well, time to send it in.
I believe the spontaneous shutdown occurs only after being in the sleep mode state. I couldn't confirm this but it doesn't seem to happen, and its' happened plenty of times, only after being in this state. I would say Apple Co. has a huge recall/patch response in its near future.
Same crap is happening to me. I'm trying to finish my thesis and my syllabus for the course I teach at UM. I switched to Mac because I thought they didn't have these sorts of problems. I feel hoodwinked, bamboozled, and generally pissed off.
Hi, i've had the same problem, sudden and random shutdown.
Three days ago i contact an assistance center for the problem... well they have call me today, monday mornin i'll have my macbook back repaired.
The Technic told me that Apple have find a project problem in the up-top (where is the keyword!!); macbook shutdown were caused by temperature sensor!!!
Duccio - Firenze