Berry with an "A"

Q: 27-inch / 27" iMac Random Shut down

SPECS:____________________________________________________________________________
• 27" 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 / 8gig / 1TB
• OS 10.6.3 (about to update to 10.6.4)
• All firmware updates have been applied according to software update
• 3 external drives: 1-320 gig 800fw / 1-TB USB 2.0 / 1-500gig USB 2.0

INFORMATION:____________________________________________________________________

I've been running with this configuration ( 3 extra drives) since approximately December with no issues. Out of the blue... only running Aperture and Safari - my iMac JUST SHUTS off- WITHOUTwarning. It acted as though I was running a MacBook and the battery going dead/asleep. That's how random and sudden it shut down - NO WARNING. I did have the iMac asleep for about three hours before coming back to it to start working again when it shut down, but it should have even been cool.

I only started reading around on the web to see of other incidents after this random shut down this evening, but I can't find anything specific. I've found A LOT of similar things - all seemingly related to "HEAT."

And heat seems to be a certain issue recently - in the last day or two. Today I noticed my top back side to be hot, which isn't uncommon, however, it became so hot I really wasn't able to keep my hand on the top back. I've also noticed A LOT of spinning beach balls, and lots of processor delay! Heat??

There are NO energy saver pref's set to automatically shut it down. The power was and is firmly set. There are no network settings, nor access to the iMac to have it shut down. It is not shared with anyone on the network.

SUMMARY:___________________________________________________________________________

• Today, I grabbed a couple temp / monitor widgets and am trying to watch the data. All components seem to be at/around/below 140 degrees F with ambient air at 77 degrees. I don't know numbers, but that all seems reasonable.
• Going to update to OS 10.6.4 (doubt that's it!!)
• I'm going to run the hardware test from my disc to see if ANYTHING. 8-p
• AND... I'm going to call Apple to set up a case. It's still full under warranty, and I have 2 more years of AppleCare on it. But there's been too many things pointing to hardware to call this a software issue.

I've dodged all the display issues with my iMac, but now.. I'm a bit hacked knowing how much I spent on this thing, with the initial DELAYS I went through, ordering it before it had even been released!

?? QUESTION ??_____________________________________________________________________

So, has anyone else been having this issue, heard of a solution, seen anything on Apple's website of known issues ??

Barry
( Grumbling bout my Mac)

Which one of twelve??, Mac OS X (10.5.6), ever hear Newton?!! ;-) One of those, too!

Posted on Jun 22, 2010 8:59 PM

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Q: 27-inch / 27" iMac Random Shut down

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  • by icedg,

    icedg icedg Jan 3, 2014 6:39 PM in response to wooffi1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 3, 2014 6:39 PM in response to wooffi1

    You might be on to something. I had the same issue with mismatched ram. Now I have 16gb of Samsung which was the original. It seems to be working well. Very few crashes. It seems to happen with Itunes. i have been running it now without Itunes for 2 weeks and there have been no issues.

  • by Paul G.,

    Paul G. Paul G. Jan 8, 2014 12:36 PM in response to icedg
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jan 8, 2014 12:36 PM in response to icedg

    Icedg,

    Is this fix still working? Are you running 16GB as well?

     

    Thanks for the update,

    Paul

  • by Mac Convert27,

    Mac Convert27 Mac Convert27 Jan 8, 2014 12:41 PM in response to Paul G.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 8, 2014 12:41 PM in response to Paul G.

    Hello,

     

    I was a having the crashing problem about a year ago. I replaced the RAM with the 16GB of OEM Samsung RAM and it has not crashed in since. Works perfect.

  • by wooffi1,

    wooffi1 wooffi1 Jan 8, 2014 3:55 PM in response to Paul G.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 8, 2014 3:55 PM in response to Paul G.

    Hi, Wolfgang again.

     

    I can run this down for you again, I purchased my 2010, 27 inch iMac about 2 months ago. It came with 16GB RAM, they where NewerTech nuRAM, four 4GB modules.

     

    I noted that two chips where disconnected and pushed them back in and almost at once my problem started.

    The iMac would shut down without warning, the console did give not any clues and I started scanning the forums.

    I did not put two and two together and installed all kinds of monitors, fan controls to no avail.

     

    It still shut down 1-4 times a day.

     

    Than I found a post where a guy stated about four, fife times to install Hynix modules, I searched some more and found some more about the original Apple modules also working, I believe they are Samsung.

     

    I ordered 16GB of Hynix no trouble since. It also ran fine on just two 4GB modules while I was waiting on the Hynix.

     

    Conclusion the mid 2010 27 inch iMac does not like 16GB other than Samsung or Hynix.

     

    Wolfgang

  • by gray_wolf,

    gray_wolf gray_wolf Apr 26, 2014 3:54 AM in response to Berry with an "A"
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 26, 2014 3:54 AM in response to Berry with an "A"

    I'm having this problem with my 2013 imac... it was about 12 months old when the problem started; frustrated sent it in to the Apple store twice and they said they could not replicate the problem. Took it back home was fine for the first couple of weeks then started to shutdown without warning again and taking a few minutes and unplugging from the wall to reboot again...

     

    Strangely there also seemed to be distortion of the bass in the speakers near where the power button is .. i got the speakers replaced but the shutdown problem continued.

     

    Really unhappy I need this comp for my work and I can't afford a new one .. I really love Apple but this has really pushed me away.

  • by Jay Gamel,

    Jay Gamel Jay Gamel Apr 26, 2014 1:20 PM in response to gray_wolf
    Level 1 (23 points)
    Audio
    Apr 26, 2014 1:20 PM in response to gray_wolf

    i've had it twice and after around with the memory mods it came down to a new power supply. Apple knows it has a truckload of bad power supplies in many machines and continues to pretend the problem doesn't exist. It amazes me that the apple techs can look you in the eye and pretend like they've never heard of the problem before.

     

    Now if they'd just fess up to the bad air circulation in a lot of iMacs that gets dust right on the LCD, I would be very happy. Cleaning screens is a nightmare and they sure dont want to address the basic design flaw that deposits the dust in the first place.

     

    <Edited by Host>

  • by Jay Gamel,

    Jay Gamel Jay Gamel Apr 26, 2014 1:19 PM in response to Jay Gamel
    Level 1 (23 points)
    Audio
    Apr 26, 2014 1:19 PM in response to Jay Gamel

    Actually, it just occurred to me that the bad air circulation could be affecting both the screen and the power supplies or memory mods -- it's really fine dust particles involved. hmm.

  • by Gandalf The Grey,

    Gandalf The Grey Gandalf The Grey Apr 26, 2014 1:24 PM in response to Jay Gamel
    Level 2 (275 points)
    Apr 26, 2014 1:24 PM in response to Jay Gamel

    What specific model do you guys have? I had the older unit that was thicker and with the newer units they sure have addressed the "heat" issue because if you go into any Apple Store or BB and touch the back of one of the newer units there is barely any heat from the new ones and they been running all day long. Now on the older units, my died several times the 4 time they finally gave me a full credit and I took that money and bought a Mac Mini and waited till the newer units came out. I been happy so far as my late 2012 unit seems to run perfectly with zero heat or dust issues.  But frankly after this one is done, I am going back to a Mac Pro or a Amped up Mini, depending on my needs at the time.

  • by Jay Gamel,

    Jay Gamel Jay Gamel Apr 26, 2014 4:43 PM in response to Gandalf The Grey
    Level 1 (23 points)
    Audio
    Apr 26, 2014 4:43 PM in response to Gandalf The Grey

    I have a hot one, a 2011 21.5-inch iMac, 12,1, i5 with 8 gigs. I think most of the heat reduction and slimming comes from solid state drives, which undoubtedly called for changes in internal circulation, not so much forced air from fans pushing dust around, and perhaps better sealed screens and power units.

  • by Tranceplant,

    Tranceplant Tranceplant Jul 28, 2014 8:05 AM in response to Berry with an "A"
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 28, 2014 8:05 AM in response to Berry with an "A"

    Solution:

     

    Stop paying for over priced PCs and build your own for half the price. 

     

    Problem can be overheating, bad ram or bad Firmware. But what Apple really wants you to do is buy a new one.

  • by Paul G.,

    Paul G. Paul G. Jul 28, 2014 8:24 AM in response to Tranceplant
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 28, 2014 8:24 AM in response to Tranceplant

    Using Samsung RAM, exactly as the brand/type issued with the iMac, resolved my power issues.

     

    I will buy another "over-priced PC" anytime from Apple, but would consider buying it with maxed-out RAM to start.

     

    Peace.

  • by cezi,

    cezi cezi Jun 28, 2015 8:55 AM in response to wooffi1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 28, 2015 8:55 AM in response to wooffi1

    funny, i had 4 4gb modules of hynix ram when the problems (sudden shutdowns) started; took out 2 modules and the problem is gone, so in my case hynix was part of the problem; i am now replacing these 2 hynix modules with original samsung modules of 2 gb, i am pretty confident that my imac will keep working with 2x 4 gb hynix and 2x 2 gb of samsung

  • by obxgrl,

    obxgrl obxgrl Jul 18, 2015 6:28 PM in response to Jay Gamel
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 18, 2015 6:28 PM in response to Jay Gamel

    Yep... had read your response some time back and finally brought mine into the Apple store.  Power supply was bad.  The "genius"  had seen this issue before but there were not enough officially reported to created a recall.  A joke...but at least a $100 fix seems to have done the trick.

  • by cvdave,

    cvdave cvdave Aug 26, 2015 10:43 PM in response to obxgrl
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 26, 2015 10:43 PM in response to obxgrl

    Figured I'd join the club here...

    I have a late model 2012 27" iMac and a few days ago it started having exactly the same issue everyone here is describing...

    It shuts down every 2 to 3 hours..... and if I remove the power completely for a few minutes, usually it will restart again.

     

    Apple telephone support was a joke,   As others have mentioned, "Reinstall the OSX", Partion the drive,   seriously?

    It doesn't look like heat, as I have cranked the fans up, and the temp is below the norm, and it still flakes out.

     

    So hopefully, the genius bar down the street will be able to tell me something worth while, but I can't get it to them for 3 days

  • by paul_ngc,

    paul_ngc paul_ngc Nov 22, 2015 4:06 AM in response to cvdave
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 22, 2015 4:06 AM in response to cvdave

    Hi cvdave,

     

    how's your iMac doing now? I have the same problem for some time now. I bought 4x8GB Samsung RAM to replace the original 2x4GB from Hynix, but no difference

    Unfortunately I had the same professional apple Support every body is getting... And I can't send it in again since I need the computer for work.

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