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Aluminum iMac Random Shutdown

I agree that we shouldn't have to install a program in order to properly use our computer.

It didn't seem like my computer had a heating issue either. When I installed fan control I left everything at the "stock" speeds and the temp was always around 30 degrees celsius. I then decided to up the rpm's and everything has been good so far. Hopefully I don't have anymore problems. This whole thing is very frustrating. An official fix should be out by now, it seems like a lot of new imac users are having this problem. I'll let you know if anything changes....
 
Temperature Monitor Question re: Penryn

NowhereMan said:
I agree that we shouldn't have to install a program in order to properly use our computer.

It didn't seem like my computer had a heating issue either. When I installed fan control I left everything at the "stock" speeds and the temp was always around 30 degrees celsius. I then decided to up the rpm's and everything has been good so far. Hopefully I don't have anymore problems. This whole thing is very frustrating. An official fix should be out by now, it seems like a lot of new imac users are having this problem. I'll let you know if anything changes....
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up on the SMC FanControl. Since I'm running OK so far on my new 20" iMac, I may not mess with that yet. But you got me thinking that I should at least be monitoring my temps via TemperatureMonitor. (Sad to think we even should have to do that!)

One question I had about TemperatureMonitor -- the developer mentioned something about not supporting Penryn:

http://www.bresink.com/osx/0TemperatureMonitor/history.html

Can someone please explain what he means? Does TM not work properly for the new iMacs? TIA.
 
I've had 2 reboots since using smcfancontrol. I went 2 days with no problems and got my hopes up.

I had smcfancontrol on but put the fans at the default rpm speed. Since then I had my computer shut down. I tried to turn it back on and it crashed again on the boot screen. It then sounded like it was running, but the screen was off. I ended up having to hold down the power button to make it turn off, then hit it again for it to finally boot up.

I bought this imac from best buy about 9 days ago. They have a 14 day return policy on computers. It's going back tomorrow! Hopefully my next one is okay. Its a pretty big let down for a first time mac user. I bought a mac because I was having shut down problems with my windows xp laptop. :mad:

Good luck to the rest of you.....
 
Leon Kowalski said:
Sounds like the "CPU Core" temp readouts have been removed, but
"CPU temperature diode" (and/or heatsink?) temps are still reported.

Just install it and see -- the price is right.

LK
Click to expand...
Thanks Leon, I appreciate your input. I probably will just install Temperature Monitor and try it, and you're right about the price. I was a little leery: (1) Because of all these problems I've had so far with my iMac, esp. being a Mac newbie; and (2) In another forum I've read about potential crashing problems caused by Hardware Monitor, the "mother" program for Temperature Monitor by the same developer. The latter item didn't sound definitive, but it was of the nature, "crashes stopped when I uninstalled it," and reported by more than one person.

I realize that TM and HM are pretty much two different animals, but all my past problems have kinda made me gun-shy. Right now I'm just happy to have a stable computer.
 
I was able to return my imac earlier tonight at Best Buy. Unfortunately they did not have my same model in stock. I wanted to stick with the 20" size and had two options. Either upgrade to the $1,499 model or the $1,099. I opted for the more expensive one and got a faster CPU, more memory and a larger HDD. Shouldn't have spent the extra money but I didn't want to come home empty handed.

The employee was shocked that I was having problems with the imac. He said it was his first time hearing anything negative. Although they just got there mac center a few weeks ago and started selling one imac model a couple months back....

So far everything is running great. I'll keep everyone updated. Wish me luck!
 
Just FYI, I took my second one back to the store and had the power supply and internal cable replaced. Everything seems fine now.
 
co mac noob said:
Scratch that - two shutdowns in the last three days. Why me?

:(
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Sorry to hear that. I mentioned these problems that I keep hearing about to the Genius who helped me through mine, and he seemed to kind of dismiss them. I think the gist of his argument was that there were problems in the early iMac models, but that they've been addressed by Apple. He attributed most of the current problems he sees to some type of user-caused error.

He's been pretty upfront and honest with me, but it's hard to believe that there isn't some kind of fundamental glitch in iMacs that's causing all of this. You went through all the "proper" steps, right? Updated software, ran the various checks/tests mentioned in this forum, etc.?
 
Sorry to hear your still having problems. Id recommend returning your machine if possible...not sure how long you've had it.

I returned my first imac and now have one that has no shut down/reboot problems. But it does have a dead pixel or dust behind the screen. I almost returned it for this but I decided it's better to have a machine that runs solid.

I ran into a guy in my town that was also having problems with his imac rebooting. We don't have a large town and best buy just started selling mac's. I'm shocked that this well known problem isn't getting any attention from apple.:confused:
 
Just an update/summary:

First iMac was having random shutdowns. Returned it, got another one. Second one was having random shutdowns. Took to the Apple store, had power supply and internal cable replaced. Brought it home, was OK for a few days, then had two shutdowns. Was tired of going to the Apple store, decided to live with it for awhile and see how bad it was going to be. That was a little over 2 months ago, and I haven't had another shutdown since. Really don't know what to think.
 
I'm with you

I've had my iMac taken to the Apple store 3 times in 8 months because of power issues and display problems.

First one I got had a display problem... 2nd one was a shutdown that never came back on. 3rd time was a botched repair job on the 2nd time.

Now I was playing WoW... for about 5 minutes into the game, and suddenly everything went dead. I wasn't sure what happened at first... but turned it back on.

I since installed smcfancontrol, as it it seems the top left corner of my iMac is MUCH hotter than I ever remember it being.

I've turned the fans about to about 3000rpm to see how the iMac does. I think Apple needs to put vents on the entire back of the iMac and just blow air directly out the back.

Suddenly I'm having flashbacks of failing xbox 360s.
 
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