I have an error message. Is is hardware of software related?

[joefro]

I got this error message several times today on my
Unibody MacBook Pro 15,
2.53 Core 2 Duo,
9400M / 9600M GT,
4 GB DDR3.
I was using the 9600M in Photoshop when I got this message:

I rebooted like it stated and the computer made a beeping noise for a few seconds, but it wouldn't boot. I waited a while and it booted, then I sent an error message to Apple. The computer ran without problems on the 9400 for a good hour or so, then I got the message again. I plan on taking it to an Apple store sometime this week, but I just wanted some insight as to what might be going wrong. I think that it might be the ram or maybe the gpu but I'm really not that sure. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[spinnerlys]

It's a so called Kernel Panic, the Mac OS X variant of the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) in Windows.

A kernel panic is a type of error that occurs when the core (kernel) of an operating system receives an instruction in an unexpected format, or that it fails to handle properly. A kernel panic may also follow when the operating system is not able to recover from a different type of error. A kernel panic can be caused by damaged or incompatible software or, more rarely, damaged or incompatible hardware.

from Apple: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1392



It's really strange that those occurred several times for you in one day. My iBook had 4 in three years, my iMac approx. 10 in 18 months and my new Unibody MBP (same as yours) maybe once since I bought it in 12/2008.

Have you installed anything recently, that may run in the background? Does it happen with the same picture (in PS) and with the same action/effect or whatever you do then?

 

[joefro]

The only programs that I recently installed was Ps. I did a software update about an hour ago and I've yet to have any problems. Hopefully the software update solved my problem.

 

[gnasher729]

It is a Kernel Panic. It means that the operating system itself crashed. Not just an application, but the operating system itself. Since the operating system can be expected to contain very few bugs (otherwise people would be complaining about Kernel Panics all the time), the usual two causes are:

1. You installed some buggy software that became part of the operating system. This would be an unusual thing to happen.

2. You have a hardware problem. Defective RAM or a defective hard drive are most likely to cause this kind of problem. If you recently added RAM, that might be the reason.

 

[baddj]

Open up "Console" and tell us what it says from the time when you got the Kernel Panics. hoping OSX logs this stuff.

 

[joefro]

It just says stuff like "DEAD_PROCESS 0 console" "System shutdown time has arrived" "Shutdown NOW!"
The console messages are hard to read

 

[crewrules101]

Help

Take it to an apple store and they can diagnose what got screwy in the os.