Macbook Random Shutdown - strikes, at last!
Hm, I think I was naive to ever think that I was gonna avoid this extremely annoying problem.
Tonight, when I tried to switch on my M. for some light after-hours browsing in bed, boof! it just shutdown after logging me in.
A distinctive clicking sound is heard and then boof. When I tried to immediately switch it on, it didn’t. Had to try twice or thrice, I don’t remember. It didn’t happen ever since, but it will happen again for sure.
What’s even more devastating for me is the terrible state of service in Rainbow, greek authorized Apple dealer. I know I won’t see my M. for months if I send it to them.
It was really too good to be true. I’m not angry at Apple for making a portion of their Macbooks problematic. I’m angry at them for not having a decent Apple store in Greece, where we can have our problems solved in a moderately timely way.
Any other had that problem? Please, share. I need the sympathising.
RSS, random shutdown syndrome, mac, macbook, apple
October 13th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
Unfortunately, the MacBooks ( not the Pro line ) suffer from those random shutdowns issue - which has been acknowledged by Apple ( at last ). Further information can be found here
http://www.macbookrandomshutdown.com/
http://news.com.com/2061-10793_3-6115931.html
and elsewhere ( google is your friend )
To soften the blow, here’s some potentially great news: chances are Jobs will make a surprise announcement during his MacWorld keynote in January. Leopard may be released in January, just in time to steal the thunder from Vista. A typical Apple + Jobs approach to wowing the crowds
October 14th, 2006 at 11:03 am
Sugarenia, first of all I am sorry to hear that you too have been having problems with your mac laptop. Those of us that have used Apple products for a while know that you should never get a (major) Rev. A product from Apple as they are almost certainly going to be faulty, one way or another (faults in Rev. A products are often due to bad design and not manufacturing). Getting a Macbook from a Hellenic dealer almost certainly means that it is not going to be one of the latest batches, as the sale of macs in this country is very limited and most probably the dealers are getting through inventories from summer. Before buying you should check the Apple Support Discussions (forum) for threads with major problems, and note when they were posted. Then *before* accepting receipt of a product check the sticker on it that shows the manufacturing date. If it’s too close to the period when the problems appeared don’t accept receipt. Now that you’ve bought it, check your serial number (4th and 5th digits) to find out the week your macbook was manufactured on.
Even the last revision of the Powerbook before the line was replaced had its fair share of problems, even though there were something like 5 major revisions and countless minor ones.
Being in a country with non-existent Apple presence/service (Rainbow just doesn’t count) should be enough to make any potential Apple hardware buyer skeptical. In any case, my recommendation is to keep reading the fora, web pages, etc. for news and act only when you’re certain to get your macbook fixed — there have been numerous cases of multiple repairs/changed logic boards/heatsinks that proved insufficient to remedy the RSD problem. If it’s less than 15 days since you bought it, check with the applicable laws: you may be entitled (by law) to a refund or replacement.
@Mark: Leopard has little to show for the work Apple has been doing in the past 18 months, besides the numerous (and badly needed) kernel enhancements and the gimmicky features presented in WWDC. In any case, it’s not doing anyone any good if your machine RSDs, whether it’s running Tiger, Leopard or Mac OS M.
As a sidenote, I don’t think it’s coming out in January, unless they forgo even the — badly in need of revision — QA process they’ve had these past few years. I believe a new — and hopefully more substantial — demo will be shown on Macworld, with Golden coming out sometime in late March or thereabouts.
October 14th, 2006 at 11:57 am
Thanks for your tips, cosmix.
Yes, it’s almost 10 days since I’ve bought it, but Multirama won’t offer a refund, unless the laptop itself is stolen.
I bought the laptop because I saw it there, simple as that. I couldn’t wait more to get it, plus, I’d risk waiting numerous months before any “fixed” version of the Macbook reached the shelves in Greece.
It seems that the problem itself arises when the laptop is cold, aka shut down for many hours. It shuts off for two or three times, but when it gets warm, it stays up.
At least, that’s what happened yesterday, I had some problems at first but then it worked without problems for straight 10 hours.
If it doesn’t get worse, I’m not sending it to anyone (Rainbow included) because I know I won’t see it for months, and they won’t fix the problem anyway. As you said, I’ll wait (and pray it doesn’t get worse - I can cope with startup problems, but not with constant shutdowns).
October 14th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
Hey. When was it made? Did you check the serial? You can do this from within Mac OS X: Apple Menu (top left) -> About this Mac -> Click on the version of OS X (e.g. 10.4.8) twice.
As I said before, I am not sure about what the applicable law in Hellas states, so I cannot help. I am certain, however, that there is some EU legislation protecting customers from such situations. I don’t think you should let it go that easily. A product being proven faulty in ten days should be enough for you to shout at them and get a replacement. Ask around! Ask a lawyer! Make noise. It may cost you a few hours of your life, but in the end you might save many more hours of grievance later.
I do not own a Macbook so I cannot confirm or reject your claim about when it happens. It does not make sense, however, to get the problem only when the laptop is cold, unless they have some *really* badly positioned thermal triode/cmos transistor that gives false readings to the power management routines and allows higher clocking of the CPU when not appropriate, thus triggering a shut down. From the few things I’ve read, it seems to be related to both bad power management and an inadequate heatsink that cannot cope with the transient increase in temperature on temporary high loads.
Is your laptop bought from a Rainbow affiliate? If so, call them. Ask *them* for a replacement. Ask for a repair AND a replacement in the mean time. Be courteous, polite, but firm. If you don’t do anything, they’ll think they can get away with stuff like that. From the looks of it you just paid your hard earned cash for a faulty machine. It’s not even 10 days and you’re giving up? Again, as I said, I have only been back in Hellas for a year and have not bought anything here, but if this happened to me I’d surely make some noise.
Good luck, I hope I helped.
October 14th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
My 4th and 5th digits are 29. Does that mean 29th week?
I think the problem is some cable, that’s supposedly too short when cold and causes short circuits, which lead to random shutdowns.
I’m gonna go and ask the store what to do, but upon purchase, they were firm: on any problem in the limits of guarantee time, we can do nothing. You have to call Rainbow.
I’ll try, though.
October 14th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
?es. If I recall correctly the third digit is the year. So it should be something like: xx629. The first two must be the factory code.
I see. Yes, I found a few web pages about this. If that is the case AND you cannot get a replacement, then consider opening the laptop and insulating the sensor cable yourself (or have a knowledgeable friend do it). You might void the warranty this way, but at least you’ll have a working laptop
Well, I suppose if you’re certain that that’s the only legal option, call Rainbow. Before you do that though I suggest you call INKA (?????????? ???????????) and ask them what your statutory rights are. Then you can be firm with the knowledge of what you are legally entitled to. In some parts of the EU you have 15 days to return a product (often irrespectively of whether it is faulty or not).
Oh, and I remembered something else: late in 2005 I did buy something that turned out to be faulty. A €500 HP LaserJet printer. I called HP and they turned me to Plaisio, where I got a replacement within 2 days. Of course this was just a company policy, not a legal requirement. But still. At least find out if Rainbow can replace it.