2011 Mac Mini random crashing

[Neutron]

Our nearly 3 year old Mac Mini keeps randomly crashing or rebooting itself. It's happening more and more each week.

What could be causing it to do this?

 

[lparsons21]

As a general rule of thumb, I always consider RAM as the most likely culprit.

But it could be something software related, though less likely imo. Create a new user and log in as that user for a bit and see if the problem disappears, if it does, you've got something going on with your user that OSX doesn't like.

 

[Neutron]

It doesn't matter who's logged in. We have three logins for our family.

 

[klang]

Have you checked the console log for errors?

I would start with the disk utility and verify both the permissions and the disk.

 

[kittyhas1000legs]

How hot is the system getting? If you leave it turned off for a day, can it stay on again for a while, vs. rebooting and having it crash again quickly? I know I have a dust buildup issue with three cats in the apartment.

 

[Neutron]

I will check the heat on it this evening.

It has run hot before with something usually stuck running that should have closed. Rebooting it cools it down.

 

[kittyhas1000legs]

Compressed air can probably blast some dust out. I'm not sure how easy it would be to open the case and blow it out.

It's a good thing I thought about computer temps. I checked mine and saw the video card was at 73C . Turns out the fan on it died. Here's my temporary fix:

 

[FaT Air]

Lucky 'catch'. Most everyone wouldn't notice until after it dies.
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