my ibook shuts itself down

andrea333 · 08-13-2008, 05:35 PM

I've had my iBook G4 for about 2 1/2 years now, and it has always worked great, until a few months ago when it started randomly shutting itself down. I'll be using it, and the screen will just go blank as the computer makes a little shutting down noise. The really annoying thing is that it won't just turn back on either. I have to unplug it, take out the battery, then put the battery back in and start it up again. I've even tried just leaving it sit for a while (a few hours, over night) before turning it back on, but that doesn't seem to make a difference, except that the computer is still warm, like it's been in use, even after a few hours of just sitting there. It's starting to do this more and more often, and I'm worried that one of these days it just won't turn back on at all. Has anyone else had this problem, or have any suggestions about what might be causing it?

sinclair_tm · 08-13-2008, 11:01 PM

Well, if it still feels warm after a time, then it's most likely over heating, and the shutting down is to try to protect it. Does that fan ever come on anymore? Also, have you tried using it only plugged in, without the battery in it?

macthorough · 08-14-2008, 06:27 AM

Reset Pmu and you might need a new battery or power supply

andrea333 · 08-14-2008, 12:51 PM

You know, the fan doesn't seem to be working much lately... But sometimes it shuts itself down when it's definitely not overheating, like right after I've turned it on. I've never tried using it with just the plug without the battery...somehow I thought it wouldn't work that way. Also, for the last few weeks one green light on the battery has been on. Where you're supposed to be able to push the button and the lights tell you how much power is left, the first light has just been staying on. Does this mean I need a new battery? I looked on the apple website, but couldn't find any info. Thanks so much for your help.

sinclair_tm · 08-14-2008, 05:40 PM

I'm begining to think that your battery, or the PMU it self, is going bad. You can run the iBook without the battery in it. It doesn't need to be there while the Mac is plugged in. I'd try running it battery free and see if it still does it. Then if not, get a new battery, if it does, reset the PMU. If it still does it after resetting the PMU, I'd say it's bad, and needs replacement, which means you need to take it to Apple for service.

ShosMeister · 08-15-2008, 07:28 AM

I had the same thing andrea (welcome BTW) and in fact googling this I found a lot of similar issues. Do you have any Widgets that monitor the system? If not, do a search on Apple.com and you'll find a few. I use iStat which is pretty comprehensive.

The reason is that one of the things it shows is the CPU temps as well as the fan speed. I noticed when mine was doing this that the fan was running VERY slowly. Took it into the Apple store and they replaced it. No problems with shut-downs since.

As for the battery, you do know you should run the battery refresh (forget what exactly Apple calls it) every so often. I do mine every 3-4 months. There are full instructions on Apples support site for how to do this.

08-13-2008, 05:35 PM	#1 (permalink)
andrea333 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2 OS: Mac OSX	my ibook shuts itself down I've had my iBook G4 for about 2 1/2 years now, and it has always worked great, until a few months ago when it started randomly shutting itself down. I'll be using it, and the screen will just go blank as the computer makes a little shutting down noise. The really annoying thing is that it won't just turn back on either. I have to unplug it, take out the battery, then put the battery back in and start it up again. I've even tried just leaving it sit for a while (a few hours, over night) before turning it back on, but that doesn't seem to make a difference, except that the computer is still warm, like it's been in use, even after a few hours of just sitting there. It's starting to do this more and more often, and I'm worried that one of these days it just won't turn back on at all. Has anyone else had this problem, or have any suggestions about what might be causing it?

08-14-2008, 06:27 AM	#3 (permalink)
macthorough Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 260 OS: WIN XP PRO	Re: my ibook shuts itself down Reset Pmu and you might need a new battery or power supply

08-14-2008, 12:51 PM	#4 (permalink)
andrea333 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2 OS: Mac OSX	Re: my ibook shuts itself down You know, the fan doesn't seem to be working much lately... But sometimes it shuts itself down when it's definitely not overheating, like right after I've turned it on. I've never tried using it with just the plug without the battery...somehow I thought it wouldn't work that way. Also, for the last few weeks one green light on the battery has been on. Where you're supposed to be able to push the button and the lights tell you how much power is left, the first light has just been staying on. Does this mean I need a new battery? I looked on the apple website, but couldn't find any info. Thanks so much for your help.

08-15-2008, 07:28 AM	#6 (permalink)
ShosMeister Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harpers Ferry, WV Posts: 400 OS: OS X 10.4.x	Re: my ibook shuts itself down I had the same thing andrea (welcome BTW) and in fact googling this I found a lot of similar issues. Do you have any Widgets that monitor the system? If not, do a search on Apple.com and you'll find a few. I use iStat which is pretty comprehensive. The reason is that one of the things it shows is the CPU temps as well as the fan speed. I noticed when mine was doing this that the fan was running VERY slowly. Took it into the Apple store and they replaced it. No problems with shut-downs since. As for the battery, you do know you should run the battery refresh (forget what exactly Apple calls it) every so often. I do mine every 3-4 months. There are full instructions on Apples support site for how to do this.