Restarting a Mac computer isn’t the same as turning the computer on and off, which completely resets it. If you really want to make sure that your computer starts up correctly, turn it off, wait a few seconds, and then turn it on again. If you’re in a hurry, try restarting your Mac, and if. My Mac Mini (late 2012) became restarting itself two weeks ago. It turns off (led turns off, and then on) like it was disconnected from power and turned on again. No log report when back from restart, it behaves like nothing wrong happened - I've already done: restart NVRAM and SMC, wipe and reinstall OS X. I'm using OS X 10.9.5.
FYI, it's called macOS, not iOS. You say you tried to startup from the Recovery HD but could not. Be sure this is what you did:
Boot from the Recovery HD
Restart the computer.
Immediately after the chime press and hold down the 'COMMAND' and 'R' keys together.
Release the keys when the Utilities Menu appears.
A Troubleshooting Protocol to Identify Problems or Fix macOS El Capitan or Later
You should try each, one at a time, then test to see if the problem is fixed before going on to the next.
Be sure to backup your files before proceeding if possible.
Shutdown the computer, wait 30 seconds, restart the computer.
Disconnect all third-party peripherals and remove any support software like drivers and plug-ins.
Start the computer in Safe Mode, then restart normally. This is slower than a standard startup.
Repair the disk by booting from the Recovery HD. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Utility Menu appears. Choose Disk Utility and click on the Continue button. Select the indented (usually, Macintosh HD) volume entry from the side list. Click on the First Aid button in the toolbar. Wait for the Done button to appear. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu. Restart the computer from the Apple Menu.
Create a New User Account Open Users & Groups preferences. Click on the lock icon and enter your Admin password when prompted. On the left under Current User click on the Add [+] button under Login Options. Setup a new Admin user account. Upon completion log out of your current account then log into the new account. If your problems cease, then consider switching to the new account and transferring your files to it - Transferring files from one User Account to another.
Download and install the OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 Combo Update or 10.12.6 Combo Update or Download macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 Combo Update as needed.
Reinstall OS X by booting from the Recovery HD using the Command and R keys. When the Utility Menu appears select Reinstall OS X then click on the Continue button.
Erase and Install OS X Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and R keys until the Apple logo appears. When the Utility Menu appears:
Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on Continue button.
When Disk Utility loads select the drive (out-dented entry) from the Device list.
Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility's toolbar. A panel will drop down.
Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.
Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.
Feb 15, 2018 3:16 PM
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When your Mac keeps restarting or unexpectedly tells you that you have to restart because of a problem, that's a kernel panic.
There are few things more terrifying when using a Mac than the dreaded kernel panic. A kernel panic occurs when your Mac runs into a problem that is so serious it is unable to continue running. When it happens, your Mac displays a dark grey screen with the words 'You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the Restart button.'
How to stop a kernel panic?
The only way to fix a kernel panic error is to do exactly that and restart your Mac. Fortunately, kernel panics are very rare these days and when they do occur, restarting your Mac may be all you need to do to never see one again.
If you suffer repeated kernel panics, however, you'll need to investigate the cause and solve the problem — it could be a conflict between poorly written apps or services, or a problem with hardware. The software is the most likely culprit. But thanks to apps from Setapp, fixing problems with software and avoiding kernel panics is very easy.
Mac Restarts For No Reason
Tools to fix Kernel Panic
A collection of tools that keeps your Mac from going grey. Get your hands on it and stay on the safe side.
Here's how to vastly reduce your chances of needing to fix a kernel panic in the future.
Hardware
Shut down your Mac and disconnect all hardware except your keyboard and mouse. If you use a third-party keyboard and mouse, swap them for the Apple versions, where possible. Restart your Mac. If your Mac runs ok and there are no more kernel panics, it's likely a device connected to your Mac was to blame.
Shut down your Mac again and re-connect one device. Restart your Mac. Repeat this process until you get another kernel panic. When that happens, you'll know the last device you connected was the culprit. You can now either use your Mac without the device or check to see if it has updated drivers and install those, then try again with the device connected.
Software
Could Not Locate Macos Boot Volume
First, rule out a deep-rooted problem with macOS. Restart your Mac in safe mode by holding down the shift key when you restart. This disables login items, kernel extensions, and all fonts not used by the system. It also does a check of your startup drive's directory structure. If you can reboot in safe mode and use your Mac without a kernel panic occurs, the likely cause of the problem is files installed by an application or a login item.
If you experience a kernel panic in safe mode and you've ruled out a problem with hardware connected to your Mac, the problem could be your Mac's basic hardware or system. Try doing a clean install of macOS, and starting from there.
Assuming running in safe mode worked, you can reboot normally and use the techniques below to reduce the likelihood of experiencing a kernel panic in the future.
It can be a million reasons why your Mac keeps restarting. The best way to identify what's wrong is use system monitoring app like iStat Menus. It makes it easy to track the performance of your Mac and see whether any applications are hogging resources, like CPU cycles or RAM.
Launch iStat Menus, and set up monitoring.
Use the Dashboard to choose which components you want to display in the menu bar. At the very least, choose CPU.
Click on CPU in the menu bar to see which processes are consuming the most cycles — it's an indication that an app or system component is having problems. If an app consistently uses a significant percentage of CPU cycles, uninstall it using CleanMyMac (see below) and reinstall it.
It's also a good idea to use the sensors tab to keep an eye on your Mac's fans. An overheating Mac is likely to run into problems.
Uninstall applications with CleanMyMac
CleanMyMac allows you to easily uninstall problematic login items and applications.
To uninstall an application:
Launch CleanMyMac (if you haven't already installed it, launch Setapp, search for it and click Install).
Click on Uninstaller in the Application section in the left-hand window. Navigate to the application you want to uninstall and click the checkbox next to it.
Click Uninstall
To uninstall a login item:
Click on Optimization in the Speed section, then Login Items.
Navigate to the login item you want to uninstall and click the checkbox next to it.
Click Perform.
You can do the same for System Preferences panes, browser extensions, audio plugins, and other system files. Before you attempt to remove something, however, make sure you know what it does and how its removal will affect your ability to use the application it is associated with.
Clean up your hard drive / SSD with Mac cleaning tools
While you're troubleshooting and solving problems with your Mac, it's a good idea to clean up its hard drive or SSD and remove duplicate files. There are a couple of apps available in Setapp that make this a breeze.
Disk Drill allows you to quickly identify files that are taking up lots of space on your drive and remove them. It's quick and easy to do and can free up several gigabytes.
Gemini identifies duplicate files on your Mac and allows you to remove copies very easily. It's a simple way to free up space on your Mac.
Cleaning up your hard drive or SSD is important because to have room for virtual memory, you need to keep at least 10% of your disk's capacity free.
Find out how to use Disk Drill and Gemini to free up storage space on your Mac and reduce the chances of it having a kernel panic.
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As you can see, kernel panics aren't nearly as worrisome as they first appear. Following the process above, you can quickly fix the problem. Or, better still, you can take steps now to avoid one altogether.
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