Kernel panic - considering re-install.... questions

[rockout]

So my Kernel Panic on my dual G5 PowerMac is apparently pretty serious. I am able to boot up from my Tiger installation disc, and I'm able to repair permissions AND repair disc.... but doing those multiple times (and now being told everything is fine) doesn't stop the kernel panic from happening. It happens on boot-up almost immediately after the Apple logo appears.

I'm considering re-installing Tiger as my next option, but I've never done a re-install without wiping my hard drive first. Obviously I don't want to do that in this case because I have all my iTunes and my documents on this computer, among other things.

My question is, will I retain everything in my home folder if I do a re-install on this machine? Or will that stuff be inaccessible/wiped out?

I do realize that some stuff will be gone, like preferences that I've set up in many apps, etc... I'm just most worried about blowing away the tens of gigabytes of stuff in the home folder, mostly music, pictures and docs.

[benwiggy]

Archive and Install will retain your User folder, including most app preferences.
Only things in the System, which may include printer queues, contextual menu plug-ins and some third-party software authorisation, will get zapped. And they'll be in a "Previous System" folder, so you can move things back to their intended place if necessary.

[rockout]

Thank you very much, that appears to be the option for me!

[appleman_design]

have you installed any new hardware..i.e. ram,pci cards?? may want to check that too

[rockout]

nope

panic happened after I restarted. Restart was because a DVD burn failed half-way thru and the DVD burner wouldn't stop spinning or spit out the partially-burned DVD no matter what I tried. No new stuff has been installed in weeks.

[bramley]

You are likely to find that troubleshooting your problem in more depth is worth the effort. At this point, re-installing your system seems overkill.

What does the panic.log at /Library/Logs say? Just post the last reference here for others to see.

[rockout]

Okay, here it is.... some heavy reading.

Unresolved kernel trap(cpu 1): 0x300 - Data access DAR=0x0000000000000018 PC=0x00000000009AA27C
Latest crash info for cpu 1:
Exception state (sv=0x5DA04500)
PC=0x009AA27C; MSR=0x00009030; DAR=0x00000018; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x009AA288; R1=0x44023A60; XCP=0x0000000C (0x300 - Data access)
Backtrace:
0xFE0D213F
backtrace terminated - unaligned frame address: 0x53A71FDD

Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.ATIRadeon9700(4.1.8)@0x997000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(1.7)@0x469000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.1)@0x860000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.4.1)@0x884000
Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x5DA04500)
previously dumped as "Latest" state. skipping...
Exception state (sv=0x5D6FC280)
PC=0x9000B348; MSR=0x0000D030; DAR=0xC4B0B040; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x9000B29C; R1=0xBFFF5D30; XCP=0x00000030 (0xC00 - System call)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.10.0: Wed May 23 16:50:59 PDT 2007; root:xnu-792.21.3~1/RELEASE_PPC
panic(cpu 1 caller 0xFFFF0003): 0x300 - Data access
Latest stack backtrace for cpu 1:
Backtrace:
0xCA6FDCE4
backtrace terminated - unaligned frame address: 0xFF007386

Proceeding back via exception chain:
Exception state (sv=0x5DA04500)
PC=0x009AA27C; MSR=0x00009030; DAR=0x00000018; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x009AA288; R1=0x44023A60; XCP=0x0000000C (0x300 - Data access)
Backtrace:
0xFE0D213F
backtrace terminated - unaligned frame address: 0x53A71FDD

Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.ATIRadeon9700(4.1.8)@0x997000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(1.7)@0x469000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.1)@0x860000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.4.1)@0x884000
Exception state (sv=0x5D6FC280)
PC=0x9000B348; MSR=0x0000D030; DAR=0xC4B0B040; DSISR=0x40000000; LR=0x9000B29C; R1=0xBFFF5D30; XCP=0x00000030 (0xC00 - System call)

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.10.0: Wed May 23 16:50:59 PDT 2007; root:xnu-792.21.3~1/RELEASE_PPC

[trevor]

Hmmmm. It seems to be video card related. Exactly what video card do you have in your Power Mac G5? Is it a Radeon 9600 or Radeon 9800?

Do you have another video card available that works in your Power Mac G5? If so, try swapping out your existing card with the other one.

(Note that the problem seems to be video card related, but that doesn't necessarily mean that your video card has a hardware problem. It is also possible that the video card driver on your boot drive is corrupted.)

Trevor

[rockout]

I don't have another video card. The point is moot, anyway - I did an Archive & Re-install, and everything came back. No more kernel panic, no loss of documents, pictures, or music... just had to re-download the latest Software Update stuff.

With everything checking out okay, is it safe for me to delete the Previous System folder that was created? There's like 7 GB of crap in there and I could use the free space.

[Norm Nager]

Trevor, please share with those of us with a lower level of technical understand the clue you found in Rockout's log that enabled you to diagnosis that the problem might be video card related? (Alas, I couldn't make sense of the log.) Would his archive & re-install process have replaced a corrupted video card driver the possibility you raised.

Rockout, I've deleted Previous System folders on my G5 with absolutely no ill effects. Of course, you can always backup or clone your folder to another hard drive or a DVD; or clone the entire volume to another hard drive.

Respectfully, Norm

[trevor]

I don't have another video card. The point is moot, anyway - I did an Archive & Re-install, and everything came back. No more kernel panic, no loss of documents, pictures, or music... just had to re-download the latest Software Update stuff.

OK, so it was video card driver related. Good, that's much cheaper to fix :-)

With everything checking out okay, is it safe for me to delete the Previous System folder that was created? There's like 7 GB of crap in there and I could use the free space.

If you really want to you can delete it now, but you never know when you're going to launch that application that you paid for but only run once a month or so, and it will come up asking you for the authorization code. Or something else similar. That's when you'll be thankful that you held on to the Previous System just a little while longer.

Trevor, please share with those of us with a lower level of technical understand the clue you found in Rockout's log that enabled you to diagnosis that the problem might be video card related?

Well, I certainly wouldn't claim to be able to read the log any better than anybody else can. But look at this:

Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.ATIRadeon9700(4.1.8)@0x997000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(1.7)@0x469000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.4.1)@0x860000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.4.1)@0x884000

Since the top kernel module mentioned is the ATI Radeon 9700 driver, plus dependencies on the PCI Family driver and the I/O Graphics driver, that's a pretty clear hint that there's something amiss with the video card or it's driver.

Would his archive & re-install process have replaced a corrupted video card driver the possibility you raised.

Yes, that's a valid interpretation, and the one that I subscribe to.

Trevor

[rockout]

Thanks Trevor. Makes sense to me. I still have no idea how a video card driver would have gotten corrupted during a DVD-burn gone bad; it just seems so random. But at least I'm up and running. I didn't even know about the Archive and Install option and probably learned about it the quickest way from the fast feedback I got here. Thanks everyone.