Spontaneous restart

[HCMarkus]

You could also try creating a new User account and running from that on your current drive. That once helped me resolve some stubborn DP issues.

[gavspen]

Just had the latest restart and I have now removed the two old RAM sticks. All that's in there are two brand new 2gig ones. I dont know if it matters which board they are on, but I put them where the original two sticks that came with the mac were.

Let's see what happens.....

[bdr]

Just had the latest restart and I have now removed the two old RAM sticks. All that's in there are two brand new 2gig ones. I dont know if it matters which board they are on, but I put them where the original two sticks that came with the mac were.

Let's see what happens.....

Good luck Gav. You sound exactly like me a year ago, so I’d like to redirect you to my post earlier in this thread...reading crash logs and whatnot just led me to hours and hours of wasted time, I wish I’d got it looked at earlier.

[gavspen]

Good luck Gav. You sound exactly like me a year ago, so I’d like to redirect you to my post earlier in this thread...reading crash logs and whatnot just led me to hours and hours of wasted time, I wish I’d got it looked at earlier.

Duly noted. I guess if it persists I'll have to have that checked. Sigh.....

Was yours restarting frequently? For me it can be weeks between incidents.

[dix]

Any updates on this gavspen? We’re you ever able to fix it? I had just had a spontaneous restart for the first time ever. I’m hoping it doesn’t become a thing for my old MP.

[dix]

My previous post from 2019 above has finally come to pass I'm afraid. The 3rd spontaneous-restart this year just occurred to my cMP. This time it took a few restarts to get my desktop back - with the Startup screen hanging the first few times.

gavspen's sig still indicates he's using a cMP. They're still an active, posting MN member, so I'm wondering if they fixed the issue or got a new old cMP.

I can no longer ignore the issue, but I'm not ready to take it in and have the logic board swapped yet. I want to eliminate the basics Mike suggested on Page 1 of this thread. Specifically replacing the battery. I've never replaced it. I've ordered one that should be here tomorrow. Also, testing RAM. I've replaced all the RAM since 2019, when this first happened, but that doesn't eliminate it as a suspect.

Are there any new recommendations to fix this short of replacing the logic board?

Also, hey gavspen! Let us know the outcome from all this MN input. It could really help someone...me in this case. Thx!

[gavspen]

My previous post from 2019 above has finally come to pass I'm afraid. The 3rd spontaneous-restart this year just occurred to my cMP. This time it took a few restarts to get my desktop back - with the Startup screen hanging the first few times.

gavspen's sig still indicates he's using a cMP. They're still an active, posting MN member, so I'm wondering if they fixed the issue or got a new old cMP.

I can no longer ignore the issue, but I'm not ready to take it in and have the logic board swapped yet. I want to eliminate the basics Mike suggested on Page 1 of this thread. Specifically replacing the battery. I've never replaced it. I've ordered one that should be here tomorrow. Also, testing RAM. I've replaced all the RAM since 2019, when this first happened, but that doesn't eliminate it as a suspect.

Are there any new recommendations to fix this short of replacing the logic board?

Also, hey gavspen! Let us know the outcome from all this MN input. It could really help someone...me in this case. Thx!

Hi Dix,

What's a cMP? (I still have the same machine I had back then, yes.) This is all so long ago I've forgotten what happened but I havent had the problem in years. It did turn out that there was bad RAM in there and it was replaced free by OWC.....lifetime warranty. Cant beat that!....but I dont remember if that was concurrent with the start-up incident. I had replaced the battery earlier but that didnt help. Not saying it wont for you, so you might as well try it. Easy enough to do.

Good luck,
Gavin

[dix]

Thanks for getting back me. cMP = Classic Mac Pro, or Cheesegrater Mac Pro....what you and I both have.

Well, glad to hear you didn't need to replace the logic board as was predicted in this thread. You'd remember if that was the fix I'm sure.

All my RAM is being recognized and passes TechTools memory test, so I don't think it's gone bad. Fingers crossed for the battery replacement solution.

Would still love to hear any more ideas if anyone has any. Creating a new account is something I'd like to avoid. Setting up a new user would be a major project, and doesn't seem like the right move yet since DP is as solid as it's ever been - replacing the logic board might be simpler than that.

Any other suggestions?

[gavspen]

Thanks for getting back me. cMP = Classic Mac Pro, or Cheesegrater Mac Pro....what you and I both have.

Well, glad to hear you didn't need to replace the logic board as was predicted in this thread. You'd remember if that was the fix I'm sure.

All my RAM is being recognized and passes TechTools memory test, so I don't think it's gone bad. Fingers crossed for the battery replacement solution.

Would still love to hear any more ideas if anyone has any. Creating a new account is something I'd like to avoid. Setting up a new user would be a major project, and doesn't seem like the right move yet since DP is as solid as it's ever been - replacing the logic board might be simpler than that.

Any other suggestions?

Just reread this whole thread Dix. Obviously the RAM switch out didnt solve the problem so I guess it just kinda went away as mysteriously as it appeared. No help whatsoever, I know.

Sorry,
Gavin

[dix]

Hoping it just goes away mysteriously had been my strategy, but the last restart scared me when it wouldn't finish the startup sequence. Worked a long day today without restart, so who knows. I'll replace the battery, do thorough dust removal and hope for the best I guess. My same machine is super cheap now. I'm considering buying a backup if the restarts become more frequent. We'll see.

Thanks for following up Gavin. Glad you're running without problems. The fact that your issue just went away makes me think it could have been a software issue rather than hardware, but that's just a guess.

[Note to future self if this comes up again: Dix, you changed the battery and blew out dust July 15 2021 and did a Safe-boot (which takes 45 mins aprox for some damn reason)]