HELP!! Mac Keeps on randomly restarting when on ebay!!

[fusionimaging]

I have tried everything that I know to try and figure out what the problem is and can't find anything!

The restart always occurs when I am browsing and interacting with ebay on any browser (tested on FireFox, Safari, and Chrome with a restart occurring in all 3) The screen slowly gets covered by a light grey over layer and displays a message telling me that there has been a problem and that I need to hold down the power button to restart my macbook. this has been happening to me for the past 3 weeks and I can't stand it anymore.

Any suggestion on how I might be able to find a solution to the issue? Also, has this happened to anyone else out there? I am running Snow Leopard 10.6 on a 2009 macbook. Thanks for your help guys!

 

[UserName]

That's a kernel panic... most of the time it's hardware related.

Run the AHT (Apple Hardware Test) by inserting your OS X installation disc and holding "D" while booting, run the extensive test and post the results.

Or maybe your Mac is trying to tell you something?
Please sell me... SELL ME!!!

 

[fusionimaging]

That's a kernel panic... most of the time it's hardware related.

Run the AHT (Apple Hardware Test) by inserting your OS X installation disc and holding "D" while booting, run the extensive test and post the results.

Ah, yup your right. I noticed something about a kernal panic in the console crash report when I check it in the past but had no clue what it meant.

Alright, so I verified my disk through the disk utility app on my mac and get this message:

Missing thread record (id = 1883408)
Incorrect number of thread records
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Invalid volume file count
(It should be 537250 instead of 537252)
Checking extended attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume Macintosh HD was found corrupt and needs to be repaired.
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Start up your computer with another disk (such as your Mac OS X installation disc), and then use Disk Utility to repair this disk.

Now I would follow what you told me about repairing it with the instal cd, but the problem now is that my instal and hardware cd's are all in storage from our last move and I have no way to get to them for a while. Would a Snow Leopard Instal CD work that I purchased separately a few weeks ago for another one of my macs or is that a whole other cd? Thanks again for your help!

P.S. - I have also attached a snap shot of the crash report that I get after each crash which displays (like you said) a kernal panic.

 

[UserName]

Try holding D while booting... AHT might be preinstalled on your system (it is on mine)

AHT will go through a series of tests (Checking RAM, Graphics Card, etc) and will also check your hard drive for errors.

Another option is to start the computer in single user mode:
1. Shut down the computer if it is on.
2. Press the power button to start the computer.
3. Immediately press and hold the Command (Apple) key and the "s" key. (Command-S)

At the command-line prompt type:

/sbin/fsck -fy

Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found:
** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK
If fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message:
***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).

When fsck reports that your volume is OK, type reboot at the prompt and then press Return.
Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.

Hope this helps

 

[fusionimaging]

Try holding D while booting... AHT might be preinstalled on your system (it is on mine)

AHT will go through a series of tests (Checking RAM, Graphics Card, etc) and will also check your hard drive for errors.

Another option is to start the computer in single user mode:
1. Shut down the computer if it is on.
2. Press the power button to start the computer.
3. Immediately press and hold the Command (Apple) key and the "s" key. (Command-S)

At the command-line prompt type:

/sbin/fsck -fy

Press Return. fsck will go through five "phases" and then return information about your disk's use and fragmentation. Once it finishes, it'll display this message if no issue is found:
** The volume (name_of_volume) appears to be OK
If fsck found issues and has altered, repaired, or fixed anything, it will display this message:
***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
Important: If this message appears, repeat the fsck command you typed in step 2 until fsck tells you that your volume appears to be OK (first-pass repairs may uncover additional issues, so this is a normal thing to do).

When fsck reports that your volume is OK, type reboot at the prompt and then press Return.
Your computer should start up normally and allow you to log in.

Hope this helps

Awesome, It worked beautifully! Thank you so much for your help!

 

[UserName]

I'm glad it worked