jsnauman
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Mac Pro (Early 2008) is spontaneously shutting down

A few days ago my macpro started shutting down and restarting itself at random times. Here's what I've done so far to determine the issue:

 

 

I ticked off the schedule settings which I had previously set as 7am start and 11pm shut....oddly this random power cycling would do it at the scheduled times and now with it not scheduled it simply shuts down at random times without coming back on.

 

I disconnected all external devices except for keyboard, monitor and mouse.

 

I disabled Time Machine and disconnected the drive.

 

I ran the apple hardware test off the disc that came with this machine and both the short test and the long test come up empty with no hw problems.

 

I reset the SMC. It took longer to happen but it happened again.

 

MacKeeper virus scan found one bad email in my trash and removed it.

 

I found elsewhere on this site that I should look at the previous shutdown info off the console. It came up with this message for the last few shutdowns: localhost kernel[0]: Previous Shutdown Cause: 0. I cannot find info to what this means for a macpro. There's lots of stuff on the log that seem daunting but I have no idea what they mean and not sure if they need to be posted in their entirity here to get someone to help.

 

I have uninstalled a bunch of extra sw. I can't think of any software I've installed prior to this problem that would raise a red flag. Perhaps one of the mac app updates has done something fishy, but how would I determine that? I'm hoping I don't have to clean install my system back to the beginning and try to find all the apps to reinstall!  

 

Here is my system info:

Hardware Overview:

 

  Model Name:          Mac Pro

  Model Identifier:          MacPro3,1

  Processor Name:          Quad-Core Intel Xeon

  Processor Speed:          2.8 GHz

  Number of Processors:          2

  Total Number of Cores:          8

  L2 Cache (per Processor):          12 MB

  Memory:          6 GB

  Bus Speed:          1.6 GHz

  Boot ROM Version:          MP31.006C.B05

  SMC Version (system):          1.25f4

 

I would appreciate any help as to what to do next!

 

Jacquie

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jan 3, 2014 7:56 AM

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jsnauman

Q: Mac Pro (Early 2008) is spontaneously shutting down

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  • Helpful answers

  • by nbar,

    nbar nbar Jan 3, 2014 7:58 AM in response to jsnauman
    Level 5 (6,980 points)
    Jan 3, 2014 7:58 AM in response to jsnauman

    Remove Mackeeper according to the developer's instructions.

     

    Do not install MacKeeper: Apple Support Communities

     

    You are most likely experiencing kernel panics. Please post a copy of your latest kernel panic in your reply. To find the log, open Console application and look under System Diagnostic Reports. The log will start with "kernel_" and end in ".panic". Post the whole panic report in your reply.

     

    OS X: About Kernel Panics

    Troubleshooting kernel panics

  • by jsnauman,

    jsnauman jsnauman Jan 3, 2014 8:18 AM in response to nbar
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 3, 2014 8:18 AM in response to nbar

    Thanks for the quick response. I will uninstall MacKeeper. Did not know that and have had it for over a year.

     

    I'm not sure which to post. I looked at the console and cannot find anything that says kernel or panic. See screenshot below. (hope this is readable)

     

     

    ConsoleSS3.jpg

     

     

    Have to check in later. Thanks for your help!

  • by nbar,

    nbar nbar Jan 3, 2014 8:27 AM in response to jsnauman
    Level 5 (6,980 points)
    Jan 3, 2014 8:27 AM in response to jsnauman

    You're welcome. Yes, there is no kernel panic report.

     

    Open your Terminal Application. Copy the bolded command below, paste it in your prompt, and post the output in your reply:

     

    pmset -g;echo;pmset -g assertions

  • by jsnauman,

    jsnauman jsnauman Jan 3, 2014 10:23 AM in response to nbar
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 3, 2014 10:23 AM in response to nbar

    I've been away from the computer for a little over an hour and discovered it shut down again. The shutdowns are happening whenever the MacPro is idle in sleep mode. I've never had it turn off while working. Perhaps there's something up with the sleep settings? I have always had them the same since I bought it in 2008 but I turned off the schedule to troubleshoot. It's set to display sleep after 15 min and computer sleep after 1 hour.

     

    Terminal report

     

    Active Profiles:

    AC Power                    -1*

    Currently in use:

    hibernatemode        0

    womp                 0

    networkoversleep     0

    sleep                60 (sleep prevented by mds_stores, mds, UserEventAgent, UserEventAgent)

    Sleep On Power Button 1

    ttyskeepawake        1

    hibernatefile        /var/vm/sleepimage

    autorestart          0

    disksleep            10

    displaysleep         15

     

    1/3/14, 10:17:45 AM PST 

    Assertion status system-wide:

       BackgroundTask                 1

       PreventDiskIdle                0

       ApplePushServiceTask           0

       UserIsActive                   0

       PreventUserIdleDisplaySleep    0

       InteractivePushServiceTask     0

       PreventSystemSleep             0

       ExternalMedia                  1

       InternalPreventDisplaySleep    1

       PreventUserIdleSystemSleep     0

       NetworkClientActive            0

    Listed by owning process:

       pid 168(mds_stores): [0x0000000c0000013e] 00:02:48 BackgroundTask named: "com.apple.metadata.mds_stores.power"

       pid 41(mds): [0x0000000c00000140] 00:02:45 BackgroundTask named: "com.apple.metadata.mds.power"

       pid 16(powerd): [0x000000090000012d] 00:03:16 ExternalMedia named: "com.apple.powermanagement.externalmediamounted"

       pid 16(powerd): [0x0000001100000170] 00:00:47 InternalPreventDisplaySleep named: "com.apple.powermanagement.delayDisplayOff"

              Timeout will fire in 274 secs Action=TimeoutActionTurnOff

       pid 11(UserEventAgent): [0x0000000c00000141] 00:02:45 BackgroundTask named: "com.apple.metadata.mds.power"

       pid 11(UserEventAgent): [0x0000000c0000013f] 00:02:48 BackgroundTask named: "com.apple.metadata.mds_stores.power"

    Kernel Assertions: 0x4=USB

       id=500  level=255 0x4=USB mod=1/3/14, 10:20 AM description=EHCI owner=AppleUSBEHCI

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter Jan 3, 2014 10:36 AM in response to jsnauman
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    Jan 3, 2014 10:36 AM in response to jsnauman

    Hibernation should not be present was my understanding on any Mac tower, only the notebooks and maybe an iMac.

     

    There are commands to enable various sleep settings available in Terminal. In Terminal, type "man pmset" to see the options for hibernatemode.


    There is also a freeware pane to provide a nice interface to these settings:


    https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/26979/smartsleep

     

    Assumption: it won't happen in Safe Mode

    You never tried installing OS X from scratch

    There are other background tasks or extensions modifying system behavior?

     


  • by jsnauman,

    jsnauman jsnauman Jan 3, 2014 11:25 AM in response to The hatter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 3, 2014 11:25 AM in response to The hatter

    I have removed all remnants of Mackeeper. So recommendations from Apple is not to put the computer to sleep at all?

     

    I am testing first with all sleep modes turned off except for my screensaver. Next will be to try in Safe Mode. No I have not clean installed the latest OS. I simply upgraded. My understanding is that uninstalling Lion and reinstalling is a big deal. Can you point me to some directions on the best way to install the os from scratch? If it involves reinstalling all my software that could be difficult and I would prefer to do this step as a last resort.

     

    How would I determine the background tasks that might be interfering. As I said in my original post, there are a few concerning comments about program errors in the console system report. Should I be concerned? After my last restart, which I did manually, I looked again at the console for previous shutdown cause and it reads like this:

     

    Jan  3 11:02:53 localhost kernel[0]: Previous Shutdown Cause: 0

    Jan  3 11:03:54 Jacquelines-Mac-Pro.local WindowServer[153]: disable_update_timeout: UI updates were forcibly disabled by application "Preview" for over 1.00 seconds. Server has re-enabled them.

    Jan  3 11:03:54 Jacquelines-Mac-Pro.local Preview[229]: Layout still needs update after calling -[NSToolbarView layout].  NSToolbarView or one of its superclasses may have overridden -layout without calling super. Or, something may have dirtied layout in the middle of updating it.  Both are programming errors in Cocoa Autolayout.  The former is pretty likely to arise if some pre-Cocoa Autolayout class had a method called layout, but it should be fixed.

    Jan  3 11:03:54 Jacquelines-Mac-Pro.local WindowServer[153]: common_reenable_update: UI updates were finally reenabled by application "Preview" after 1.21 seconds (server forcibly re-enabled them after 1.00 seconds)

    Jan  3 11:03:55 Jacquelines-Mac-Pro.local Preview[229]: It does not make sense to draw an image when [NSGraphicsContext currentContext] is nil.  This is a programming error. Break on void _NSWarnForDrawingImageWithNoCurrentContext() to debug.  This will be logged only once.  This may break in the future.

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter Jan 3, 2014 11:56 AM in response to jsnauman
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    Jan 3, 2014 11:56 AM in response to jsnauman

    Upgrade over upgrade and Lion no longer supports PowerPC/Rosetta and it is always a good idea to start with a fresh install of the OS. Setup Assistant will do the rest.

     

    Hopefully you read to save the OS X installer. You will need one.

     

    Below is the updated how to create an installer, applies to 10.7 thru 10.9.

     

    How to make your own bootable OS X 10.9 Mavericks USB install drive

    http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/how-to-make-your-own-bootable-os-x-10-9-mav ericks-usb-install-drive/

     

    And if you want to use the same drive instead of start with another - perfect excuse for a new SSD or other system drive -  fresh install helps insure y ou have a bootable copy still as a safety net incase 10.9.0 messes with your  work or apps or even hardware.

     

    One other  area for testing, create a new test user account and see if the problem goes away to rule out it being in your user library folder (now hidden by default in Lion+)

     

    Clone your system:

     

     

    Create an OS X Lion Install disc

     

    Migration Assistant Update for Mac OS X Snow Leopard

    http://www.apple.com/support/lion/installrecovery/

    http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20080989-263/how-to-create-an-os-x-lion-ins tallation-disc

    http://www.coolestguyplanettech.com/how-to-make-a-bootable-osx-10-8-mountain-lio n-disc-or-drive-from-the-downloaded-mountain-lion-app/


  • by jsnauman,

    jsnauman jsnauman Jan 4, 2014 9:45 AM in response to The hatter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 4, 2014 9:45 AM in response to The hatter

    I have not yet been able to do an OS reinstall. I think I've definitely narrowed down to the sleep mode being a problem. I looked at the console this morning after having discovered it had yet shutdown again and discovered this string:

     

    Sleep failure code 0x00000000 0x1f006900

     

    Looking around the community forum I saw something about this being a bug with a recent update...my most recent being 10.9.1. The post was from 2012 for 10.7.3 and Apple was supposedly fixing said bug, but I wonder if they did not with this update or simply did for the laptops and imacs but not the tower?

     

    Anyway, I am testing some more today including the guest user and safe mode. Considering if I should take it to the genius bar instead of trying a whole reinstall of the os and going down a long rat hole to come to this same conclusion.

  • by J Gysenbergs,

    J Gysenbergs J Gysenbergs Jan 4, 2014 1:15 PM in response to jsnauman
    Level 1 (34 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 4, 2014 1:15 PM in response to jsnauman

    I remember having this issue a few years ago with the same Mac Pro - very annoying. Turned out the only solution was to replace the power supply which I did and the problem was gone. - JG