Gibbilicious

In an earlier article, “Mac G5 Desktop Spontaneously Shuts Down,” I discuss a problem with Macintosh OS X computers that can be difficult to diagnose, and for which there is precious little accurate information available to assist you – online or even with Apple Support!

If you are experiencing mysterious and random shutdown events on your Mac, check your system.log file for the following text, or something very similar:

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ApplePMU::PMU FORCED SHUTDOWN, CAUSE = -122
    or, as reported for later model G5's:
AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = -122

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This discussion is an update of that earlier article, including specific troubleshooting suggestions, as well as new information gleaned from comments and emails detailing the experiences of readers of this blog. Yes, this problem may be serious, but it also can be as simple as a loose power cord. Read on to get the benefit of some hard won wisdom!

Click here to jump straight to the Troubleshooting section!

Continue reading "Troubleshooting the Mysterious “-122” Shutdown Code" »

Posted by Chris Gibson at 05:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

My PowerBook has an annoying habit, one that seems all the more noticeable under Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger): dimming the backlight "part way" whenever I linger too long reading an article.

This dimmed state, about halfway between fully on and fully off, goes away the instant you move the touchpad or touch any key, but it is oh-so-annoying for people who actually read articles on their computers.

Some searching and playing around yielded the answer to this "half dim" dilemma, and banished my dim vision from the PowerBook forever! Read on if you'd like to solve this problem, too.

Continue reading "A Better Mac Series: Dim Vision Be Gone!" »

Posted by Chris Gibson at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So, for a while now, my Mac G5 desktop machine has been spontaneously shutting down at random times. Sometimes it runs for a few days, sometimes it only runs for a few hours, but I'll come back in my office, and it will be completely shut down. Why would a Mac start shutting itself down?

The system.log file always shows this entry:

ApplePMU::PMU FORCED SHUTDOWN, CAUSE = -122
    or, as reported for later model G5's:
AppleSMU -- shutdown cause = -122

No need to panic - here's the results of days of research and troubleshooting!

Please note: I have written a new article in this blog that incorporates the user experiences posted here, along with some additional information, and specific troubleshooting tips. Please see the new article, "Troubleshooting the Mysterious '-122' Error" to get the latest information!

If you're looking for a quick troubleshooting guide, here's a direct link to the troubleshooting section of that new article.

Continue reading " Mac G5 Desktop Spontaneously Shuts Down" »

Posted by Chris Gibson at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (28) | TrackBacks (0)

In today's Austin American-Statesman, they report that the Austin Police Department is now asking DWI arrestees for the last place they were drinking, and are publishing the statistics.

Continue reading " What would you expect from the "Chuggin' Monkey"?" »

Posted by Chris Gibson at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Gibbilicious. Hard to type, yet strangely satisfying to say. But where did it come from?

Continue reading "What is UP with that Name?" »

Posted by Chris Gibson at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)