Macbook Random Shutdown

Hi, just a short post written on what I could call my new Macbook. Mine is a week 21 bought in late May and ’til September, I never encountered RSS. Then I downloaded the 1st SMC update (back in September, if I’m not mistaken) and that’s when things turned pear-shaped. RSS started to kick in and the laptop crashed at least twice a day (which was probably not so bad, compared to others).
That brings us to last Friday (27 oct), when I visited my local Apple service provider who ordered a heat controller to replace the one in my computer. Then, when I came home, I saw that there was a new SMC update which, allegedly, fixed the issue. I installed it (after the system crashed at least 15 times in a row, a record for me) and everything seems to run fine since then. I’ve just run the RSS test for 7-8 minutes after waking up the system from extended sleep; that’s when I would usually get the problem. During the test, the temp went from 18°C (ie, 65°F, yeah, I’m in Europe) to 77°C (170°F) which the fan turning on. Now I’m back at the average operating temp, 40°C (170°F) and not a single crash.
So I’ll wait for another few days but I guess I’ll have to call my local Apple Care and tell them I won’t be needing their part. Which means I won’t have to go without a MacBook, waiting for it to be fixed.

Good job Apple, at least for now.

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Thought I’d share my Random Shutdown experience -

It first started about 6 weeks ago and progressively got worse until I got fed up and held the power button in for ages one time. As most of you probably know now, this boots the machine into a ‘safe’ 1 core mode and I found the problem improved to only a few shutdowns per day.

Last Friday (27th Oct 06) was the first opportunity I had to take it to be fixed at a place called iSupport in Southampton, England. Unfortunately I needed online access before this, and not having the internet at home meant that the Macbook was my only option – otherwise I’d have taken it in sooner!

On Friday the replacement heatsink was ordered, and I was able to keep hold of the machine to use over the weekend which was good. iSupport called me today to say the part was in, so I travelled straight there…

I also asked if I could hang around and have a look at the inside which I was able to do. The unit was then disassembled and the heatsink replaced in a few moments right in front of me. I did have some time for some photos though!

I now have a fully working Macbook which was repaired faster than I ever thought it would be – iSupport are highly recommended! After reading some people’s experiences with dealing with Apple direct through their stores, perhaps the local independent Apple Authorised Service Providers may be the better option?

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Afternoon all, I read this comment in another thread on the site and thought it would be go showcase in a post directly. If you have asked yourself how to find out which week your macbook was produced during, we can thank Tom for this contribution: (thanks Tom!)

If you must have a machine now, open the box at the store before you buy it and do the following:

Turn the computer on. Go to the Apple icon at the top left corner and hit “About This Mac.” Click the “More Info” button. A screen will pop up and you will be looking at a hardware overview of that machine. This window also tells you the serial number of that machine. In that serial number, you can see what week in which Apple has manufactured it.

The serial number will begin with “4H6″ and then a series of numbers and letters. Look at the two numbers after the “4H6.” For example, my serial number starts with “4H621.” The numbers “21″ indicates that my macbook was made during week 21 of production.

The point is that you want the newest computer you can find. This would be the best way to try and avoid any 1st generation issues. I think at this point the latest week of production is in the 50’s somewhere. So, try and find a macbook with a serial number that starts with “4H650″ or higher. As for any other machine aside from the macbook, I don’t know when they started making them, so I don’t know what week to look for.

Sooo all that said and done, if you’re not in need of a computer really soon I’d simply wait. Wait until everything is updated to core 2 duo. These will be much faster computers listed at the same price. That and they will be Apple’s 2nd generation of machines, so hopefully they will have more kinks worked out of the hardware.

Thanks again Tom!

Cheers!
Matthew

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I got a new Macbook on Monday, 23rd October. It only took, however:
84 days after I asked for a repair (here); 55 days it returned unrepaired (they didn’t fix it); and 38 days after the man from the Apple Center felt it was neccessary to insult me.
I installed the firmware update as soon as it came out.

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Hi there guys,

Just wanted to let you know of an Apple Service Centre in Glagow in Scotland, if you want to contact them they can arrange a repair for your MacBook to solve the Random Shutdown problems!!

even better is that its covered under your warranty!! all you need to pay is the shipping to and from their service location!!

check them out at www.ukapplecare.com

thanks

G

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Well, it’s been awhile since I wrote in. After Apple repaired the heat sink and logic board, my macbook has been RSS free for a month (still has some seriously loud fans and heat issues). Unfortunately, it appears that the OS or system itself has developed another problem. I was wondering if anyone has the same problem and if they know what might be the culprit. It seems to occur when Parallels (the application for virtual OS’s) is live.

Basically, the problem is that I try to put the computer in sleep, while on battery power, but it never really goes to sleep. It just gets really hot and I can’t seem to make the computer live again. The screen just stays black and I have to hold down the power button until the computer shuts down. Luckily, I don’t have to reset PMU.

When I reboot I get a problem report to send to mac as follows. Anyone have something related?

panic(cpu 0 caller 0x0085E20D): AppleAHCI: slot (0) reused, newFIS = 0×00358027 : 0x404990f9 : 0×00000005 : 0×00000100, currentFIS = 0×10618027 : 0x4006a830 : 0×00000000 : 0×00000000

Backtrace, Format – Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x254eb668 : 0x128d1f (0x3c9540 0x254eb68c 0x131df4 0×0)
0x254eb6a8 : 0x85e20d (0x85f4ec 0×0 0×358027 0x404990f9)
0x254eb728 : 0×399338 (0×3981400 0x39a1a00 0x1f 0×0)
0x254eb768 : 0x85ce64 (0x399f3c0 0x85e052 0x39a1a00 0x1f)
0x254eb7d8 : 0x8564e6 (0×3981400 0x39a1a00 0x254eb818 0x85705f)
0x254eb818 : 0x8ca423 (0×3981400 0x39a1a00 0×0 0x37a9dc)
0x254eb8b8 : 0x8cad10 (0x3a3c200 0×3 0x48dcc80 0×0)
0x254eb938 : 0x37aa8a (0x3a3e640 0×1 0×0 0x9321f200)
0x254eb9b8 : 0x37b4e5 (0x86a1a200 0xa 0×20000 0×0)
0x254eba38 : 0x37d1ad (0×0 0×0 0x254ebd20 0×6)
0x254ebd48 : 0x1aa1aa (0x390fe00 0×0 0x254ebd88 0x6e8a3f)
0x254ebd68 : 0x1ab0e7 (0x254ebdb8 0×1 0x38b5800 0x254ebd98)
0x254ebd98 : 0x1aa280 (0x1aa18b 0x254ebdb8 0×0 0×120)
0x254ebdc8 : 0x6dbf2a (0x6dbd14 0×3 0x70c480 0x127efa)
0x254ebe28 : 0x6d1446 (0x38b5800 0×2 0x254ebdfc 0x3d9fea0)
0x254ebe48 : 0x3a93fd (0×3905300 0x4ac634 0×3 0×144000) Backtrace continues…
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage(1.0.3)@0x8c2000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily(1.5.1)@0×659000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily(1.0.2)@0×854000
com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort(1.0.5)@0x85a000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.1)@0x5ee000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily(1.0.2)@0×854000
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily(1.0.2)@0×854000
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform(1.0.5)@0x6d0000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.1)@0x5ee000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily(1.2.0)@0x6cc000

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.8.1: Mon Sep 25 19:42:00 PDT 2006; root:xnu-792.13.8.obj~1/RELEASE_I386

Model: MacBook1,1, BootROM MB11.005F.B00, 2 processors, Intel Core Duo, 2 GHz, 2 GB
Graphics: Intel GMA 950, GMA 950, Built-In, spdisplays_integrated_vram
Memory Module: BANK 0/DIMM0, 1 GB, DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz
Memory Module: BANK 1/DIMM1, 1 GB, DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz
AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x168C, 0×86), 0.1.27
Bluetooth: Version 1.7.9f12, 2 service, 0 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Serial ATA Device: TOSHIBA MK8032GSX, 74.53 GB
Parallel ATA Device: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857
USB Device: Built-in iSight, Micron, Up to 480 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad, Apple Computer, Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: IR Receiver, Apple Computer, Inc., Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: Bluetooth HCI, Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA

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Today i download the firmware and the sound of the MB working change (its more silent)..also i guess run fast…
After that, i download the fan controller too.
My first test for my MB was at you tube (most of the time when i try to watch any video there..appears the rss)…ok
2nd was have open 4 programs at the same time (yahoo messenger, iweb, safari, and word)…was ok
3rd was with the 4 programs open also run at the same time the rss test software…the temperature reach the 183 F…and…nothing…no rss.
tonigh i will make more tests with photoshop and iphoto, that in my case increase the rss..

for me its working…at least for now..

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I have had my MacBook repaired. After the repairs the battery life went from 4 hours to 2 hours or less. This could be due the fan programming. I also own a MacBook Pro, and I bought a MacBook because I needed long battery life on a portable. So I have two machines. But the MacBook Pro now has the longer battery life. I totally wasted my money.

I cannnot accept a repair that decreases functionality below the specs present when you purchased the machine. This is intolerable. I want a full refund.

This repair does not head off a class actin law suit. It makes it inevitable. I’ll start it if necessarty. People wakeup! You have exchanged one problem for another. And the new problem does not have a solution.

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Hi everyone, I have been in touch with a major media contact over the past week and we should be getting some more exposure to the Macbook Random Shutdown issues in the next couple days. That being said, my media contact was getting push back from Apple for an official word from them for his story. Ironically enough, they got back to him today.

Why ironic you ask? Well, when they contacted him, they had news that there was an official OS patch released today that addresses RSS specifically. Here is their official response:

Apple has identified an issue that causes a small percentage of MacBooks to shutdown intermittently. Today we released a downloadable firmware update that addresses this issue, and eliminates the need for
customers to send their systems in for warranty service. Apple recommends that all MacBook customers download and install the
MacBook SMC Firmware Update v1.1 now available on the Apple web site at http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/.

Click here to download the fix according to Apple.

After we started talking some more about this fix, something became apparent to me. In the past Apple has only captured about 2-3% of the computer market in comparison to the PC market share. Even on the last Earnings call a few days ago, Apple was saying how many Macbooks have been selling and that they have been having to air ship them, (not traditional means), I was getting from our media source due to the high demand for the product.

So the question that we came to is this: Has the rapid growth of Apple recently contributing to a wider scale quality control issue that needs to be addressed now that they are starting to capture more of the market?

I will leave it at that for discussion, but we should start seeing some more media coverage in the next few days. If the RSS issue is hardware related and is a faulty heat sink as the Apple Genius in Chicago told me, then I highly doubt a firmware fix can rectify the Macbook Random Shutdown problems we have all come to despise over the past few months.

Cheers!
Matthew

here is the link:

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

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Going by the repair experience of macbook owners it appears Macbook Heat Sink & sometimes Logic Board is changed during repairs. Even the repaired Macbook will require atleast a months use to certify if the problem has been fixed.

I consider this to be a MAJOR repair. And I am not willing to accept repaired Macbook. Owners have reported Shutdowns after just a months use, APPLE should replace the MACBOOK fully no questions asked. or go for a RECALL.

We didnt pay for refurbised Macbooks did we.

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