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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

534 replies

Sep 27, 2010 11:00 AM in response to Berry with an A

Berry ..... saidYou are posting incorrect and/or inaccurate information. Maybe you should start a new thread, specifically for the newer model iMac? .

Well I had already done that.See :
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2560826&tstart=100

Besides I only answered to mcsys in this thread, who mentioned my name in his list.
And he is not talking about the older models, but the mid 2010 ones same as I. And I am definitely not giving incorrect information!

peterwillem

Sep 27, 2010 11:17 AM in response to peterwillem

peterwilliams -

(1) the name is BARRY.

(2) Yes, you are inputting inaccurate information by implying this issue is NOT related to iMacs with less than 16 gigs ram, and that this specific thread is related to the newer imac model . And if you're not - why are you posting irrelevant info to/with THIS model of iMac?

You cross referenced information with a link with what you say is a newer model, so there fore, it's not relevant to this thread. This thread is in regards to last winter's i7, 27" iMac with 8 gigs of RAM.

My iMac use to have the have the the issue of randomly shutting down, until it was corrected with the SMC reset.

Sep 27, 2010 1:03 PM in response to Berry with an A

I am sorry about the e and a mix up. It was unintentionally , though I appreciate your sense of humor about this.
As far as the other matter is concerned , I will stop this discussion. It is pointless as we won't agree with each other.
I will erase my subscription to this thread, after all we are talking about different models of iMacs.

peterwillem

Sep 27, 2010 1:15 PM in response to peterwillem

I do not think it's necessary to erase your posts, however, I know people... and I know people will get confused by the issue being mixed, contradicting RAM and model specifications, saying its not one thing, and another.

As it's been pointed out, not only by me... this issue is also subject to iMacs with less than 16 gigs RAM. Saying iMacs with 8gigs of RAM do not suffer from this issue is erroneous.

I think "cross-refrences" can help, so long as they're not made to be as the ultimate answer. However, as you'll find... this discussion thread has already been marked as "answered," as my issue was resolved by resetting the SMC.

mcsys

Level 1

2 points

Sep 27, 2010 8:14 PM in response to Berry with an A

To make things clear, peterwillem & I are referring to iMac identifier 11,3 (RAM DDR3 1333Mhz) & Berry is referring to iMac identifier11,1 (RAM DDR3 1066Mhz)

I posted this thread to help some users , Rojer W.W (mentioned new & September 2) & intraosseous (mentioned DDR3 1333Mhz), are having similar issues on iMac identifier 11,3.

In fact, they should not be in this thread at all.

Sep 29, 2010 6:58 PM in response to mcsys

Sounds like I will gracefully bow out of this thread, then.

Sep 29, 2010 10:09 PM in response to Rojer W. W.

Roger -

you need not dismiss yourself from the thread. There were just certain specifics that were merely being made as an ultimate point. (ie - this issue is only effecting iMacs with more than 8 gigs of RAM) Which is obviously not true.

Following several threads, ones mentioned as links in this thread, and this thread as well... if it eventually helps - then follow it. I myself am removing my notifications from this thread. I started it with the configuration I mentioned, and the answer has fixed mine so far.

Oct 1, 2010 9:14 PM in response to Berry with an A

Hey Everyone. Just had my first random shut down, and I immediately found this board on a google search.

My computer specs:
2.93GHZ QUAD-CORE INTELCORE I7
16GB 1333MHZ DDR3 SDRAM-4X4GB
2TB SERIAL ATA DRIVE
ATI RADEON HD 5750 1GB GDDR5
8X DOUBLE-LAYER SUPERDRIVE
COUNTRY KIT,IMAC 27-INCH

What is causing this / I have had this computer for about 3 weeks and this is the first time it happened. I was using adobe photoshop. HELP!

Oct 1, 2010 9:36 PM in response to Berry with an A

Here is a link to what the console said. I have no idea what this means, but I saw other people posting this.
http://danielatkins.com/imacshutdown.png

dopepope

Level 1

4 points

Oct 11, 2010 7:53 PM in response to AtkinsStoreFront@aol.com

Still no news on this topic? I just had my 5th random shutdown. It's getting really frustrating.

Oct 18, 2010 7:46 AM in response to Berry with an A

Hello everyone. I stumbled across this thread from a google search as my co-worker is having this problem with his 27" iMac (Late 2009, i7 2.8, 8GB RAM). I'd say its either shutdown or done a random restart about 8 to 10 times in the last few weeks.

I am using a mid 2010 iMac with a 2.93 i7 and 8GB of RAM and I haven't seen one single shutdown or restart. Our computers are about 4 feet apart so we should be seeing close to the same ambient temps. After we both installed iStat to keep up with the temps of our iMacs they are very close to the same with his usually cooler in most areas except for one: "Power Supply 2". His usually comes in at 5 to 10 degrees Celsius higher than mine, however at this moment mine is actually higher at 64c.

We thought it might have been a power issue because we had it plugged in to a power strip that was daisy chained from another but even after we moved the plug it still had a restart while mine was plugged in the daisy chained strip with no problems.

So we're at a loss, just thought I'd add to the discussion.

Oct 19, 2010 7:50 AM in response to Berry with an A

I experienced this issue for the first time last night. I had already closed almost all my hardcore apps such as Motion and FCP, and was browsing the web via Safari 5.

My iMac is not a month old yet, so it's interesting to experience this so early.

My config, for reference purposes is below.

27" iMac
2.93 GHz i7
16GB 1333 MHz DDR3
250GB SSD
2TB secondary 72K HD
2 network drives mounted
2 external HDs mounted.

kfiller

Level 1

4 points

Oct 30, 2010 7:52 PM in response to Berry with an A

Same problem here. Bought the newer core i7, 27 inch monster 2 weeks ago (iMac11,3). Have experienced about 10 random shutdowns thus far.

= computer is kept in a room like an icebox - there is no way this could be a heat issue. room is ~18 degrees C
= I have added 16GB of aftermarket crucial tech ram.
= I have installed and run applejack in auto mode
= i have run the drive genius 3 cd and fixed all disk issues, as well as defragged.
= shutdowns normally happen when the computer is idle, or when i'm not physically at the keyboard.

I'm going to try and run the SMC reset now, will report back if it doesn't fix the issue.

Nov 2, 2010 5:23 PM in response to Berry with an A

SO I finally just followed what some others did, and we removed two of the RAM chips, dropping my memory down to 8GB. So far, no additional random shutdowns. It's been about 3-4 working days now, I believe. If anything can be concluded, it's that these machines can't handle (for whatever reason), a full 16GBs of memory.

kfiller

Level 1

4 points

Nov 2, 2010 8:08 PM in response to kfiller

Had another random shutdown. Looks like resetting the SMC does not fix this problem.

It's odd, as it seems that the shutdown occurred when I was messing around with the bluetooth keyboard (cleaning/etc)...

Is everyone using the stock bluetooth kb/mouse?

...

Oh, and Apple, when are you going to address this problem? I think it totally blows that my $2k+ investment is not operating optimally. There's enough evidence in this forum thread alone to prove this is not limited to a single incident/user.

Message was edited by: kfiller

27-inch / 27" iMac Random Shut down