PseudoProsciutto
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: My mid 2012MacBook Pro(15-inch) shuts down randomly during use

I recently purchased a refurbished mid 2012 15inch macbook pro (laptop stats listed below). I do have a 2 year warranty on it and this is only day 2 of having the computer so I probably will be sending it right back. I would love to not have to though as I am pushing the work needed to be done closer to my deadline by doing so; however, I have not been able to do much at all. I am afraid my computer is going to freeze for the 30 seconds it does and then shut off in the middle of this so I need to wrap this post up in order to prevent retyping this.

 

When I received the macbook pro i plugged in the charger and loaded it up and less than 3 minutes later it froze for 30 seconds and turned off for the first time. I waited as it charged a bit thinking that might have been problem but when I turned it back on 10 minutes later I realized battery is fully charged. Not even 5 minutes pass before the computer turns off again. I change the battery/power usage settings to not turn off if plugged in and only go into sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity when not plugged in. I thought the problem was fixed, because ten minutes went by and it didn't shut down on me. I began looking for updates in apple store after registering myself and I saw there was one for the OS which I then downloaded. I am now fully updated and I thought the problem went away. I was so happy. Right after the updates finished and I restarted computer, it didn't take but 3 minutes before it did it again. This was now the third time and it seems that the problem isn't going away. I checked to feel the computer and it was getting hot by this time so now I am thinking it perhaps overheated. I waited some time before I turned it on again. During this time I checked the Authorized Refurb Dealership I bought it at and they were closed for the weekend. (Just saved this post so far because I am afraid it may reset). I also looked up to see if other people were having this problem. Some were with older versions of OS X than I have. Other people mentioned about SMC and PRAM and Hardware Tests, of which I haven't done any yet but I believe these are my next steps next time this happens. After this browsing

 

- My computer froze for 30 seconds and then shut down just now. I just loaded it back up and was happy to see that my content was auto-saved even though I did save it to a note a just a few lines prior. Upon restarting my MacBookPro I hit:

control+option+shift + power button and held them for a few moments but I am not sure anything happened or I did that right.

after hitting power I hit option+command P+ R  which caused the apple chime twice so I believe I was able to reset the PRAM this time

I loaded up the screen and went right back to this page.

 

anyway to quickly summarize this is the 4th time today thats happened. once when I starte

make that 5 times. It just happened again (bless this auto save) . I don't want to keep typing, this is long as it is. Thanks for anyone bearing with me. The following are statistics of MacBook Pro

 

 

Problem: Turns off at seemingly random times with no set interval of time being on. sometimes immediately other times it works for a couple hours.

 

Yosemite updated fully

i7 quadcore 2.3ghz

mid 2012- 15 inch Macbook Pro

12 GB DDR3 RAM 8x4

500 gb 7200 rpm HDD

Intel HD Graphics Card 4000 @ 1024

 

*Update to 6 times today right before hitting post button (so 3 during this post - albeit it is lengthy, I do apologize about that. maybe its apples way of telling me no long posts ever again)

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 26, 2015 9:54 AM

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PseudoProsciutto

Q: My mid 2012MacBook Pro(15-inch) shuts down randomly during use

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  • Helpful answers

  • by OGELTHORPE,Helpful

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Sep 28, 2015 7:53 AM in response to PseudoProsciutto
    Level 9 (52,776 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 28, 2015 7:53 AM in response to PseudoProsciutto

    Try to download and post an Etrecheck report;

     

    http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

     

    Try SMC and NVRAM resets:

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

     

    Then try a safe boot:

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

     

    Any Change?

     

    Does the MBP have 12 GB RAM installed?

     

    Check to see if there are any kernel panics listed. If so log and post per these instructions:

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201753

     

    Try to run an Apple Hardware Test:

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201257

     

    Note that an error free AHT is not definitive.

     

    Ciao.

  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 28, 2015 7:53 AM in response to PseudoProsciutto
    Level 10 (208,037 points)
    Applications
    Sep 28, 2015 7:53 AM in response to PseudoProsciutto

    It's obviously defective. You'd be wasting your time doing anything else if you have the opportunity to return it for a refund.

  • by PseudoProsciutto,

    PseudoProsciutto PseudoProsciutto Sep 28, 2015 7:46 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 28, 2015 7:46 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Thank you. I am waiting to here back about returning the computer to the company and going through their process of filing reports to do so so in the interim I have something to try out. I will post my findings when I do so. I appreciate the response. Hopefully I wont need to send it back, but I feel like it'd be foolish not to. For some reason I keep thinking its just something not correctly plugged in within the case and the loose wire causes it to turn off... until this morning that is.

     

    Since Saturday afternoon until Monday morning, I had left the computer on and not touched it. The laptop remained closed shut but the light shining showed me that it was still on. This morning when I opened it I was surprised to see it still on and working. I went to refresh this page as I had left it on to see if there were any replies and after it loaded and I read yours, I clicked to reply and then it froze and shut down on me, Strange. Activity (or rather the computer being in active use) clearly is causing this action it would seem because it was fine staying on with the monitor shut for over 36 hours.

     

    I'll update with my findings as I wait for the company to respond to my forms to return the computer.

  • by PseudoProsciutto,

    PseudoProsciutto PseudoProsciutto Sep 28, 2015 7:53 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 28, 2015 7:53 AM in response to Linc Davis

    I can't agree with you more. I would love to fix the problem and not have to go with out a computer for whatever length of time ( half a month most likely ), but I would be cheating myself in the long run. Getting a problem a few minutes after using the computer is not a positive look into this computers future. I'm sure we would agree that this is a sign of how troubled this computer will be. Anyway, I am taking your suggestion and filling out my return form with the company. While I wait for the return reply and instructions I am going to try what was suggested in the post prior to yours just as a "why not?". Maybe it will help me learn different ways of fixing a mac for any future minor problems with others. Until I get frustrated attempting to use this one that is.

     

    In the very rare circumstance that something above fixes it and it seems to work flawlessly from here on until their reply... I don't know if Id keep the computer or just send it back anyway.

     

    Thanks for your response

  • by PseudoProsciutto,

    PseudoProsciutto PseudoProsciutto Sep 28, 2015 9:21 AM in response to OGELTHORPE
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 28, 2015 9:21 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

    Heres the EtreCheck. I need to post the responses in parts because I can't keep computer on long enough to do it all in once fell swoop.

     

    Problem description:

    constant freezing for 30 secs after only a few minutes of activity and then turns off

     

    EtreCheck version: 2.4.2 (142)

    Report generated 9/28/15, 12:21 PM

    Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

     

    Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

    Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

     

    Hardware Information: (What does this mean?)

        MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012) (Technical Specifications)

        MacBook Pro - model: MacBookPro9,1

        1 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU: 4-core

        12 GB RAM Upgradeable

            BANK 0/DIMM0

                4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

            BANK 1/DIMM0

                8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz ok

        Bluetooth: Good - Handoff/Airdrop2 supported

        Wireless:  en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

        Battery: Health = Normal - Cycle count = 12 - SN = D863232R1ATDGDLBV

     

    Video Information: (What does this mean?)

        Intel HD Graphics 4000

            Color LCD 1440 x 900

        NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M - VRAM: 512 MB

     

    System Software: (What does this mean?)

        OS X 10.10.5 (14F27) - Time since boot: less than an hour

     

    Disk Information: (What does this mean?)

        HGST HTS725050A7E630 disk0 : (500.11 GB) (Rotational)

            EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

            Macintosh HD (disk0s2) / : 499.76 GB (473.33 GB free)

     

        HL-DT-ST DVDRW  GS41N   ()

     

    USB Information: (What does this mean?)

        Apple Inc. Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad

        Apple Inc. BRCM20702 Hub

            Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

        Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

        Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

     

    Thunderbolt Information: (What does this mean?)

        Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

     

    Gatekeeper: (What does this mean?)

        Mac App Store and identified developers

     

    Kernel Extensions: (What does this mean?)

            /System/Library/Extensions

        [not loaded]    com.akai.mpc.usb (2.2.2 - SDK 10.7) [Click for support]

     

    User Login Items: (What does this mean?)

        None

     

    Internet Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

        Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

        iPhotoPhotocast: Version: 7.0

        QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

     

    Audio Plug-ins: (What does this mean?)

        AKAI_MPC: Version: Unknown - SDK 10.7 [Click for support]

     

    3rd Party Preference Panes: (What does this mean?)

        None

     

    Time Machine: (What does this mean?)

        Time Machine not configured!

     

    Top Processes by CPU: (What does this mean?)

             5%    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(3)

             4%    WindowServer

             2%    fontd

             2%    Safari

             0%    loginwindow

     

    Top Processes by Memory: (What does this mean?)

        678 MB    kernel_task

        283 MB    com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(3)

        111 MB    mdworker(10)

        74 MB    Mail

        61 MB    WindowServer

     

    Virtual Memory Information: (What does this mean?)

        9.39 GB    Free RAM

        2.60 GB    Used RAM (922 MB Cached)

        0 B    Swap Used

     

    Diagnostics Information: (What does this mean?)

        Sep 28, 2015, 12:18:46 PM    Self test - passed

        Sep 25, 2015, 07:33:06 PM    /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/installd_2015-09-25-193306_[redacted].cpu_resou rce.diag [Click for details]

        Sep 25, 2015, 07:28:11 PM    ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/storedownloadd_2015-09-25-192811_[redacted].cr ash

  • by OGELTHORPE,

    OGELTHORPE OGELTHORPE Sep 28, 2015 10:30 AM in response to PseudoProsciutto
    Level 9 (52,776 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 28, 2015 10:30 AM in response to PseudoProsciutto

    What stands out in the Etrecheck report is that fact that there is third party RAM installed.  I know that the 8 GB RAM module is not original and I cannot tell if the 4 GB is or is not original.

     

    Take out the RAM modules and clean the contacts and reinstall them, making certain they are properly seated.  If the problems persist, take the RAM modules out.  Take one RAM and install it in each slot of the MBP and test to see if the MBP operates properly or not.  Then repeat the process for thew other module.  You may find that one RAM module is faulty or a slot id defective, or that the MBP shuts down with either RAM module.

     

    If it is the last case, an Apple Hardware Test may find the problem.  See the link in my first response.

     

    Ciao.