The uber geeks

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   Wow, looks like I’ll stave off buying one until this gets fixed. Designers hate it when you have a large photoshop file open and forget to save ‘once’ and the power cuts.

   Bryan Culver on July 11th, 2006 10:37 am

2. 

   Have you tried booting your computer using 10.4.6 restore disks and using them to select your hard drive as the boot drive. Everything I’ve read on this issue points to a problem with 10.4.7 not saving the default drive correctly.

   cavemonkey50 on July 11th, 2006 12:35 pm

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   Cavemonkey50: It isn’t that my computer does not boot, or know the proper boot disk though. Would it be that if it didn’t know the address, it would simply not even boot?

   Colin D. Devroe on July 11th, 2006 12:55 pm

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   It could be your battery. This started happening with my MacBok Pro. At first I didnt think much of it, but then I realized my battery swelled and was causeing trackpad issues and random shutdowns. Usually only when my power cord was not plugged in.

   Richard Testani on July 11th, 2006 1:00 pm

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   Sorry to hear about your troubles - not being able to trust your computer is a horrible feeling.

   Abizer on July 11th, 2006 1:09 pm

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   That is seriously a let down. Do you think if you went to the apple store and they replaced your macbook that you’d still have the problems?

   josue salazar on July 11th, 2006 2:27 pm

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   I got one exactly like this at work, the only thing i could do was to change the logic board (and the top case which i broke while removing it :D)
   We have troubles with ram too, adding ram is not very easy on intel macs. It does randomly recognize the added ram or even don’t see it (or even freeze)
   Waiting for Apple to get this fixed

   PS: sorry for my

   Pounet on July 11th, 2006 2:34 pm

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   One odd question: do you have windows sharing turned on?

   Joel on July 11th, 2006 9:18 pm

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   When I got my Mac Mini with Intel, I *tried* installing Adobe Creative Suite, half-way through the installtion, the computer froze. Since then, I couldn’t get past one second after the startup. If you installed some heavy-duty PowerPC software, that could have tampered with your Mac.

   I had to reinstall.

   Clayton Gray on July 12th, 2006 1:50 pm

10. 

    Joel: I do not.

    Clayton: Hmm, not sure how that could have anything to do with it. Unless you feel it is Rosetta related, which doesn’t seem possible since 90% of my shutdowns occur during start up.

    Colin D. Devroe on July 12th, 2006 1:59 pm

11. 

    Oh it gets better, Im started with problem untill it got to where it would not boot up at all. I would press the button it would spin the drive it cut off. So i take it to mac genius, they reseat the ram and do a few rests (same crap applecare told me to do) and the puters working. I leave get home and it shuts down again. I got back 2 hours to apple store, they do same thing i get home problem repeats. I sent it to applecare demanding a replacment, they said there running test on it and what was wrong with it? I sent it to them not working, was this not enough!!! They have my whole case file, so told them all the issues again and there wroking the issue. they were very nice and all. but i honestly dont think they know why there puters are doing this. Yeah they can replace my unit but it could happen with a new one ass they dont know what causes it. Im guessing this is why they have no admited to this problem with the macbooks.

    damian on July 12th, 2006 6:16 pm

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    Wow colin, mini-DVI and this I am so sorry for you. I hope everything gets fixed and works out for you. So far for me (only about 9 days of use) my macbook is doing just fine.

    Another thing you might try is taking out the new ram you purchased and see if it still happens. This could very possibly be a RAM issue.

    Anyways, good luck.

    Zach Hale on July 14th, 2006 9:47 am

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    After I installed ram in my MB, it would not boot and the led in front flashed. I reseated the ram, and it booted, though one of the sticks of ram turned out to be bad. After a couple of days it also started to randomly shutoff a few times, even when plugged in, so it could possibly be a memory problem for me.
    Hope this helps.

    Mike on July 15th, 2006 4:18 pm

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    Hmm, after commenting your previous post about how nice the MacBook was. I did get some second thoughts after reading this one. Of course not every MacBook is malfunction, but over the internet, I see many disturbed customers. Hopefully Apple will fix this soon, or maybe release some firmware update.

    Birger

    Birger Nordoelum on July 16th, 2006 9:56 am

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    Me too. I am now getting the vertical lines too. Another noted issue. All I know is that I was fine until I installed 10.4.7. I did all the usual, PMU, Zap Pram and the the “genius” usual trouble shooting. It is off at Applecare as I type on my Dell.

    bobby on July 16th, 2006 9:39 pm

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    Mine has been exhibiting the same issues while i am away on business. Finally found an Apple Certified repair shop, they diagnosed the heat sink and logic board as the culprits. While I cant comment on the heat sink, it seems the logic board has been the issue on other people’s computer with the same problem. Parts are due in a week, lets see if this fixes the issue.

    Nikhil on July 17th, 2006 3:28 am

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    My MacBook also developed the sudden, random shutdown problem you describe. It mattered not what RAM or hard drive was installed. It could be cold. It could be hot. It might be during boot or sometimes after several hours of work. Battery vs TWO different AC adapters also didn’t change the shutdowns. Clean 10.4.6 or 10.4.7. Resets of PMU and PRAM didn’t solve the problem. Replacing the logicboard seemed to fix things, but only temporarily. One week later the random shutdowns began again. Fortunately, the Apple Store manager decided to swap me out to a new MacBook rather than subjecting me to another round of repairs.

    There really does seem to be a hardware issue that is causing this. You are not alone. Hopefully, Apple will figure out what is happening and fix things once and for all. Even though my new machine is working well now, an underlying design or build flaw might cause a recurrence.

    Guy Kuo on July 24th, 2006 3:26 am

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    My MacBook had the same issue. Took it to an Apple Store, couldn’t reproduce the problem there (figures) but the guy had obviously seen this problem enough in the past. Sent it back for repair with suggestions to replace the logic board, should be done in five business days.

    Greg on July 24th, 2006 10:29 am

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    i had the not turning on/flashing light issue, but it turned out to be bad ram, since it booted fine with the stock apple 2×256mb chips, but didnt turn on/flashed with 2×1gb chips. I had the chips replaced and it booted normally. As for the random shut downs, that started on my macbook about a week after the 10.4.7 update was released. I’m not sure if I’ll relinquish my macbook to applecare for a new board, considering there are a number of people who have done so, only to have the same problems with the new boards. i figure a year of apple care should give me enough time until there’s either a software fix (if it’s software related) or a hardware revision (i.e. they fix the design bug, because at this point it doesnt seem like a manufacturing bug).

    jyee on July 24th, 2006 11:16 am

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    Happened to me too. It would only happen after it was booted up and shut off for the night. I called Apple Care, and resetting the PMU and PRAM worked for about 12 hours before my MB turned off again. The next day I took it into an Apple store and they shipped it off to Memphis, TN. The Mac “genius” believed me, even though we were not able to recreate it. The fact that he believed me and recommended sending it off, made me think he (Apple) is aware of this issue. Hats off to Apple’s customer service, let’s see if they fix the problem and what exactly that fix might be. I would highly recommend calling Apple Care or taking it in to document your problem, so you can at least get a case number started for future reference. Good luck to everyone!

    Uwe on July 26th, 2006 10:28 am

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    Do a google search for “macbook random shutdown” and you’ll find many people with similar problems reporting on various forums. At present, this issue has not been picked up by the mainstream PC news media. However, one should also note that only a fraction of those with problems are suffering this particular fault. A large number of other reasons must be ruled out before a MacBook owner should become convinced their machine is one which suffers this problem. Bad RAM, poorly seated RAM, improperly installed hard drive, corrupted OS, corrupted plists, bad batteries, bad chargers, corrupted PMU, and corrupted NVRAM all need to be ruled out first!

    My own MacBook suffered the random sudden shutdown malady and eventually required complete replacement after a logic board replacement did not solve the issue. Some of the MacBooks appear to have a hardware problem which surfaces after a period of use. Many reported their problems starting after a month of ownership. Coincidentally, that also coincided with the release of 10.4.7, but most likely that is not at the root of the sudden, random, shutdown problem.

    (However, 10.4.7 is strongly implicated in a separate MacBook problem - colored vertical lines during boot on some machines. That is probably a separate issue.)

    Description of the Random, Sudden Shutdown Problem

    MacBook suddenly shuts off to a completely powered down state seemingly at random. There are no kernel panic, mouse freezing, or other premonitory symptoms. The machine simply powers down suddenly. The screen goes black. The hard drive spins down and no sleep light illuminates. The machine simply turns itself off.

    The shutdowns may occur on either battery or with AC adapter attached. Some owners report their MacBook is less prone to sudden shut down while on battery vs AC adapter. My own afflicted MacBook would suddenly shutdown on a fully charged battery or on either of two AC adapters.

    The shutdowns occur with either 10.4.6 or 10.4.7 OS loaded. I went through several cycles of clean installs of the base 10.4.6 and the Intel Combo update to 10.4.7 before it became clear that it mattered not which OS was running. Another indicator that this is not an OS issue is that sudden shutdowns can occur in target mode and also when running just the Apple Hardware Test - which relies on minimal software to operate.

    The shutdowns tend to grow more frequent once they begin. They may worsen to the point that a machine will not complete boot up before shutting down. It may take several power up presses to start the machine. Oddly enough, a machine that had difficulty starting up, may be easy to start up several minutes later. It may run for hours or minutes before another sudden shutdown. The frequency is low and random enough that is very difficult to demonstrate this fault to a service technician.

    Some users are able to induce a sudden shutdown by running their CPU’s at high load and thus heating up the machine. This is easily done by running the yes command in two Terminal windows. Some users report their MacBook is more prone to sudden shutdowns when their CPU is relatively cool. The bipolar reporting is confusing. There may be more than one type of sudden shutdown being reported. One due to CPU overheating and another due to another hardware problem which has yet to be elucidated.

    Resetting of the PMU and PRAM MAY temporarily reduce the frequency of the sudden shutdowns, but the effect is temporary. Indeed, the effect may not even be real given the randomness of the shutdowns. None-the-less, one must perform PMU and PRAM resets to ensure that some corruption of those devices is not creating a reason for shutdowns. On my own MacBook, resetting PMU and PRAM (four chimes) did not prevent the random sudden shutdowns.

    The sudden shutdowns occur with well seated stock RAM, replacement RAM, and reseated/replaced hard drives. Swapping out and testing both RAM and hard drive helps to eliminate those as the source of the problem. On my own machine, I exchanged the RAM and the hard drive to eliminate them as the cause. This made it considerably easier for the Apple genius to decide it was an internal problem.

    In my case, a logic board replacement did indeed solve the fault, but several days later, sudden shutdowns began again. Presumably either the replacement board has the same weakness as the original or some other component of the machine was the actual reason for the sudden shutdowns. The former is quite likely because the machine was made stable for several days with a new logic board. At that point, I requested to be swapped to a new machine and the Apple Store manager wisely decided to help out his customer. For that I am most grateful. However, it is unlikely that the majority of people will have their machines swapped out, but instead repaired.

    At this time, no official statement regarding cause for or acknowledgment of the MacBook’s sudden random shutdown problem has been made. Because the underlying cause has not been revealed, it is impossible to know that a logic board replacement will permanently solve the problem or merely result in the same fault recurring later on the replacement board. Of course, we do not know if it actually is a logic board flaw.

    My advice to MacBook owners whose machines develop the sudden random shutdown symptoms are to…

    1. Get your data backed up immediately. The machine will likely suffer more and more frequent shutdown events.

    2. Revert to stock RAM and hard drive if you have installed after-market replacements. You must do this and see if the shutdowns continue to occur. Otherwise, the first thing blamed will be your RAM and hard drive.

    3a. Perform a PMU reset, by shutting down the MacBook. Removing the battery. Disconnect the AC Adapter. Then, press the power button for five seconds. The reinstall the battery and mains adapter. Restart the machine.

    3b. Reset PRAM by holding option-command-P-R keys down during startup until you hear the chime at least three or four times.

    Resetting the PMU and PRAM are standard procedures you’ll otherwise be asked to perform to diagnose your machine.

    4. Do a CLEAN install of the OSX if you wish to totally eliminate a bad OS install as the problem. This will destroy all your data. Alternatively, an archive and install will be helpful without totally destroying your data, but that will not let you exonerate your system files and settings. An alternative is to run Apple’s hardware test utility which is found on your OS installation disc. However, an extended hardware test is needed because the shutdown flaw may take hours to surface.

    Note: If your MacBook has become so “narcoleptic” that it cannot even complete a boot up sequence, try holding the power button down until you hear a loud beep. That may allow an otherwise balky machine to start.

    Once you have done the above, and are still seeing random sudden shutdowns, you have largely done the preliminary footwork that you’ll need to prove whether your MacBook has this particular problem and not something more common. Then, call AppleCare or visit your Apple Genius to have the machine repaired or replaced. Hopefully, the root cause of this problem will be discovered, disclosed, repaired and prevented. For now, it appears only a fraction of the MacBooks are suffering this fault, but the machine population is still young. Overall, the MacBook is perhaps the finest laptop I’ve bought from Apple. It will be nice to trust the machine to not lose my work.

    BTW - resetting PMU may induce a separate 10.4.7 related bug which results in your MacBook exhibiting a white screen with progressively more numerous vertical color lines during startup. This appears to be fixable by resetting PRAM and then temporarily changing display resolution to something other than the current setting and then back.

    Guy Kuo on July 28th, 2006 2:20 am

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    Mine went in for a logic board replacement and still has the problem after. Based on mine and a few other similar experiences, I want to conclude that the logic board is not at fault. The local apple service facility is now trying to replace the heat sink. I am hesistant this will work as the problem seems to be worse when cold as mentioned by Mr. Devroe. Other users who have sent in their machines had additional parts replaced including the sudden motion sensor, the bezel, SVC and M42 (no idea what the last two are). I am going to request these parts be replaced as well.

    Nikhil on August 1st, 2006 1:35 am

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    As a Mac IT guy who has worked with Macs for over 15 years, I’ve never seen this problem related to RAM or Hard disk problems. It’s a power/regulator problem in the logic board. Reseating the RAM and hard disk are not the answers. 3rd party RAM is not the problem. The steps that Apple makes us go through are foolish to say the least. Bad RAM will do one thing… crash the computer with a kernel panic or not allow the chime to happen. A bad hard disk will still allow the computer to boot-up to the blue screen. You’ll just get a blue screen and no progression.

    Casey on August 7th, 2006 12:01 pm

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    Having the same problem since 3 weeks now, I initially thought it was related to the 10.4.7 upgrade. I had another false win impression when I installed the SMC firmware update from Apple yesterday. Unfortunately, when I started the computer back this morning, after a night in sleep mode, it just went off again.

    It looks like Apple made this Firmware upgrade to solve the Mooo sound problem some Macbook owners experienced, also bringing the unit to operate a bit cooler and it does. Unfortunately, it does not solve the sudden shutup.

    To help the community a bit, I just at this moment put another asumption on the table. I operated the unit since 5 days without a glitch by always shutting down the computer: no sleep allowed and it just worked fine. I used sleep for the first time last night, thinking the Firmware upgrade would have solved the problem.

    I will continue to run it for another stretch without using the sleep mode and will report if it does the same. My “candidate” cause would be the PMU thinking the battery is empty, because some power management parameters could be misinterpreted or just wrong in certain hard to diagnose situations. A night’s sleep could be seen as draining the battery to death. This would also explain why it is better to wait a few minutes to start the computer back: the PMU not wanting to restart the machine immediately, unless the battery had a chance to get some juice in, so you have to wait 10 minutes to start it back again (it always starts back when I wait 10 minutes)… If someone else could work on this and report, we could eventually diagnose the problem as a team while Apple engineers are in sleep mode themselves.

    André Verville on August 21st, 2006 8:40 am

25. 

    A day after and just during reboot, the Macbook stopped again. I can now confirm sleep mode is not directly involved, but battery and power condition remains as a possible cause. I put this in writing in hope it can help (I secretly hope someone at Apple reads forums in search of operating conditions making shutdowns less “random”).

    André Verville on August 22nd, 2006 9:17 pm

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    i had a similar issue with my macbook…i took it in to apple and they shipped it out for a logic board replacement

    Mike on August 23rd, 2006 9:45 am

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    I have the shutdown problem on a new macbook–it began a month or so after I got it in June. I have the cold start problem–takes between five and eight reboots to get it to
    “catch” and stay on. I see my problem reflected in Andre’s and in those of others here–often it will stay on a while after it seems to have “warmed up,” but the IT people at school here noted that it shut down after an hour and a half of being on. It’s somehow a great relief to see this is a common problem, but frustrating that mac has not addressed it. It does not seem marginal–of ten new macbooks here at school, two of them have the problem. If 20% of all machines act this way, that’s a major issue, and I’m seeing notes on this all over the net.

    harry bauld on August 24th, 2006 5:48 pm

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    My Macbook has random shutdown syndrome. The logic board was replaced Aug. 8. The problem seemed to go away, but it is back now. I had three shutdowns yesterday. I would send it back, but they won’t know what to do. Expensive paperweight.

    Macaddict on August 28th, 2006 3:25 pm

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    I had the same problem. I reviewed tones of articles on this. Not any answers from Apple! It’s definitely not the battery. I had my Logic Board changed and the problem just started occuring again today. I’m so disapointed! Not a single clue on this problem!

    Yann Le Berre on August 28th, 2006 11:47 pm

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    I have exactly the same symptoms - a two month Macbook, and the problems started about three weeks ago. While this post adds no new information, the more people that state they have a problem, hopefully the more pressure will be brought to the issue - Apple needs to acknowledge this problem!

    Martyn Davis on August 29th, 2006 7:18 am

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    I’m having exactly the same symptoms, but mine appeared just after the latest firmware update. This leads me to believe that it is thermally related because my machine now runs much cooler (~10 ºC) than before. Called up Apple Care and was told that my only option was to send in for repairs. I’ll be visiting the local store tomorrow when I schedule a meeting with the genius.

    Hopefully, I can convince the manager to swap me out for a new one, because I don’t have a week or more to wait for a new unit. School is starting soon. Plus, this is my third unit. The first two were DOAed for dead pixels and the mooing problem. I feel like I won the lottery, the first person (that I know of) to have three separate and common maladies with three different MacBooks.

    I’ll keep you updated.

    Kent Horvath on August 29th, 2006 1:54 pm

32. 

    UPDATE: Unit was replaced as DOA 38 days into purchase. An exception was made because of the first two DOAs. So far, the new unit exhibits no symptoms or side affects.

    I couldn’t be happier with the support and service from Apple retail.

    Kent Horvath on August 30th, 2006 1:48 pm

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    I have a 2 month old Macbook with the same problem… Incredibly frustrating.

    Since yesterday, it takes up to 10 tries to get the Macbook to boot when it is cold. Sometimes it shuts down after seconds, or it may get as far as the login screen before turning off.

    Once it warms up it seems to be more stable, with an occaisonaly random shutdown every few hours.

    I have two collegues at work who bought Macbooks around the same time, and their machines are both exhibiting this problem.

    Back to the Apple store…

    james on August 31st, 2006 9:32 pm

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    I got a black macbook about two months ago and it has been working fine till last week. I have been a mac fan for almost 20 years and never used a PC. This is getting my nerve. Hope Apple fix it soon.

    Templex on September 3rd, 2006 11:40 pm

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    Yay, My MacBook Randomly Shuts Down

    After hearing numerous reports about a problem with early “Rev A” MacBooks shutting down, I was comforted by the fact that I had not experienced this problem. Unfortunately for me, my MacBook exhibited its first signs of RSD (Random ShutDow…

    PaulStamatiou.com on September 4th, 2006 2:39 pm

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    12″ Black Macbook. I’ve been having Random Shutdowns for about the past month. They seem to get progressively worse and happen substantially more often when the machine is cold.

    I’ve contacted Apple and they’re sending me a box to send it in, but if the Logicboard replcements aren’t fixing it, I’m tempted to see if I can wait it out.

    For those who have have had the logic board replaced and the issue still occur, what does apple do?

    Jesse Proudman on September 7th, 2006 12:57 pm

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    No more worries ladies and gents… Apple has finally acknowledged the issue. I think now would be a safe time to assume they’ve figured out the problem:

    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304308

    No more calling AppleCare and having the tech pretend like he/she doesn’t know what you’re talking about.

    Tom Hutchinson on September 7th, 2006 3:04 pm

38. 

    Apple now recognizes the problem: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304308

    Someone also found what is the problem:
    http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/flaws/

    Apparently, it is a very thin heat sensor cable too close to the heat sink, where the isolation is melt by the heat sink when it expands, causing a contact that shuts down the unit.

    …but you’d be better off having it repaired than opening the computer trying to repair it. This is what I’ll do. The service department at my Apple retailer have the main board in stock now and I shall have it replaced on Monday 11.

    In the meantime, I can work with it by always starting the computer the “reset” way, by holding the power button until the computer beeps. Then, CPU clock is topped at 1GHz and temperature is low enough it works fine and never shuts up.

    André Verville on September 7th, 2006 10:33 pm

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    I opened mine up last night, re-routed the sensor cables between the fan & heatsink (away from hot metal), even wrapped them in electrical tape as close to the heatsink as possible. I ran the machine with AC, no battery, for 15 minutes I thought I had declared victory, THEN IT SHUT DOWN!

    Since, I’ve seen the colored vertical lines twice, reset PRAM a couple times. And now CoreDuoTemp reports my CPUs are stuck at 1.0 Ghz! What did I do wrong!?!?!

    You think Apple Service tech will notice that one screw is missing ? lol I am afraid to bring it in now.

    alan on September 26th, 2006 4:20 pm

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    Hey, better luck the next day. 60 mins ‘yes’ test plus browsing. I put in my second battery & ran off it. I also put arctic silver on my cpus again, however temp are nearly the same 48-75C min-max. keeping posted. :}

    this is the longest it’s been on since first symptoms Sep. 6th - exactly 90 days after purchase hahah knock on plastic.

    I wish someone could figure this out cause the board is actually a beautiful & tiny dual core mobo, these laptops are only going to get better.

    alan on September 26th, 2006 10:01 pm

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    Darn, mine has been doing it for about the last week. I guess I’m gonna have to spend the time to take it in….AND get a backup hard drive. RATS!

    e on October 1st, 2006 6:03 pm

42. 

    Given the now documented propensity of some MacBooks to melt the insulation of a thermal sensor wire and develop random, intermittent shutdowns after a month or two of normal usage, I think it advisable for all MacBook owners to test their machines and expose any weakness while it is WITHIN warranty. A newly purchased MacBook probably should be thermal stress tested well before the 14 day replacement period expires.

    Opening terminal and running yes in two windows maximizes CPU utilization and temperature. Several overnight runs or a 24 hour run without arranging extra ventilation should expose any MacBooks that are physically prone to melting their thermal sensor wire insulation. By this I mean the machine should be allowed normal ventilation but not put in front of an external fan or air conditioning. The goal of the run is to heat the heatsink to as high a temperature as it will ever experience in heavy usage and hold it there for several hours. If the insulation has sufficient thermal, it should be fine. If it melts, the machine will start experiencing intermittent shutdowns during normal use. It may not necessarily shut down during the thermal load run.

    A few days of normal usage AFTER that session would give good peace of mind that the machine is less likely to fail later. Intentionally thermal testing early gives owners a better chance to have a fault prone machine repaired under warranty or replaced.

    This would also be useful for newly repaired MacBooks prior to putting them back into critical usage.

    You aren’t forced to do the test, but here is my logic.

    1. The early MacBooks have a heatsink/thermal sensor wire assembly that is prone to shorting if the insulation on the wire melts. Once the machine melts through the insulation during a high temperature episode, the machine can begin unpredictable, sudden shutdowns due to an intermittent short of the wire.

    2. Once the insulation is compromised, the insulation does not heal itself.

    3. Not all early MacBooks will develop this problem, but over time the risk of it appearing increases as the machine eventually will do some tasks which cause it to heat up. Each heating episode may further degrade the insulation.

    4. The failure can occur after months of unremarkable usage. One may well use the machine without it happening until after the warranty expires. If it happens out of warranty the repair cost is to the user even if the root cause was marginal wire insulation.

    5. Keeping a machine cooler by altering the firmware to make the fan come on sooner will slow the insulation degradation but does not actually make the wire insulation more resistant to heat. It only slows the onset if a machine is destined to have that failure. This is advantageous to Apple because the total number of failures within the warranty period should decrease and the failures spread out over a longer period of time.

    6. Running Yes heats up the machine, but no more so than any other heavy CPU task like video compression or 3D rendering. The machine is designed to slow down the CPU and increase fan speed so running a heavy CPU usage application does not cause thermal runaway.

    7. No all users will routinely do enough heavy CPU tasks to immediately thermally stress the wire insulation, but they are likely to eventually do something that heats up the MacBook. It is not reasonable to make users responsible for limiting their MacBook only to low CPU usage tasks.

    8. An out of warranty repair is expensive.

    9. A random shutdown event can cause the loss of hours of work even if one saves frequently. Imagine what happens if the machine is in the process of writing out a file and the sudden shutdown occurs. If it is overwriting the same file, both your original and you new work are destroyed. If it is during a file directory write, the directory structure could be munged. You usually get away without too much damage, but RSD events become more and more frequent once they begin and soon it becomes impossible to use a machine reliably.

    10. I think it better to test if a machine is prone to a failure before it is used for critical tasks and definitely before warranty coverage is over. If a thermal load test exposes a weakness, a permanent fix can be done to prevent the problem and one can trust the machine. If a machine fails after a thermal load test, then it was probably destined to fail at a future date anyway. Better that date be within warranty than out of warranty. If it passes without incident, then you know your MacBook is less likely to fail in this manner and can better trust it.

    Guy Kuo on October 7th, 2006 7:04 pm

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    hey same problem here as well…i got the macbook to run though by prssing the power button till a beep came…and it has been working since then…any side effect of this kind of startup?

    kushal on October 11th, 2006 10:15 am

44. 

    Holding down the power button and starting the machine in that manner constrains the CPU to 1 GHz. The low speed operation reduces the amount of thermal expansion that exacerbates (and causes) shorts and bad connections of the thermal sensor system. It can help for a while, but it is only a temporary solution. The underlying defect still needs to be repaired.

    Guy Kuo on October 14th, 2006 10:42 am

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    Does anyone know if Apple fixed this problem for MacBooks that were made past the 34th week of production?

    To find out, your serial number should tell you what week was your MacBook made.

    For example: if it was 4H634XXXXXX

    4H= Code
    6= Year (2006)
    34= Week of production

    So, in this example its the 34th week of 2006

    Mike Erikkson on October 14th, 2006 10:30 pm

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    I have the same problem. It doesn’t matter when it happens. The power could be in or I could have it sitting on my lap desk without anything in it and it will still turn off for NO reason! It’s very annoying. I’ll be trying to get my work done and POOF nothing. I live fairly close to an Apple store so I’m bringing it as soon as I can. This is also increasingly annoying because my Macbook is a replacment for my old ibook. Apple was great about the whole thing but I haven’t even had this for 6 months and it’s already giving me problems. Oh, I got a question for those Macbook users out there. Do you find that at times your Macbook is slow to get programs up and running? Or just slow in general? My ibook was much faster and I never had any trouble with internet pages displaying all my content without that sad little question mark in the blue box. I have never had a problem with any web pages. I don’t get it. Am I just missing something? Thanks everybody for reading my rant!

    Michelle on October 21st, 2006 2:58 am

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    Does the latest MacBook SMC Firmware 1.1 fix the problem?

    Allan Reyes on November 3rd, 2006 3:06 am

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    I have also has the shutdown fault if you can call it that as i can’t get it to power up again.
    When turning it on again i get the DVD drive constantly wiring looking for a disc and the standby light is on. Oh and this has been in once for repair and was stated that a Firmwear up date sorted it. So i tryed it in the car it was ok got it home they had messed up my DVD drive, i now have to push disc in all the way in my self and you guess’d it it shut down again and won’t start up again so back to apple this week to see waht they say.

    Mr Mint on December 3rd, 2006 8:53 pm

49. 

    PS my macbook is built 22nd wk (4H622) and i am curently dealing with customer relations over my problem due to negligence received from the repair center i went to.

    Mr Mint on December 4th, 2006 3:24 pm

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    I’ve had boot problems with my mini since I bought it in 2005. Like you, it seemed to have difficulties with low temperatures, although the tech support folks at the Apple Store didn’t believe me. I went through every possible
    PMU reset, etc… every time this happened, until the mini
    agreed to boot.

    It also seemed to be extremely sensitive to being moved (what’s the point of being a mini?), (always had to reset the PMU afterwards) and to the location of power supply’s cables! Apple also denied this could be an issue.

    It got to the point where I decided to work on my PC because I worried that I might lose my machine at any time. The one thing Apple (Genuis Bar) could do was to open up the machine, clean it up, reset everything physically in place.

    Once I blew my hair dryer on it to warm it up after a very cold night - and this worked! I now keep my room relatively warm, and my boot problems, it seemed, ended.

    Today I started having a shutdown problem - which is how I found your site. Not long after boot, the fan suddenly gets overactive and very loud, and shuts the mini down. (I’d seen it once before) My Mac anxieties have returned.

    Terri on March 22nd, 2007 1:32 pm

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    I bought a new MacBook July 2006, and just started experiencing random shutdowns this month, April 2007. After reading the rest of this list, it looks like Apple should have found the solution by now. Can someone please tell me what to do? And should I find a way to raise the laptop off a flat surface? Please help.

    Gini on April 14th, 2007 2:09 pm

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    I haven’t had any problems with my macbook and I bought it the first day it was released.

    LINUX on November 27th, 2007 9:26 pm

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