Apple PowerBook G4 won't shut down properly
June 16, 2013 5:38 AM Subscribe
My old (10+ years) Apple PowerBook G4 won't shut down properly. When I click the apple icon and then click 'shut down' and 'shut down now' (or rather their Dutch-language equivalents), it will remove all icons and other elements from the desktop except the desktop background, and it will darken the background, but it won't shut down. Eventually the screen goes black, but something (a fan?) keeps audibly running. It won't start up in this state. If I unplug it, wait until every activity has died down and the computer doesn't make any sound anymore, plug it back in and wait until the battery has fully loaded again, it will start up as usual.
Two bits of additional information:
Before this happened for the first time, I clicked the 'Network' icon on the destop and on a whim clicked the 'eject' / 'end' button. The icon disappeared. (This was probably a very stupid thing to do and I have no idea why I did it.)
Before this happened I did some work with a USB stick plugged into the machine. In spite of trying to properly disconnect it before removing it, I got an error message that the USB-stick hadn't been properly disconnected. This happened again after I tried to shut down the machine, got it to start up again as described above, and used the USB stick again.
One thing that I'm going to try is to shut down the machine without plugging in the USB stick.
In the meantime, all information you can give me is most welcome.
Specific questions:
1) can shutting down / removing the network icon have anything to do with the problem and, if so, how can I reverse what I've done?
2) have you had a similiar problem, and what worked for you?
(Note: I will be away for the next couple of hours and won't be able to respond.)
Two bits of additional information:
Before this happened for the first time, I clicked the 'Network' icon on the destop and on a whim clicked the 'eject' / 'end' button. The icon disappeared. (This was probably a very stupid thing to do and I have no idea why I did it.)
Before this happened I did some work with a USB stick plugged into the machine. In spite of trying to properly disconnect it before removing it, I got an error message that the USB-stick hadn't been properly disconnected. This happened again after I tried to shut down the machine, got it to start up again as described above, and used the USB stick again.
One thing that I'm going to try is to shut down the machine without plugging in the USB stick.
In the meantime, all information you can give me is most welcome.
Specific questions:
1) can shutting down / removing the network icon have anything to do with the problem and, if so, how can I reverse what I've done?
2) have you had a similiar problem, and what worked for you?
(Note: I will be away for the next couple of hours and won't be able to respond.)
What network icon? I don't think it usual to have one on the desktop itself, I can only assume this was the network preferences. When you reboot do you have a working network, i.e. can you get to Google on a browser?
The problem sounds like some program is not shutting down properly and thus preventing system shutdown. Note you can force a poweroff by holding the power button until everything goes dead, this takes a few seconds.
This is probably related to the USB stick so do not reinsert it until the problem has been diagnosed/fixed. First try resetting the PMU and PRAM and repairing permissions.
If the problem persists then try a shutdown and leave it a minute or two for errors to be reported, then force a poweroff by holding in the power button. Restart and look in the system logs (Applications/Utilities/Console) for error messages at about the time you were attempting a normal shutdown.
posted by epo at 6:33 AM on June 16, 2013
The problem sounds like some program is not shutting down properly and thus preventing system shutdown. Note you can force a poweroff by holding the power button until everything goes dead, this takes a few seconds.
This is probably related to the USB stick so do not reinsert it until the problem has been diagnosed/fixed. First try resetting the PMU and PRAM and repairing permissions.
If the problem persists then try a shutdown and leave it a minute or two for errors to be reported, then force a poweroff by holding in the power button. Restart and look in the system logs (Applications/Utilities/Console) for error messages at about the time you were attempting a normal shutdown.
posted by epo at 6:33 AM on June 16, 2013
Thirding check PMU suggestion. Whenever my MBP has shutdown issues, this is my first step in troubleshooting. You may also wish to boot from an external source (startup disk or FireWire, or start in Target Disk Mode and check from another Mac if possible) and run Disk Utility to ensure that the hardware is in OK shape. Finally, if you can find a version of Onyx that runs on your OS (Tiger? Should be one), clear system caches and run maintenance scripts.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:46 AM on June 16, 2013
posted by caution live frogs at 6:46 AM on June 16, 2013
1) When I was experiencing similar-sounding shutdown problems with a more recent MacBook, it was because of a OS issue with an old USB device. Disconnecting the USB device made it stop happening. So, if you haven't already, I'd definitely suggest first trying to determine if the problem isn't due to that USB stick.
2) Bring up the console and watch the messages as you shutdown, to see if something looks like it's hanging.
posted by StrawberryPie at 7:40 AM on June 16, 2013
2) Bring up the console and watch the messages as you shutdown, to see if something looks like it's hanging.
posted by StrawberryPie at 7:40 AM on June 16, 2013
Response by poster: Everything running on the laptop is pretty ancient, and I haven't installed anything new. My thought was as well that something was hanging and preventing the shutdown, and the USB stick seemed like the most likely suspect.
I will check out your answers in more detail - for now, thanks everyone.
posted by rjs at 1:25 PM on June 16, 2013
I will check out your answers in more detail - for now, thanks everyone.
posted by rjs at 1:25 PM on June 16, 2013
Are you just concerned that you can't quickly turn it off, needing to wait for the power to drain? 'Cause if you just attempt shutdown, and then when it stalls hold down the power button for five seconds, it will turn off. It's not a clean shutdown, so not ideal, but at least it's off.
posted by vasi at 8:35 PM on June 16, 2013
posted by vasi at 8:35 PM on June 16, 2013
Response by poster: Holding the power button actually didn't work (though maybe I didn't hold it for long enough).
It seems like the USB stick (or the USB drive) caused the problem. After I started up the computer yesterday morning I didn't plug in the USB stick; last night the laptop shut down without any problems and right now it started up as it should.
The obvious workaround seems to be 'not using the USB drive', which is suboptimal but doable, plus 'realising that this is an old computer that may develop a problem sooner or later, and data backups are a good thing'.
I'll mark this as resolved on that basis - thanks everyone who responded.
posted by rjs at 9:44 AM on June 17, 2013
It seems like the USB stick (or the USB drive) caused the problem. After I started up the computer yesterday morning I didn't plug in the USB stick; last night the laptop shut down without any problems and right now it started up as it should.
The obvious workaround seems to be 'not using the USB drive', which is suboptimal but doable, plus 'realising that this is an old computer that may develop a problem sooner or later, and data backups are a good thing'.
I'll mark this as resolved on that basis - thanks everyone who responded.
posted by rjs at 9:44 AM on June 17, 2013
Response by poster: A couple of additional data points that might be useful to anyone who finds this AskMe:
posted by rjs at 12:20 PM on June 18, 2013
- as mentioned above, the last two times I used an USB stick with this laptop I got a 'device not properly removed' error message. The first time this happened, it turned out that one of the five or six files that I had copied from the laptop to the USB stick had been corrupted. The second time I had copied between 1,500 and 2,000 files, several of which turned out to be corrupted. In both cases I could open the files in a text editor but they contained random characters. The files on the computer's hard drive are fine;
- I realised that I had been having problems using a USB stick with this laptop for a longer time. Occasionally, when I put in the USB stick, removed it, and put it in again, the system wouldn't 'see' the USB stick (possibly an indication of something related to the USB drive not shutting down correctly when the USB stick was removed). Switching off the computer and turning it on again would solve the problem. Since I didn't use a USB stick with this laptop that often and, when I did, rarely re-inserted it after removal, and since I experienced no problems switching off the computer and turning it on again, this never stuck in my mind as a problem that needed solving.
posted by rjs at 12:20 PM on June 18, 2013
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posted by mariokrat at 6:14 AM on June 16, 2013