Mac does not shut down... plus

[leondpap]

Hi,
I recently upgraded to Yosemity my Mac mini (i5, mid 2011) and ever since (with very few exceptions - 2 or 3), the computer does not shut down, meaning that it only shows the wallpaper with nothing else, and stays there. I have to turn it off the hard way (button). This never happened with Mavericks. Any idea why this happens?

The Plus case:
Upgrade to 10.10.1 is available through Apple Store, but it needs restart. Mac does not shut down, if I use the button and launch it from the beginning, the upgrade is not installed. Someone help, pls!!!

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Make sure all peripherals are removed except mouse/keyboard & using Disc Utility, repair permissions see if it'll shut down properly, if not try "Verify Disc" in Disc Utilities. If there are any reported problems try "Repair Disc".

If the problem persists try Logging Out before shutting down (just out of curiosity on this one) …if still no joy then hard shut it down (button) and try resetting PRAM:

• Shut down your Mac.
• Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Option, Command (⌘), P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
• Turn on your Mac.
• Immediately press and hold the Option-Command-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
• Continue holding the keys down until your Mac restarts, and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
• Release the keys.

Resetting PRAM may change some system settings and preferences. Use System Preferences to restore your settings.
You might want to print this out.

 

[leondpap]

Hello Spawn_Dooley, thanks for your time.
I repaired permissions, the HD was OK (according to Disc Utility), but nothing happened. Logging out didn't solve the problem and even resetting PRAM (the way you showed me) didn't work out as well. What I found out during all these experiments is that when I shut down (or try to do it, to be exact) I said that only the wallpaper stays frozen. The fact is that the dock works and if I try to launch any program, the program works perfectly, like I haven't shut down. Looks like it doesn't log out. I hope I gave you some hint in order to approach the problem. Thanks for your help. Appreciate!

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Do you quit all running programs before shutting down? You seem to have been able to log out of your account without any problems … is that right? So once logged out what happened when you shut the computer down from the login screen?

 

[leondpap]

No, I cannot log out. When I do so, all desktop files, folders etc disappear, along with the top line (apple, Finder, File etc), but the dock remains alive. That's when I told you that I can still launch programs from the dock. What I did was to disable my user account and password, in order to enter directly, bypassing the log in, but again nothing happened. Still I can't log out and finally shut down.