R
readjdm
Guest
I work on a 1 1/2 year old iMac G5 -- one of the 20-inch flat-panel monitor ones -- using Tiger. The other day, I started experiencing a new problem where the computer suddenly, and without any warning, went into sleep mode. Pressing the space bar brought it back to life, but it soon went into sleep mode several more times -- each, like the first time, without being asked to do so. This happened while I was in the middle of running a full-system scan with my new anti-virus software. I closed out of any other programs and walked away at that point, to let the computer finish doing the anti-virus thing. When I came back to it in the morning, everything worked a-ok, and I was able to surf the web, print out some eleventh-hour tax returns, etc., etc., without any incident.
Later that evening, however, the random sleep mode issue came back again. I ran into it the following evening as well. In both cases, I was attempting to print stuff from such programs as Photoshop and InDesign.
From the research I've done so far, everything seems to be pointing towards a power source/energy usage issue. My assessment is that the system is simply starting to overheat. The problem is, I don't have any clue what to make of that, nor what I should do to either fix the problem or stop it from happening again. For example, I've got the widget for checking the system temperature, but what am I supposed to do with that information? What temperatures am I looking for? What's considered a "good" or "proper" system temperature? What's considered a "bad" or "problematic" one?
Also, what components of the computer cause this sort of problem, exactly? If I'm experiencing random bouts of sleep mode, does that necessarily mean those components are damaged? Is there some kind of software I need to fix them? Am I supposed to physically open the computer? Take it in for repairs? Avoid certain behaviors, such as running multiple programs at the same time (which isn't exactly ideal)?
I realize this is a long list of things to be asking all at once, but I haven't been able to find one good, solid answer to this issue, so I'm really looking for as much help as I can possibly get.
Oh, one more thing: Five minutes ago, the fan on my computer started making really loud sounds. I tried closing out of all programs to turn off the computer -- and it froze. It's now pinwheeling while the loud fan noises continue; I'm writing this from another computer, as I haven't been able to get it to shut down yet.
I'm pretty desperate for help here. Any advice you can share will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!
Later that evening, however, the random sleep mode issue came back again. I ran into it the following evening as well. In both cases, I was attempting to print stuff from such programs as Photoshop and InDesign.
From the research I've done so far, everything seems to be pointing towards a power source/energy usage issue. My assessment is that the system is simply starting to overheat. The problem is, I don't have any clue what to make of that, nor what I should do to either fix the problem or stop it from happening again. For example, I've got the widget for checking the system temperature, but what am I supposed to do with that information? What temperatures am I looking for? What's considered a "good" or "proper" system temperature? What's considered a "bad" or "problematic" one?
Also, what components of the computer cause this sort of problem, exactly? If I'm experiencing random bouts of sleep mode, does that necessarily mean those components are damaged? Is there some kind of software I need to fix them? Am I supposed to physically open the computer? Take it in for repairs? Avoid certain behaviors, such as running multiple programs at the same time (which isn't exactly ideal)?
I realize this is a long list of things to be asking all at once, but I haven't been able to find one good, solid answer to this issue, so I'm really looking for as much help as I can possibly get.
Oh, one more thing: Five minutes ago, the fan on my computer started making really loud sounds. I tried closing out of all programs to turn off the computer -- and it froze. It's now pinwheeling while the loud fan noises continue; I'm writing this from another computer, as I haven't been able to get it to shut down yet.
I'm pretty desperate for help here. Any advice you can share will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!