OSX upgrade results in constant computer shut-down

Pauls01

Registered
I have a 2005 PPC Dual 2.3 with 2.5 megs of ram which has been very stable running 10.4.2. I upgraded to 10.4.10 about 2 years ago and experienced constant shut-downs of my computer with no warning. Maybe 5-6 times a day. Nothing reproduceable.

I reverted back to 10.4.2 and everything was fine. Then I tried 10.4.11 a few months later with the same shut-down problems. Reverted back and everything was fine.

Needing to run some current software, I bought and upgraded to 10.5.7...my shut-downs aren't as frequent., Maybe 2-3 times a day but I can't really work on such a unstable computer.


Any suggestions would be very welcome.

TIA.

Paul
 
Looks to be heat related. I'd first check the inside of the machine to make sure it is clean and getting adequate air flow.
 
Next time you experience a sudden shutdown - note the time.
Open your Console, and review the system log.
That should record that there was a shutdown, and may give you a clue why. It will usually say something like 'shutdown - cause-2' or something similar. And you can scan up a few lines in that system log for some indication about the what leads up to a shutdown. You should watch especially for something called 'thermal shutdown"

Does your PowerMac turn back on immediately after a shutdown, or do you have to wait for a few minutes before it will turn back on (maybe a cool down time?)
Do you notice if the fans suddenly speed up before the shutdown?
Is your system actually shutting off? or just going to sleep for no apparent reason?
Of course, if sleeping, you would see the power light on the front start to pulse, or blink.
Off, means just that - everything stops, and the power LED on the front is also completely off.
 
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Thanks for the replies.

The machine is clean inside and if I reverted back to 10.4.2 I would not experience any sort of shutting down. But, I want to move forward.

I will pay attention to the log. There is absolutely no indication of any sort when it shuts off, no fans, no errors, no nothing. It's like someone pulled the plug and everything goes black. I can restart immediately without problem.
 
My first thought is a marginal power supply, but that doesn't explain why it should work with no problems, simply by going back to an older OS X version.
 
I have a problem getting my hotmail started on my portable G4
I have mac osx 10.3.9 and msn starts up but the logon screen pops up but directly disappears again.
 
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