Main

October 29, 2005

Mac G5 Desktop Spontaneously Shuts Down

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" »