iBook G4 shuts down spontaneously

timottimot
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I have an iBook G4 (1.33 GHz 12.1 in, 1.5GB ram, OS 10.4.8) which is about a year and a half old. In the last month it has begun to have problems. Since they appeared at about the same time, I'm wondering if they might be related.



1. It has begun to shut itself down spontaneously and without warning. Once it's off, I have needed to pull the power plug and battery for a few seconds before it will let me turn it back on. Then it seems fine.



2. The backlight on the screen has gone out a couple times. Restarting usually brings the screen back, but sometimes only for a few seconds after logging in. This has been fairly rare, but a few of these preceded the more recent spontaneous shutdowns.



I have tried
  • Resetting the PMU

  • Resetting the PRAM

  • Apple Hardware Test

  • memtest

One of these probably happens every 5-10 hours of work. The RAM is about 8 months old, and the battery is about 5 months old. I've only had problems with the computer plugged into the wall, but it's plugged in most of the time.



Does anybody have any thoughts?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    What does the AHT tell you exactly?

    Sounds like a broken power supply unit.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    timottimot Posts: 5member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vox Barbara View Post


    What does the AHT tell you exactly?

    Sounds like a broken power supply unit.



    None of the tests found any problems.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Timot View Post


    None of the tests found any problems.



    Weird. Did you test the iBook with the original AHTest-CD/DVD the computer shipped with?
  • Reply 4 of 7
    timottimot Posts: 5member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vox Barbara View Post


    Weird. Did you test the iBook with the original AHTest-CD/DVD the computer shipped with?



    Yes, I used the dvd that shipped with the computer. I think it's OS 10.4.2.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    vox barbaravox barbara Posts: 2,021member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Timot View Post


    Yes, I used the dvd that shipped with the computer. I think it's OS 10.4.2.



    Though it's still possible, it's pretty unlikely that there is a Hardware malfunction.

    In order to confirm this assumption more, you shouldn't suffer Kernel Panics.

    Did you get some lately?
  • Reply 6 of 7
    timottimot Posts: 5member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vox Barbara View Post


    Though it's still possible, it's pretty unlikely that there is a Hardware malfunction.

    In order to confirm this assumption more, you shouldn't suffer Kernel Panics.

    Did you get some lately?



    I haven't had any in a long time.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    timottimot Posts: 5member
    I reinstalled the OS about a week ago, and I haven't had any additional problems. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thank you for the advice.
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