Does this happen to anyone else?

Question

Does this happen to anyone else?

Sometimes when I pick my computer up, or when I walk up the stairs with it in my hands it turns off... It drives me nuts, because I have to turn it back on, and whatever I had open, is now lost! Why does this happen, my battery is not dead either (or from what I think). Is there a technical error? Cause I've been having random kernal panics too.

1GB iBook G4 (Waiting for a Macbook), Mac OS X (10.4.9), iSight, iPod Nano Black

Posted on May 1, 2007 1:47 PM

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Answer 1

Duane

Level 10

124,267 points

May 1, 2007 2:04 PM in response to marty charette

It sounds like the battery may be loose and losing contact with the iBook.

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Answer 2

May 1, 2007 2:15 PM in response to Duane

Really? What do you recommend me to do? I just looked at it, it seems alright, but who knows...

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Answer 3

S.U.

Level 6

9,595 points

May 1, 2007 2:30 PM in response to marty charette

Can you just save whatever you are working on before picking it up?

I don't know what model you have, but I think some of the newer ones have a safety factor which I think locks down the hard drive if it detects a sudden motion--the idea is to prevent a spinning hard drive from being damaged if you drop the computer. I'm not sure if this was on iBooks or not, but if it happens to be on yours, it might sense the motion of being picked up and be shutting itself down. Maybe someone more knowledgeable could speak to this.

Good luck!

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Answer 4

May 1, 2007 5:19 PM in response to S.U.

Yes, I could bookmark websites etc, but who wants to do that? I want to have the freedom of transporting my expensive laptop, (that can't hold up to its potential), and not worry about it shutting off... And just now, I looked at "About This Mac", and it says that I have 768MB, when I should have 1GB... I tell ya, I'm not pleased... But thanks for the luck, I think I'll need it, or maybe my Mac needs it more than I do... Cause I'm about ready to drop it out my bedroom window...

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Answer 5

S.U.

Level 6

9,595 points

May 1, 2007 8:02 PM in response to marty charette

Yes this has to be very aggrevating! I still wonder if it has the safety feature I mentioned--if so, it may be set to be too sensitive to motion. I really don't know--I'm just speculating. I keep hoping someone more knowledgeable than me will take up this topic. I've never heard of anybody else having this particular problem. One thing you might try--I wonder if you put it to sleep and then moved it and then woke it up, if it would keep all your settings? Again, this is just speculation and trying to help--I feel out of my depth here. Do you have access to an Apple store? If so, maybe they could help. Sorry I can't.

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Answer 6

Phil Huse

Level 3

564 points

May 2, 2007 7:37 AM in response to S.U.

As I understand, the Sudden Motion Sensors (SMS) in the iBook are designed to put the computer to sleep rather than power it down completely.

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Answer 7

May 2, 2007 10:36 AM in response to S.U.

Yeah, I think it is time to bring it in, because I had my iBook on the couch, and I got up to get a drink, and when I sat back down, it turned off... Its so odd, and aggravating! But thanks for your help!

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Answer 8

May 10, 2007 7:16 PM in response to marty charette

Did all this start with the power failures? If so, how old/powerful is your battery? Are the contacts all clean? Perhaps the random shut offs caused the following problems. Try booting with the system disc and use the disk utility with the power plug in. If this does not work, make an appointment with a Genius at an Apple store.

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