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Please Help!! iBook freezing up!!

L

lopresmb

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 29, 2005
289
0
Hi all,

I was visiting my parents the other day, who have a 933 G4 iBook, and it has been "freezing up" a lot lately (actually very regularly). It will simply stop responding, the trackpad (that is, the cursor) will still move, but I get no response whatsoever from the finder, or any keyboard commands (and no beachballs or anything). I can't do anything, except restart it (with ctl- open apple - power). Some times it will run for a while before freezing, but sometimes it will freeze literally 5-10 seconds after restarting.... :(


Now, here' what I have tried:

1) I have the latest version of Tiger 10.4.2, and all the latest updates via software update

2) I tried resetting the PRAM during startup (apple - option - P - R)

3) I tried repairing permissions via disk utility

4) Uninstalled any system modifications (mainly screen spanning hack, iScroll)


--When I repaired permissions and reset the PRAM it worked for a while and I thought that had fixed it, but sure enough within the hour it froze back up the same way.

--Please help. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The iBook is about 1.5 years old and they don't have applecare, so I haven't tried Apple yet. Thanks in advance, --Mark
 
L

lopresmb

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 29, 2005
289
0
one more thing

also, it doesn't seem to be at all related to any specific program or action from the little bit of time that I messed with it.

(once it froze while I was trying to open system prefs, another couple were right after start up for no apparent reason)
 
superbovine

superbovine

macrumors 68030
Nov 7, 2003
2,872
0
what programs do you have running in the background? check acivity monitor. have you installed any recent programs or drivers? your hard drive making funny nosies? you drop your ibook recent?
 
L

lopresmb

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 29, 2005
289
0
superbovine said:
what programs do you have running in the background? check acivity monitor. have you installed any recent programs or drivers? your hard drive making funny nosies? you drop your ibook recent?
Click to expand...

no drops at all that I know of, and I am pretty sure there haven't been any new programs. My parents said that they were just trying to print something wirelessly and it froze up...

(by the way, where would you check the activity monitor (the widget?) and also, what would I be looking for in that case?)
 
mad jew

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,191
9
Adelaide, Australia
Go to the Utilities folder in Applications and you'll find an app called Activity Monitor. It'll show you what each process is using. See if there's a single process that seems to be using up an out-of-the-ordinary amount of CPU or RAM. :)
 
L

lopresmb

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 29, 2005
289
0
wdlove said:
How much RAM does the iBook have?
Click to expand...

it has 640 MB RAM - that is 128 soldered onto the mobo, and 512 that they custom ordered from Apple when they bought it.

it didn't feel like a RAM thing though (but who knows), it didn't necessarially happen when closing or opening programs and there are no spinning beachballs.

other specs (if it matters)
60GB HD
combo
14in
933 MHz G4
radeon 9200 32mb
usb 2.0 firewire
airport
 
L

lopresmb

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 29, 2005
289
0
mad jew said:
Go to the Utilities folder in Applications and you'll find an app called Activity Monitor. It'll show you what each process is using. See if there's a single process that seems to be using up an out-of-the-ordinary amount of CPU or RAM. :)
Click to expand...


nope, not that I can tell, all seems to be normal, nothing seems to be crazy, nothing using more than 20MB RAM or so...
 
L

lopresmb

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 29, 2005
289
0
Mitthrawnuruodo said:
How much free HD space do you have?
Click to expand...

HD: used - 13GB
avail - 42GB

--thats not it either, geez, this comp is strartng to get on my nerves... :(
 
B

boogee

macrumors newbie
Oct 9, 2005
1
0
Same trouble

i know this is no direct help but I too have had the same trouble as you.
I have the 933mz ibook, extended ram 125+256mb, and installed screen spanning doctor or something similar.
Have tried removing the ram and nothing changed.
i have also tried reinstalling the Os several time and each time it freezes half way through. So if you indeed have found a solution I would be very grateful.
I am sooo sick of the PC I am now stuck with... help
 
mad jew

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,191
9
Adelaide, Australia
Perhaps it is a either a failing hard drive and/or RAM. Use the Hardware Test CD/DVD to see if anything looks suspicious. Even if the tests all come back with no problems, there may still be some issues.

In Disk Utility, is the SMART status of the start up drive verified (use Disk Utility to check)?

Take out extra RAM and see if the problems disappear.

Does the hard drive make any clicking noises?

Hopefully this can be fixed with a simple component replacement but your first step should probably be to back everything up, just in case. :)
 
Y

yenko

macrumors 6502a
Aug 29, 2005
522
0
SouthWest-USA
lopresmb said:
Hi all,

I was visiting my parents the other day, who have a 933 G4 iBook, and it has been "freezing up" a lot lately (actually very regularly). It will simply stop responding, the trackpad (that is, the cursor) will still move, but I get no response whatsoever from the finder, or any keyboard commands (and no beachballs or anything). I can't do anything, except restart it (with ctl- open apple - power). Some times it will run for a while before freezing, but sometimes it will freeze literally 5-10 seconds after restarting.... :(


Now, here' what I have tried:

1) I have the latest version of Tiger 10.4.2, and all the latest updates via software update

2) I tried resetting the PRAM during startup (apple - option - P - R)

3) I tried repairing permissions via disk utility

4) Uninstalled any system modifications (mainly screen spanning hack, iScroll)


--When I repaired permissions and reset the PRAM it worked for a while and I thought that had fixed it, but sure enough within the hour it froze back up the same way.

--Please help. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The iBook is about 1.5 years old and they don't have applecare, so I haven't tried Apple yet. Thanks in advance, --Mark
Click to expand...

It may be a good time to run "fsck -f" in "single user mode".
You also may want to consider purchasing "Disk Warrior" or "Tech Tools Pro" and keep them handy.
Since you mentioned it appeared to run better after you repaired permissions and "PRAM", my guess is you have a directory problem that needs attention, hence, "fsck -f" or the disk utilities I mentioned.

'Nuff said! :cool:
 
Lucky8

Lucky8

macrumors regular
May 18, 2005
218
0
I think it might have something to do with the Screen Spanning Doctor being used over a period of time.
 
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