# G4 Shut Down



## geordie (Jul 25, 2005)

I am unable to shut down my G4 laptop. I select shut down from the menu bar or by pressing the power button and the G4 turns off , then it immediately restarts. What can I do to resolve this problem?


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## Cheryl (Jul 25, 2005)

Try reseting the PRAM. 

Restart the computer and then immediately hold down the Apple Key + Option + P + R. You should hold down those keys until you hear the start up chime three times. Then release the keys. 

You will need to reset Date & Time and a few other options, but this should correct the problem.


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## Tempharry (Feb 21, 2007)

I have the same problem on a gigabit ethernet sawtooth g4.
I shut it down, it shuts down, then restarts. Every time.

I have:
- run apple hardware test (all fine)
- booted from four different systems (OS 9.something, OS X 10.3.9, 10.4.3, 10.4.9)
- off two seperate HDs (disk one had: 9, 10.3.9, 10.4.3 disk two had: 10.4.9)
- set all energy saver prefs to never/not selected (in all systems)
- set energy saver scheduled shutdowns (10.3.9 only... didn't help)
- disconnected ALL peripherals (even the 3rd party VGA monitor) except the original Apple keyboard (working blind: hit ctrl-eject, wait, hit return)
- tried two different Apple keyboards
- reset PRAM (five chimes)
- reset SMU/PMU (button above the battery, unplugged, one press only)
- flogged a dead horse

and the problem persits. Every time. Driving me mental!
What can I do???
(only metaphorical animals were injured in the making of this post)


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## dixonbm (Feb 23, 2007)

Unplug the power cable


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## Tempharry (Feb 23, 2007)

Hilarious!

That's what I'm doing actually, and it's a real pain in the @ss.

Proceedure:
- shut down geefah by fave standard method
- hover at wall switch until the little white light turns off
- flick switch off FAST

So the beast is always at least 1/4 second in to starting up again when the juice is cut. I hope this isn't going to fry something in my [early startup stuff] over time.


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## bobw (Feb 24, 2007)

Sounds like the power button could be bad.


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## Tempharry (Feb 24, 2007)

Yeah, it could be. I took it out last week, and blew it clean, but there doesn't seem to be much else I can do in there. The external "power button" is really just the equivalent of a plastic broomstick which pokes into the case and presses a micro switch soldered onto a little circuit board.

I'm sorely tempted to break off the micro switch, and solder in a dirty-great-big (preferably red) momentary switch, and drill _that_ into the casing in some deliberately asymmetric and inappropriate spot.

...but then, what if it isn't the switch? What if (as my reading of every remotely related Google hit seems to hint at) it's a problem with the (out of spec, thanks Apple) USB power-on-by-keyboard system?


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## Kees Buijs (Mar 6, 2007)

geordie said:


> I am unable to shut down my G4 laptop. I select shut down from the menu bar or by pressing the power button and the G4 turns off , then it immediately restarts. What can I do to resolve this problem?



It is possible to configure the system so, that is turns ON again on a power down. Maybe this settings is turned ON (in power management) and that cause the system to turn ON after a power down (HIGHLY required for e.g. SERVERS, which should be online 24/7). After a power loose, the SERVER restarts automaticly and will be online without user interaction.

For normal systems, this can be a pian in the ...

Good luck, Kees


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## Tempharry (Mar 7, 2007)

Thanks for the help, but I think it has already been mentioned in this thread that we've tried that.

I can't speak for geordie's original "can't shut down G4" situation, but I've tried multiple boot partitions, and changed the "reset after power failure" settings on each boot system used.

I'd be very surprised if this is a simple OS X system settings issue.

Cheers,
Harry.


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## Kees Buijs (Mar 8, 2007)

Tempharry said:


> Thanks for the help, but I think it has already been mentioned in this thread that we've tried that.
> 
> I can't speak for geordie's original "can't shut down G4" situation, but I've tried multiple boot partitions, and changed the "reset after power failure" settings on each boot system used.
> 
> ...



That settings is not related to the OS, but to the MAC itself (PRAM Setting).


Good luck, Kees


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## Tempharry (Mar 8, 2007)

Thanks Kees,

okay, so if you're saying that the "startup after power failure" property is stored in PRAM, cool. But it can be switched by the OS...so if this is the problem, then the combination of resetting the PRAM and ensuring the "restart after power failure" checkbox is subsequently not selected should have fixed it, right?

'cause it didn't... so I assume that fixing it is more than a matter of tweaking settings... seems like hardware to me; bad power switch or something wrong with the [out of spec.] power-on-over-USB-system seem the most likely candidates to me.


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## Kees Buijs (Mar 8, 2007)

Tempharry said:


> Thanks Kees,
> 
> okay, so if you're saying that the "startup after power failure" property is stored in PRAM, cool. But it can be switched by the OS...so if this is the problem, then the combination of resetting the PRAM and ensuring the "restart after power failure" checkbox is subsequently not selected should have fixed it, right?
> 
> 'cause it didn't... so I assume that fixing it is more than a matter of tweaking settings... seems like hardware to me; bad power switch or something wrong with the [out of spec.] power-on-over-USB-system seem the most likely candidates to me.



You adjust a PRAM setting by the OS, nothing new there. Remember that when a power failure occurs and power returns, there is NO os to restart the computer, the computer itself will have to take all the actions to restart. Resetting PRAM should also clear the setting for most systems, i could image that the xserve might not do this, as this function is particular usefull for server like systems.

I could have been the problem, ofcourse other reasons can also be cause of this problem. May try to start from a installation cd/dvd and make than a proper shutdown. If it than restarts autmatically, software causes are most unlikely, so there should be a hardware problem.


Good luck, Kees


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