mac mini dying!

[Hibbity]

within the last two days, my little baby's just been crashing left and right on me. Every program is prone to randomly crashing, you know where they "unexpectedly quit." And the whole thing goes down often as well. It's not a kernel crash or anything, its just that the screen goes dark and a dialogue box comes up that says "you need to restart your computer" in a bunch of different languages.

Is it the memory? I installed it myself when I got this computer. If the memory is causing these crashes, should i get it checked out by the apple people or just get new memory? This is my first mac and I've only had it since January, so any advice is appreciated.

 

[GodBless]

within the last two days, my little baby's just been crashing left and right on me. Every program is prone to randomly crashing, you know where they "unexpectedly quit." And the whole thing goes down often as well. It's not a kernel crash or anything, its just that the screen goes dark and a dialogue box comes up that says "you need to restart your computer" in a bunch of different languages.

Is it the memory? I installed it myself when I got this computer. If the memory is causing these crashes, should i get it checked out by the apple people or just get new memory? This is my first mac and I've only had it since January, so any advice is appreciated.

What you described (darkened screen and the you need to restart your computer dialogue) IS a kernel panic.

 

[Hibbity]

For some reason I thought kernel panics were something else....how do i fix this?

 

[yoda13]

it could very well be the memory. Had this happen to me before on a PowerMac. Put new memory in...bam got this problem, exactly. Took out the new memory...no more problem. So I would try that.

 

[slooksterPSV]

Run Apple Hardware Test

 

[fiercetiger224]

What brand is the RAM that you bought? And I'm guessing you bought a 1 GB RAM stick, assuming that you wanted the best performance out of Mac OS X?

Apple usually uses Crucial's RAM, and usually other types of RAM aren't recommended for Apple computers...They're really picky about the brand of RAM that you use....

 

[sw1tcher]

For some reason I thought kernel panics were something else....how do i fix this?

It could be the memory. When did you install it? Did you experience this right after installing the memory? Try removing the memory and reinstalling the original stick. You could also try using Disk Utility. And finally, there's reinstalling the OS.

Apple has a help page.

 

[BBFCFM]

That happened to me...

within the last two days, my little baby's just been crashing left and right on me. Every program is prone to randomly crashing, you know where they "unexpectedly quit." And the whole thing goes down often as well. It's not a kernel crash or anything, its just that the screen goes dark and a dialogue box comes up that says "you need to restart your computer" in a bunch of different languages.

Is it the memory? I installed it myself when I got this computer. If the memory is causing these crashes, should i get it checked out by the apple people or just get new memory? This is my first mac and I've only had it since January, so any advice is appreciated.

You're going to have to zero out your hard drive. Have fun man.

 

[GodBless]

You're going to have to zero out your hard drive. Have fun man.

Not necessarily. The hard drive is probably the least likely culprit. If you think it is a hard drive problem first verify problems with the disk in the Disk Utility application. Also repairing permissions usually solves problems with software related problems but kernel panics are usually related to hardware problems, not software problems.

If you do end up formatting your hard drive though, first use the shareware application called "SuperDuper!" to backup your files on an external hard drive or another mac.

 

[Hibbity]

sh*t

OK I ran the hardware test, it's the memory. It's a PNY 1 GB stick, so anyone thinking about buying one, think twice. Thanks for all your help.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Based on posts here and elsewhere, don't take your third-party memory to Apple to have it diagnosed. It'll get an automatic "Bad third-party RAM" sticker on it and your machine will be sent back unrepaired.

Hopefully you kept the 256 Mb DIMM that came out of it, for 2 reasons.. If you put that back in, and the machine starts working again, you've diagnosed the problem yourself - send back the larger RAM for replacement or refund.
If it still misbehaves with the Apple RAM in, then it's time to consider warranty repair.

Do run the Hardware Test CD that came with the machine.

Also, try running the machine booted from the OSX CD (although all you can really do there is use Disk Utility and reset your password...) If it still crashes when booted from the CD, then you're definitely in hardware repair land.

Otherwise, you can try an Archive and Install of OSX

 

[CanadaRAM]

Apple usually uses Crucial's RAM, and usually other types of RAM aren't recommended for Apple computers...They're really picky about the brand of RAM that you use....

Where do you get that? Apple has never, and will never, install Crucial brand RAM. Apple buys RAM from Samsung, Hynix (this was in my 2 Minis), Micron (Crucial's parent company), IBM and a couple of others.

 

[CanadaRAM]

OK I ran the hardware test, it's the memory. It's a PNY 1 GB stick, so anyone thinking about buying one, think twice. Thanks for all your help.

At least you know now. See if you can get a straight refund on the PNY generic RAM and order the replacement from a vendor who guarantees Mac compatibility. DMS, OWC, Crucial, RAMJet are all mentioned here.