NEW MAC USER NEEDS URGENT HELP

[sowlerrmgh]

Hello,

I have recently bought a mac, so far I have had no problems. Except for one wich started about 2 days ago and is now doing it more perisitantly. A grey screen comes down and it says:
"You need to restart your computer. Hold down the poer button for several seconds or press the reset button."

Now every time I log on it does it. Please can someone help me. How do I fix this.

Thank You

Richard Sowler

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Hello,

I have recently bought a mac, so far I have had no problems. Except for one wich started about 2 days ago and is now doing it more perisitantly. A grey screen comes down and it says:
"You need to restart your computer. Hold down the poer button for several seconds or press the reset button."

Now every time I log on it does it. Please can someone help me. How do I fix this.

Thank You

Richard Sowler

The good old Mac OS X kernel panic message. How to make it go away?

My first suggestion is to try running the Apple Hardware Test CD that should have come with your Mac. Since you can't log in, you'll have to either hold down the C key while the Mac starts up to tell it to boot from the CD (it might take 2 tries before you get it to work) or hold down the Option key while the Mac boots to enter a sort of boot manager. Once there, insert the CD, click the Refresh button, and click the CD to tell the Mac to boot from it.

If, for some reason, you can't get it to work or no problems show up, check the three most common causes of kernel panic messages:

1. Bad RAM (did you install any third-party RAM in your Mac? If you did, take it out and try it that way)
2. Loose or disconnected hardware
3. Corrupted Power Management Unit settings

 

[sowlerrmgh]

The good old Mac OS X kernel panic message. How to

1. Bad RAM (did you install any third-party RAM in your Mac? If you did, take it out and try it that way)
2. Loose or disconnected hardware
3. Corrupted Power Management Unit settings

What do the last two mean

 

[wrldwzrd89]

What do the last two mean

Loose or disconnected hardware simply means something inside the Mac, like the AirPort card, the graphics card, one of the RAM chips, etc. is either not connected or connected improperly (loose).

Corrupt Power Manager settings:

Apple's Macs use an internal system for managing power-related things (such as the Parameter RAM, used for storing the system date and time among other things; overall energy usage management is also controlled here) called, oddly enough, Power Manager. When the settings that govern its operation become corrupted, all sorts of strange things can happen, including kernel panic messages. The solution is to reset the Power Management Unit. The way this is done depends on what kind of Mac you have. There are instructions on Apple's support page for PowerBooks and iBooks. PowerMacs can be reset by opening them up and pushing a specific button - this too is documented on Apple's Support page. If you have any other Mac (eMac, iMac, Mac mini, etc.), you're best off taking it in to your local Apple retail store or repair center and letting them take care of it.

 

[jsw]

You might want to look at the "Zapping your PRAM..." link in the first post in this thread for other suggestions.

The Power Management Unit (PMU) is resettable and can fix some issues - how to reset it depends upon your Mac model.

"Loose or disconnected hardware" means improperly seated RAM, graphics cards, etc.

I strongly recommend calling Apple support if things still aren't working - use your warranty!

Edit: typed too slowly again. See above!

 

[varmit]

I would repair permissions first. If that doesn't work, then do the fsck. And if that doesn't work, reset the PRAM. Here is how you do all of them. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/89736/

PMU, power management unit, is what it says. It keeps your mac from frying itself. If you look up on the support website, www.apple.com/support , choose your model then find out how to flash the PMU.

Loose hardware means did the IDE cable wiggle out a little due to someone bumping your Mac. Or did you just plug in a new piece of hardware on the outside, and you didn't insert it all the way.

A little help for use here would be what type of Mac, amount of RAM, is this fully updated or have you not done any updating yet to the OS?