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iMac shutdown Suddenly.
- Thread starter hack3rcon
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I Restart the iMac and press D key but diagnostic not executed and Apple boot normally.
It's a phenomena. Google Macs randomly shutting down for no reason. You'll get a plethora of guesses and fixes that range from just stupid to being a computer genius to fix it. Even those don't fix it. I would suggest backing everything up and installing a fresh copy of OSX El' Capitan on a re-formatted drive. It's going to be a process of elimination and it could possibly go away for no reason.
The OP is running Snow Leopard (at least according to the crash log from post #1)
The crash is Adobe CS4 Suite (I think), which probably won't work when using El Capitan.
OP - try the simple things first. Check that the small round cooling port on the back of your iMac (under the hinge) is clear of dust/lint. That can contribute to overheating, and might possibly explain your sudden shutdowns. If the hard drive is original, sudden shut downs, or other strange crashes might indicate that the hard drive is failing. If you have ever erased the hard drive, often for a full reinstall, the built-in diagnostics may only be available on the original install DVD, which may be a grey DVD, and should indicate on the label that the DVD has the Apple Hardware test. You would need to boot to that DVD, holding the D key, where you should be able to run the diagnostics.
Also, consider that a 6-year-old hard drive, taking into account your other problems, might be warning you about its impending death.
I agree, you gave good instructions on process of elimination. I should have been more specific on what to do.
It's not a phenomena, it's 1,000 different reasons, but you make it sound like it's one thing, calling the problem "it". That's why you get so many different ways to fix.
If you did a google search for "car won't start", how many different types of solutions do you think there would be? Or would it just be a mystery?
Not really my idea. When a Mac is placed on the "obsolete" list, then lots of service becomes more challenging.
6 years in technology means lots of changes, and 6 year old tech gets less attention from mainstream users. You tend to have a newer Mac, and the older Mac gets less use as time goes on. The electronics, and particularly the mechanical bits start to give way to time. Bearings start to fail. Plastic starts to get more brittle - things like that.
So, this type of problem can be caused by corrupt files, or mechanicals (hard drives for example), or overheating because the heat absorbing areas inside get some age - etc. etc.
There's lots of etcetra in this kind of task. Sometimes you get lucky, or it might be an obvious cause. You have to start somewhere. Easy is better, IMHO
Check to see if you have Rapport from Trusteer installed on your system. This has been promoted through banking institutions during the last year as some sort of enhanced security monitoring for on-line transactions. It actually does nothing but causes a lot of crashes, especially when using Safari. I was having a lot of problems, system restarts several times a day. I pinned it down to Rapport and removed it and for the last week I have had no problems at all.
Not really my idea. When a Mac is placed on the "obsolete" list, then lots of service becomes more challenging.
6 years in technology means lots of changes, and 6 year old tech gets less attention from mainstream users. You tend to have a newer Mac, and the older Mac gets less use as time goes on. The electronics, and particularly the mechanical bits start to give way to time. Bearings start to fail. Plastic starts to get more brittle - things like that.
So, this type of problem can be caused by corrupt files, or mechanicals (hard drives for example), or overheating because the heat absorbing areas inside get some age - etc. etc.
There's lots of etcetra in this kind of task. Sometimes you get lucky, or it might be an obvious cause. You have to start somewhere. Easy is better, IMHO
Why other PCs not have this problem?
Why
All tech companies come out with new models each year, sometimes more often. At some point, they stop selling an older model, usually when the new ones are release. They update and will repair older ones to a point, then the company will stop supporting those older models completely. No replacements, and no factory repair support.
Those older models become obsolete.
Some continue to work for years. You can find on here that collectors have Mac Plus, or an Mac II, which may be around 30 years old, and continue to work, sometimes with only minor repairs (the electronics, such as capacitors in power supplies do fail and have to be replaced)
I have an old iMac that I bought in 1999, which has no problems at all. I don't use it often, but it usually is sleeping, sometimes for weeks at a time.
My neighbor has a a Powerbook that he uses every day. The battery no longer holds a charge, but those have a relatively short life compared to the rest of the parts.
I have a good friend who replaced his PC tower after the CPU overheated because the original power supply had a VR chip failure. Repair shop said it was simply age. The tower was 5 years old. Windows PCs tend to go out faster because in their never-ending quest to make the hardware as cheaply as possible, lower quality components may fail early.
You are somewhat naive about this.
All tech companies come out with new models each year, sometimes more often. At some point, they stop selling an older model, usually when the new ones are release. They update and will repair older ones to a point, then the company will stop supporting those older models completely. No replacements, and no factory repair support.
Those older models become obsolete.
Some continue to work for years. You can find on here that collectors have Mac Plus, or an Mac II, which may be around 30 years old, and continue to work, sometimes with only minor repairs (the electronics, such as capacitors in power supplies do fail and have to be replaced)
I have an old iMac that I bought in 1999, which has no problems at all. I don't use it often, but it usually is sleeping, sometimes for weeks at a time.
My neighbor has a a Powerbook that he uses every day. The battery no longer holds a charge, but those have a relatively short life compared to the rest of the parts.
I have a good friend who replaced his PC tower after the CPU overheated because the original power supply had a VR chip failure. Repair shop said it was simply age. The tower was 5 years old. Windows PCs tend to go out faster because in their never-ending quest to make the hardware as cheaply as possible, lower quality components may fail early.
PC hardware are Cheap? anyone know iMac use PC hardware and most of PC hardware used by Mac. For example, Mac motherboards are reversed from PC Brands like Asus and Gigabyte. PC is not low quality. In my Idea PC is best and it is because %96 of markets is under PC control.
The big problem for Mac is that you can't change the hardware yourself and you must pay extra money for change it. I use PC and if I have any hardware failure I can buying new hardware and change it myself. The big problem is that most of users don't know anything about hardware compatibility and they just buying expensive hardware and ask why my PC with core i7 CPU and 32 GB Ram can't work fast. If they read the manual that provided by Motherboard company then they can choose best memory Brand and....