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User profile for user: Kenny Gibbs
Kenny Gibbs Author
User level: Level 1
15 points

Power Supply Issues maybe?

I have always had random and instant power downs. Which I initially attributed to heat. The machine is now shutting off instantly several times a day. It starts up and runs fine, but it is shutting down after anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours later. I am thinking it is a bad power supply that has gotten worse. I want to bounce this off the experts and see if there is anything else I can eliminate before buying a power supply?

I have reset the SMU I think. I could not find a button so I unplugged for 15 minutes. I ran AHT from cd without errors, ran disk utility from cd, and checked to see if the SMART status is verified. I use temperature monitor which has read as hot as 115, but according to what I am reading that is well below danger.

I did a safe restart to eliminate any font issues since I use a lot of fonts. I don't know what to look for in the console, but I saw nothing that looked suspicious. I am assuming since the AHT found no problems the logic board is functioning properly. Is that correct?

Can you suggest anything else to narrow down my issue?

Thanks for all your help. This machine is within a month of retirement, I think it senses something!

G5, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 1.8GHz Power mac G5, 1GB DDR SDRAM

Posted on May 2, 2008 8:58 PM

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User profile for user: Mister Rollover
Mister Rollover
User level: Level 1
9 points

May 3, 2008 10:31 AM in response to Kenny Gibbs

I have had exactly the same problem over the last couple of days and it drives you nuts! It started to happen just after I transferred some files to a mates cheap firewire drive....no idea why...

You can try actually pressing the SMU button
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300341

These two articles also take you through a good process, including deleting some prefs.
http://www.gibbilicious.com/gibbilicious/2006/02/troubleshootingthemysterious.html
http://www.gibbilicious.com/gibbilicious/2005/10/mac_g5_desktop_spontaneously1.html

Also check all the bits inside are connected. The airport card can get loose in particular. Double check memory is pressed in etc.

I tried it all but to no avail until I read your post and tried Safe Restart. For some reason it dumped a load of files in my trash, but the issue seems to be gone (at least for now). I don't wanna detract from helping Kenny, but whilst peeps are looking if anyone can shed some light on what they are and whether I should bin them it would be good.

All in a folder called 501.231504386 and called annex_aux, annex.db, Classic.fodb, filetoken.db, font.db, Local.fcache. Local.fodb, qdfams.db, System.fcache, User.fodb
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User profile for user: Kenny Gibbs
Kenny Gibbs Author
User level: Level 1
15 points

May 3, 2008 2:34 PM in response to Mister Rollover

Thanks for the help. At least it gave more more cheap and simple things to try. I now have changed to another UPS and unplugged all firewire and usb devices. It would make sense that it could be an external power issue. The power here is notorious for big spikes and browns and the UPS get a work out. I have a newer third UPS I will try if it happens again.

Does anyone know how to tell if I have the SMU button on my G5? The reference photo and description bear no resemblence to the inside of my machine. And since that is the first thing mentioned in all forums on this subject I want to make sure I am reseting it properly.

For reference - the error codes I am getting are

AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = -110
AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = 1
AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = 2

Thanks for your consideration.
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User profile for user: Kenny Gibbs
Kenny Gibbs Author
User level: Level 1
15 points

May 4, 2008 11:05 AM in response to Mister Rollover

Follow up to the power supply issue.-
The G5 has been running for 24 hours at this point. I removed all external drives and accessories, did the safe restart, reset the pram, etc. I also plugged into a different UPS. Hopefully that was it. If anyone cares I will post again once I start plugging things back in.
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User profile for user: Kenny Gibbs
Kenny Gibbs Author
User level: Level 1
15 points

May 5, 2008 4:38 PM in response to Mister Rollover

I did pop off again yesterday. I was doing some intensive photoshop work on a large (100Mb+) file. I do notice that the temperature and activity monitor spike drastically when I try to do several things at once. I am trying to keep the processes from stacking up and it is running okay today. Slow but it hasn't powered off yet halfway through the day.

I looked into logic board and powere supply issues and it looks beyond my skills and temperment to do myself an dmore $ than a new iMac. We shall see…
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User profile for user: Kenny Gibbs
Kenny Gibbs Author
User level: Level 1
15 points

May 7, 2008 1:16 PM in response to Kenny Gibbs

My continuous search for information has taught me a lot. And it has reminded me of things I was in denial of. First, the most important thing I have discovered is that most G5's fail at or around 3 years old. The logic board is shot, the power supply has failed. According to several repair professionals this is common and inescapable. I was in denial that such an expensive and "high-end" machine would be built to fail thus insuring frequent purchases.
Oh well.
For anyone out there suffering the same issues I have -- try unplugging from power for a whole day or overnight. This has my machine running again but I have lost all usb ports and thusly lost direct access to my back ups. I only have 2 days left before my new machine arrives and hopefully I can squeeze some work in between power cut-offs and work-arounds to access my documents.

I am very disappointed in the hardware quality and lack of info about this issue. Especially since it seems everyone who bought this machine is having the same problem.

more on this issue.
http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/powermacg5/topic4026.html
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User profile for user: Mister Rollover
Mister Rollover
User level: Level 1
9 points

May 22, 2008 7:14 AM in response to Kenny Gibbs

My problem is back! I feel your pain. Having problems even switching it on now - I fear power supply or logic board issues. It certainly is annoying that so many people are reporting the same error and in my mind points to a fundamental flaw in certain Apple components that is not being fully addressed.

Taking mine in for a professional to look at tmw.
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User profile for user: BowenIMG
BowenIMG
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jun 14, 2008 8:21 PM in response to Mister Rollover

I've had my mac for 3 years now and just starting to experience random shut downs. Mostly during startup it will get to the blue screen then turn off. I have reset the PMU button and replaced the battery and still having startup issues. Today i put in a DVD and 2 mins into play it shut down which was a first, this leads me to believe it is hardware related!

However, I question if it is hardware because it starts up fine in safe boot mode. I've done everything i know and read, other than plug direct to an outlet and skip my UPC backup.

I'm wondering if anyone can give me a diagnosis based on the fact that it seems to startup smoothly in safe boot...is this a hardware or software issue?

I need to unplug from the UPC and see if i get different results....
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User profile for user: BowenIMG
BowenIMG
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jun 17, 2008 7:56 AM in response to BowenIMG

Here's a head scratcher:

Just did a complete erase and install and ran the 10.5.3 combo updater, ran an extension cord from another outlet in the house, removed all 3rd party devices, rest PMU, pulled out battery and replaced, started up.....and it still shuts off at gray screen.

YET, i can boot up fine in safe boot mode...

any ideas????
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User profile for user: Rick Rohrkemper
Rick Rohrkemper
User level: Level 1
0 points

Jul 4, 2008 11:47 AM in response to Kenny Gibbs

I also had RAM as the issue after 10.5.4 update. I would run my backup Tiger drive and no issues - would run 10.5.4 and all kinds of wierd shutdowns -- crashes - freezes. Spent days doing fresh installs on brand new hard drives. Finally got it down to 2 1GB crucial RAM. Unfortunately just 4 months ago the other pair of 1G crucial RAM also had issues. Crucial does have lifetime warranty and did replace the other 2 1G ram --- but now the other pair is bad - not sure if I go back to Crucial or just buy from another place. Crucial customer service was very helpful - and they quickly replaced the RAM -- now I will try to get the other pair replaced. Originally purchased 4 X 1GB from Crucial 3 years ago -- now all 4 have gone bad. Should I stick to Crucial or change vendors?
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Power Supply Issues maybe?

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