4 crashes in past 12 hours
 

this sux.

i'm running a powerbook g4 with 512mb of ram and a 60GB h/d. it's about 8 months old and i've NEVER had any problems with it.

yet today, specifically in the past 12 hours, my system has frozen 4 times. when i say frozen, i mean just that. beach ball stops spinning and nothing is alive. i can't command-tab, i can't move the mouse. nothing. all enclusive silence.

to be as detailed as possible:
one freeze occurred when my screen saver was on and i wasn't even using the mac
one freeze occurred when i was switching between browsing via safari back to mozilla
one freeze occurred while i was IMing with a friend and browsing in safari at same time

does anyone know what is wrong here? any and all help is much appreciated.

also happening
 

make that 5 crashes....

but i also want to note that before my 2nd to last crash, safari would not run after it crashed initially. i got the error message "The application Safari has suddenly quit..."

this has happened before but i'm always able to restart safari from my dock. this time, it wouldn't even restart.

AND

before my last crash (2 min ago), Mail was the app that suddenly quit. then all froze again....

this really sux now.

Try repairing permissions, zapping PRAM and running fsck.

Bad memory?
 

In addition to dagaz's excellent advice above, you may want to run a memory checker to see if the memory is going bad. If you don't already have one, I'd recommend the command line application memtester: http://friskythecat.tripod.com/

Trevor

ok, i verified and repaired permissions. that's done but the problem still persists and has gotten worse since i've posted.

i can no longer login w/ my main (admin) account. i'm currently logged in with my guest account.

things are looking bleak.

regarding your advice. how does one zap pram and run fsck? i'm not too familiar with that. could you explain it a little further?

thanks alot.

Directions for that and several other things

Trevor

I did exactly what you said and so far so good. Been running since 7am (it's now 740am here) and not one freeze.

thanks sooooo much for the advice.

Not So Fast.....
 

i spoke too soon.

first iTunes crashed. then another app crashed. then i restarted the powerbook.

upon startup, these are the error messages i got when loggin in with my main admin account:

1st dialog box:
App Launch Failure
-The app "Palm Desktop Background" could not be launched because of a shared library error: "J<Palm Desktop Background><CarbonLib><CFMPriv_HIToolboox><SetDialogItemText>"

2nd dialog box:
App Launch Failure
The app "null" could not be launched because of a shared library error: "D<HPCommunications><CarbonLib><CFMPriv-HIToolbox><SetDialogItemText>"

3rd dialog box:
App Launch Failure
-The app "Transport Monitor" could not be launched because of a shared library error: "D<TransportMonitor><CarbonLib><CFMPriv-HIToolbox><SetDialogItemText>"


And that's it.

So right now, I'm running that memtest program that trevor recommended. and i'm seeing FAILURE come across my terminal screen in parts of the memtest output. i think this prog takes a few hours to run so i'll inform of the outcome later.

thanks alot for all the help.

Reseat the memory!
 

Before you panic and buy more memory. Shut down your laptop and following Apples instructions for memory upgrades. Pull out the memory and reseat it. This will wipe all the contacts. And may be all thats necessary.

It could be that one or two rough incidents may have partially unseated it also.

Re: Not So Fast.....
 

Palm Software. Do you use it?
Taking a guess here that this is something to do with a HP printer.

looks like that pesky Palm software again. Are you using Palm? Have you upgraded or done anything funky with it lately?

It likes to run in the background even if you are not using it.

Re: Re: Not So Fast.....
 

i do use palm software but i haven't upgraded it or done anything with it for a long time.

i also use a HP printer at home and yes, all these items are in my startup procedure when i login with my main account.

i am gonna try to follow apple's memory reseating instructions and see what happens next.

thanks alot again.

i've done everything
 

ok, i have followed everyone's advice here and done everything suggested.

here is where i stand:

memory has been reseated as per apple powerbook instructions
fsck has been ran
disk permissions have been verified and repaired
pram has been zapped

all of those procedures have fixed their respective problems and none seem to exist anymore with them.

BUT

running memtester (a memory checker) as suggested by trevor, STILL results in the following FAILURES:

Test 10: Solid Bits: Testing... 30
FAILURE: 0x00000000 != 0x00020000 at offset 0x00859127.
Skipping to next test...
Test 11: Block Sequential: Testing... 0
FAILURE: 0x00000000 != 0x00020000 at offset 0x008e6927.
Skipping to next test...
Test 12: Checkerboard: Testing...Passed.
Test 13: Bit Spread: Testing... 15
FAILURE: 0xfffd7fff != 0xffff7fff at offset 0x0085d527.
Skipping to next test...
Test 14: Bit Flip: Testing... 46
FAILURE: 0x00000020 != 0x00020020 at offset 0x00859127.
Skipping to next test...
Test 15: Walking Ones: Testing... 15
FAILURE: 0x00008000 != 0x00028000 at offset 0x0085c127.
Skipping to next test...
Test 16: Walking Zeroes: Testing...Passed.
Run 1 completed in 558 seconds (5 tests showed errors).
munlock'ed memory.
1 runs completed. 5 errors detected. Total runtime: 558 seconds.


what does this mean? do i need to purchase new RAM memory chips and replace the old ones that i have? any ideas?

once again, thank you everyone for the help and support you've given me.

Yes, that indicates that you have at least one bad memory stick.

The existing memory is probably covered by a lifetime guarantee, if you bought it from a reputable company. See if you can exchange it for new memory.

Trevor

and I'd dump or reinstall that Palm software ....

Which stick?
 

Does anyone have the hardware expertise to say where that problem lies.

0x00859127 = 8753447

Is memtest actually reporting a physical or virtual memory location? (I know some menory managers make it difficult or impossible to know the physical location and I don't know enough about dynamic-pager) If this is a physical location it should be in the first stick.


If you have several sticks of memory you might try removing one at a time, making sure there are no blank spots in the middle, and retesting.

to make my situation even worse,

i took my powerbook into Tekserve yesterday which is the local apple dealer here in new york city. i showed the technician there this whole thread and explained again what was going wrong.

he proceded to run a few diagnostic tests on my powerbook. according to his RAM checker, my memory tested just fine. he's not familiar with memtest per se, so they're not willing to concede that it IS my memory that is at fault here. then, he checked out my hard drive and didn't find any errors there either.

his advice was that he "thinks" that it's a software issue and he suggested i leave the laptop there for a period of 7 - 10 days. i decided against this because i don't have a current backup of my latest files and i took the powerbook back home.

i called apple support and went thru this whole thread with them as well. the technician with apple support was impressed with the diagnostics that i ran and he suggested that i re-install Panther. so i did that last nite. i booted to Panther Install Disk 1 and went thru the whole ordeal (in the process i was able to archive my files and preserve my user and network settings).

to make a long story short, as soon as i finished the panther install, i began with downloading apple's software updates. the first slew of updates downloaded and installed fine. then, when i restarted the laptop, i had more updates to install. this is where the situation got hairy again. in the midst of doing this 2nd software update, i got the apple grey screen of death. it's the one where the whole monitor turns grey but in the middle there's a darker grey box with white text written in four languages. the text basically says something like "please restart your computer now by holding down the power key...."

i don't know what to do at this point? do i leave the laptop at tekserve where they think it's a software problem, yet losing my laptop for 7 - 10 days would hurt me considering i do alot of my work on it. or do i just go and buy new memory myself and upgrade my RAM? tekserve doesn't seem to believe in the validity of "memtest" and i'm not quite sure how to go on from here. i guess i'll call apple again later today to see what they recommend.

thanks again for all the help.

And what RAM checker did he use? The one included on the Apple Hardware Test CD has been well known to miss bad memory. Most other RAM checkers available for OS X are also of the same trivial type. memtest is far more authoritative.

The AHTCD's RAM checker simply writes a character into each byte and tests to see that the correct character is still there. This makes for fast RAM checking, but it does not make for good RAM checking.

On the other hand, memtest performs multiple tests (as you saw): Stuck Address, Random value, XOR comparison, SUB comparison, MUL comparison, DIV comparison, OR comparison, AND comparison, Sequential Increment, Block Sequential, Solid Bits, Bit Flip, Checkerboard, Walking Ones, Walking Zeroes, and Bit Spread.

Did you go to Tekserve because they sold you the memory? Or because you didn't want to pull the RAM yourself?

Trevor

I went there because that is where I bought my powerbook. Where else do you think I should have gone? I agree with you that memtest is a more definitive diagnostic regarding memory. Too bad the techies at Tekserve don't agree with me and wouldn't just give me new memory cards. I can do the procedure myself but it's still supposed to be covered under warranty....

No, bringing the computer back to the place you bought it is a good idea, at least until they prove to be, um, unreceptive to helping you.

It sounds like your Apple tech was a formatter. They annoy me. http://archive.salon.com/tech/featur.../index_np.html

Why don't you call back to Apple again, tell them you did the install, and are still getting kernel panics. (That screen you got telling you to restart was a kernel panic.) Tell them you've tested the memory bad, and need to replace it.

Trevor

Don't know if this is still an issue, but if it is... might want to visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider.

Computer is under warranty, so the checkup should be free, or any diagnostic fees should be waived if it turns out to be a hardware problem. That's the way we do it here.

The Apple Hardware Test cd that came with the computer, as Trevor put it, is some what underpowered when it comes to the ram test.

I'd probably run something like the Apple Service Diagnostics Disk, which has a much more powerful memory tester, but this is only available to AASP's.

Good luck getting it resolved if it isn't already.

James

You have TWO memory modules in there? Remove one, run the test. If it fails, swap it. If both fail, then you probably don't have a bad module, since it's unlikely for both to fail at once. Memory failures generally are very rare.

If only one fails, run with a single module until you get a free replacement (nearly all memory has a lifetime warranty).

Not sure if this is related, but you said your using an HP Printer. The printer driver for my old HP Printer caused similar problems on my machine. Maybe try a reinstall and ditch that HP. Also, my pop has been having similar problems with his powerbook. Turned out to be a belkin USB hub. Have you tried booting into single user mode and running the OS without extensions? Might be worth a shot.

Good Luck
HazyJMac

If you're still getting those error messages on logging in, hold down shift as you login. That stops your login items opening (palm transport checker, hp printer, etc) and could stop that shared library fault message popping up.

you might not have that problem as you reinstalled panther, but you haven't said.

If Tekserve in NYC doesn't work out, another Apple authorized Service provider
that I found to be pretty knowledgeable was:

Digital Society
60 East 10th St.
NY., NY. 10003

(212) 777-3093

They're near NYU in the Village. I got both a PB G4 and a G4 tower from
them and found them pretty good.

Holy thread resurection, Batman!

Um guys, look at the dates on the original messages in this thread...

I only just joined, and it shows me that the thread is unread to me. plain forgot to check the dates. :(

I was actually reading the thread out of curiousity and came across "Robin's" discovery of the dates. That's pretty funny. Don't they use some kind of clipping here? How did this thread make it that many months and stay on the floating point of an active thread? :confused:

Oh, and does anyone know if the problem was ever resolved?

Probably what happened was that someone found this old thread by doing a search (bravo - all too few people bother to search the forums before posting a question!) and then posted to it, thus reactivating it.