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Helpful answers
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May 20, 2016 12:07 PM in response to billy55555555by Nate912,I think this may be a capacitor issue although I'm not that knowledgeable about this area. I had kept my iMac unplugged for about 4 weeks and now my computer has been working for about 2 hrs now. Prior to this it would shut off after 3-5 minutes.
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May 20, 2016 7:52 PM in response to Nate912by MissionComplete,Add me to the list. iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2048 MB 1 TB Fusion
Problem started happening about a month and a half ago. Intermittent random shutdowns, had to unplug it to boot back on. I finally took it into Apple, they said they recreated the problem. They told me my solid state was failing and charged me $500+ to replace it. I was relieved that they knew how to fix it.
Had it back for a few days and I was hoping I was in the clear but I just had 3 shutdowns today alone. Uuuuugh.
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May 21, 2016 3:30 AM in response to mlediardby Mark Patenaude,Add another to the list. Same late 2012 27" iMac with 2GB GTX card. I started having issues in 2015 while still under Apple Care. Several phone calls and various trouble shooting efforts. They finally gave me the start up in safe mode advice, which worked for for about a week before I left on an extended business trip. By the time I cot back the temperatures cooled down - I live in Thailand and often work in a non-airconditioned room. The problem went away until recently. It is hot season again so I suspected the high ambient temps affected the power supply or something. I have had multiple sudden turn offs, all needing an unplug from wall socket to make the iMac respond to a power button push. I have and Apple Support call scheduled for Monday and my case number from last year. I will press them to honor my now expired Apple Care as i think this is the same issue. We shall see...
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May 24, 2016 1:15 PM in response to Mark Patenaudeby Citizen Snips!,This thread helped me pinpoint my problem, hopefully I can return the favor. My problem was ultimately Firefox and Flash which led to heat related shutdowns. Even after I replaced the GPU.
Here is what worked for me:
- opened Firefox and added the Add-On 'Flash Disable' (Tools>Add-ons>Get Add-ons)
- I also uninstalled Flash from my computer. (easy steps via google)
- in Firefox I disabled Hardware Acceleration
'Preferences > Advanced > General > Use Hardware Acceleration When Available
Un-check that.
- added SMC Fan Control, keeping fans at about 1300-1350 RPM and temps at 113F/45C
- restart. Its been good since. And loads much faster on startup.
Here's the backstory to see if your machine might be doing the same thing.
My 2011 iMac is a 27" i7 with the 6970 AMD Radeon graphics card. Apple gave free replacements of this card since it was a known problem. So when the iMac started shutting down randomly, I discovered that recall. No more Apple Care and I was WAY out of the window to get this done for free, but the Genius Bar honored the recall. (They agreed I wouldn't have looked for known problems if I wasn't having any. So how would I have known the card might go bad?)
Before discovering it was the GPU I tried all the resets, diagnostics and safe mode, including trying to reload the OS. In the middle of the reload it shut down. Blinking folder icon from then on.
So Apple loaded El Capitan after they replaced the GPU (with the same problematic brand/model as before but that's another thread)
Apple confirmed all was well with their tests. I took it home and reloaded from my TM backup. 5 hours later it completes, I log in and within 30 minutes a prompt comes on the screen 'Are you sure you want to shut down?' and even though I press 'Cancel' it shuts down. It does this a couple more times while I'm trying to get to the bottom of it and then stops asking altogether, just shutting down intermittently. The only thing that can get me back into the iMac is the SMC reset. And even then for small periods of time. I ran the Hardware Diagnostic and it shut down just as it was testing the logic board. Fantastic.
So all of that to say, it looked like it was the same problems as this thread. Below is where I started in my fix. Some steps may be unnecessary, but it's what I did. It has been running for several days now with no problems.
This assumes you have a backup.
I started from scratch:
- unplugged from the wall and let the computer cool down overnight.
- in the morning, pressed the power key BEFORE plugging it in. (read this might discharge the capacitors?)
- CAREFUL HERE MIGHT DO DAMAGE - To check the logic board I removed all the RAM, plugged into wall, pressed power. If your computer starts beeping supposedly this means the logic board is still ok. (mine beeped)
- held power to perform hard shutdown. UNPLUG from wall. Re-seat RAM
- plug into wall, press power, reset PRAM, at second boot tone, quickly switched to Internet Recovery (command option R)
- went into Disk Utility and performed First Aid, verified and repaired permissions. They were fine. Then I erased my drive. Went back to Internet Recovery and reloaded Lion. (I could not do this while having El Capitan on the machine. You can go forward with OS versions not backward. At least easily.)
- then I reloaded my machine from my Time Machine backup. This will take several hours. And ultimately, I still had the problem of random shutdowns, just not as frequently.
- Then I proceeded to the steps listed at the very beginning.
I don't know if I could have stayed with El Capitan and just changed my Firefox and Flash settings, but for now I'm just happy to not have to re-visit the Apple Store. Hope this helps.
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May 27, 2016 4:48 AM in response to MissionCompleteby lewisfc,Another late 2012 27" iMac with 2Gb Nvidia, 1Tb fusion drive. I installed 16Gb of Crucial RAM in 2013 after purchase. I've also stayed on Mountain Lion until this problem where I upgraded to El Capitan. Reading this thread... seems this is a depressing problem to have as very few cases of a proper fix.
Not sure what to do as before coming to this thread I assumed it was a power supply problem, but with so many having had that replaced and no change then I don't know what to think.
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May 28, 2016 12:51 AM in response to Lagoiskiby oomoot,Joining the party from Turkey. 27'' i7 3.4 GHz, 680MX, 32GB original Apple RAM, 3TB Fusion. Symptoms started a little after the 2 years of warranty window ended. I thought it was because of the hard disk back then (which Apple replaced for free). Took the iMac home but since then I was using the laptop a lot more so I did not notice or the problem did not replicate itself for some months after the hard disk replacement. Now it is shutdown fest.
One interesting bit, I've been told by the Apple rep on the phone that I should try to set up a new user and leave it on and try to see if it shuts itself down. So far it is working. Tho mostly idle.
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May 31, 2016 1:05 AM in response to oomootby SeBigBoss,Just for the new ones: The most "working" solution that came up in my research is disconnecting the iMac from power completely when shut down. I did not experience the problem since I religiously do that (which is annoying because you cannot simply shut down and go, but hey, better than nothing). Please try that and pray it's working for you, too.
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Jun 2, 2016 5:05 PM in response to SeBigBossby ohmyggg,Exactly. Unplugging helps, but it doesn't change the fact that due to this issue, we're forced to live with "random shut down anxiety" every time we're performing critical tasks and/or using the computer over prolonged sessions.
Overall, in this thread, the only hopeful solutions we've seen so far are:
1) Getting Apple to give you an entirely new computer (only works for people who are still under Apple Care and undergo three unsuccessful repair attempts).
2) Someone earlier talked about not using Apple power supplies (since even the replacements seem to be defective), and instead using a totally (more powerful?) 3rd party power supply. Have any tinkerers had luck with this yet?
3) Not a permanent solution, but there was a guy much earlier in the thread who had something hooked up between the power cord and wall outlet that behaved like unplugging the computer, but only required shutting down to have the same effect. Is this an effective workaround to physically unplugging?
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Jun 16, 2016 9:17 AM in response to Lagoiskiby marc19731,For what it is worth my late 2012 imac with a non fusion disk has just started to have exactly the same problem. Come on Apple at least look into this and come up with a chargeable fix at worst, your processes missed this manufacturing defect with the late 2012 imac.
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Jun 19, 2016 7:41 PM in response to Lagoiskiby JenBorn,Count me in, my iMac late 2012 began shutting down a couple of months ago, tried everything listed in this thread to no avail, besides the shut downs are getting more and more frequent and I also have the notorious wifi issue and it's not going away as well. -
Jun 22, 2016 10:05 AM in response to Lagoiskiby thebaaz79,Hi everyone,
This morning, I was watching videos when I had to go to the kitchen check some food. When I came back, my imac 27 (2012) was shut off! I was wondering what happened then. So I tried to switch on with the power button in the back, but it didn't work at all. I felt very stressed at this moment because my applecare is over since March, and the PSU had been replaced on february, so I guess it's not linked with PSU. Anyway, I managed to reboot the Mac, by unplugging the power cord from the wall, waiting a few seconds, and plug it again. Then the power button worked again, and I was able to use the computer again. I won't switch it off now, because I'm afraid the problem occurs again. So I only use the sleep mode.
What is the cause of this problem? Planned obsolescence? -
Jun 22, 2016 10:10 AM in response to thebaaz79by NickFromLE,This whole issue seems to be down to a problem of Safari. Just dont use Safari. Try Firefox, that is working for me. Sad but true. I dont like Firefox but in the end the mac dont crashes anymore. -
Jun 22, 2016 10:19 AM in response to NickFromLEby ohmyggg,Your issue went away when you stopped using Safari? That's weird because I don't use and never have used Safari yet I still have random shut-downs.
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Jun 22, 2016 10:23 AM in response to ohmygggby NickFromLE,Yes it did. Never had any issues when stop using Safari. Ok, then the Safari "problem" is just one cause of millions i guess -.- -
Jun 22, 2016 4:27 PM in response to NickFromLEby Leutrim S,iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2015)
3.3 GHz Intel Core i5
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
AMD Radeon R9 M290 2048 MB
THE RANDOM SHUTDOWN PROBLEM STARTED HAPPENING TO ME ABOUT A WEEK AFTER MY 1 YEAR WARRANTY. I DID NOT GET APPLE CARE BECAUSE I DID'NT EXPECT TO HAVE ANY REAL PROBLEMS WITH THIS COMPUTER. MY FIRST TIME EXPERIENCE IS VERY SIMILAR TO MANY OTHERS FROM THIS THREAD. IT SHUT DOWN RANDOMLY AND I COULD NOT TURN IT BACK ON RIGHT AWAY. AFTER UNPLUGGING IT, WAITING A WHILE AND PLUGGING IT BACK IN, IT TURNED ON. HOWEVER THE SAME PROBLEM OCCURRED NO LESS THAN AN HOUR LATER. I DID SOME RESEARCH AND FOUND THAT "PREVIOUS SHUTDOWN CAUSE: 0" MEANS THAT THERE WAS A POWER DISRUPTION. I BROUGHT MY COMPUTER TO THE APPLE STORE ON THE UPPER WEST SIDE OF MANHATTAN AND TOLD THE GENUIS THAT IT WAS PROBABLY A POWER SUPPLY PROBLEM GIVEN THE SYSTEM LOG CODE. HE SOUNDED LIKE HE AGREED WITH ME. AFTER A FEW DAYS WITH THEM, THEY DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM TO BE WITH THE LOGIC BOARD. I PAID $721 BUCKS TO REPLACE THE LOGIC BOARD. I USED IT ON JUNE 21ST (THE DAY I GOT IT BACK) WITH NO PROBLEM. THIS MORNING ON THE 22ND, I EXPERIENCED THE SAME RANDOM SHUTDOWN. I UNPLUGGED IT FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES AND TURNED IT BACK ON. I LEFT IT ON FOR OVER 3 HOURS ON SLEEP MODE, CAME BACK AND I HAVE BEEN ON IT FOR ABOUT 6 TO 7 HOURS.
TO ANYBODY HERE, IF THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE LOGIC BOARD WHEN WE EXPERIENCED THESE RANDOM SHUTDOWNS, THEN WHY DOES THE SYSTEM LOG INDICATE THAT THE PROBLEM HAD TO DO WITH A (POWER DISRUPTION ISSUE) AND NOT ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE LOGIC BOARD?
WHY HAVE SO MANY OF OUR CASES BEEN DIAGNOSED AS LOGIC BOARD PROBLEMS FIRST WHEN THE MAJORITY OF THE TIME, THIS ISSUE HAS TO DO A POWER PROBLEM?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!??!?!?!?