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Random restarts 10.9.4 (resolved)
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 8:22 am
by Phil O
I've been experiencing random restarts in 10.9.4. I don't know if this is a hardware issue and it's just a coincidence that I recently updated the OS or if it's 10.9.4 related.
The screen will randomly go black. After a few seconds, the CD drive will spin for a second, I'll get a chime and the system will reboot and launch whatever application I was last using (after loggin). A google search reveals something similar involving sleep wake failure issues, but that seems to generate a crash report which I'm not seeing.
Anyone else experiencing this? Suggestions?
thanks
Phil
Re: Random restarts 10.9.4
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 8:42 am
by MIDI Life Crisis
Hey Phil - I
Googled that and couldn't find a simple answer, but it may be worth checking out
these leads if you haven't already done so (I suspect you have).
Re: Random restarts 10.9.4
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:25 am
by cuttime
I'd wager it is a heat issue. Run the hardware test and check the sensors with a utility like iStat (I like the free widget <remember those?> just fine). It may be time to rev up a vac and suck that sucker out. Good luck.
Re: Random restarts 10.9.4
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:41 pm
by wylie1
Re: Random restarts 10.9.4
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:29 pm
by Phil O
MIDI Life Crisis wrote:Hey Phil - I
Googled that and couldn't find a simple answer, but it may be worth checking out
these leads if you haven't already done so (I suspect you have).
Yeah, look there already. Not much useful info. Thanks.
Re: Random restarts 10.9.4
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:37 pm
by Phil O
cuttime wrote:I'd wager it is a heat issue. Run the hardware test and check the sensors with a utility like iStat (I like the free widget <remember those?> just fine). It may be time to rev up a vac and suck that sucker out. Good luck.
Temperature Monitor reporting highest temperature is 169F on Memory module B2. Everything else running at about 104F. I've seen temps higher than that when I'm pushing things with no problem. I got a restart the other day when I had just booted up and was checking my e-mail. The system had only been up and running a minute or two. I doubt things were much above room temp at that point.
But thanks for the suggestion.
The real odd thing is, I can't find anything in the crash logs to suggest there were any problems.
Phil
Re: Random restarts 10.9.4
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 4:18 pm
by mikehalloran
How long since you replaced that PRAM / NVRAM battery?
This turned out to be the issue with many Mac Pro owners who experienced the same problem. Why it seems to strike after OS upgrades, I have no idea.
It may be time to rev up a vac and suck that sucker out.
Yes, there's the CPU heatsink issue where it clogs up with dust. You definitely want to make certain that's cleared out. This link has good pictures and notes a familiar symptom.
http://www.lightroomtampabay.com/2014/0 ... -the-sink/
Re: Random restarts 10.9.4
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 4:42 pm
by Phil O
mikehalloran wrote:How long since you replaced that PRAM / NVRAM battery?
This turned out to be the issue with many Mac Pro owners who experienced the same problem. Why it seems to strike after OS upgrades, I have no idea.
It may be time to rev up a vac and suck that sucker out.
Yes, there's the CPU heatsink issue where it clogs up with dust. You definitely want to make certain that's cleared out. This link has good pictures and notes a familiar symptom.
http://www.lightroomtampabay.com/2014/0 ... -the-sink/
I clean this machine pretty regularly. I opened it up today and it looks good. The battery on the other hand has only been replaced once, and that was a few years back. Can't hurt anything to pop a new one in there. I'm on it. Thanks for the heads up.
Re: Random restarts 10.9.4
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 5:23 pm
by mikehalloran
Let us know if it makes a difference.
Re: Random restarts 10.9.4
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 6:31 am
by Phil O
Will do. I've been working my butt off the last few days so haven't had time to work on this. I had another restart this morning. Booted up. Launched Safari to check the weather report and bam. Can't seem to find a pattern. Battery change is next thing on my list to try as soon as I get a break.
Phil
Re: Random restarts 10.9.4
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 6:12 am
by Phil O
mikehalloran wrote:Let us know if it makes a difference.
Well, this may be premature but...
I installed a new battery Sunday morning and haven't seen a restart since then, whereas I was getting about 1 per day before that. Although I'm not going to change the topic title to ...(resolved) quite yet, it's beginning to look like that was the problem. The old battery is at 2.9v even with about a 1ma load so I thought it was good, but hey, don't argue with success right? Maybe the pram is really fussy (new battery at 3.02v). Dunno.
Thank you so much Mike for the great advice. I owe ya one.
Philippe
Re: Random restarts 10.9.4 (resolved)
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:27 am
by Phil O
Well here it is Friday morning and I haven't seen a restart all week. I think we can call this resolved. Thanks again, Mike!
Phil
Re: Random restarts 10.9.4 (resolved)
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 4:22 pm
by mikehalloran
You're welcome (I hope!).