HUGE OS crash today.

[BlakTornado]

Ok, so I was using my 2.4Ghz August 2007 Alum iMac today, as per usual, when suddenly it crashes.

Open were Finder, iTunes, Coversutra, NewNewsWire, Mail, Skype, Adium and MenuCalendarClock.

Anyway, I went to Open Safari after clicking on dreamweaver. The dock froze mid-magnify, with Safari darkened from being clicked on, and the spinning beach ball opened.

Everything else was working except Dreamweaver and the dock. So I opened Force Quit and tried to quit Dreamweaver. Eventually it did.

Then to get the dock working again, I used Quicksilver to open the Terminal, but the Terminal didn't load.

After trying to relaunch finder, I was asking the person I was chatting with what to do, just before Adium crashed and closed. I couldn't switch spaces. I couldn't use Exposé. I couldn't use finder. I couldn't use the dock. I couldn't quit Applications. I couldn't use the menubar. I couldn't restart the computer safely.
The only working applications were iTunes and Skype; iTunes kept playing songs, and I could change my status on the Skype menu bar item.

My only option was to hard restart (which is not advisable, and I don't like doing it at all)

So now I'm puzzled as to what caused this. It seems like a mixture of Dreamweaver and Safari... Probably dreamweaver considering Adobe apps are very buggy.

Does anyone have any idea? I was downloading some plug-ins for quicklook today, and both SuperDocker and DockDoctor but I shouldn't think any of those would be malware if they were listed on well known sites, would they?

All help appreciated in tracking down the problem to avoid it again (could be just a one off, of course) or to make sure hard-resetting didn't screw up my Mac (I've already verified my disk, and it comes up as OK. Seems there's no need to repair permissions, right?)

 

[Vader]

Are you running leopard? This happens to me pretty much anytime I leave my computer open for hours when I am not using it, when I come back everything beachballs and nothing new will launch. usually safari goes first followed by the finder or vise-versa if I relaunch the finder, finder is gone. Haven't had it happen since I started closing the lid when I walk away for more than an hour.

 

[mac-convert]

You might seriously consider upping the memory in that system, if it's the one listed as having only 1GB. You have a lot running for only that much memory. One can now get a pair of 2GB sticks for $100US or less these days.

 

[BlakTornado]

Are you running leopard? This happens to me pretty much anytime I leave my computer open for hours when I am not using it, when I come back everything beachballs and nothing new will launch. usually safari goes first followed by the finder or vise-versa if I relaunch the finder, finder is gone. Haven't had it happen since I started closing the lid when I walk away for more than an hour.

Ah, I'm glad it's not just me 🙂

People talk about how they can leave their computer on for years without it going wrong, and I sheepishly think "well, mine starts getting mixed up if I have it on for a day"

(And yep, I have Leopard)

You might seriously consider upping the memory in that system, if it's the one listed as having only 1GB. You have a lot running for only that much memory. One can now get a pair of 2GB sticks for $100US or less these days.

Yeah, I have been thinking about upgrading to 4GB (I'm often running at reasonably max RAM). I was planning on upgrading it sooner but it's money issues, really.

But I've seen a pair of 2GB sticks on Crucial.com for £60 (I'll order from somewhere else at the time, though) so I shall upgrade next month.

Thanks for the suggestion 🙂