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
My Macbook is in the shop getting fixed (fan & heatsink) for the second time as I type…does this really fix the problem?
I’m guessing all this new firmware update does is disable a certain function involved with the heatsink. If your wires are metled, then they’re melted. I think Apple found an easy way around their problem, but wires without insulation is still a hazard reguardless.
I’m not going to download this update. I’d rather KNOW if my heatsink is dysfunctional or not.
Good for you Tom, but don’t expect any help from Apple when you call them about your Macbook randomly shutting down. All they are going to tell you is to install the firmware update.
I do agree that this should just be a temporary solution, because a hardware problem needs a hardware solution. I know there is something wrong with my Macbook, and in the future if problems start happening again I’m going to be even angrier then.
You’re both right, but at this point, I’ll take what I can get. If I can turn off my MB tonight and have it start up in the morning on the first try without having to use the screech of death, I will be very very happy.
i haven’t been wanting to ship my macbook off to get fixed .. it shuts down like crazy
only way i can keep it on is to use the death screech and never close the lid.
if i do that.. it’ll stay on all day
well, tonight installed the patch. no shutdowns yet!
and i’m running at full capacity and have been opening and shutting the lid like mad
hopefully this is the key
now i just have to send this sucker off since its quickly turning brown..
i thought i ordered a WHITE macbook???
Thanks Justin! It’s good to know people are thinking twice about this mess. Just for the record, I am one of the fortunate people who have gotten their heatsink and logic board replaced. My macbook is still running fine after about a month and a half. However, I’m still reluctant to fully trust Apple. I’ve got a hunch they’re trying to cover this up.
I found these comments from Digg.com to be the most insightful:
” by RainRacer 7 hours ago
+ 6 diggs
As an Apple Tech, I can confirm that this is simply ignoring a bigger issue. I have seen first hand dozens and dozens of MacBooks with the thermal sensor wires melted to the side of the heatsink. Though this may be a nice temporary fix to get people up and running, I really hope that Apple is not encouraging this as true fix.
[reply]
by frogstik 7 hours ago
+ 3 diggs
I’ve noticed on the new heatsinks the connectors and the cables are a little varied than the ones that came inside the MacBook – Also the thermal pads on the bottom of them are much thinner than the inital slathering of thermal paste on the original ones too.
by linuxinsidev2 6 hours ago
+ 3 diggs
Agreed, i’m sending my macbook in for service soon, if they try to tell me that the update will fix it, i’m gonna remind them of the melted wires.
……
by RainRacer 6 hours ago
+ 1 digg
For myself, I don’t think I will even install this update. I would like to know when my machine is melting on the inside.
To linuxinsidev2, I don’t know why you dugg down. I highly recommend anyone who has this problem insist on getting a new heatsink.
by SpoBo 31 minutes ago
+ 1 digg
RainRacer … same here. I’m not updating since I would like to know when my macBook turns into a dangerous piece of equipment. That forced shutdown is there for a reason and it’s not funny when Apple suddenly decides that’s not really needed :/”
Mind everyone this is just a personal opinion. But honestly, I think this might be one of the first attempts for Apple to try and get people to shut up and stop this possible lawsuit. I’m sure that many may stop complaining because their machine works all of the sudden. Please don’t be foolish! Your machine may work but that doesn’t mean you don’t have faulty hardware. Imagine taking tums for acid refulx disease. It’s hardly a bandaid and the pain will return.
Here’s a better solution:
http://www.lobotomo.com/products/FanControl/index.html
Use this software to control your fan speed. I highly recommend this software over SMC Fan Control because not only can you set your base fan speed, but you can also set your minimum and maxiumum cpu temperatures and the fan adjusts accordingly. This might be a better way to keep your machine cooled down (however, it doesn’t necessarily help the life of your fan). This software does work for Macbooks, not just Macbook Pros.
Sorry about the long post :/
[...] Following recent contact between a major member of the media and Apple, it was revealed that Apple has today made a fix available for random shutdowns that will eliminate the need for customers to send their systems in for warranty service! [...]
Tom and Justin,
You’ll find some insight into how the soft fix could work here.
The word I got from someone who’s opened up his MacBook is that the insulation around the heat sink’s sensor cables does not actually melt away to a great enough extent so as to expose the wires. It simply results in the insulation of the 2 cables fusing together. The actual cause of the shut down is thought to be the increase in resistance of the sensor cables leading to an unusual signal being sent to the SMC, that then triggers a shut down. (NOT caused by a short circuit)
Worked for me.
DOES NOT WORK!!!!! DOwnloaded yesterday. shut off at 22% TODAY!!!!
Wow – take a read here guys – Is this fix “Stepping down the processor?” –
“It would be really good to see if we can find someone who’s gotten the problem and measure the performance before and after the firmware update,” Enderle said. Unless support forum users are misinformed about the logic board and heat sink being the issue, “the only way you can fix a problem like this without physically taking the machine apart is to step down the processor.”
Here is the link:
http://blogs.business2.com/utilitybelt/2006/10/is_apples_shutd.html
http://blogs.business2.com/utilitybelt/2006/10/is_apples_shutd.html
You know I just don’t get it. All this lawsuit business and what have you. I had RSS. I waited to take the MacBook in until they’d developed a fix that worked so it wouldn’t have to be taken in again. So we got to that point. I took it into an Apple Store. They were backlogged several MacBooks and out of parts. They said they’d call me when parts came in, I could drop the MacBook off in the morning and get it back the next morning. Of course that’s not what happened. They called, I brought it in a couple days later, and the technician who would be doing the repair explained that the person who told me how long it would take to fix it didn’t understand the process. I wouldn’t take 24 hours. It would take about 90 minutes. This really screwed up our day. Instead of being able to rush back home and do laundry or what have you, my wife and I had to take the boys out to a quick lunch, then go back and pick up the MacBook.
I was upset that the Apple Store technician had done something to the MacBook that I would consider the sort of things done to a refurbished computer: she’d cleaned the screen and the case. This I found disturbing because the brightness of the backlight on the screen now hurts my eyes because it’s not muted by the build-up of dust on the screen.
Of course now there’s a software fix, too. But again a problem: since the hardware fix I haven’t had a single random shut down, so I’ve missed my excuses to go get a cup of coffee or whatever while I wait for the MacBook to cool enough to reboot.
Next time I’m buying Dell for sure. I worked at a company with a Dell service contract, and they were great. They had to replace a bad CPU in my desktop computer, and the Dell on-site technician who brought the part was upset that I didn’t want to install it myself. He treated me like an idiot because I didn’t want to do my own computer repair. Putting me in my place: now that’s service.
Worked for me too. Many people will be pissed off, especially those who sent it to Apple Care and changed the logic board and the heatsink. But give Apple a chance.
My black MacBook week 23 began RSD one moth after purchase. I calld Apple and they gave me a case number, but I didn’t send for service because early repairs get RSD again.
I installed the SMC firmware 1.4f12 yesterday October 26, and I haven’t had no more RSD, even with crash test yes >/dev/null &. Although it is soon to consider it an ultimate fix (if some wire isolation is melted by heat, no firmware update will fix it) if RSD are avoided by ignoring the erratic temperature sensor data that suposedly the wire defect caused, well, it’s a big step ahead.
Anyway, let’s see if this works for all the affected, mine was not one of the worst cases, some users claim to have had RSD after this firmware update, so let’s wait and see
Oh, please, you can’t trust anything Enderle says. This update doesn’t step down the processor, because that wouldn’t help if you ran the following test. If you open two Terminal windows and do a “yes > /dev/null” command in each one, you’ll achieve 100% usage on both CPU cores, and after 10 minutes, your fans will be running full blast from the blast of heat. If you have this update, your MacBook still won’t shut down during the test.
For those who have yet to try it or having doubt in trying it……please do so. I had did the update and my MB is revived!!!! Before that, my shutdown had get to the stage where I could not even turn it on. Its like powering up and in a few sec….it is off again. I had to press the power and hold until the white indicator blinks then release with a loud beep sound before restart. then I am stuck with the processor locked at 1GHz.
The problem is gone after I had done the 10.4.8 update followed by the SMC update.
I was having a bad time with these crashes before the firmware update. Installed the firmware update (to SMC Version 1.4f12) yesterday. Good news and bad news.
The good news is no crashes since the install.
The bad news is my fan runs continuosly. Never stops and the computer won’t work for long without power adapter plugged in .
Does anyone have a suggestion for these related questions
a) should I try to use fan control software?
b) should I get Apple to repair motherboard under warrantee?
Thanks for help
Ash- You’re a saint. I thought this post was extremely informative:
“the heat sink’s sensor cables does not actually melt away to a great enough extent so as to expose the wires. It simply results in the insulation of the 2 cables fusing together. The actual cause of the shut down is thought to be the increase in resistance of the sensor cables leading to an unusual signal being sent to the SMC, that then triggers a shut down. (NOT caused by a short circuit)”
From what I had read, I always thought it was the insulation melting. I never would have thought it was the two wires fusing together.
Ash’s link:
http://techpaedia.com/apple/2006/10/27/random-shut-downs-apple-releases-firmware-update/
Thank you!
Blimey. I have this RSD problem as well. My computer won’t even turn on for more than a few seconds but after reading this thread I will try holding the power-button in for a bit. I work in TV news and almost missed a deadline and several thousand dollars because of this. Thank god I was able to borrow a PC in time.
I phoned “AppleCare” up and they said they had never heard of this problem before and as I am working in a non-EU country said it was basically my problem. I pointed out the web-forums about this issue and they said it was the first time they’d heard about it and I should stop complaining.
Now I understand why Apple’s still have only a few percent of the market. They may have better software, look cooler and be less susceptible to viruses/pop-up but Apple have this huge customer service problem. If only they would respect consumers more.
Sorry for whinging. I feel sorry for everyone else who bought a MacBook as well.