Richard Liu

Q: Anyone else experiencing random restarts since updating to OS X 10.11.6?

Hi,

 

Ever since updating to OS X 10.11.6 I've been experiencing random restarts.  I have not been able to pin the blame on any application or any piece of hardware.  Safari is almost always running, since I usually start it when I login, but I'm not always working in it when the MacBook Pro 17" restarts.

 

The machine in question is a MacBook Pro 17" late 2011 model.  I have an Akitio Thunder2 Duo RAID 1 drive connected to the MBP's Thunderbolt port, an Akitio Thunder2 Dock connected to the Thunder2 Duo, an Apple 27" Thunderbolt Display connected to the Thunder2 Dock's other Thunderbolt 2 port, and a LaCie 2big Quadra (RAID 1) connected to one of the Thunder2 Dock's eSATA ports.

 

In February 2016 the MBP was repaired under the so-called MacBook Pro Repair Extension Program for Video Issues.  One qualifying video issue is random restarts, although my MBP experienced issues that were visible on the MBP's display and on the connected Apple 24" LED Cinema Display as well as random restarts, whereas up to now I see no video problems.

 

Is anybody else experiencing such random restarts?  Does anybody have any idea what might be causing them?

 

Thanks

OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), 16 GB RAM, 2 TB SSD

Posted on Aug 26, 2016 4:25 PM

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Q: Anyone else experiencing random restarts since updating to OS X 10.11.6?

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  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Sep 16, 2016 3:25 PM in response to Richard Liu
    Level 8 (49,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 16, 2016 3:25 PM in response to Richard Liu

    .

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Sep 16, 2016 3:31 PM in response to Richard Liu
    Level 8 (49,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 16, 2016 3:31 PM in response to Richard Liu

    That system remains extensively modified a variety of worthless garbage alluded to earlier. Its continued presence will only impede troubleshooting while providing no benefit whatsoever.

     

    If you don't want to spend the time to eradicate the junk, have Apple evaluate your Mac for a potential hardware fault.

  • by Richard Liu,

    Richard Liu Richard Liu Sep 16, 2016 3:48 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (58 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 16, 2016 3:48 PM in response to John Galt

    The MBP itself has been to Apple for this problem.  The technicians at the Apple Store in Basel ran their tests overnight and found nothing wrong.  They paid special attention to the graphics chip, since this model had a heat problem involving it.  Of course, if it's a hardware problem involving the devices connected to the machine, Apple's tests won't have caught it.

     

    Yes, support would be much easier if these machines were like iPhones and iPads, on which only Apple-approved software could be installed.  I have checked all the software that is installed and find nothing that I don't feel I need; however, I don't know what might have been left around by software that I have uninstalled, EasyFind notwithstanding.  Yes, "junk" is a good description of what results when there is no standardized way of completely uninstalling programs.

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Sep 16, 2016 4:06 PM in response to Richard Liu
    Level 8 (49,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 16, 2016 4:06 PM in response to Richard Liu

    That's not what I want, but I fear it's the way things are going.

     

    At the moment a Mac remains a relatively open, general purpose computer. Problems arise when people insist upon larding them up with junk because they have been inured into thinking they need it, after having spent years tolerating cantankerous Windows PCs. The vast majority of Mac problems reported on this site are the direct result of such user-inflicted misery. A cursory search of this site will reveal multiple examples of problems directly attributable to "Bitdefender", "Cocktail", "TechTool" and other, similarly categorized junk.

     

    The first step in diagnosing a broken Mac (aside from creating a backup of course) is to rid it of all such stuff. Often, there is too much of it to eradicate separately, and it becomes easier and less time consuming to completely erase the affected Mac and rebuild it from the ground up.

     

    I would still prefer that users educate themselves, rather than have Apple render their Macs strictly off limits to any modifications whatsoever.

  • by Richard Liu,

    Richard Liu Richard Liu Sep 16, 2016 6:44 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (58 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 16, 2016 6:44 PM in response to John Galt

    Seems that you're assuming things about my computing background that are extremely wide of the mark, and that you're equating disagreement with your opinions with lack of education.  Seeing as how I have been an IT developer for almost 40 years, have used Macs privately and professionally since the last Power PC PowerBook and only in the last six months have begun to use an antivirus program or system tidying software, I'm sorry to inform your that I am not the trepidatious Window weenie you imagine me to be.  The decision to use the tools you name -- if you want to call them junk, take that up with their purveyors, they were neither marketed nor purchased as junk -- was not taken lightly.  On the other hand, I do regret disregarding one valuable lesson from Windows:  Up until (and including) Snow Leopard I used to do a clean install of each major update of OS X and reinstall all my software.  After that, reinstalling licensed software became such a pain that I was happy to to just migrate accounts and application to a clean installation.  I should have known better.  I know for a fact that some applications put files where they're not expected, and I suspect that migrating might just introduce subtle problems with permissions.  And shame on me for believing that applications that had been installed in various ways could all be completely uninstalled by just moving them from the Applications folder to the Trash.

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Sep 16, 2016 7:07 PM in response to Richard Liu
    Level 8 (49,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 16, 2016 7:07 PM in response to Richard Liu

    I assume only that people who come to this site are actually motivated to fix their broken Macs. I have learned that is not always the case.

  • by Richard Liu,

    Richard Liu Richard Liu Sep 17, 2016 10:06 AM in response to Richard Liu
    Level 1 (58 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 17, 2016 10:06 AM in response to Richard Liu

    With hindsight I should have mentioned that I have MacBook Pro 13" mid 2010 model that is also running OS X 10.11.6, Bitdefender and TechTool Pro 9.  It is not running Cocktail.  It is not experiencing the random restart problem.  Of course, it does not support Thunderbolt.  The Time Machine volume and that for the weekly backup by SuperDuper!, both LaCie drives, are connected to it by Firewire 800, and the Dell 24" monitor is connect to it via DVI <-> Mini DisplayPort converter.

  • by BobHarris,Helpful

    BobHarris BobHarris Sep 17, 2016 10:18 AM in response to Richard Liu
    Level 6 (19,410 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 17, 2016 10:18 AM in response to Richard Liu

    Thunderbolt is an extension to the PCI bus, so it is possible it could cause the system to fail.

     

    You should try a test of a long enough duration without any external devices attached.  It it still fails, then look in-wards, if it does not fail, look at your external devices.

  • by Richard Liu,

    Richard Liu Richard Liu Sep 17, 2016 10:48 AM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (58 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 17, 2016 10:48 AM in response to BobHarris

    Bob,

     

    Thanks for the suggestion.  In fact, I effectively have done that already.  All the external devices are here in Basel, Switzerland, where I live.  From Aug. 7 - 20 I visited relatives in Los Angeles.  There I only connected a brand new LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt 2 TB drive to the MBP -- no other devices except a Magic Mouse 2 -- and experienced no random crashes.  Since the Rugged Thunderbolt didn't arrive until Aug. 13, it was connected at most for about half the two weeks during which I was on the road.  The rest of the time, no external devices except the mouse were connected.

     

    I suspect that the AKiTiO Thunder2 Dock and the Apple Thunderbolt Display might not be playing nice with each other.  On the other hand, it could be just the power that all these devices are drawing when they are all connected and running.    I may try just disconnecting the external display, although if then the problem disappears, that still wouldn't preclude the power that all the devices together draw being the problem.

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