Macbook Random Shutdown Solved (For me anyway)
Hey all. I found this blog after my MacBook randomly shut down 3-4 times in a 24 hour period. After reading the various posts here, I expected several months of nightmares. On the contrary, I was able to identify and solve the random shutdown problem in my short-lived case.
First, I ran the “ys” processor test found on this site for 15+ minutes 3 times with no crashes. Then I used the OSX Activity Monitor to see if any apps were eating up processor time. Turns out a wi-fi sniffer widget called AirTrafficControl was using up an unusual amount of processor capacity (90%), CONSTANTLY
I removed the widget and I haven’t had a single random shutdown since (that was three days ago).
So my advice to everyone is check your Activity Monitor and see if an “innocent” widget is abusing your processors. My guess is that many rrs problems are software-based.
September 27th, 2006 at 9:41 am
September 27th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
“now 4 times faster…but you’re NOT allowed to run it that fast. it’s just in theory.”
September 27th, 2006 at 2:13 pm
I wouldn’t be so quick in saying that running the processor at low power will guarantee no shut downs! A lot of MacBooks have been reported to shut off when cold and not processing much!
And also, using the MacBook at low power is something I would only accept as a solution if Apple decided to sell them at a very small percentage of the current price. If I paid full price for it, I expect to be able to use it at full power 24/7!
September 27th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
This is not a fix. You are just artificially altering the way you use your machine in order to stop a hardware phenomenom.
September 27th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
We had zero widgets running and still has RSS – it definitely wasn’t software related in our case!
Cheers!
Matthew
September 27th, 2006 at 5:29 pm
yeah….it is defiantly a hardware problem
September 28th, 2006 at 1:37 am
iTunes 7 wrecks massive havoc on my macbook – - I can hardly burn rip and play without it shutting down!
September 28th, 2006 at 10:02 am
What’s the betting this guy is from Apple?
Software-based my arse! Poor quality product more like.